'Lost Sphear' PS4, Switch and PC: New RPG from 'I Am Setsuna' team release set for early 201

Impact
ByAlex Perry

These days, you pick up a Japanese role-playing game like Final Fantasy XV or Persona 5 and you're expected to devote your entire life to it. If you're a working adult with an active social life, good luck seeing them through to the end. Luckily, Square Enix is here to bail us out with Lost Sphear, coming next year to PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Lost Sphear announced for PS4, Switch and PC

Square Enix announced Tuesday that the next game from Tokyo RPG Factory (the studio with the most dystopian name) is Lost Sphear. You may or may not remember Tokyo RPG Factory from Feb. 2016's I Am Setsuna, a turn-based RPG that threw back to the 16-bit era with a top down perspective and combat right out of Chrono Trigger. Most importantly, it wasn't a full $60 and you could finish it in a mere 20 hours.

Judging from the announcement trailer, Lost Sphear looks reminiscent of I Am Setsuna.

According to the press release, Lost Sphear follows Kanata, a young boy who finds his hometown disappearing into thin air. He and friends set out to "rebuild the world around them with the power of memory by manifesting thoughts into matter."

That sounds like a JRPG story, alright. Lost Sphear has an enhanced version of the active turn-based combat from I Am Setsuna, which allows players to "strategize and freely adjust their placement mid-fight." It looks like attacks that hit every enemy in a line or in an area of effect are back, which I Am Setsuna took from Chrono Trigger to its benefit. 

Lost Sphear promises to be bigger than its predecessor, indicated by its $50 price tag. That's $10 on top of what I Am Setsuna cost. It launches on PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch in early 2018. 

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