I Am Setsuna - A Game of Nostalgia (Text and Video Review)

---

---

Hello everyone and welcome! I'm Tommie Taco and today I'll be reviewing the beautiful and well crafted JRPG I AM SETSUNA. In this review I will be covering the story, gameplay and overall experience you can expect to have when playing.

---

For Youtube Video Review Click HERE

---

---

I am Setsuna takes place on a beautiful snow-covered world where monsters roam the landscape and the only way to drive them back is by offering a sacrifce every few years (sound familiar?). You begin your journey in the role of Endir, a sword for hire who is given the task of killing a sacrifice by the name Setsuna who lives on a small island in the west seas. After discovering her, however, you quickly find yourself as her body gaurd, leading her and her party out into the world to aid her on her pilgramige to help calm the monsters that roam the land. If you find yourself having a strange sense of Dejavu, it's because the story takes a number out of Final Fantasy X's book, which isnt at all a bad thing. The story only seems to borrow elements from the tenth installment but it's plot twists belong to the game itself. Enticing enough to keep you playing and discovering more.

The world is beautifully well crafted and fun to explore, leaving tidbits of information all across the realm that helps you understand even more about the planet and its inhabitants. There are many moments in the game that can evoke an emotional response if you let them which also helps you to care for the main characters as you guide them to the end of their journey.

---

---

If you've played games like Chrono-Trigger then you'll feel right at home with the gameplay and combat systems. With the way your characters and enemies slightly move about the battle field as you attack and use your skills, it is definitely a familiar and welcome feeling. The developers do a wonderful job of explaining how the combat system works and how to use various skills and team techniques to best your enemies.

Active Time Battle, or ATB for short, returns to the genre in this title, but with a twist. You can decide to wait even longer to strike, allowing your ATB gauge to fill up again (max 3 times) and this spawn small glowing dots above the gauge. The longer you wait and fill up your gauge, your attacks and techniques become more powerful. You can even wait out the battle, allowing multiple party members to fill up their gauges and do a team technique that will devastate anything in their path, some of which have added bonuses such as healing your party members of status aliments or inflicting aliments on your enemies.The system is fun and engaging however, I found myself avoiding certain moves due to them feeling vastly overpowered and leaving the game without a challenge.

Post battle rewards offer you items to help you make better and more powerful techniques and some items can only be obtained by using certain commands and abilities in battle which can make the rewards that much more of a surprise so if there is one item in particular you are looking for, I recommend you look for a guide to help point you in the right direction.

There are so many weapons to choose from, each one with their own unique abilities and stats that make you think about what you should equip before going into battle. Each weapon can also be leveled up to become more powerful by obtaining the necessary ingredients to do so allowing you to use your favorite weapons for even longer into the game. Make sure to max them all out if you want an arsenal of bad-ass weaponry (this may take a while....like a LONG while).

No JRPG would be complete without mini bosses and puzzles to solve along the way and I AM SETSUNA is no exception. There are plenty of quests that will lead you to the more powerful weapons each character can obtain. Even after the story is completed, there are additional bosses for you to track down and slay. Be warned however; These are the more challenging bosses and well beyond the might of even the final boss.

The game is not perfect however. My biggest gripe has to be the musical score. It helps suck you in, at first, but not as much as you'd like as there is not much diversity which can hurt the game and overall experience. That's not to say the music is bad, because it isn't, it just leaves you wanting something a little more and feels repetitive.

---

---

I AM SETSUNA is a wonderfully well crafted game that shows a lot of respect for the genre and its beginnings. Nostalgia is TOKYO RPG FACTORY's greatest weapon here as they seem to wield it very well by giving fans of the genre a beautiful new landscape to explore while also giving them moments that remind them of days gone by. The story and game-play are solid and you can lose yourself in this game for hours on end with not only the main story but also the exploration you are sure to do on the side.

While there are loose ends in certain parts of the story and combinations in the combat that can make the game a little too easy, it doesn't take away from the overall experience and feel. I AM SETSUNA is a absolute must buy for fans of the genre and for those who are new to the JRPG scene.

---

---

I hope you enjoyed the review! If you enjoyed the review, be sure to comment down below and hit that follow button to stay up-to-date on when I post anything gaming related.

All images used in this review were taken by my while playing the game. I did NOT create I AM SETSUNA and am not affiliated with either SQUARE-ENIX or TOKYO RPG FACTORY

Twitch
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram