When you hear the name Sephiroth, anybody who has ever played an RPG or perhaps even any game at all might think of the infamous Sephiroth from Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII which is currently being remade. But the name is not exclusive to that game nor does it originate from it. So what is the etymology of the name Sephiroth? Sephiroth is a transliteration of the Hebrew word Sefirot which means emanations or to flow from. Knowing this will help you get some better handling of the basic set-up of the story.

Developed by Exe-Create and published by Kemco, Sephirotic Stories was released for iOS and Android in 2018 and subsequently released the following year for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via steam.

Not your Jenova’s Sephiroth

From the game’s intro:

“Shendoah—a world protected by Sephiroth.

Overflowing with abundant nature, people of various kinds and fairies live together in harmony. From Sephiroth’s four great boughs grow fruit, which when they fall are taken by two appointed to undergo a ceremonial selection.

During this ceremony, those with murk and those without are separated. The fruit found to be pure is granted a vessel and born into this world as a person…while the fruit with murk is given to the fairies and after being purified is returned to Sephiroth.

However, with Sephiroth’s power having begun to wane, numerous fruit with murk have grown, leaving the balance of the world on the verge of crumbling…“

Very lucrative DLC — albeit not free

The purchaseable DLC in this game is great for those who want to level up faster or just kind of want to focus more on the story. The available DLC is: Experience and SP x2, Experience x3, Full Restore (after battle), SP x3, No Encounters. Since this is not a full-price game, the price and all the DLC is still less than a regular discounted game. Around $30 American or so.

It’s a me, Harold

Silver coins like the one pictured above can be exchanged for equipment and other items. There are also gold variations which are naturally more rare and also be used to exchange for things as well. To reach floating coins, channel your inner Brooklyn, regal rescuing, mustached plumber and jump via the action button.

That is not all the action abilities the game has to offer either. You are able to lift crates and create makeshift bridges between gaps with those crates. Most other things are non-interactable however like searching the mushrooms in the above screenshot or searching drawers or cabinets in houses within a town.

Also notice how the monster has an icon above its head. This is the protagonist Harold’s character ability. He is able to sense enemies. This is helpful because sometimes they can blend into the background or if it is Izzy in the lead, become transparent. Each character has their own ability and they must be switched to the lead for you to use them.

Old-school turn-based battle system

Battles in Sephirotic Stories are done via symbol encounters rather than random encounters. One thing to note is that enemies do no chase after you nor do they run away. This is good because some map sections are very narrow and they would be very difficult to avoid.

Once you engage an enemy, either you or the enemy will have the upper hand in a preemptive strike or it will just be a regular battle. The ATB-like bar below the enemies names indicates the turn order. Once it is one of your character’s turns, the following commands will show up and are as described by the game as so:

Battle Commands:
Guard: Defends oneself.
Item: Uses item from inventory.
Skill: Attacks using learned skills.
Attack: Attacks with weapon.
Fusion: Attacks using preset skill combinations. (This is kind of a super move in which the Fusion bar on the bottom-right must be filled to use.)
Auto: Activates auto-battle.
Repeat: Automatically selects previous action.
Flee: Causes party to run.
Speed: Changes speed battle plays out.

Efficient globetrotting

There is no vast overworld to explore in between towns or fields like in more grand scale RPGs. Rather there is just a main screen to navigate. Perhaps due to budget constraints or just because it is easier to create.

While adventuring in non-town areas, there is something called a warp pentacle which is a green pentagram that must be activated on two sides before it is usable. They are very convenient so make sure to use them.

Synthesizer

In towns, there is the opportunity to weapon forge to increase the usefulness of weapons so try to take advantage of it as it is another way to get stronger.

Garden of seeden

During adventuring, you will come across sprigs of different statuses like strength and vitality. Not too long after you start, you get access to a garden which can be accessed by using the menu screen on the overworld. Opening the garden section allows you to plant three sprigs which can yield better items. If you have fertilizer, you can reap the rewards right away. If not, you have to wait ten game minutes.

Looks may not be deceiving in this case

As noted above, different palette swaps of enemies have different stats. The metal one, in traditional RPG fashion akin to the classical Dragon Quest series, nets you the most rewards and thus are the rarest.

Son of a glitch

During gameplay, you may encounter a glitch that prevents you from progressing the story. Here is how to fix it straight from Kemco’s official website:

【Issue】
The story event near the entrance of the Sephiroth’s Sanctuary may not trigger depending on the path took.

【Solution】
If the events in the Sephiroth’s Sanctuary do not trigger, please enter again the dungeon and advance the dungeon without using the warp pentacles. In this way the events will trigger normally.

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