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New info on I am Setsuna's Battle System and Gameplay features.
A demo version of I am Setsuna was available to play at PAX East recently and the good folks at Siliconera wrote a pretty snazzy breakdown of the game mechanics.
Any one who has watched the trailers or spotted the screenshots will quickly realize that I am Setsuna based its combat system on legendary cult classic Chrono Trigger, but anyone who figured that was that and not to expect more from this "throwback game" will be pleasantly surprised to discover that while CT was the basis for the system, the developers expanded it in their own unique way.
The game also borrows from Final Fantasy VII with the Spiritnite system; characters equip their skills and techs to their equipment much like how materia worked in FFVII, meaning you have to make choices as you unlock more and more abilities. Spiritnites can be produced at special Magical Consortiums located in towns, as long as you have the right materials to produce them.
Here's where things get a bit interesting, while enemies drop said materials, it doesn't use a standard common/rare/super rare drop like say... FFXII or even Xenoblade, instead the enemy will drop materials based on the type of attack that killed them. So physical, magical, and status effect based deaths will actually produce different drop materials and you'll need to be flexible and experimental with the skill system to actually obtain all the materials needed to get all the game's various Spiritnites.
Another mechanic that is reminiscent but different from a mechanic in Persona 2, is a mechanic called Fluxes. Fluxes are a semi-random event in battle when your characters use different techs, combos, and magic in battle. Fluxes that occur in battle upgrade your Spiritnites by adding special and permanent effects to your Spiritnites, like a melee tech gaining the added bonus of inflicting Confuse on an opponent, or a healing spell adding a regen status when used. This creates more reasons to experiment and use different techs and abilities in battle.
Like Chrono Trigger, positioning is key to winning in this game as techs and combos are limited to certain attack range and targeting, so sometimes you need to wait until enemies draw in closer before pulling off that powerful tech attack, but on the other hand, some enemies will use powerful final attacks when defeated that affect the area around them, so it's important to remember these enemies so you can snipe them from far off.
The battle mechanics are designed in a way to keep your mind into the battle system instead of just spamming one attack over and over. The Momentum System is another means of accomplishing this. As you battle a circular bar fills up a maximum of three times as you battle and these give you three chances to add the hurt on your opponents. When using a tech or combo while having a charge in the Momentum system active, you can gain various bonuses by timing a Square button press during the move. Some attacks will do more damage, others will inflict status buffs/debuffs depending on the move and so forth, so it's important to stay actively involved in the battle.
The game also will have a food mechanic much like Suikoden and Star Ocean, where you can prepare food from recipes obtained in villages that grant special bonuses for the characters in battle.
So far, I am Setsuna is showing that it's not going to just be a clone of old school RPGs but instead, use their mechanics as a spring board for new innovations. The game will be released this Summer in the West for PS4 and Steam.
