I am Setsuna

É um bom jogo mas... Sempre tem o mas Se diz inspirado em Chrono Trigger, mas em qual parte realmente é inspirado em CT? No sistema de combate, é tão simples quanto, com poucas diferenças, mas pra mim é apenas isso essa tal inspiração. Trilha sonora é toda composta por músicas de piano, pessoalmente não consegui achar nenhuma música memorável, não é ruim, é apenas ok... A história é razoável, não é nada de incrível ou fantástica. E sem muita reviravolta. Os gráficos são bons, nada de jogo coloridinho, e sem muita variação de cenários... Sem muita variedade de inimigos, muitos deles só mudam a skin. Aí você junta isso tudo: Músicas melancólicas, ambientado na neve, uma história triste com uma narrativa razoável ... E você terá I am Setsuna (pessoalmente achei a história uma bosssssque)... Personagens também não são nada memoráveis, a maioria deles são bem paia pra falar a verdade. Pra quem gosta de RPG ou JRPG no caso, vale a pena. Um jogo que não é nem ruim e nem muito bom, apenas um jogo ok... jogável de boa. E se eu tiver que dar uma nota seria um 7,5/10 (mentira achei um 7/10).

I am Setsuna is a deliberately restrained and emotionally focused role-playing game that seeks to rekindle the spirit of classic Japanese RPGs through atmosphere, music, and traditional systems rather than spectacle or scale. Developed by Tokyo RPG Factory and published by Square Enix, the game positions itself as a homage to the genre’s formative years, drawing inspiration from beloved titles of the 1990s while telling a quiet, melancholic story of sacrifice and duty. From its opening moments, it makes clear that its ambitions are emotional rather than grandiose, inviting players into a world defined by snow, silence, and sorrow. The narrative centers on Endir, a mercenary whose life becomes intertwined with Setsuna, a young woman chosen to undertake a pilgrimage that will culminate in her own death for the sake of the world. Monsters threaten humanity, and the ritual sacrifice of a chosen girl is believed to calm their fury. This premise immediately sets a somber tone, and the journey that follows is less about heroic triumph and more about acceptance, companionship, and the quiet weight of inevitability. The story unfolds in a largely linear fashion, focusing on the emotional burden carried by Setsuna and those who choose to accompany her. While the plot does not frequently surprise, it maintains a consistent thematic focus that reinforces its central ideas of loss, resolve, and fleeting warmth in a cold world. One of the game’s most defining features is its presentation, particularly its commitment to a winterbound aesthetic. Nearly every location is cloaked in snow, from remote villages to ancient ruins, creating a sense of isolation that permeates the entire adventure. This visual consistency reinforces the narrative’s melancholy, though it can also feel visually monotonous over long stretches. Complementing the visuals is an exceptional piano-driven soundtrack that serves as the emotional backbone of the experience. The music is sparse, reflective, and deeply evocative, often carrying more emotional weight than dialogue itself. Simple piano melodies follow the player through towns, dungeons, and story moments, imbuing even routine exploration with a quiet sadness that lingers long after the notes fade. Combat in I am Setsuna adheres closely to classic turn-based design, employing an Active Time Battle system that will feel instantly familiar to fans of older JRPGs. Characters act as their gauges fill, encouraging players to think tactically about timing, positioning, and ability usage. The Spritnite system allows skills and magic to be customized through equippable crystals, offering flexibility in how each character functions within the party. A notable addition is the Momentum mechanic, which rewards precise timing by enhancing abilities when actions are executed at the right moment. This adds a subtle layer of engagement that prevents battles from feeling entirely passive, while still maintaining the measured pace associated with traditional RPG combat. As the journey progresses, characters join Endir and Setsuna, each bringing their own perspectives on the pilgrimage and its grim purpose. These companions reflect different ways of coping with loss and obligation, and while their arcs are understated, they contribute to the game’s reflective tone. Dialogue tends to be concise and introspective, sometimes to a fault, as the game often favors mood over deep character development. This approach will resonate strongly with players who appreciate subtle storytelling, but may leave others wishing for more dynamic interactions or dramatic escalation. From a mechanical standpoint, the game is intentionally streamlined. Exploration is straightforward, side content is limited, and progression systems are easy to grasp without extensive tutorials or complexity. This simplicity helps maintain focus on the narrative and atmosphere, but it also means that players seeking dense systems, branching storylines, or extensive endgame content may find the experience lacking in depth. Difficulty remains generally manageable throughout, with challenge coming more from resource management and preparation than from sudden spikes or punishing encounters. Ultimately, I am Setsuna stands as a reflective tribute to a bygone era of RPG design, one that prioritizes tone, music, and emotional cohesion over innovation or scale. Its snowbound world and haunting piano score create a memorable atmosphere that carries the experience even when its mechanics and story remain familiar. While it may not satisfy players looking for bold experimentation or narrative complexity, it offers a sincere and carefully crafted journey for those willing to embrace its quiet melancholy. As a meditation on sacrifice and companionship rather than a tale of conquest, it remains a distinctive and heartfelt entry in the modern JRPG landscape. Rating: 7/10

