May 292017
Square Enix’s Tokyo RPG Factory studio has updated its website with a new image.
This image (pictured right) shows a grassy cliff very different from the snowy landscape of their first game, I Am Setsuna. Tokyo RPG Factory was formed to work on smaller, more traditional RPGs. Could this be a hint as to their next game?
I Am Setsuna had a lot of potential. In my review for MonsterVine, I mentioned that the game seemed like it should have been longer. I enjoyed its characters and gameplay, but the ending felt rushed.
When I played it, I reached a point where I expected it to expand into the story’s next arc and make use of the hints I’d seen in the worldbuilding and side quests of a bigger picture. Instead, it raced through a few new plot points toward a sudden conclusion.
At the time, I wished they had a large enough budget to make a longer game. I also worried that I Am Setsuna’s mixed reception might mean they wouldn’t make anything else.
My second concern seems to be resolved. That image suggests Tokyo RPG Factory has a new game planned, maybe to be announced at E3. Will it be set in I Am Setsuna’s universe? Will it be something entirely new?
Whatever it is, I hope it keeps turn-based combat and traditional JRPG gameplay, including a world map… but I especially hope it’s a long enough game to tell a good story without feeling rushed.
Update: Tokyo RPG Factory has announced Lost Sphear for the PS4, Switch, and PC, an RPG about rebuilding the world with the power of Memory before it disappears forever.
Did you play I Am Setsuna? What do you hope to see from Tokyo RPG Factory’s next game?
---If you want posts like this delivered straight to your inbox, enter your email in the box below to subscribe!