I Am Setsuna

I am Setsuna is a turn-based JRPG designed as a deliberate homage to 1990s classics, especially Chrono Trigger. It uses an Active Time Battle system, a small party, and a focused narrative to create a streamlined experience. Its intent is clear: evoke nostalgia through structure rather than imitation.
The story follows a young mercenary tasked with escorting Setsuna, a maiden chosen for a sacrificial journey to keep monsters at bay. The narrative is built around themes of duty, loss, and inevitability. It is straightforward but sincere, and its quiet tone distinguishes it from more melodramatic JRPGs.
Combat uses an ATB system with tech-style combo abilities. Momentum points build during combat and let you power up skills for extra effects. Encounters are tactical, readable, and rarely waste time. The system rewards planning but avoids needless complexity, which keeps the pace tight.
Progression is menu-driven. New skills come from Spiritnite, which you slot into characters to define their roles. The system provides flexibility without creating overlong optimization layers. Gear upgrades are simple and tied to materials gained from battle actions.
The art direction is defined by snow. Every location is quiet, pale, and isolated. This limited palette creates a consistent mood. Character models and animations are modest but clean. The camera framing reinforces the game’s subdued tone.
The soundtrack by Tomoki Miyoshi is one of the game’s strongest elements. Solo piano tracks guide most scenes. The minimalist score aligns with the somber narrative and supports emotional beats without ornamentation.
I am Setsuna succeeds as a compact JRPG that prioritizes mood and clarity. It does not pursue spectacle or mechanical diversity, and some players may find its structure too narrow. For those who want a focused, melancholy RPG built around classic systems, it delivers its intentions with discipline.

Melancholic is a word I would use to describe this game, the setting, the music, the story, it is a melancholic journey you will enjoy.

My personal opinion of I Am Setsuna

I Am Setsuna is a beautifully made RPG that captures the nostalgia of classic JRPGs while introducing a heartfelt story (The story kinda gives off a Final Fantasy X vibe). The game's art style, inspired by the SNES era, is stunning, with snow covered landscapes and a melancholic atmosphere that adds depth to the narrative.

The music is beautiful, composed by Tomoki Miyoshi, and complements the emotional journey of the characters and what they go through.

The game play, while reminiscent of the old school turn based combat systems, is refined and engaging, offering both nostalgia and fresh challenges (The game has similar combat features like in Chrono Trigger with team up attacks).

Overall, I Am Setsuna is a must play for fans of traditional JRPGs, delivering an experience that may hit your nostalgia.

I enjoyed how the game tries to evoke the feel of a classic JRPG which is simple but meaningful, nostalgic yet emotional. The combat reminds me of retro turn-based game with an Active Time Battle (ATB) system, but layered with a “Momentum / Spiritnite” mechanic that adds an extra strategic aspect to every encounter. If used well, you get bonus hits, HP recovery or enhanced attacks which gives combat a bit more depth than basic 'attack, heal, repeat'. The game looks absolutely beautiful with characters that have their own burdens and secrets, which gives the story a sense of weight and sadness rather than a lighthearted fantasy.
If I were grading it for myself, I'd say its worth playing if you like old school JRPGs and don’t mind a bit of repetition. It’s definitely not perfect, yet it leaves a quietly lasting impression.
Difficulty to 100% -
(3/5)
Perfecting this means collecting all spiritnites, getting all upgrades, achievements related to flux, optional and secret bosses along with different recipes will demand a lot of patience. On top of it there is no fast travel option, auto battle system and a lot of things depend on RNG.... so that is quite painful as well. Bottom-line, not that difficult in terms of combat but really grindy in other areas of the achievement hunt.

Short review after 100% the game and getting every achievement: a fun throwback to oldschool JRPG taking inspiration from Chrono Trigger battle system with some of its own additions to spice things up.
Pros:
- Beatiful world and enviroments, you really feel the snow and winter themed inspiration
- Somber and relaxing piano music, great for a chill playthrough
- A cast of 7 characters, relatively unique
- Decent main story and playthrough around 20 to 30 hours
- Awesome combat system inspired by Chrono trigger, no random encounters, massive amount of dual and triple combos between characters with the additonal systems like momentum if you wait with your skill when you power up it adds different effects or dmg to it when you cast it, also your skills depending on your gear lv up different stats making team/meta builds very diverse and fun to explore
- Great bestiary/item/weapon system where each thing or monster you encounter can be read and watched in 3d in your menu
- Cool looking monsters and bosses
Cons:
- The winter themed world and piano themed music is awesome, but thats it, sadly no variation in enviroments and music do take away from the potential of the game a bit
- Cheap elite mobs which can be encountered early in game and cannot be beaten, the only difference from regular mobs is different colour which means you will have some gameover screens (they are meant to be tackled at near endgame however they appear very early ingame and have to be avoided)
- No sorting system for massive amount of Spritnites (this games skills) makes it a chore to equip your characters
- No real sidequest, the only ones are for ultimate characters skills for each of the 7 protagonists
If you are either a fan of oldschool JRPGS or are looking for an entry point in the genre this game is a solid choice and i do recommend it.

This is not a bad game. Very cute chibi style RPG game - the storyline and some character's personalities kind of reminds me of Final fantasy 10 ... There are some lack of character development--but its alright... They really should be a better improvement in some "quality of life" features of the game...
I shall return to this game someday... just because I accidentally forgot to save. I did progress such a long way and I made a stupid move and lost in a battle. Its making me start over from the save point I made waaaaay back. I'm too lazy to start over from such a long progress I made. This is probably one of the quality of life feature that needs improvement.. I don't get why I can't save in a town (safe area) but I can only save where I have to go into my menu in the world map area - this made me forget to save the game. Also -- I wish I can sprint or run in the world map area -- just another quality of life feature needed.

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.