Not many people talk about this game, it's not perfect by any means but I did love my time with this game.

6:50 That's the difference between Tokyo RPG Factory and Team Asano. Both retro styled RPG subsidiaries of Square Enix but the latter is modern and the way how the characters just don't shut up. Dear JRPG developers, If a cutscene is so long that the controller automatically disconnects or if on handheld the screen dims, it's too long.

Excellent video, was genuinely surprised when I saw your subscriber count. You're channel is definitely gonna grow if you keep putting out videos with this quality

Thanks. This is the ONLY review of the game I've seen and you sold me on it. Others either go into their personal opinion over what's in the game or drone on how it isn't Chrono Trigger.

it was a good game that gets criticized more than it should considering it’s contemporaries

Fairly certain square said they were dissolving Tokyo RPG Factory due to lackluster sales of their three titles. It's a shame too because their games got larger in scope with each title and they really filled a niche.

This being only your second video and you’re already doing so amazing man. Well done, looking forward to what’s next!!

This is def going into the wishlist now. I dig your video essays so much. Great review!

I'm excited. I just found your page, a quick glance and I can tell you have a lot of content I'll be interested in. Can't wait to check out your stuff. Also as a fellow Cody I have to do my part and support.

I really enjoyed this game, to the music to it's somber snowy setting, the art style of the characters, the aesthetic and themes of it's menu screen and such... I enjoyed all the characters also, the story and Setsuna herself really touch me.

It’s interesting to think how many games were affected by Final Fantasy X. There are so many JRPGs that came after it that focused on a pilgrimage that involves the sacrifice of a special girl at the end of it. Tales of Symphonia also comes to mind, though it gets more complicated beyond that. I wonder if that story format existed prominently before FFX, too? I remember writing my own video game stories in notebooks in middle school and high school that followed a similar format haha. FFX really impacted me.

hey, just wanted to say your video style is pretty good. best of luck with growing your channel!

instant follow for your work and especially your spoiler warnings

Great review of this title. The developers, Tokyo RPG Factory make really great retro JRPGs but they never get much acclaim. You should make reviews on their later titles - Lost Sphear and Oninaki, they have a lot of improvements compared to I Am Setsuna and they learned from their mistakes. The only thing I really hated with Lost Sphear is that I was doing a review for it on its release, but the game ended prematurely and I had no idea you were supposed to load in the mandatory bad ending to keep playing, I played only half the game apparently. I'm going to check out your Star Ocean 1 retrospective next, I heard the newest Star Ocean 6 didn't do well financially but I really enjoyed playing it, they learned from their mistakes from Star Ocean 5 and they seem more familiar with the game ending they're using, it had fun mini-games, the combat was fun, and the story was decent for once compared to the extremely polarizing story of SO3 and the abysmal stories of SO4&5.

This game seems like something that will be considered a underrated classic in the future. Maybe in the 2030s someone will make a video essay reteospective about it

You’re a hell of a reviewer. You have really well thought out points, your editing is too notch, and your voice is so well suited for videos like these where there’s a lot of dialog. Definitely doesn’t get grating or annoying! Keep it up man, you’ve got something great here with your content. You deserve so many subscribers and views 😊

Please note This is the second release of i am setsuna It also had a free release as an rpgmaker game, so that context makes the final version even more impressive

I just bought this game on PS4. I have other games to get through first, but after watching your video, I’m so excited to try it out for myself!

This channel has a bright future if you keep it up.

Bruh. TEARS at the ending. And that's after just listening to someone tell me the friggin story. I think that's equal parts that game and your narration. So good. Love that ending. To me (having not played the game but knowing about Setsuna being "overly" sweet), it actually makes sense how they build her up as this empathetic person - seeing the good in everyone and trying to be nice to everyone - for her to finally sacrifice herself for someone else that way. Only someone *that* devoted to others gives their life like that. Cause I was like, "oh, so he gets to live inside someone compassionate and live out their days seeing nice person be nice and warm". Nope. We go down together. What?! Lawl. Anyway, well-told.

Great video! Hope you have more to come.

This is a great video man

welcome to the tokyo rpg factory defense squad 🫡

Honestly, it's not about originality. It's about execution, about quality. If the writing for the story & characters is excellent, then it really doesn't matter if the story is familiar or tropey. I can and will still be awesome.

Covering a niche jrpg? a creator after my own breathing soul. Easy sub.

This game is a gem, also lost sphere is amazing as well!!! Don't miss out on these !

Great game. Doesn't get enough love. I'm starting a new game now after finishing it back in 2016.

Most their ultimate weapons at the end of the game are literally from Chrono Trigger and make reference to having one belonged to a "legendary hero."

Back in my day we had Pong and we liked it and we didn't whine about things like "character development." That is to say I played I Am Setsuna a couple years back and thoroughly enjoyed it. Really loved the piano soundtrack, but that might be because I'm a pianist.

I LOVE this game, first played it on release and has held a firm place ion my heart ever since, i even did another play through finished just a few weeks ago!

Incase nobody knew, the save points being relevant to the story is a call back to Xenogears.

Rest in peace, Setsuna-chwan. \m/ ... I hope next time they have more biomes than gray and snow.

Granted, "Back in my day" could also be used to described how much something SUCKED at that time.

Working on this game rn. So far I’m hooked. Little odd but still fun

the more rpgs the better for me, even if it's not a classic it looks like it might be fun.

