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Topic: Lost Sphear for Nintendo Switch

Posts 21 to 40 of 87

kkslider5552000

No no no. I've seen those god forsaken Mobile versions of Final Fantasy. This is literally 100s of times better looking than something like that.

I'm not saying it's gonna be the Shovel Knight or Transistor of JRPGs, but you are underestimating the lows of both visual quality and budget compared to this game, I'm fairly certain.

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

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rallydefault

@Inertiacreep
I feel totally opposite from that: I LOVED Setsuna. I really like the characters, but I'll give you this: it was obvious that the game had a smaller budget and was meant to be a short playthrough. I still spent 20 hours in it (I only did a couple of the legendary/master weapon quests, the ones where each character has a unique weapon or whatever that you can do after you beat the game), and I will admit that the storyline and character personalities could have been developed further if the game was designed to run for longer.

But I think they did a fantastic job for a "smaller" RPG. I never once got bored and shelved it like I do for lots of RPGs.

rallydefault

brickofthewild

Never played Setsuna but I had the opportunity to preorder a physical copy of lost sphear and did it quite spontanesously.

However, I am going to cancel it this week after playing the demo - just couldnt get into it. So glad I tried it out and now can save some money. Will try to hunt down Ettian V.

Just btw does anyone know why the uk version is so hard to find? Is it out of print already?

brickofthewild

ilikeike

So I just played the demo a little while ago. Overall, I really enjoy this game. Here's a few thoughts on it:
1. The combat system is awesome. I like how it blends the traditional turn-based combat of something like Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger with the emphasis on movement and positioning of games like the Xenoblade franchise. I also like the addition of the Vulcosuits (which are another similarity to Xenoblade!) and how they can set up combos. Combat is fast, strategic, and exciting, with a good blend of traditional JRPG mechanics with new ideas. I did have some control issues though, specifically with switching between party members mid-battle. That action is mapped to the control stick, which also controls menus and character movement, so it was pretty troublesome to switch to a different character in battle.

2. Aesthetically, the game is pleasing. Visuals are decent, but look a little rough, especially when blown up on a TV. They look pretty good in handheld mode, though. They get the job done, but they're nothing spectacular. Then there's the music, which, from the demo at least, is absolutely phenomenal. The battle theme, area theme, title song, boss battle...every song is fantastic.

3. However, I'm just not sure if this game is really worth $40. Given the so-so visuals, some issues with controls, and the fact that, if I Am Setsuna is any indication, this game might be only 20 hours long, that $40 price tag really seems to be pushing it. But if this game ends up being longer than its predecessor--35 hours at the least--and addresses a few issues before launch, it might be worth that price after all.

I'm still excited for this game. Yet I'm going to wait for reviews to see how the finished product ends up, especially with regards to its length.

Mario Galaxy is ten years old, and now I feel old.

kkslider5552000

ilikeike wrote:

only 20 hours long

>implying 20 hours is short for a not even full priced game
or
>implying game would be any more worthwhile if they were forced to make it obnoxiously long

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

Megaman Legends 2 Let's Play!:
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ilikeike

@kkslider5552000 What I meant to imply is that $40 is still expensive for a non-triple-AAA title, even though it's not full-priced. I think that a game with that asking price should be provide a meaty experience. No, I don't think that the game requires unnecessary padding, but 20 hours is still short for a JRPG.
Take Child of Light for example. That game is also short for an RPG--if I recall correctly it was about 18 hours long or so--but it was priced at only $15, so I was expecting a modest experience and I was not disappointed. Lost Sphear, on the other hand, is more than double that price while providing only slightly more content. At that price I would expect a heftier experience, yet all evidence points to the game not providing that.

I know it sounds like i'm obsessed about that pricetag, but for that same amount of money I can buy several games on the eShop and get double or triple the amount of play time I would have if I spent that money just on Lost Sphear alone. I like to have a good value when I buy games.

(And pardon the late reply btw, I was away from my computer over the holidays and did not see your post until recently)

Mario Galaxy is ten years old, and now I feel old.

