I Am Setsuna, the new Japanese role-playing game that draws inspiration from games like Chrono Trigger, will be released on July 19 for PS4 and PC (through Steam), Square Enix announced today.
Here’s how Square Enix sets up the story: “I Am Setsuna tells the sorrowful story of Setsuna, a young woman of incredible inner strength, and the sacrifice she must undertake to the save the people of her land. Players will be immersed in an emotional and unforgettable story of true bravery as Setsuna leaves her hometown with her bodyguards on a journey to the farthest land.”
While it’s Setsuna’s story, the main playable character is a mercenary named Endir “whose destiny is changed upon meeting Setsuna.”
First announced at E3 2015 under the working title Project Setsuna, the game is the first project from the new studio Tokyo RPG Factory. The team’s goal was to recreate the golden years of JRPGs, and it draws inspiration from the combat system in Chrono Trigger, among elements of other classic games.
GameSpot spoke with director Atsushi Hashimoto earlier this year about reviving that classic RPG feel.
“As video games become more diverse and you have different types of games, I’m sure players also develop their own different tastes,” he said. “That’s why the Setsuna team thought there could be a game that exists that pays homage to those good old classic RPGs. It’s great that there are people that are out there that support and want to encourage those kinds of games to be born.”
I Am Setsuna was released in Japan in February following a relatively short development period of about 18 months. Square Enix said last year it’ll wait to see how it performs before deciding whether it’ll turn it into a series.