Most gamers won’t move aside for Lost Soul Aside.

Do you remember what was going on in your life in 2016? For me, aside from watching my country begin its decent into destruction and disgustingness, I remember a few games getting both announced and released. One of the games I don’t remember getting announced was Lost Soul Aside. Learning that the game began its journey in 2014 before its 2016 announcement was surprising. The biggest surprise was not hearing a thing about it until a few months prior to release day. I was surprised with how “mid” the game was after playing/finishing it. It’s ridiculous price tag was the worst surprise. This is not a 70-dollar game. While I had fun, the price at the time of this writing isn’t worth it.

Lost Soul Aside puts you in the combat boots of Kaser, a member of the resistance organization called GLIMMER. Kaser is known as a Gifted One, a human with otherworldly powers. Using his powers, Kaser and other members of GLIMMER fight against the tyrannical rule of Emperor Highcastle. Kaser believes in the fight, but he fights more to provide a better tomorrow for his sister, Louisa. During a mission, Kaser loses his footing and falls into an underground facility. Simultaneously, bizarre creatures with crystalline skin start running amok from said facility. As Kaser treks back to the surface, he meets a dragon entity named Arena. Arena and the mysterious creatures are the Voidrax: powerful monsters from an alternate dimension. Fortunately, Kaser and Arena form a bond that grants Kaser even more power that amplifies his gifted abilities. And, not a moment too soon because Kaser witnesses his sister’s soul get nabbed by enemy Voidrax.

Kaser and Arena will work together to retrieve her soul, and the rest of the lost souls of the world. To return the souls to the world, Kaser and Arena need to retrieve five Soul Crystal Fragments. A quest to find five special somethings isn’t anything new. However, and much to my surprise, Kaser and Arena provide entertaining dialogue throughout the game. Kaser is the strong, silent, and stoic type. Arena is a confident, cocky, and elderly being that loves to mock the humans he’s helping. Kaser’s friends from GLIMMER also provide perspectives and insights that expand the narrative. For an action game, Lost Soul Aside has a story that’s worth watching unfold from start to finish.

The developers of Lost Soul Aside classified it as an action RPG. There’s way more emphasis on the action than the RPG part. Think of the RPG aspects of something simple: story-driven boosts for health, four basic stats, and status resistances. That’s all there is to Kaser’s growth. It’s minimal and hands-off. Kaser’s weapons and Trinkets are the true deciders for his strength and survivability. Throughout the course of the game, Kaser acquires four weapons and can equip up to three accessories called Trinkets. The Trinkets should be self-explanatory: gear that provides some sort of passive upgrade for Kaser. The weapons are a bit more complex, but ultimately, don’t need that much attention unless playing on harder difficulties. The weapons, which are a sword, great sword, double-sided spear, and a scythe, can be adorned with attachments that provide unique boosts. These include increase damaged, HP absorption, quicker breaks to enemies with shields, increased damage to enemy’s afflicted with a status ailment, and a host of others. It’s fun, but slightly cumbersome. Kaser gets inundated with them so expect to spend a lot of time in the menu equipping these.

Lost Soul Aside’s emphasis is on the action. As Kaser journeys, he’ll encounter scripted waves of enemies. Kaser’s four weapons can be interchanged at will to not only to slice n’ dice enemies, but to solve puzzles. The great sword is used to move heavy objects. The scythe is used as a grapple-hook. Using the square and triangle buttons, Kaser can perform a variety of combos with each weapon. He’s also able to jump, guard, perfect guard, double-jump, dodge(requires stamina), and air dash. Most combos have a Burst Finisher that can be used at the right time via the R2 button. These are sleek and dish additional damage. Kaser can also channel Arena’s power when a meter is filled to gain a temporary, powerful form. He can also activate up to three Arena Abilities that can provide extra damage, healing, or support. Each weapon has a skill tree. Using Skill Points earned from completing enemy waves and fulfilling minor tasks, more weapon techniques can be learned. Kaser’s base stats can also be upgraded with these via trees. Four weapons means that there are four skill trees, which means it’ll take some time to get more powerful abilities. It’s easy to find a favorite weapon and stick with it. For me, it was the double-sided spear. The melee combos were quick and often ended with Kaser creating a giant tornado. At the same time, it could fire projectiles with multiple, unique effects.

Combat has the look of Dynasty Warriors and Devil May Cry. Combat has the feel of…a PlayStation 2 action game. It can get repetitive. The tedium really becomes apparent when you’re against enemies with shields. Sadly, that includes bosses. Shielded enemies don’t flinch until their armor is broken. Once broken, their shield meter recovers at an alarming rate. Another tool in Kaser’s belt is the Sync Finisher, which can only be activated when enemies have a busted shield. They deal intense damage, but they cause said enemy to recover their shield instantly. Bosses are more offensive because they’re obviously more powerful but also have attacks that cover the battlefield. So, yeah. Things can feel repetitive. Is this a bad thing? No. But, it’s unexpected because this game was in development for such a long time and had the price tag to match. Playing Lost Soul Aside brought me back to the early aughts playing action games on my PlayStation 2 such as Crimson Tears or Seven Samurai 20XX. For their time, they were (and some still are) fine. Lost Soul Aside would have fitted right in with them, but not so much nowadays.

To add, part of the reason combat lacks that oomph is because of the sound. Yes, the sound. While the music is serviceable and the multiple language options (English, Japanese, and Chinese) get the job done at a phoned-in level, it’s the sound of Kaser’s steel hitting the enemy that leaves the most to be desired. Instead of that visceral impact that most action games have, Lost Soul Aside sounds like scraping glass. It’s dull and takes some getting used to. Then we have the graphics. If the gameplay is from the PlayStation 2, then the graphics are from the PlayStation 3. They’re fine, and some of the story scenes are rad, but overall, they don’t leave an impression for a game that was in development for so long.

Lost Soul Aside is on the longer side for an action game. After 25 hours or so, I saw the ending and the credits. A new difficulty was unlocked, too. If players can’t get enough, they can play through Hard difficulty, and a thirdly unlocked Nightmare difficulty. There’s also boss rushes and bonus arenas. Said arenas have combat restrictions but finishing them and fulfilling their objectives rewards you with more Trinkets and power-ups. Personally, I was done by the time the last fight ended. And while I griped a lot, I can see myself holding onto this for a while. I’m a fan of games like these because the PlayStation 2 remains my favorite console, ever. In other words, for a gamer like me, Lost Soul Aside works. But, I doubt it will work for others that want polish from their modern games. I want people to play this, but I recommend tempering expectations and waiting for the price to drop.

Overall, 6.5/10: Most games that get released after nearly ten years of development have more to show than Lost Soul Aside. But true fans of action games with dollars to spare might find something to enjoy.