Slight Xenogear Vibes in Latest Lost Sphear Trailer
Square Enix dropped a new trailer today for Tokyo RPG Factory’s I Am Setsuna‘s spiritual successor, Lost Sphear that gives a decent look at the game’s Xenogears-like mech combat and world map exploration. After announcing the game’s release date earlier this summer, the classic JRPG-focused studio continues building momentum for the title with a new gameplay-focused trailer. Tokyo RPG Factory knows its audience as there’s even a shot of an airship soaring over the map at one point.
The trailer, titled “Welcome to the World of Lost Sphear”, gives us a better look at Vulcosuits, mechanized armor that the main characters can equip. Here, the powerful suits make EXP points out of a few baddies during battle while the heroes can wear them and dash around while exploring. It’s unclear at the moment if there’s dedicated equipment system for these suits. As for the world map system, we see them unlocking more of the world through its Memories system. I’m still unsure about gating world map progression for a JRPG as it risks making exploration feel stilted. While there’s a shot of an airship, it’s shown off in a side shot as opposed the in-game’s top-down perspective which leads me to believe the air travel takes places in a cinematic. That said, I hope I’m wrong, and that we’ll see air travel to truely cap off that end game JRPG experience. Last note, I’m glad they’ve left behind the one-instrument musical style of the first game as I Am Setsuna‘s piano-only OST started to sound monotonous as the game went on.
I’m rooting for Lost Sphear when it hits Switch and PS4 in the West in January 2018.
Source: Gematsu