'Lost Sphear' Review Roundup: Solid Title Loses Its Identity Due to Cluttered Classic RPG References
"Lost Sphear," the new game by Tokyo RPG Factory and published by Square Enix, is a look-back at the time when the 16-bit Japanese RPG reigned supreme. The game already came out on Jan. 23 for the Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 4, although reviewers think that the game may benefit from a bit more time in development.
Overall, the game came out as a solid title for reviewers, with most reviews giving it a good enough eight out of ten, as compiled by VG 247.
Tokyo RPG Factory also made "I am Setsuna," which they launched in 2016. The fact was a common point of reference in the reviews, and for good reason — the studio is one that's intent on bringing back the "golden age" of JRPGs, which during the '90s dominated the scene with the early "Final Fantasy" games and "Chrono Trigger."
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"Lost Sphear" is a follow up on their effort to re-ignite the glory days, and with the advent of the Nintendo Switch, now's a good time as any.
The premise for the game is simple enough, as it follows the main character Kanata and his friends as they encounter the mystery of their village being "lost," a mysterious occurence when things suddenly turn into a glowing white outline of itself, seemingly lost in time.
Tokyo RPG Factory may have stayed too faithful to the graphics of the era here, as PlayStation Lifestyle points out. It's a common theme of some of the other reviews, as IGN's Jeremy Parish sums it up.
Parish said in his review that "Lost Sphear" all over the place when it comes to classic RPG homages. He stated that this caused it to fail in creating its own identity as a game.
The game is currently at 67 on Metacritic for the Switch version, although users are willing to give it a more generous 8.3 out of ten on average. "Lost Sphear" has been out since Jan. 23 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC.
