Exstetra Review – The One Where the JRPG Party Members Kiss

Being a fan of the Vita was never easy throughout the 2010s. When it wasn’t being mocked by Western journalists as the “indie machine,” Western Vita fans were often left out of significant releases that remained exclusive to Japan. I could go on and on about how the West slept on the Vita, but today, I’m just glad to finally be playing Exstetra. This FuRyu-developed JRPG received decent coverage when it was revealed because of its kissing mechanic, but that’s about where the interest in the game seemed to drift. Regardless, I never forgot about it, and thankfully, FuRyu hasn’t either, as the developer has finally localized the game for Western fans eager to kiss their party members. While it’s not going to be the JRPG adventure of the summer, it does the best it can at being serviceable, and sometimes that’s all you need.

Exstetra’s Story Sends Tokyo Into Another World

Exstetra doesn’t waste time setting up its story, as our hero, Ryouma, wakes up with amnesia in a strange forest. It’s not long before a cute girl named Selene shows up to inform him that he is fated to be the Prisma, who will lead the Prism Knights to victory over an enemy known as Daidara. It’s not that difficult to wrap your head around, but the story becomes a little more involved once the main goal shifts toward collecting four Divine Decrees spread throughout the region and offering them at an altar.

The overarching story here is that Ryouma and company have been pulled away from their normal lives and into Amazia, a doomed land created when Tokyo fused with another world. Familiar locations such as Shibuya and Akihabara have been transformed into fantasy environments, and now, to get home, the group will need to prevent the destruction of both worlds. The Prism Knights are others from Earth who were also drawn into Amazia to fight. However, only Ryouma is a Prisma, a chosen savior capable of absorbing EXS from defeated enemies. The special perks of this position require him to share that power with his knights through a kiss, awakening their abilities and granting them access to powerful attacks known as EXS Arts.

Kissing and Romance Routes Lack Lasting Impact

While I think the kissing mechanic is interesting, I don’t think the story fully capitalizes on the effect it could have on the party members’ dynamics. Upon meeting a new recruit, Ryouma will kiss them, and by the next scene, they’ve already moved on from the topic. Mizuki is the first person you kiss and gives the most sincere reaction, but she’s also the favored best girl, so this energy is expected. When it comes to male characters like Masaru, I feel the game fails to really explore that awkwardness and instead settles for, “We’re just bros who kiss. Whoa, look, hot chicks!” Then there’s an indirect kissing bit that comes up a few more times later on.

Now, the male characters don’t have routes, but the five heroines do. Affection can influence battle, though its more noticeable purpose is determining which heroine’s route you eventually unlock. To get onto a particular route, you’ll need to kiss your best girl the most in battle by utilizing the EXS gauge. Toward the end, your kisses are added up, and you’ll unlock the romance route for that character. As I said, a straightforward first playthrough will likely lock you into the Mizuki path, but these routes mainly determine which character ending accompanies the main conclusion.

Exstetra’s Turn-Based Combat Has More Systems Than Strategy

This takes me to the battle system, which does have some nuance. Battles use a turn-based command system where players arrange a party of up to four characters across front and back rows. Companions waiting in reserve also factor into your overall formation, depending on the situation. The idea behind these rows is to build tension and weaken enemy groups as you close the gap in battle, while enemy traits and party relationships can also affect how encounters play out. However, the more significant systems come into play through equipment enchantment and skill placement.

Each piece of equipment has a level that can be raised using acquired upgrade items. Further, you can combine skills found across weapons, armor, and accessories to alter passive abilities and expand your options with follow-up attacks, improved dodging, support effects, and more. Each of these effects can also be stacked for greater results. It’s a pretty good system once you have a capable loadout, and it allows for a bit more customization. I’d also note that you’ll need to stay on top of upgrading your equipment, or else you’ll likely be overwhelmed by the enemies.

Battles in this game can get pretty lengthy, but thankfully, there is an auto-battle option. The issue is that I found myself relying mostly on auto-battle throughout my time playing. Any strategy involving unit placement, party relationships, or a heavy focus on specific EXS Arts was sidelined in favor of constantly improving my loadout and auto-battling my way through everything. I should also mention that this is one of those games where the battle ends when Ryouma dies, which I’ve never liked, but at least you’re able to retry the fight.

The larger problem is that the battles grow repetitive within the first hour, and lowering the difficulty to Casual removes much of the need for level grinding altogether. I can usually understand leaning on auto-battle against grunt enemies, but I tested it on bosses and still managed to get by. Some of them took me a couple of tries, but eventually, I would get lucky, which made it difficult to feel like the combat systems were asking much from me beyond maintaining my equipment.

Dungeon Exploration Makes Better Use of Amazia

Still, the dungeon design is decent, and while each area can look a little maze-like, I found that they were filled with plenty of treasure, side paths, and even optional gimmicks that you can return to later. Each labyrinth is built around a transformed district of Tokyo, which helps connect the exploration back to Amazia’s fused-world premise. It was a surprise to see such involved dungeons in a game that otherwise likes to stay fairly surface-level. There are even optional battles on top of the random encounters that reward additional items and materials.

Exstetra’s Presentation Shows Its Vita-Era Roots

Graphically, I think Exstetra looks fine. Its strongest visual idea comes from the transformed versions of Tokyo brought to life through artwork by tokyogenso, with familiar areas such as Shibuya and Akihabara fused with fantasy environments. It gives Amazia a more distinct identity, even if the environments and character models themselves can still feel basic. Ryouma also looks a little goofy while running around the field, but I can look past that. Still, I wish he ran faster.

While we’re on the subject of quality-of-life features, the main town’s menu layout is never particularly intuitive to navigate. Events are hidden inside other menus, and I wish everything was placed within one simple menu instead of forcing me to bounce around each location looking for something. As for the optional events, I always thought they were a nice surprise to unlock, so you are incentivized to look around whenever you have a moment.

Exstetra Review Verdict

Ultimately, Exstetra is about as serviceable as I expected it to be, though I don’t mean that as harshly as it might sound. The battle system loses much of its appeal once auto-battle takes over, the kissing mechanic is never explored as deeply as its premise suggests, and several quality-of-life frustrations make the adventure feel older than it needs to. Still, its colorful cast, surprisingly involved dungeons, and flexible equipment systems give it enough personality to carry the experience. I can’t say Exstetra was worth waiting more than a decade for, but I’m glad it wasn’t forgotten. It’s not a lost masterpiece or some overlooked classic that will suddenly rewrite Vita history, but for players who miss an era when JRPGs could build an entire identity around kissing party members and then barely address how weird that is, Exstetra offers a pleasant reminder of just how specific these games used to be.