Lost Sphear story trailer showcases combat, memories, and the moon

The retro-styled JRPG Lost Sphear, announced in May by I Am Setsuna developer Tokyo RPG Factory, follows the adventures of Kanata, a young boy whose hometown has begun to disappear. To restore what's been lost, he and his friends "set out to rebuild the world around them with the power of Memory by manifesting thoughts into matter." 

I said at the time that the description didn't really give me a firm grasp of what it's all about. Now Square Enix has released a new story trailer, and I'll be honest—I still have questions. 

Kanata's power of Memory is backed up by the power of the sword, which isn't all that terribly surprising given that this is an RPG. But the whys and wherefores remain hazy—I don't feel like I know any more about the game than I did when the announcement trailer went up—and that bit at the end about the moon really comes out of nowhere. I wouldn't want to have everything spelled out for me in advance, uncovering the mystery is obviously an important part of a good RPG experience, but a little bit of clarification probably wouldn't hurt.

Lost Sphear is available for pre-purchase on Steam for $50/£35/€50, and is set for release on January 23, 2018. There's also a website to poke at up at lostsphear.com

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.