Zero Punctuation: I Am Setsuna

[NPC009]

As soon as he said I am Setsuna was inspired by Chrono Trigger, I wanted to bounce about with nostalgic joy until he said it only took the combat and party mechanics. What a bummer. It does sound like a knock off of Tales of Symphonia too like everyone else is saying. So you know what I'll just replay Chrono Trigger and Tales of Symphonia when I find the time. Much better option.

It's funny because there's a game that came out earlier this year, Evoland 2, that is much closer to Chrono Trigger, both with the Time period jumping and a specific part of the game that plays exactly like Chrono Trigger. It also has the interesting idea that the different time periods correlate to different eras in console gaming, with the past being 8-bit, the present being 16-bit and the future being 3D(32/64-bit), with different sections using the gameplay of classic games(A street Fighter battle, a bomberman area in a mine, etc).

The only big issue with the game is that the end kind of peters out, with a fair number of questions being left unanswered. That and some parts of the game are nearly impossible to complete without a gamepad of some kind.

What I liked about Evoland 2 is that is managed to maintain that bright-eyed enthousiasm found in games from the 90s despite pulling a nostalgia chart. It's so obvious the creators had a great time making it and are proud of the end result.

I am Setsuna feels more like a game that looks nice but is just going through the motions. They might as well called it Sad Chrono Trigger in Snow.

(And Evoland 2 costs like $20, even less when it's on sale. I am Setsuna seems too expensive compared to that.)

 

[Dalisclock]

Seriously? It's that bad? Awww.

I was totally expecting the protagonist to be Setsuna as a pack of warriors from your village basically escort/threaten you all the way to the end at which point you can choose to follow through with the whole thing, or just sod off.

I was expecting pretty decently balanced combat, and a great story, and apparently all of that is for naught.

...Well fine. Less money spent, I guess. Time to get back to making my own RPGs which by the accounts of this review are actually better somehow. XD

You have to remember that Yahtzee isn't a big fan of the genre in current age as he said himself. You also have to keep in mind that the nature of his show means that he often makes things sound worse than they are for dramatic effect or humour.

I've not played I am Setsuna but it has received reasonably solid scores from many reviewers (mid 7's) so maybe Yahtzee's thoughts on it won't be your best source for a final decision.

Yathzee's review pretty much echoed the reviews I had read about it over the previous week, some of which are pretty I generally agree with on a regular basis. Solid but nothing particularly special. Comparing it Chrono Trigger really isn't doing it any favors, but rather making people think of a game that almost everyone likes where this game just comes up lacking in comparison.

Not unlike Chrono Cross, ironically. Chrono Cross at least had the excuse of trying to be a proper sequel, even if it ended up falling headlong up it's own ass in the attempt.