可是雪啊，飘进双眼

Me and my wife used this game as an example of one of the first games we never finished, which became a running theme for us, so I recently came back to play it from the beginning to actually finish it. I am Setsuna fails to deliver on nearly everything it presents to us with just enough going for it so you can gaslight yourself into playing just a bit longer since maybe it will get good, but it never does. Starting with the gameplay. The momentum system (once you finish googling how to actually trigger it reliably) CAN be enjoyable. It has decent enough game feel, and when it meaningfully alters how the skill works, it can be tactically satisfying. Also, some of the skills are fun to use and allowed for variety in the way I played. However, this is undermined by every enemy in this game being extraordinarily one note. A painful example of this is a boss hyped up to be responsible for the glowing purple barriers in the overworld, you might imagine they have some sort of shield ability, or interesting magic, or anything interesting about them. But their only moves are the same rush attack but with different elements. That's it. You never feel any pressure to adjust your tactics based on the enemy you fight, you can force-feed the exact same strategy against virtually every enemy in the game and find similar success. And its not just the bosses, the mob encounters are also extremely bland. Its very easy to approach a group from behind to start with a full turn and a charge of momentum, do two AoE moves, and they all die. And this isn't from being over-leveled, I never did any grinding in this game and even started to avoid as many encounters as I could about halfway through since they were so mind-numbingly repetitive. Also, their decision to have the enemies randomly wander around but have it actually matter for the area of effect of some moves, felt extremely clunky. Only a few skills let you manipulate where you or enemies are positioned, and the ones that do are outrageously clunky and rarely put you right where you want to be. Sometimes this can be the difference between one of your characters going down, or two, because the game arbitrarily squished your characters too close together and they got hit by the same attack. Plus, some encounters are meant to be fixed positions, but the game is janky enough that sometimes your characters will still slightly move. For example against the final boss, by the end of it my team slowly rotated towards the right, and the boss was awkwardly facing at a 2/3rds angle away from the camera. The positions mattering for certain moves only detracted from the experience, they were better off without it. Speaking of janky, one of my support spritnites stopped working entirely after it got a flux added onto it, and it was something I was trying to 'build' for (you don't have to bother with builds, it won't matter). Who knows how many other under-the-hood bugs were screwing things up. This could be excusable with a good story, and from the premise it sounds like it would be good, right? Even if it is basically just a ripoff of ff10. But for this story to be emotional like it advertises you have to be using a LOT of imagination. --------- SPOILERS AHEAD ----------- This story suffers from the writing style where a mystery is setup that you want to know more about, which keeps you playing, and then the reveal is completely unsatisfying. Who is this mysterious and sinister man who hired the mc to kill Setsuna? Its just the second in command to another party member who only wanted Setsuna killed because she was corrupted by monster blood or whatever, and this second in command also does not care about Setsuna being killed at all anymore the next time you talk to him. The thread goes absolutely nowhere. Nidr is Setsuna's father? But doesn't want to tell her? Will we get any sort of interesting tension about that? Will he treat her differently? Maybe he will have conflicting feelings watching the only thing left of his love go off to die? Of course not lol, they do absolutely nothing with that thread. Aeterna suddenly vanishes? We don't know if she is alive or dead? Maybe someone will have feelings about this? Well no, they just move on, they only talk about being worried that they might not be able to make it to the last lands, but nobody entertains the idea of grieving what might have been the loss of their companion. And when she returns instead they are just suspicious. Aeterna's nature was actually a big tease, they kept on hinting at something strange about her, with her being unusually powerful, knowing too much, and all that. When it is revealed? Its... Unexpected... But it adds nothing. The party asks some questions, but nobody has any feelings about it. Its just a convoluted reason Aeterna has to disappear to 'die' at the end. And of course, none of the characters say anything about how by killing the time judge they cause Aeterna's death :/ when we spent the whole game finding reasons to not kill characters we don't have to, and we just kind of go for it without question on the time judge. Inconsistent and sloppy. The worst one is the whole premise itself. You would think we would explore some emotions about Setsuna being on a quest to die, but they barely mention it whatsoever. Its very matter of fact. I figured what they were doing was that once we get to the end, that's when people would start to get sad or have more of a conversation about what was going to happen, but when we finally get to the point where Setsuna would be sacrificed any potential tension is immediately tossed away since the time judge character immediately starts off saying that Setsuna doesn't have to die. The potential emotional payoff I figured they couldn't possibly mess up just entirely abandoned. Oh, and when there is a new convoluted reason Setsuna has to die, by that point I don't feel a single thing. Its a new reason invented from nothing at all, ties into nothing from before, and is completely unexplained. It also happens away from the rest of the party, and we don't get to see anyone's reaction to it. Its also very short, you can breeze right through it in a couple nights. For $40 its pretty outrageous. There are so many better jrpg's out there, and I wonder, with this game being my last experience with a jrpg for years after if it was the reason I hadn't played more jrpg's since then. I'd give this a 4/10 in a good mood. Oh yeah and some people complain the music is bad since its only piano but I was a fan, so it has that going for it I guess. Also the characters visual designs do actually slap for days.

