Quartet

Something Classic Games returns with a new 16-bit RPG, Quartet. Sporting an intriguing narrative and finely polished gameplay, it demonstrates great knowledge of what made so many fans of classic RPGs, while sporting a few ideas of its own.

Although not the most revolutionary RPG, Quartet has great writing, perfect pacing, and is just a very cosy experience that genre fans will love

Quartet is Something Classic's proof that they've grown up and become more confident with age, and that there's room for continued growth to match their ambition.

Quartet is a love letter to retro-style turn-based JRPGs. While it wears many of its influences on its sleeve (particularly the Octopath Traveler series and Final Fantasy VI), its strong writing, amazing soundtrack and enjoyable character-switching gameplay made this adventure one to remember, and not just a simple homage to the games that inspired it.

The legacy of Final Fantasy (and to a lesser extent Dragon Quest in the West) is impossible to overstate with Squaresoft’s SNES RPGs in particular still standing unchallenged as the pinnacle of the classic 2D JRPG. For this reason, any modern attempt to recapture the look and feel of these games is inevitably going to be caught in their shadow – often to unfortunate results. Quartet is the latest title to try and recapture the nostalgic thrills but also takes influence from the modern Square-Enix series Octopath Traveller. The result is a fantastic old-school JRPG that should be on every fan’s...

Despite its slow start, Quartet is a JRPG with strong gameplay concepts and a mature narrative. It'll appeal to genre afficionados, but is a hard sell if you don't like old-school vibes or lack the time to slog through the early game. To my mind, the game's undeniable strengths struggle to lift Quartet from a tedious early game. Once aloft, Quartet is elegant and enticing—the kind of flawed jewel which may well attain "niche classic" status in 10-20 years.