I Am Setsuna

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Chocobocoholic

ShinRa SOLDIER
Mar 29, 2016
160
79
#1
Is anybody playing this? I almost bought it earlier, but I decided against in the end. Firstly I'm already playing an RPG and secondly, the reviews haven't been amazing. Now I don't really tend to pay much attention to reviews but overall the game sounds a bit flat.

If you're playing, what are your impressions so far?
 

DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
1,605
1,436
41
#2
If I get my credit for my PSN FFXV preorder (trying to cancel it so I can get a gamestop deluxe edition) then I will be using my credit for it. From everything I've read about it, it's a decent little old-style JRPG. It's exactly what it looks like. No more. No less.
 

Chocobocoholic

ShinRa SOLDIER
Mar 29, 2016
160
79
#4
If I get my credit for my PSN FFXV preorder (trying to cancel it so I can get a gamestop deluxe edition) then I will be using my credit for it. From everything I've read about it, it's a decent little old-style JRPG. It's exactly what it looks like. No more. No less.
Yeah, it does look like a nice little game. I might have took the plunge if it was a little cheaper but I can't justify spending £33 on it right now.

Will get it sometime later. Really don't care that much about the reviews, this game looks good to me and that is all that matters.
It does look good. The world looks beautiful and the ATB battle system looks fun. If you get it let me know what you think :)
 
#5
Bought the game yesterday, poured about four hours into over the last two days.

I like it so far, but I'll say one thing... if you hate farming in RPGs, you won't like this game. Each enemy has multiple drops, which you'll get by killing them in a specific manner, i.e. using an elemental spell or having the total amount of subtracted HP be the exact amount of HP the enemy has, also dropped items are the fastest way to make money and the only way to acquire new skills.

There's little else to say so far... the combat is mostly the same as Chrono Trigger's with the addition of some minor things like the "Setsuna System", which allows the character to power up Techs and the basic attack.

The presentation is top-notch for what the project is going for - the piano-only soundtrack is the most stunning part of it all, the world looks nice. The story is decent, albeit a bit foreseeable if you know your jRPGs.

I will actually be surprised if Setsuna does indeed NOT live through the game.
 
Jun 7, 2014
898
625
Poland
#6
I like it so far, but I'll say one thing... if you hate farming in RPGs, you won't like this game. Each enemy has multiple drops, which you'll get by killing them in a specific manner, i.e. using an elemental spell or having the total amount of subtracted HP be the exact amount of HP the enemy has, also dropped items are the fastest way to make money and the only way to acquire new skills.
I hate farming only if there are obnoxiously low drop rates and this actually sounds pretty interesting. Drops depending on the way you kill the enemies isn't something I see often.

I will actually be surprised if Setsuna does indeed NOT live through the game.
It's the journey that counts, not the destination. ;)
 

Tornak

Keyblade Master
May 18, 2014
718
421
31
Madrid, Spain
#7
Got it for PC and haven't played more than 4 hours or so, if I'd have to guess.

It's far from being the most memorable, fun game, but, up until what I played, it's a pretty cute game. The character designs (or better said, the art) is great, and even if I like the actual visuals of the game, I wish they had managed to replicate it a little bit better. I feel that that's one of my usual complaints in regards to anime-esque designs (especially Nomura's), so maybe it's just me. The setting is beautiful and I like the feeling it provokes, although, again, they could have been better realized, as they're quite simple and samey (which makes sense considering it's all snow, but you get what I mean).

The music is good. Yeah, I mean, so much piano can get a little bit tiring and quite a few tracks are samey, bland and forgettable. But there are some very good ones, the instrument choice REALLY helps build the themes and the general feeling these lands and this plot have and, in my opinion, it's a very bold choice: they could have gone the easy route and try to get as close as possible to your usual 90's JRPG tracks, but they instead preferred doing something original and risky.

The combat system is alright (and very familiar, which, for me, isn't a bad thing), although I haven't had a challenging battle yet. The magic system is cool enough, and so are the spells (but that's because their effects and such are really reminiscent of classic ones, so I get nostalgic!). I still don't know how the flux system works, so I have to look it up as I didn't pay much attention in the tutorial. I like the momentum system; it reminds me of Legend of the Dragoon and such.

The story... well, it's alright. There are definitively things I'm interested about (the villain, what will happen in the Last Lands...) and the characters, albeit two dimensional (expected and not at all a bad thing), are endearing. It's a simple, classic story to the core, and I actually really want that right now. Also, they took what I liked the most from FF X (the whole sacrifice thing) and turned it the main plot, so I'm happy about that.

So yeah, having fun with this. I just hope that, should they do another game (new IP or not) and should they want to still replicate a PSX-era JRPG feeling, they get closer to what FF VII, VIII, IX looked like rather than this. That is, prerendered backgrounds and different camera angles. But for a new project that's their first and has had to be done relatively soon, I Am Setsuna is quite good (so far!) and I understand most of its design choices.

