REVIEW – The title sounds promising, the marketing machine was running full throttle, the hype was sky-high – but by the time you reach the end, all that’s left is a long, disappointed sigh. The kind you let out when something desperately tries to look cool, yet reeks of mediocrity. That’s exactly the case with Lost Soul Aside: the story feels like it’s been glued together from recycled scraps, and the characters have as much weight as a tissue in a windstorm. The combat may deliver, but it’s nowhere near enough to breathe life into a production this shaky and disjointed.

Lost Soul Aside’s development began back in 2014 as a one-man project. Over time, the team grew to around forty members, and after a painfully long development odyssey, the game has finally arrived. The big question was whether all those years would show in the final product – and sadly, they do, but not in the way players were hoping for.

Story and Characters: Below Zero

The opening really does channel some Final Fantasy vibes: Kaser, the protagonist, fights on the side of a rebel faction against the empire and its emperor. The plot quickly shifts into a sister-rescue mission, but before long the fate of the entire world gets dumped on your shoulders – which, ultimately, is just the same thing dressed up with bigger set pieces. And that’s pretty much the extent of the narrative.

The characters are so forgettable that I couldn’t recall a single name besides the main villain’s. Most of the story is delivered through static conversations rather than cinematic cutscenes. The plot, the cast, the voice acting, and the writing combine into a messy soup – the kind you’d rather skip just to get back to the fighting.

Sometimes Flashy, Often Clunky

The long development cycle is painfully obvious on the visual side. Some environments are genuinely striking, but others look like they belong to an old-gen title, with yawning, empty spaces everywhere. This uneven quality runs through the entire game.

Level design sticks to the same lazy template: corridor, arena, corridor, arena, corridor, arena… rinse and repeat, like a copy-paste job. Occasionally, you’ll stumble across a bit of platforming, a so-called “puzzle,” or an on-rails chase sequence, but these either collapse under sloppy controls or are so trivial they barely qualify as gameplay. Platforming sections frustrate more than they entertain, while the chases pack about as much excitement as the slowest ride at a rundown amusement park. The game simply has no idea how to let the player unwind – it just keeps ramming combat down your throat.

Combat on a Conveyor Belt

Combat is without question Lost Soul Aside’s strongest suit – but even here, it’s clear that passion alone isn’t enough if execution falls flat. On paper, it checks all the boxes: multiple weapons, stylish moves, boss encounters, stamina management, dodges, parries, and stagger meters. The problem is that none of it feels weighty; every strike lands with all the impact of whacking a cardboard box.

The good news is that all four weapon types feel distinct, each with unique skills. The anime-inspired flair of the moves will make you feel like a badass without memorizing endless combo strings. That said, thanks to repetitive level design and a nonexistent story, even combat starts to feel like a grind after a while. It’s enjoyable in bursts, but not strong enough to carry the whole game on its shoulders.

Varied Bosses, Wobbly Execution

For every area where Lost Soul Aside gets it right, it immediately fumbles in two others. This push-pull pattern defines the entire experience, including the boss fights. The bosses are impressively varied, each demanding a different approach, but there are so many that they eventually blur together and lose their impact.

Technically, the game is far from spotless. It isn’t unplayable, but I ran into two hard crashes, frequent frame-rate drops, and stutters that had me praying it wouldn’t crash again mid-battle.

“It Really Did Lose Its Soul”

I genuinely hoped Lost Soul Aside would turn out to be the next big surprise hit, something on the level of Stellar Blade or Black Myth: Wukong. Instead, what we got is a game with virtually no story, meaningless characters, and voice acting so bad it occasionally borders on comedy.

Throw in the constant FPS dips, stuttering, and even outright crashes – yes, even on PlayStation 5 Pro – and what you’re left with is a game saved only by its combat system and boss variety. But even that doesn’t escape its flaws, as every swing feels powerless, like you’re slashing with a toy sword. Lost Soul Aside is for players willing to overlook all its glaring problems and settle for an average action fix. At the end of the day, the game is unfocused – and worst of all, soulless.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: UltiZero Games
Genre: Action RPG, hack and slash
Release: August 28, 2025