Shortly after the announcement of Tokyo RPG Factory's new project, Lost Sphear has an official website with numerous details on the game. Readers may recall that Tokyo RPG Factory is Square Enix's new internal studio tasked with creating new, indie-retro style JRPGs like I am Setsuna. Lost Sphear will be their second outing.

A translation to the website's cryptic introduction and story synopsis can be found below.

Introduction

Story

This "Lost" Phenomenon is central to the story of Lost Sphear, where objects mysteriously turn into a white fog and disappear. This phenomenon is said to be a result of Memory loss (whatever that means) and has been happening all over the world, including in the protagonist Kanata's hometown of Eru.

The story begins with 16 year old Kanata from the lunar bell town of Eru. Through his calm demeanor makes him seem mature, he still has not outgrown his child-like hotheadedness. He is a self-taught swordsman, but as his skills rival those of an imperial soldier he is tasked with exterminating monsters that occasionally plague the town.

Kanata awakens to a power to change the world through Memories when the Lost phenomenon strikes Eru, and soon after the Empire asks his assistance to investigate as it occurs throughout the world. He chooses to cooperate in hopes that his power can be of use, but also to search for his who disappeared when he was a boy.

Lumina, age 18, is Kanata's childhood friend who stumbled into Eru as a little girl. When she first appeared she was quite stoic, neither laughing nor crying, but she slowly opened up through her friendship with Kanata. As a result she cares deeply for him, but is confused about whether her feelings are romantic or platonic.

In terms of physical and magical ability she is unremarkable, but still she contributes to the team with her self-taught martial arts skills. While she can be rough with her close friends Kanata and Locke, in truth she is a polite and gentle young woman.

Locke is the third of the trio of friends in Eru, and the youngest at 13. However his gregarious nature often puts him in the lead of the other two. He is a skilled tinkerer who quickly mastered the craft of making cross-bows, which he uses when he clears monsters from the village with his friends.

Secretly, he is the son of a high ranking Imperial official, but he his feelings for his father are complicated as they have never met. His desire to meet his father is part of the reason he joins Kanata when he leaves the village.

Van is a 20 year old man who shows up in Eru with apparent knowledge of the Lost Phenomenon, though he holds his cards close to his chest. His cold words belie his kind heart. Upon witnessing Kanata's power, he decides to cooperate with the children and accompany them to the Empire.

He fights by controlling mysterious weapons called Bits that can both attack and defend. They are quite difficult to use as they require immense concentration, but the result can be overwhelming.

Kanata and his teammates will travel through a vast world with diverse locales and cultures.

Combat in Lost Sphear is based on the Active Time Battle 2.0 system from Chrono Trigger, where battles begin seamlessly on the map after encountering enemies.

However, one new wrinkle is the ability to move characters around the map during combat. Take advantage of this feature to line up the perfect shot or sword slash.

Lost Sphear comes out in Japan on PS4 and Switch this fall, and additionally on PS4, Switch, and PC in the West in early 2018.

• Gematsu

• Lost Sphear Screenshots
• Lost Sphear Official Website