Lost Sphear[a] is a role-playing video game developed by Tokyo RPG Factory and published by Square Enix for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows.

The gameplay has Kanata and his party exploring different regions of the world to restore vanished zones, with combat making use of a version of the Active Time Battle system.

The game began development after the release of I am Setsuna (2016), with multiple returning staff including director Atsushi Hashimoto, writers Hirotaka Inaba and Makoto Goya, and composer Tomoki Miyoshi.

Some areas called Monuments can have their properties changed using different memories, which impacts factors such as movement speed and gains of experience points, ingredients for cooking, and in-game currency.

[4] Combat, triggered by running into enemies, uses a version of the Active Time Battle system; characters will attack when a meter fills in real-time, though an option pauses the timer while players are selecting skills.

He is initially employed by the powerful Gigante Empire, but upon learning their lack of ethical methods and the fact that their actions are worsening the problem, he defects and sets out on his own.

During an early mission for the Empire, Locke is severely injured, and is secretly turned into a mechanical soldier who initially fights the party before regaining his memories and rejoining them.

The game ends with a shot of the cast, including Lumina depending on the final choice, gazing up at the completed Moon shining on an intact landscape.

[9][2] The first talks about Lost Sphear began following the release of I am Setsuna (2015), with production running parallel to the earlier game's Nintendo Switch port.

[16] A similar sombre tone was wanted to I am Setsuna, so the game drew direct inspiration from the Japanese phrase "hakanai", meaning "fleeting".

[13] Hashimoto later described creating the scenario as like "all-out war", with one person writing the draft, a team of event planners translating it into the game, and himself checking it for consistency.

[25] The game released in North America and Europe on January 23, 2018, with the physical PS4 and Switch versions being exclusive to Square Enix's online store.

[32] Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life, while noting a large number of derivative elements in its design, called Lost Sphear "an engaging world, deep battle system, and plenty of replayability which will likely delight many an RPG fan.

"[7] RPGFan's Rob Rogan summed Lost Sphear up as "an unremarkable yet pleasant JRPG experience", feeling that the studio had potential to further refine the systems they had built on and introduced in the game.

[35] Eurogamer's Simon Parkin noted some interesting and innovative mechanics, but otherwise felt a larger team and budget had caused harmful bloat in the game's design.

"[33] James O'Connor of GameSpot praised the depth of the combat system and the later parts of the story, but faulted much of the rest of the game for pacing issues and filler tasks.

[6] Leif Johnson of PC Gamer found the combat to be the one enjoyable part of his experience, with the rest of the game's systems and design feeling either shallow or needlessly complex.

[34] From review aggregate website Metacritic, the game earned scores of 69 (Switch, PC) and 68 (PS4) out of 100 points, indicating a "mixed or average" reception.

[28][29][30] A recurring point raised by reviewers was a large number of elements borrowed from earlier RPG titles or other pieces of media,[3][7][8] which several critics faulted as a lack of originality.