Tactical Combat System
Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Sleep on Lost Sphear
Players have a lot of choice when it comes to engaging enemies in Lost Sphear. Running around foes is a viable strategy. But if the player does want to fight, running into a group of enemies doesn’t pause the game and take the player to a battlefield like most JRPGs. The action starts immediately and forces the player to maintain battle awareness right off the bat.
Location is everything. Players will have to direct where their characters stand while choosing an attack. The enemy can move too, creating an ever-evolving game for positional superiority. For those familiar with JRPGs and Active Time Battle Systems, this is nothing new. However, Lost Sphear borrows the same amendments to the system that I Am Setsuna made, and forces the player to consider the timing of attacks as well.
Although most Active Time Battle Systems involve the player taking character position, abilities, weapons, and type effectiveness into account, Lost Sphear also forces the player to consider when certain attacks will land. Forcing an enemy’s attack to land early may stave off death for a few more seconds, while timing a party member’s special attack just right could give it just enough of a boost to defeat an enemy in one less turn. This addition creates new levels of strategy and stress in equal measure, and provides plenty of options for how the player can pursue combat. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Lost Sphear’s enemies evolve as the game goes on, as I Am Setsuna got a bit too easy once the player got the hang of timing attacks.