Swordsman83

hope this game can be better than i am setsuna

too many accessories, most which are redundant.

too many tech/double, triple combo which only a handful are really good..

quality > quantity

need more challenging boss fights and more post/end game content

more good soundtrack (i am setsuna got good soundtrack but its too few, keep looping the same song)

able to move around in combat ( in i am setsuna, i only use skills that hit all targets or single target only, i don't use field or line range skills as i can't move my party members accordingly)

buying, selling menu in i am setsuna is a pain in the ass.. they are not categorized.. i gotta scroll up and down to search for the things i want to buy.

Currently Owned Switch Games: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Octopath Traveller.

rallydefault

@Swordsman83
Agreed on the menus for Setsuna, and the boss fights: nothing was especially challenging. Totally disagree with the end game content, though. Did you do it all? Every weapon? The secret island? For a deliberately "small" RPG, I thought the post-game stuff was very nice.

rallydefault

Swordsman83

@rallydefault

yes.. i get all weapons (100%) and the ultimate sprinite.. (done all 7 characters side quest) i have min max each character best tech.. with 10 fluxes.

i have clear the 3 towers where you can fight story boss again to get drops for sprinite creation (especially for the character who joined super late)

yes the 8 bit island, even turn on the mode that the enemies match my max level of 99 which i grind killing 5 x "dark" penguin drinking countless ocean soup buff.

unless you are hardcore until to min max everything which you get 10 fluxes on all characters command sprinite and all avaliable support sprinites. (no point in doing so unless you feel good dealing millions of damage to the poor penguin ?)

i even went back to 1 shot the stronger version of dark samsara (without killing the 4 mini boss)

other than that the only thing left to do is to 100% snow book chronicles (uncovered all the ?????? on the drops of every enemy)

Currently Owned Switch Games: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Octopath Traveller.

kkslider5552000

ilikeike wrote:

What I meant to imply is that $40 is still expensive for a non-triple-AAA title, even though it's not full-priced. I think that a game with that asking price should be provide a meaty experience. No, I don't think that the game requires unnecessary padding, but 20 hours is still short for a JRPG.
Take Child of Light for example. That game is also short for an RPG--if I recall correctly it was about 18 hours long or so--but it was priced at only $15, so I was expecting a modest experience and I was not disappointed. Lost Sphear, on the other hand, is more than double that price while providing only slightly more content. At that price I would expect a heftier experience, yet all evidence points to the game not providing that.

I know it sounds like i'm obsessed about that pricetag, but for that same amount of money I can buy several games on the eShop and get double or triple the amount of play time I would have if I spent that money just on Lost Sphear alone. I like to have a good value when I buy games.

that's fair, I guess

I mean, it's always good to wait for a sale for some games...

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

Megaman Legends 2 Let's Play!:
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rallydefault

@Swordsman83
Right, and take all that - and you're saying that's not a lot? Most gamers won't even touch any of that stuff. I thought it was a great value.

rallydefault

Swordsman83

@rallydefault
Maybe my expectation is too high or unrealistic. To me a JRPG veteran, that is below the norm.

Currently Owned Switch Games: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Octopath Traveller.

ilikeike

For those interested, Siliconera recently published a new interview with the director of Lost Sphear. Here's the link:
http://www.siliconera.com/2018/01/17/square-enix-recreating-9...
One interesting point from the interview is that the director confirmed that Lost Sphear is longer than I Am Setsuna. He specifically designed Lost Sphear with far more content in response to criticisms of Setsuna's length, so this may please some who were dissatisfied with that game.

Mario Galaxy is ten years old, and now I feel old.

Imerzion

Since completing I am Setsuna, I'm looking forward to this more and it'll probably be a day one, or just after purchase. I haven't checked out the demo as of yet, but judging from the footage that I've seen I presume that I'll thoroughly enjoy the game, just a little bit skeptical about the price-tag. But I'll more than likely get it just based off of Setsuna and how much I enjoyed that.

Switch Friend Code: SW-5926-6203-0027

NEStalgia

@Oblique I kind of agree. Setsuna was good, but became kind of monotonous, and as someone else said above, far too many abilities and such that lent to stats comparing without real benefit. LS seems to improve much of that, but it feels very very generic, and alongside Octopath just feels kind of uninspired somehow. Technically so did Setsuna (arrive at setpiece, wander 5x5 area, boss time, repeat.) It's a shame, I want to like it, but between Octopath, Xenoblade, DQ builders, YS on the way, SMT on the way....we're getting a lot of really big, solid RPGs and I fear LS based on the demo won't hold up.