Lost gem from the 2010s

A beautiful game with a beautiful story, very under rated! It made me cry and long for a time before all the triple A games. If on sale again, I highly recommend you play it. "I am Setsuna" I am but a fleeting moment..

Yes, it has warts, but it wins out on character and atmosphere. Does not overstay its welcome.

I assume most of us got to this game by one of two reasons, this is a game made by Square Enix or the absolute gem that is the soundtrack. I got here by the latter and even though I have a hard time recommending the game to anyone, I will definitely listen to the soundtrack again and again in the future. It effectively enhances the cold and isolated atmosphere of a snowridden world and a journey destined to end in sacrifice. Now why do I have a hard time recommending this game even when there are some very strong elements to the overall game. It's because a lot of the game is just...mediocre. Given I had high expectations based on the fact that it's a SE game and I could only imagine what sort of game is deserving of such a soundtrack, so even a decent average game was inevitably going the be a disappointment. Characters First off, the characters are personality wise just very bland. Yes, most of them have a motivation and personal struggles but none of it is explored deeply. The characters primarily tell you their struggles rather than showing it through action or having them properly contemplate on it. The most egregious being Nidr, [spoiler] Setsuna's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ father, never having a single moment with his, unbeknownst to her, daughter.[/spoiler] ..because god forbid I start caring about the characters and their interpersonal problems. Setsuna, although a likeable character for the most part, is also very bland. She always railroads to the typical dialogue of what you would expect of pure, innocent, and goodhearted character. Which isn't a problem on its own, but it becomes one when you can predict her every single reaction to each situation. This would be fine if it was just an NPC or a side character, but she is supposed to be the emotional core of the story. With the premise of going on a journey with the goal of sacrificing yourself, you would expect her to have some doubts but still be determined. The only doubts she has is whether we can complete our journey, not whether she'll be alright or whether her life has any value. Which again is not immediately mediocre, however at the very least we should get some backstory or explanation on how this pure selfless (and arguably self destructive) mindset came to be. And don't even get me started on our main character Endir. A borderline silent protagonist with some actually funny dialogue options, typically they are somewhat mean and coldhearted, but every single party member plays it off as an "oh you silly you", which again can be fine but we never see the characters properly getting acquainted with him so how do they know he is "stoicly joking around" and not just an actual ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥? Which has been my interpretation of him through the entire game, made the story more tolerable imo. World The idea behind the world is very intriguing. A harsh and icy world, where people have to survive against nature and monsters. A widely known ritual of sacrificing one of their own just so every other person can live just a little bit more comfortable. But it's just...so bland. Given that the NPC dialogue nicely varies with different thoughts on the situation, almost every area look like every other area. The amount of times I got lost on the [spoiler]flying ship[/spoiler] just because the world is empty with barely any proper landmarks to help navigate... It's snow, just snow and only snow...some icy caves...and then suprise suprise...more snow. The villages are also tiny and unmemorable, barely having anything that makes them stand out. You do get to see some scattered remains of destroyed villages on the overworld, but it's not nearly enough to reflect the struggles the people of such a world have to endure. Gameplay Combat is very typical and also very shallow. There are several elemental attacks that barely make a noticeable difference unless there is an obvious resistance to it. There are combination attacks that requires the turns of two characters, but they are almost never worth it with the steep MP cost, the damage equivalent of only 1-1.5x character, and the needed skills to activate them possibly being useless depending on your team comp. I played around but I barely used the combo attacks. The game also has an inheritance system to buff skills by equipping charms there is a chance (when using the momentum mechanic) to pass one of the charm's passive skills onto the equipped skill. Even when spamming this mechanic it happened too infrequent to actually use it as a proper tool. Also the results can be very underwhelming i.e. the reduce mana cost skill buffed my Fire II attack from 24 mana cost to a whopping 23 mana cost. The areas to explore are also very blandly designed, most enemies can be walked past by if you just can't be bothered and the level layout is just so basic and uninteresting. To add to the tedium there are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ minibosses just casually scattered on the map ready to wreck your ♥♥♥♥. You can escape with a cheap item, but the moment you don't notice you accidentally walked into a miniboss you can say goodbye to your last 20-30 min progression. Additionally you will often find locked chests throughout the levels that you can't open. How do you open them? [spoiler]Being at 80% of the story[/spoiler], so now you get to backtrack towards all the previous places (to be fair at this point you can take the [spoiler]airship[/spoiler] to these different areas, but you will still have to jump off and go through the map), which is just a shamelessly archaic manner to artificially increase playtime. And don't even get me started on the mediocre boss fights that are just hard hitting damage sponges. Definitly the dumbest thing this game does is [spoiler] giving you your final party member right before the final boss...well gee it's only the coolest edgy emo character in the game...would have hated to have fun with him on my team...[/spoiler] TLDR; Just listen to the OST and pretend there is a good game attached to this.

