15 minutes with Lost Sphear: It’s a pretty but generic throwback RPG

Though Final Fantasy XV is replete with modern sensibilities and road trips, Square Enix still has a soft spot for nostalgic Japanese role-playing games. Take Lost Sphear, for instance, the second title from the publisher’s Tokyo RPG Factory studio. It will hit Steam, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in early 2018.

Square Enix established Tokyo RPG Factory to create JRPGs, like its first game, 2016’s I Am Setsuna. Lost Sphear similarly has all the trappings of classic RPGs, such as a party-based system, an overworld map, healing potions with names like Phoenix Tears, and familiar character archetypes. Though it’s not a sequel to I Am Setsuna, it does utilize a similar battle system and includes the Setsuna System, which adds extra effects and damage during combat.