A game where the boss fights will stick with you longer than the story.

It took a while to untangle what Lost Soul Aside leaves behind after the credits roll. There are stretches of exhilarating combat, bosses that demand full attention, and platforming sections that can surprise with their creativity. 

Yet those moments sit alongside a story that struggles to land, dialogue that often feels off-key, and technical issues that weigh the experience down. The result is a game that’s difficult to dismiss entirely, but just as difficult to fully embrace.

From solo project to studio effort

Lost Soul Aside has one of the more fascinating development stories in recent memory. What began in 2014 as a solo project by a Dongguk University student Yang Bing, built in Unreal Engine 4 and inspired by Final Fantasy Versus XIII, quickly captured attention after a promotional video went viral on YouTube in 2016. 

Lost Soul Aside started as a solo project by a student before Sony took notice.

This caught the eye of Sony, who supported the project through the China Hero Project, allowing Yang to expand into Ultizero Games. 

Over the years, the team grew to more than 40 people, shifting from a single-person labour of love into a full studio production. Almost a decade later, the finished game has finally launched, carrying with it both the ambition and the uneven polish of its unusual development cycle.

Familiar ground that struggles to connect

The story follows Kaser, orphaned by war and raising his sister Louisa in Slum Harbour. The pair join GLIMMER, a resistance group against the Empire, but when interdimensional invaders called the Voidrax descend, Kaser embarks on a quest to save Louisa and humanity itself. Alongside him is Arena, a dragon-like Voidrax warrior weighed down by guilt over his past. Together, they face Aramon, a commander intent on harnessing the planet’s Life Nexus.

Quite often, the dalogue falls flat in Lost Soul Aside.

On paper, this premise is serviceable, but it does little to stand out. A loved one in peril, the world at stake, a reluctant protagonist who rises to the challenge; these are well-worn tropes. While the story introduces twists, they are often telegraphed or exist only to momentarily confuse the player. Arena’s backstory is easily the most compelling thread, carried by stronger writing and voice work.

Kaser, the main character, takes clear inspiration from Final Fantasy protagonists, but weak voice acting undercuts his presence. At times he comes across as disinterested, and at others, as if straining for a cool, aloof demeanor that never quite convinces. Most of the supporting cast leaves little impression, often feeling as though they were included to pad the narrative rather than enrich it. An exception is Liana, the enigmatic NPC who doubles as a save point and potion source. Her movements may look odd, but her quirkiness is oddly endearing compared to the rest of the ensemble.

Liana is always a welcome sight in Lost Soul Aside.

Unfortunately, the dialogue does little to help. It often sounds stilted and unnatural, draining weight from emotional scenes and leaving the story without the punch it needs.

Beautiful worlds, uneven execution

The environment is beautifully drawn in Lost Soul Aside.

Visually, Lost Soul Aside makes a strong impression, especially in its environments. Each world feels distinct, pulling from a wide palette of influences: ruins evoking Egyptian or Mayan architecture, Romanesque structures, Atlantis-like underwater remnants, bamboo forests inspired by East Asia, icy tundras, fiery battlefields, and even futuristic alternate dimensions. The variety is impressive, and despite the game’s linear structure, platforming sections and smaller puzzles help break up the pace of gameplay. Exploration may be guided rather than freeform, but moving through each map remains enjoyable.

Many enemy designs, specifically the Voidrax feel generic and uninspired.

Enemy designs, however, rarely match that same level of creativity, specifically the Voidrax. Many of these creatures, including a few bosses, feel generic, built from a base template with only attack patterns swapped out. Too often, they resemble mid-2010s mobile MMO aesthetics, calling to mind titles like Legacy of Discord. However, monsters outside of the Alternate Dimensions are more varied and inspired.

That inconsistency extends to the overall presentation. Some areas look genuinely current-gen, bursting with detail, while others feel dated, which is a likely consequence of the game’s decade-long development cycle.

Lost Soul Aside's saving grace is its gameplay

Combat is striking and fighting bosses with Kaser and Arena feel like a very fun dance.

Where Lost Soul Aside truly redeems itself is in gameplay. Combat is flashy, fast-paced, and accessible. Players have access to three weapon types early on: the sword, greatsword, and poleblade, each with distinct strengths. Swapping between them mid-combat creates fluid and dynamic encounters. Accessories and skill customisation add depth, letting players adjust builds to suit different situations.

The variety of skills and weapons for Kaser makes combat flashy and engaging.

Arena’s abilities further diversify combat, and combining his powers with Kaser’s arsenal makes for a satisfying system. Boss fights are the highlight: intricate, pattern-based, and fair. They often resemble a choreographed dance where dodges and blocks flow seamlessly into counterattacks. Unlike Souls-like games, combat here is easier to grasp; rewarding rather than punishing.

Surprise! There's a lot of platforming and fun puzzles and challenges in this game.

Platforming deserves mention too. It starts off clunky, but with time its quirks become part of the challenge. Mini-puzzles add light variety, though they are rarely difficult. For fans of Metroidvania-style platforming, these segments will be welcome, though others may find them frustrating.

Performance and technical Issues

For all its flashy combat and striking environments, Lost Soul Aside risks losing players on performance alone.

On PlayStation 5, the game ran smoothly at first, but later areas reveal instability, with crashes particularly common during optional combat challenges with good rewards. During one such encounter, just as victory was within reach, the game crashed without warning. Logging back in only dropped progress back to a save point nearly twenty minutes earlier with a lot of cutscenes; a brutal setback that makes the whole ordeal feel like wasted effort. Who’s got time for that?

Kaser and Arena are going against Aramon and the other Voidrax.

Even outside of crashes, the technical rough edges are hard to miss. Cutscene audio cuts off abruptly instead of fading naturally, enemies occasionally glitch into scenery, and certain animations lack polish. One particularly funny bug had Kaser or Arena delivering their “falling” voice lines whenever they teleported, as if slipping into the void by accident.

But where minor bugs can be forgiven, repeated crashes are another matter entirely. In their current state, they aren’t just immersion-breaking. They risk making the game unplayable for anyone unwilling to replay the same sections over and over.

Verdict

Lost Soul Aside is a game of striking contrasts. Its combat and boss encounters are genuinely engaging, elevated by varied environments and flashes of strong design. Yet its story walks familiar ground, the dialogue and performances rarely land, and persistent technical issues cast a long shadow over what it gets right.

So for those looking for a gripping narrative, this is not the game to find it. But for players drawn to stylish combat, platforming, and boss battles, there is fun to be had, particularly if the developers manage to patch its technical shortcomings.

Ultimately, Lost Soul Aside delivers moments of brilliance amid uneven execution. With better stability, this could easily have scored higher, but in its current state, it’s best approached with tempered expectations: not as a story-driven masterpiece, but as an ambitious action RPG whose gameplay is its saving grace.

Lost Soul Aside is now available on PC and PlayStation 5 for US$59.99. We received a copy of the game for this review.