Boring, bland and soulless copycat of FFX. I've tried but I'm not Setsuna.

This was the first JRPG I played from start to finish. I was recently talking to a friend that is really into JRPGs, and it came to my mind that I heard this game's soundtrack when I was on a Spotify Radio station for another song. I bought it on sale, and I enjoyed it. Reading other reviews, they speak of issues that I do somewhat agree with, but I would still recommend playing this game nonetheless. The story is somewhat interesting, but it does take half the game to get going in my opinion. Each character, although following stereotypes (mostly silent main character with inexplicable past, a girl that's too kind for her own good, the character with absolutely no backstory until the end of the game, rugged old man with a sad backstory and trauma, the eager kid that wants to go out and see the world, and the sheltered princess that is now learning the truth about the world), is likeable. The highlight are the visuals and atmosphere: The game looks gorgeous within its art style, and uses a mix of 2D and 3D assets very well. The lighting looks pretty and the characters pop out of the environments. But more than anything, the eternally falling snow paired to a soundtrack scored almost exclusively with *a single piano* is a genuinely emotional experience. It's an active time battle system (ATB) with the addition of a QTE system usable by charging a separate bar. As my first time seeing one of these, it took a tiny bit to get used to, but (by default, can be changed in settings) time freezes once you've selected an initial action, so you can use that time to think. Some of the reviews mention that the game feels unbalanced and that the enemies deal too much damage. I partly disagree with this, because I only died around 5 times total and those happened because I got careless with my turn management and didn't heal or manage aggro properly (but I do think the enemies deal a lot of damage, I don't think getting two-shot by every boss should be normal.) The gear system is a bit much, as there are too many items to collect by killing enemies a certain way so you can use their drops to get skills. Or at least, I think there are too many skills and collectibles considering the game's runtime of around 10 hours if you don't do any level grinding. I got overzealous and went into the endgame area around 7 or so levels above what I had when unlocking it. I think this game is beautiful. I want to know why the game studio got shut down, so I am planning on playing its two other titles. Get this one if it's on sale. I had fun. 9/10.