Welp, after 10 minutes of watching gameplay, I want it. It's even on Steam! I've added it to my wishlist and will have to grab it eventually. Reviews have been great, too!
Let me know how it goes. I'd be interested to know how high a Chrono fan rates it.
I've played both I Am Setsuna, and Cosmic Star Heroin. Both have their strengths...The battle system in Setsuna is pretty similar to Trigger, but like most TB RPGS today, it's easy. It's actually easier to rely on physical attacks, or single character area attacks. The tech system is there, but is a little confusing with all of the rune stuff you have to equip to use anything. The game never really provides any incentive to actually figure out the system, as you can basically hack everything to death. It is important to learn some healing techs though.
Setsuna's biggest downfall is that it's just kind of...boring. The premise is cool, and it does have a certain Trigger vibe to it, but the sensationalism wears off quickly once you realize the game never really develops...both in terms of story and character. It's all very one dimensional, which is really too bad since it has all of the right components to be great...it just wasn't.
All in all I think it's worth playing, but I wouldn't expect this to give you that return to Trigger feeling that many of us were hoping for. I'm not sure I would pay full price for it knowing what I know now, but it's certainly worth a look if you can nab it for $15 or so.
Cosmic Star Heroin is great, albeit with some issues! It's an awesome throwback to SNES style RPGs when a cheesy "action movie" plot and retro 80s synth music. The battle system itself isn't all that complex, but how the game makes you use it can be! I played it on the hardest setting, and there were constantly situations where you had to plan out your moves and tactics or it was an instant game over. I found it to be a really enjoyable game! The story and character development felt...young...but it also doesn't take itself very seriously, so honestly I didn't mind. It was easy to take the game for what it was. That being said, if you aren't into a serious story presented comically that implements every cliche in the book, this might not be the game for you.
All in all both are fun games. Setsuna gives the impression that they wanted to do so much more but either didn't know how, or didn't have the resources. It's a short, maybe 10 to 15 hour story with very little development. They basically hand you the plot in the first 10 minutes, and it never strays for the entire game.
Cosmic Star is a little longer, I think I clocked in close to 30 hours to get the platinum on PS. It's a tongue in cheek throwback to the 80s built to resemble the SNES platform. It's not an overly deep game, but it has the feeling of pulling out your old system and playing a classic that you remember fondly. I'd love to see them take on a serious game in the same style...maybe with better writers and a different composer for the score.
