Reviews

I Am Setsuna Review

Published

August 1, 2016

Journey across a snow-covered world to fulfill Setsuna’s sacrifice and save the land, in this charming throwback to classic JRPGs.

I Am Setsuna
Developer: Tokyo RPG Factory
Price: $39.99
Platform: PC (reviewed), PS4
MonsterVine was provided with a PC code for review.

I Am Setsuna is a turn-based JRPG about a young woman named Setsuna who must travel to the Last Lands and sacrifice herself to stop the monster attacks that plague the snowbound world. A mercenary named Endir is contracted to kill her, but since she is doomed to die anyway, he joins her guards to see her journey through.

This premise is a familiar one, and although I Am Setsuna’s story has some surprises, it’s largely predictable. Fortunately, it’s told with enough emotion and charm to keep you interested in seeing it through. Likewise, while the characters are an ensemble of JRPG tropes, they’re endearing and have their own plot arcs.

The same can’t be said for Endir, however. He is a silent protagonist, whose only dialogue comes from otherwise inconsequential choices made by the player. This has the unfortunate effect of making him the least interesting member of the cast.

As for its gameplay, I Am Setsuna calls back to classic RPGs in many ways, including its world map and Active Time Battle system, although it adds some new twists. You equip “spritnite” to use skills in battle, and some skills can be used together for combo attacks. Characters build up Momentum during battle, which allows you to trigger additional effects. At times you’ll encounter Singularity Events, which provide massive benefits. Combat also occasionally adds bonuses to your spritnite.

Overall, the combat system has a fair amount of depth. While you won’t need to explore all of it for the main story, players who wish to take on the more challenging optional content will want to make the most it.

Although the gameplay is solid, I Am Setsuna suffers from minor problems. It doesn’t track your playtime, and your most recent save isn’t automatically selected. Materials have no purpose other than being sold to create spritnite, but you have to sell them manually. There is no in-game map, which becomes problematic once the game opens up near the end. None of these issues hinder the game too much, but all together they cause frustration.

I Am Setsuna lasts around 20 hours, longer or shorter depending on how much of the optional content you do. Side quests are few and somewhat obscure, but contain hints of what could have been a longer experience.

Indeed, the entire game feels as though it could have—and perhaps should have—been longer. Its story and world are full of possibilities for a bigger game, and the ending feels slightly unfinished. The journey through I Am Setsuna is enjoyable, but it leaves behind so much unused potential. It will be interesting to see if the developer does more with this universe in the future.

The Final Word
Despite minor frustrations and a predictable plot, I Am Setsuna contains enough charm and entertainment to please players nostalgic for the classic era of JRPGs.