This has been a great year for JRPG fans. More than a dozen have emerged during the first half of 2016, including I am Setsuna , providing a plethora of options for casual and hardcore players alike. But none left an impression quite like the debut offering from Tokyo RPG Factory, the newest studio under the Square Enix umbrella.
I am Setsuna follows a masked mercenary, Endir, hired to kill a young woman, Setsuna, chosen as the once-per-decade human sacrifice from her remote island village. The motives of Endir’s employer aren’t clear. In fact, it takes hours to learn anything of consequence about the mysterious man conversing with our “hero” at the game’s onset. But it isn’t long before Endir is forced to put his primary mission on hold to help the very woman he was hired to assassinate.
Like any good JRPG, I am Setsuna features plenty of surprise revelations, secondary stories and intriguing plot twists along the way. And we’ll let the game explain how its titular character winds up in such such dire straits. But the situation more than justifies the feeling of hopelessness that hangs like a fog over I am Setsuna . Conversations frequently turn to subjects one might use to clear a house party they no longer wanted to host: the sacrifices we make for friends and family, the depths people sink to in order to protect loved ones, the anxiety and despair some face on a daily basis and the struggle to find purpose after one’s life’s work falls short of expectations. It’s pretty much the digital opposite of a pick-me-up.
Thankfully, I am Setsuna ’s gameplay isn’t nearly as dreary and depressing as its story. Rather than join the parade of modern RPGs to implement real-time combat, I am Setsuna brings back the Active Time Battle system that powered so many Square Enix releases in the 90’s and early aughts. In combat, each party member has two gauges. The first is the ATB meter, which refills after each action and determines when a character can attack. Players can alter the fill speed using a variety of time-based magics, like Slow or Haste, and learning how best to navigate the ATB system in each encounter is vital to success in I am Setsuna .
The second meter tracks Momentum, a new addition to the ATB system that lets players amplify the effects (positive or negative) of their actions in exchange for taking actions less frequently. Anytime a character’s ATB meter is full and an action hasn’t been selected, the Momentum meter will begin to fill. Every time the meter fills, the character in question banks a charge (up to a maximum of three) which can be triggered before any attack or spell. Doing so will trigger a variety of effects, from increased physical/magic damage to group heals. Multiple characters can even team up, as duos or trios, to perform powerful Combo attacks if they have the mana and Momentum points to spend.
The player’s Spritnite assignments will also play a big role in your success (or failure) on the battlefield. Spritnites replace the skill trees, scrolls and the various other processes by which many RPGs bestow new spells and abilities upon each character. They can be found in chests or purchased from vendors spread throughout I am Setsuna . Many can only be assigned to a specific hero, based on their particular talents, and you can’t equip nearly as many Spritnite as your party can carry. On the plus side, the info tab for each Spritnite includes information on the Combo attacks it can contribute to, making it much easier to coordinate active party members’ abilities. Getting everything assigned properly takes a bit of time, particularly once your Spritnite collection begins to grow, but getting it right is definitely worth it in the long run.
Spritnites can’t be upgraded directly; however, more powerful versions of certain Spritnites (Cure vs Cure II) do exist in the game. They can also be improved via the game’s Flux system, which bestows extra stat bonuses on your Spritnite (seemingly at random) after combat. We’ve yet to figure out a rhyme or reason to the system, which is admittedly a bit frustrating given just how beneficial the system can be for those lucky enough to trigger it frequently. That said, we did beat I am Setsuna with surprisingly few modifications to our own Spritnite, so frequent Flux success clearly isn’t necessary for those who want to finish the roughly 20-hour game.
What might shock players is just how well some of the game’s 20-year-old mechanics hold up against modern interpretations. I am Setsuna may not feature real-time combat but the game still transitions in and out of combat seamlessly, letting players rattle off a few attacks against whatever creatures challenge the party before continuing their journey again without ever having to wait for the game to load. Admittedly, I am Setsuna could use a bit more enemy diversity, instead of color-swapping a handful of creatures to reuse later in the campaign, but your targets aren’t so repetitive as to have a significant impact on the enjoyability of combat.
We were also pleasantly surprised by how effectively I am Setsuna instills a general sense of hopelessness in the player while simultaneously nurturing a tiny spark of optimism. Everything about the game’s presentation is dreary; the dialogue, I am Setsuna ’s beautiful (but somber) soundtrack, the ever-present overcast weather, even conversations with the handful of NPCs who live in each town. But there was never a time when the group’s task felt completely out of reach. Difficult, to be sure. Never impossible.
I am Setsuna is one of the most enjoyable JRPGs we’ve ever played. It scratches all the itches you’d expect, from elemental magic to frequent inventory management, but finds ways to meet these goals without overburdening the player. Enemies have unique strengths and weaknesses but there are only six types of magic. Frequently upgrading the party’s equipment is a necessity but each character only has two equipment slots, one weapon and one accessory. I am Setsuna even brings back the overworld maps of yesteryear, shrinking the game world’s features down to fit neatly onto a 2.5D portrayal, but it’s just the studio’s preferred method of presentation. The path from I am Setsuna ’s opening moments to its closing credits is remarkably linear, leaving no room for the player to get lost. And the game’s lack of open-world combat encounters means I am Setsuna avoids the (sometimes excruciating) experience grind commonly found in its peers. It's the rare JRPG that actually respects the player's time.
The game still has a few rough edges. For starters, the checkpoint/save system in I am Setsuna could use some work. Players have the freedom to save at will while outside major locations, but can only record the progress at flashy checkpoints scattered entirely too far apart while exploring villages, mountains, forests and other geographical features. The lack of a world map can become frustrating — particularly if you take a long break between play sessions — and a lack of fast travel in I am Setsuna left me slightly more thankful for those games that do offer it.
I am Setsuna isn’t a perfect distillation of the 90’s RPG gameplay so many gamers mastered in their youth. But the game is a carefully considered, if at times flawed, collection of mechanics rarely seen on the modern gaming landscape. Sometimes, Setsuna trips over itself, particularly when it comes to the many intertwining systems built upon the ATB system. And we would have loved to see Tokyo RPG Factory do more with the game’s overworld, which doesn’t give players much incentive to step off the beaten path. But I am Setsuna is perfect for those hoping to get their JRPG fix without sacrificing all their available free time for the next six months or anyone interested in completing a role-playing game that prioritizes enjoyability over hours played.
Full Disclosure: The PC copy of I am Setsuna used in the creation of this review was provided by a representative of Square Enix; however, the publisher did not retain any editorial oversight/privileges.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more I am Setsuna news throughout 2016 and however long Square Enix supports I am Setsuna in the months following launch.
