In 2016, Sony Interactive Entertainment launched the first of its PlayStation Hero Projects, the China Hero Project, aimed at uplifting smaller, unknown developers from regions of the world that are underrepresented in the video game space. Amongst the first of these projects was a game from a solo Chinese developer, Yang Bing, who had started development in 2014 and posted a trailer on YouTube in 2016 that attracted the video game giant’s attention.
After signing on to a partnership that same year for funding, and in 2022 a publishing arrangement, this game managed to generate a lot of hype from its occasional showings at various industry events. After more than a decade of development, we have the finished project, the long-vaunted Lost Soul Aside. So, as with all games, we ask the question: was it worth the hype? Let’s find out.
Lights, Camera, Action!
The main player character is a man named Kaser. Kaser is a typical action hero, very reminiscent of Hong Kong action cinema, with incredibly flashy moves, high octane combat, and large set pieces as the story progresses. These choices work well, as Lost Soul Aside is a character action game in the same vein as Devil May Cry (which has been cited by Yang as an inspiration). The set piece moments, which occur regularly throughout each chapter, are some of the highlights of the game. There is a spectacle on the screen, with some very well-done animations that are exciting to watch.
Combat as Kaser feels great, and it only gets better as the game progresses. Kaser begins with a one-handed sword and early on unlocks a two-handed greatsword. The two weapons feel completely different from one another, but both have their place in the exciting combat system. For example, the one-handed sword swings fast and fluid, but in exchange it deals a moderate amount of damage, while the two-handed greatsword is slow and heavy, but when it lands, large chunks of the enemy’s health bar disappear. Dealing fast damage with a high “break” stat to stun an enemy with the one-handed sword and then swapping on the fly to the two-handed greatsword while the enemy is stunned is just one option at Kaser’s disposal. There are additional weapons to unlock, and no two of them feel the same, each with its own place depending on the enemies Kaser is facing, or even what phase of a boss fight he’s in.
In addition to the variety of weapon types, each weapon also has a variation with elemental damage. Certain enemies are weak to certain elements, but the weaknesses serve as a way to speed up a fight; matching weaknesses is not required for success, at least it isn’t on the normal difficulty. Additionally, weapons, weapon modifiers, and similar equipment can all be changed mid-combat, so Kaser is never stuck in a single loadout.
But weapons aren’t the only tools in Kaser’s arsenal; he unlocks a dozen or so special powers that have unique abilities and will drastically change the way the game is played. Options include a health restoring tree, a lighting strike tree, an enemy freeze, and many more. Kaser starts with one slot but unlocks up to three as the game progresses, and the selected power can also be changed mid-combat. Because of these power options, Kaser’s playstyle is always evolving, keeping combat fresh and engaging throughout the 22–25-hour runtime.
In tandem, the weapons and powers of Kaser all make for a very satisfying and fun combat experience. He moves quickly around the battlefield, swapping weapons as needed, using weapon skills to close-in on the enemy, or dodging to move away. Perfect dodges also unlock a single use of a unique ability for each weapon; the one-handed sword has a rapid lightning strike to close-in, while the two-handed greatsword throws a spinning ghost version dealing damage over time. Finally, Kaser can do a perfect block, which makes the enemy momentarily vulnerable and increases the damage dealt. It’s never boring to engage in combat.
There’s also a good sense of progression for Kaser; he never quite feels overpowered. Just when he’s beating things with ease, more difficult or higher leveled enemies show up. Kaser’s progression is primarily found in his weapons, which all have their own upgrade paths and use skill points to unlock new abilities or make Kaser stronger, and his powers, which are more powerful or slightly altered versions of their original form and upgraded via specific loot or purchased from a shopkeeper. Kaser earns skill point-giving experience from the enemies and some lootable environmental objects, and they are earned at a balanced pace. This allows there to always be some sort of interesting choice to be made as to what to empower, usually influenced by the preferred playstyle.
The are some incredibly tough boss fights, but none of them ever felt unfair. It was almost always a matter of learning a boss’s patterns or using the right weapon for the situation. The biggest criticism in this regard is that there are status effects like burning or frozen, and it’s a little tough to spot them on Kaser but pay close enough attention to the icons in the center of the screen or the vocal callouts and they can be overcome. There was one fight in the latter half of the game where there was no real indication of how the boss was supposed to be fought, but it wasn’t a challenge, it just took a long time (and only one attempt). That one problematic fight aside, the combat in Lost Soul Aside really shines.
Drama School Dropouts
Unfortunately, what doesn’t really shine is the voice acting. Kaser’s voice acting is, frankly, atrocious, and there’s no way around that. He does have a nice voice, there’s just no performance there, no emotion or emphasis, he just…talks. It’s also clear that he’s not intentionally monotone, because the lines he’s given to say have some emotional depth to them, but when they come out of his mouth, the emotion is missing. It’s never offensive, nor reason enough to skip the dialogue, but it is a minor detraction from the overall experience.