Hopefully Tokyo RPG Factory has a long life, although I don't think this is selling too good (nor they need it to, since I don't think this is a very expensive game and most losses are due to their creation as a company relatively independent from S-E).
 
#8
I just hope that, should they do another game (new IP or not) and should they want to still replicate a PSX-era JRPG feeling, they get closer to what FF VII, VIII, IX looked like rather than this. That is, prerendered backgrounds and different camera angles.
They could do that, but tbh, I kind of like the SNES-era (which is what this game is going for - it has immensely strong inspirations from Chrono Trigger) style a little more. But, we'll see where this venture goes.
 
Likes: Tornak

Tornak

Keyblade Master
May 18, 2014
718
421
31
Madrid, Spain
#9
They could do that, but tbh, I kind of like the SNES-era (which is what this game is going for - it has immensely strong inspirations from Chrono Trigger) style a little more. But, we'll see where this venture goes.
Yeah, I think my love for the PSX era comes from my childhood being dominated by it when it came to videogames (FF IX was my first non-platform game I seriously played), so I'm very biased there.

If they continue making SNES-inspired games, I hope they fuel the visual side a little bit more, something that evokes that era better, as I found that this is a game that, in spite of having great art design, ends up being kinda bland and not too representative of the concept art, which didn't happen to me in VI (well, it wasn't truly representative of Amano's concept art, but it was distintictive, colourful and full of life) and, especially, Chrono Trigger. But again, I Am Setsuna is a very particular kind of game, so I'm fine with it, overall.

Long story short though, I really fucking want prerendered backgrounds to make a comeback!
 
Jun 7, 2014
898
625
Poland
#10
Yeah, I think my love for the PSX era comes from my childhood being dominated by it when it came to videogames (FF IX was my first non-platform game I seriously played), so I'm very biased there.

If they continue making SNES-inspired games, I hope they fuel the visual side a little bit more, something that evokes that era better, as I found that this is a game that, in spite of having great art design, ends up being kinda bland and not too representative of the concept art, which didn't happen to me in VI (well, it wasn't truly representative of Amano's concept art, but it was distintictive, colourful and full of life) and, especially, Chrono Trigger. But again, I Am Setsuna is a very particular kind of game, so I'm fine with it, overall.

Long story short though, I really fucking want prerendered backgrounds to make a comeback!
I love the era of pre-rendered backgrounds as well, but I'm not sure if they are still viable. They have certain drawbacks that would be much more apparent with modern graphical fidelity. On the other hand, fixed camera angles are pretty much perfect middle ground for me and I wish they would be used more often.
 

Lulcielid

Warrior of Light
Oct 9, 2014
3,826
2,826
28
Argentina
#11
Pre-rendered background makes the scenarion feel like...well a background :/ . I would rather keep using the technology that's available.
 

Tornak

Keyblade Master
May 18, 2014
718
421
31
Madrid, Spain
#12
I don't know, I feel that they could make it work, making the character models blend in better (for example, using a more cartoon-like design).

It's just that I really want to see how a well developed prerendered game would look in 2016, considering how beautiful I think VII, VIII and IX's still are. I prefer ir to the classical cenital view over a 3D setting, at least.

Let's see if I can play today, it's been 4 days or so since the last time:
I quitted right after getting Kir. His tribe's background is pretty cool and, even if I'm not a fan of Kir's design itself, I'm liking him.
 
Jun 7, 2014
898
625
Poland
#13
Pre-rendered background makes the scenarion feel like...well a background :/ . I would rather keep using the technology that's available.
It's one of the drawback I was talking about. It stops being a problem when instead of pre-rendered backgrounds you use 3d graphics with fixed camera.
 
#14
So I put some more time into the game over the last 2-3 days (not much and also spent a significant amount of time grinding material for money and Spritnite). The plot finally gets rolling a bit as some character backgrounds are gradually revealed and questions are getting asked.

1. So we learn that the man who tasked the MC with the assassination of Setsuna at the start of the game is called Cornelius and also the right hand of Julienne, the last member to join your party (the female knight/dragoon), which begs the question why she wanted Setsuna dead (if she ordered the command at all).
2. Apparently some monsters are sapient and have family structures similar to humans, so we're going to go a bit Undertale here.
3. In the dungeon right after meeting Julienne, the MC (and by proxy the player) learns that Nidr (the burly swordsman) is Setsuna's biological father (I think this twist is nice in theory, but comes a little too much out of nowhere), also the sacrifice he failed to protect was Setsuna's aunt.
4. Aeterna (the dagger-wielding time mage) can counter the Reaper's spells for some reason. DRAMA will surely ensue.

My main qualm with the game right now is that my characters are OP as f*ck because of all the grinding I did, so executing Exact Kills gets to be a pain right now.