I may have to try this sometime. I finally started playing the 1st Octopath Traveler recently, just as the 2nd one came out, and I've been absolutely loving it! I love how the game has extra depth to the standard battle mechanics we all know, but what's special about it is how well executed it is. It's often the little things that matter in games like these. I also love how the game allows you to be truly overpowered if you really know what you're doing. It seems that the game can either be very easy or very hard depending on your smarts going into it. There are those who complain about boss battles taking a half hour or more to defeat, which tells me that they MUST be trying to play it like a traditional old school turn based RPG, which is simply NOT how you play that game. You can't just turn your brain off during combat which I absolutely love! You have to actually think about what you're doing. The game gives you all the tools you need to be absolutely overpowered even at very low levels, so there's really no excuse unless you just plain suck at the game.

Came for the cookies, stayed for the good times.

I really enjoyed the game, hit a wal after putting it down for a bit and trying to pick it back up.. but I remember it being really solid.. minor nitpicks bring it down on ratings. But if you really care about that bullshit.

Keep going Cody.

I mean.... I like the Piano too & the way it sounds, but I think the soundtrack could have did with at least a couple more instruments thrown in at times when appropriate, like for Boss or Dungeon themes & such. The town & exploration based music would be fine just using Piano, but having the entire soundtrack be nothing but that one instrument? Yeah, I can see why some would complain about that.

If you like this game then you could try Lost Sphear as well. It's made by the same developer and is basically just I am Setsuna but took place in the Autumn instead. There's also Oninaki which is also from the same developer but I had not play that one yet so can't really recommend it yet but do check it out.

I haven't played this, and I generally don't mind spoilers, but *bruh* ... I'm genuinely surprised by the ending.

I played it on my nintendo Switch patiently waiting for the physical Release come from Japan and dive into it.... I cant say i didn't enjoyed it but there's one small problem.... I found a nice grinding place and i maxed out all my character... By the time i managed to do it... I forgot where i was supposed to do next 😂

The good news is that they can't nostalgia bait me with CT, 'cause I hate that game and have since it came out!

If Nidr is of Norse descent, it should be pronounced like “neither”, but with a “d” instead of “th”.

I had problems with it and had things I loved. Loved the music, hated the story. Loved the character design, hated the sidequests. Also the final playable character is unlocked immediately before the final boss and any side quests or attempt to get their abilities has to be done by leaving the final dungeon. i just think... it could've been more. There are other games not high budget that I had way more fun with.

That is octopath traveler music right?

Pretty fair review, the marketing of the game was a bit over the top and hurted it hindsight.

Great video. I Am Setsuna was enjoyable and a nostalgia trip. I enjoyed my time with it. Side note, who plays league of legends with a controller?? 1:57

42:00 it was interesting how to talk about this game having bosses casting stop so much that resisting it is the tactic. Then you talked about First Departure R right after but didn't mention how that game is all about resisting stone.

You're a timeless classic

WOOOOO

I messed up my play thru 😪 now i need to grind to beat where i am at

I've been interested in this game for a while but never got around to grabbing it, partially cause I mostly hear stuff along the lines of "It's aggressively mediocre," but this somehow feels more genuine to me (Don't ask me why, idk), so I might do so at some point in the future. (Still not sold on Lost Sphear tho, but I'm aware that it's demo isn't representative of how the actual game is) *39:10* Also, I'm sorry, but the first encounter with *who?* Fr tho, that is a very unfortunate typo. Lol.

At least i got cookies!

One of those games if you are slightly interested give it a try

I am setsuna is the third game in the chronotrigger series

I read what it was about on Steam and thought it sounded nearly exactly like FFX so I just kinda put it in wishlist and forgot about it. Seems pretty cool though.

i need u to review more RPG games please. thank u

League of legends … with a controller … DEAR GOD THE MAN IS INSANE

The game was bad at conveying information. Like all the accessories and add-ons you could equip... but it the game couldn't be arsed to explain what any of them did. What stats they boosted, what buffs or immunities they might have given, etc etc. Any it stole Chrono Trigger's battle gimmick, but unlike Chrono Trigger, failed to show things like what enemies would be hit by Cyclone. It felt like I was just flying blind, which explains why I gave up on about eight hours in.

I consider I am Setsuna to be decent at best. It doesn't have half the charm and atmosphere of Chrono Trigger, it's characters aren't as memorable, it's environments are bland and repetitive, and the time travel is minimal so it can't even be said to be following the same idea. Also, it does definitely need something other than the piano for it's score because the calm tone that the piano creates just doesn't work for a lot of scenes. Hence why it's decent. It's not exceptional at anything and not horrible at anything either.

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

I am Setsuna's issue is the monster design and the fact that all the dungeons are extremely bland. Lost Sphear fixes those issues to some degree but its story on the other hand is bland AF. Setsuna's story isn't really that bad on the other hand.

I cant play this kind of game anymore.... nowadays i play something of its own styles such as ONI and factorio

Unsure if intentional that you make an apology of being unsure of how to pronounce Nidr, then say Or-on, twice in a row 😂

I'm worried about the things we lost during the 80's/90's which was privacy without social sites or the sense of adventure we had when we got our bikes. Games evolved pretty damn well but as many have now realized game companies are using games to milk out their customers with micro transactions or 10+ DLCs. Nostalgia is fine to have but we also probably are feeling the actual weight of the changes happening around us.

Hey wanna get some johnny rockets with me?

Why is this game so expensive on the third market? They want like $79.99 for a game that IGN gave a 7.5 and GameSpot gave it a 7. Is it really a hidden gem?

gave it a good 10hrs and it didn't go anywhere. Nah, the game wasn't working for me

First

lol playing league with a controller

This game is terrible. If you take out all of the chrono trigger wanna be references, it has absolutely nothing. as a huge fan of Chrono Trigger, it did absolutely nothing for me. Everything is boring and you just need to have it. So you act first and obliterate the battlefield. that's the entire game. Total pass or play it for free. And that's the case for every tokyo rpg factory game.

This game for me is an 8 or a 7 out of 10! This game deserves more attention and praise!