The rest of the cast is not quite as bad as Kaser; their performances usually fall into the category of “charmingly bad.” They are fun to listen to (with some better than others), and sometimes a little cringe, but, even if they don’t live up to the expectations of a near full price game, more time with them would have been appreciated. There is one exception to this criticism: Lord Arena. To avoid spoiling anything, all that can be said is Lord Arena talks about as much as Kaser does, and he is usually funny, if a little annoying at times. Plus, his actual performance is good, with the right inflection, tone, and gravitas to match the character established in the story. And one last point on voice acting: whoever was the voice acting director really needed to give all the characters a single pronunciation of the word “alternate” in the game, because it’s said a lot and said in three or four different ways.
When it comes to the overall story, there is enough there to keep going, to want to see the end and keep playing the awesome combat, but the quality is mediocre, and it needed a few rewrites and localization passes. While there are the bones of an interesting world in Lost Soul Aside, it’s a little too disjointed with too many inconsistencies, although some of that could be translation or localization problems. The codex in the game tries to explain things, and reading the codex is helpful with the worldbuilding, but it doesn’t dive deep enough to explain things fully. This results in less investment in the story than would otherwise be warranted if the intriguing background, presented at the start of the game, had been more fleshed out while playing. The result ends up being a story that starts off as interesting but never capitalizes on that and never quite reaches its full potential.
Kaser is, sadly, not an interesting character. Whether it’s the writing for him or the voice performance causing that feeling, he doesn’t have enough depth to carry this story. The side characters are more interesting, but their screentime is, sadly, limited. Lost Soul Aside would have benefitted from a bigger focus on the side characters, as increasing Kaser’s interactions with them would have helped develop his character, too. The additional focus on the characters would therefore increase investment in the story. What ends up happening in reality is Kaser splits up from his friends for some lengthy stretches of the game, resulting in plenty of combat but one or two poorly paced chapters.
Final Fant-Aside XV
Visually, the game is very pretty, particularly when looking at the vast expanses and the clearly Final Fantasy-inspired art style, as well as the special effects from combat abilities. The environments are also pleasant to look at, with a lot of diversity in the places that Kaser goes. The monster designs are cool and there’s a good variety of them, each of them visually distinct enough to recognize the kind of attacks they’ll use. This gives an opportunity to prepare Kaser’s weapons and abilities for a given situation. The roughest part of the visuals are the character models, which have an air of late PS3 to early PS4 plastic-chic about them, including lip syncing animations from the same era.
Stylistically, Lost Soul Aside harkens back again to Final Fantasy, and the actual animations of the set pieces and combat are great. They don’t live up to the animations of the hundred-plus million-dollar budget of its stylistic inspiration, but they are impressive. The style is also easy to read, the visual language of what’s happening in the game is clear, with easy-to-follow waypoints guiding Kaser’s next destination. There is never a time when what needs to be done next is unclear.
On the technical front, Lost Soul Aside is quite clean. There is an extreme stutter every time the game auto saves, but never outside of that specific situation. There was one puzzle that was broken, where a jail cell was clearly supposed to be open, but it was not. It was obviously broken insofar as there was a random wall texture running down into the abyss below, completely out of place, under the closed cell. There’s also a strange pause, which may be a bug, in the camera during the run cycle animation, which does not occur while walking and is less noticeable when sprinting, but the default jog has it. It eventually fades to the background with everything else going on but is off-putting initially. Aside from those minor issues, Lost Soul Aside was a solid technical experience.
Once the story is completed, the game opens up some additional challenges, hard and nightmare mode, and a boss rush mode. It expects to be played multiple times to unlock additional weapon and ability upgrades for Kaser and tougher challenges. It’s a nice feature to have, particularly for a game where combat is the centerpiece of the experience. Plus, playing the story to see those set pieces again would be a good time.
Fun Found, Still Seeking Soul
The phrase “big, dumb fun” is best suited for the sort of experience found in Lost Soul Aside, where what’s happening, why it’s happening, nor how it’s happening is to be thought too hard on and the game is just played for what it is, and there’s enjoyment in that. Its asking price may be a little steep, but a well-informed buyer would definitely find it worth the money.
Lost Soul Aside is, despite its issues with the voice acting and story, still a fun romp. The engaging combat, impressive set pieces, and quality art style more than compensate for the game’s shortcomings. The developer, Utilizero, has made a decent attempt with it, and with some story refinement, a better translation, and stronger cast of performers, their next game could be truly special.
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