It's possible the demo is just a bad demo though and the full game makes up for it or feels less generic. The demo plops you in the middle of map exploration having to "create" things on the glowing spots as though your're well into your journey.

OTOH, they're also pushing the demo prominently on PSN and this game feels sooooo much more at home on Switch.

NEStalgia

ilikeike

@NEStalgia I basically feel the same. I thoroughly enjoyed the demo actually, but Octopath blows it out of the water in nearly every respect. If Lost Sphear were perhaps $15 cheaper it would be more appealing, but at its current price it's just ludicrous, especially considering the immense quantity of great RPGs on the way to Switch already.

Mario Galaxy is ten years old, and now I feel old.

Inertiacreep

For $50 I'm not buying it unless it has cutscenes and im petty sure it doesn't.

Inertiacreep

NEStalgia

@Inertiacreep I tend to agree. I don't know if Setsuna felt "cheap" but it did feel kind of "soulless"....no...the piano, story, characters...it had a soul.....it felt incomplete. Like there was a core idea to it that the producers saw in their heads but it never made the transition to the game. You know Nintendo's design concept of "design the gameplay system and then create a world to fit around it?" (versus the West that designs a world and story and then throws some token gameplay in there to make it interactive.) It feels to me like Setsuna was made with the intention to use Nintendo's philosophy, but they missed the methodology, and instead brainstormed a checklistof features and attributes that would define the gameplay loop for a streamlined RPG that borrows elements from CT's battle system, and implemented them doggedly, the result of which was a very formula driven, repeating loop of gameplay activities that never threw real surprises at you, never took you somewhere else, and never made any of the events or locations feel meaningful because they were all just sequence-driven events to drive you along that gameplay loop. I.E. The game wouldn't be much different replaced with 8-bit Space Invaders sprites, which makes it a well defined gameplay loop, but abandons most of what makes RPG fans like RPGs. The characters and world were great in concept, but when every village is something you stop over for 20 seconds, complete your checklist, and go to the next samey place, with everything about the same size and pace.

This seems to be Squeenix's idea of "streamlined RPG" though. Bravely Default 1 and 2 suffered similarly from the same concept, though I actually liked the battle system in Setsuna better. BD also pays lip service to its events and locations, where the whole game is just a funnel from one boss battle to the next, plus tedious grinding with the jobs system that wasn't even great back in the day. BD only stands out because the characters are SO exceptional, the world in your head drives the world on the screen.

Even Octopath is largely following this formula. I feel a lot of BD is in Octopath, and a lot of BD is in Setsuna, and it appears a lot of it is in Sphear as well. Octopath somehow rights the ship through just "meshing" in a way that Setsuna did not, I think because it feels missions are a sense of story driven objectives in unique locations rather than samey looking locales with the main goal of "keep going forward." Maybe Sphear will have it's stand-out concepts in the full game we can't see in the demo.

But with SO many great RPGs on the way (and quite a few on PS4 for PS4 owners as well) it makes it difficult for this to stand out if it's not a budget RPG. Still, I'm hoping it's a bad demo. It wouldn't be the first game that a bad demo didn't do the game justice. Heck MH4 had a pretty bad demo despite being a top notch game.

NEStalgia

ilikeike

@Inertiacreep Also worth noting is that Dark Souls Remastered on Switch is $10 cheaper than Lost Sphear. I think that says a lot about Square's insanity with how they priced this game.

Mario Galaxy is ten years old, and now I feel old.

JaxonH

This game is priced a little high, and I usually don't care about price tags.

But I got the physical version ordered from the Square Enix Online Store. Which helps justify it somewhat.

All have sinned and fall short of Gods glory. Wages of sin is death. Romans

God so loved the world He sent His only Son- whoever believes on Him has eternal life. Unless you believe, you will die in your sins. Whoever believes, rivers of living water flow within them. John

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