Remaking the JRPG: Lost Sphear (Part 2 of 3)

[@RukiK9]

While I haven't played the game (enjoyed the demo), I really lked your insight. Super excited for your Octopath video, as that was my game of the year.

[@Ludiscere]

thanks, i appreciate it! it's up for there for me too - hopefully i do a decent job of explaining why.

[@DeviSerene]

I never actually played Lost Sphear, doesn't seem like I missed out on too much, although I appreciate some of the improvements to the battle system, and Galdra sounds like a gem from it. I very much agree that it is a shame that it's potential wasn't realised... but I am very much looking forward to the Octopath Traveler video now! ^.^

[@Ludiscere]

thank you for watching again! i do really wax lyrical about Octopath, hope you enjoy :)

[@deadfr0g]

Oh maaaan. The whole idea of restoring lost things from memory is SO CLOSE to being a meta-commentary on the exact kind of nostalgia this game was born out of! Does the game do anything with that? Is there anything in the game to suggest the writers or developers were at least aware of it?? Please tell me they did this on purpose. Please tell me they knew.

[@Ludiscere]

it's sad to say, but i really don't think so. it's a cool idea in concept, but in practice there was very little depth to it, and the way they implemented it was almost more like they just wanted some sort of idea to base the game off, and didn't think it through much more than that - it's a bit of a let-down :(

[@differentxminds9907]

Now you have to play Oninaki =)

[@kappaross6124]

Can't wait for the Octopath video

[@Ludiscere]

thank you, hope you enjoy it!

[@DonMiguelLaBestia]

I liked Setsuna a lot more than you but all of your criticisms REALLY resonated with me on Lost Sphear. I couldn’t even keep playing after the first ending and just watched the rest on KZbin…

[@timidalchemist8475]

It's sad that square-enix can't even try to make a good story anymore in comparison to their old and early works from snes to ps1, luckily I look to nihon falcom (legend of heroes series and Ys) because they manage to be straightforward and engaging than anything square enix has done in 10 yrs.

[@Ludiscere]

i'm still yet to play either of those series - what would you recommend as a good starting place?

[@timidalchemist8475]

@@Ludiscere trails in the sky fc and sc. Sky 3rd is a side-story, but it's canon, crossbell arc then cold steel arc, cold steel 1 and 2 are the only games to be in English besides sky trilogy.

[@Lazylilipad664]

I see trails comment I like. Also excited for Kuro no Kiseki

[@fahimfaysal1753]

The only Tokyo RPG Factory game I played was Oninaki. A lot of the complaints in this and the previous video apply to Oninaki as well. A lot of mechanics feel tacked on. The flux mechanic is present in all of their games. It IS cool but also unnecessary. The games are badly balanced with random difficulty spikes. I think a lot of us remember the old JRPGs for their combat depth but the main reason combat was enjoyable in those games because it was balanced extremely well. Chrono Trigger was a masterpiece in this regard. Storywise, Oninaki is similar to Setsuna with a focus on melancholy. But it suffers from the same problem-the characters are not engaging. It always feels like the developer had all the right ingredients but they botched the final product.

[@Hoodoo65]

Did ye aye

[@johnnyb_badd]

This was another great video from you. I'm really enjoying this series on JRPGs. This is another game I was kinda interested in and then I saw it was made by the same guys who made Setsuna and read some negative reviews so I gave it a pass. Was probably a good decision based on what you said in the video. Maybe this team needs more funding or better writers to improve. Then again, Square Enix might have given them the ax by now. It sounds like you had a lot of the same issues with this game that I had with Xenoblade Chronicles 2. A bad story, lame characters, overly complex equipment and blade management, and this general sense they were trying to appeal to a certain crowd. Lost Sphere wants to appeal to older JRPG fans and XBC 2 wants to appeal to anime fans. But I liked the first Xenoblade Chronicles because it was unique and didn't try to pander to anyone (at least not that I could tell). Anyways, I'm interested to see what you have to say about Octopath Traveler because I've heard so many mixed things about it.

[@Ludiscere]

thanks mate, very kind of you :) totally agreed on XC1 by the way. outstanding game.

[@nullmoon3058]

I was underwhelmed by IAS, so I wasn't really interested in Lost Sphear. Your impressions are mostly consistent with what I've heard: a small improvement from Setsuna in some regards, worse in others, but ultimately, just plain blander and an unremarkable and unappealing game with little to offer. Ultimately both IAS and Lost Sphear feel like cheap, hollow attempts at calling back to "the good ol' days". They don't really execute anything well enough to elevate the archetypal story and character beats they have going on, so instead of feeling comfortably familiar, they feel derivative and boring. While I've not played Octopath Traveler, I would already be much more inclined to play that game because its visual presentation is vastly superior to both games and doesn't remind me of a budget mobile title that had only the bare minimum of effort put into it.

[@timidalchemist8475]

I recommend alliance alive, it offers a solid story with a fun cast written by yoshitaka murayama (suikoden creator/writer) and a world that's engaging in comparison to IAS and LS.

[@Thatdeadpenguy]

Yeah, I'm glad I stayed away from this and Setsuna. Even a downright bad game has more worth to the gaming world than an imitator that doesn't even attempt to challenge the games it's inspired from.

[@shayoko6]

i don't seem to have interest in this game after this video. a awesome indie rpg i played is called *legrand legacy* i highly recommend that.

[@cyncynshop]

Another complaint I have for Lost Sphere is the memory loss representation is just a bland whiteness. I think a bit of texture or even distortions would help. Ultimately not doing research on the forms of memory loss and how it impacts people made this game very bland and have very little to say. Because remembering = good, not remembering = bad.