Souls. In and outside the realm of video games, that word would conjure up vastly different imagery. In our domain, it has become synonymous with one of the most unforgiving franchises in gaming history; so when a game brands itself as a “souls-like” game, naturally it will turn some heads and attract some challenge seekers. Lost Epic draws our attention not only with its offer of a challenge, but its beautiful anime-esque art style will pull in even those who shy away from adventure. 

Players start off as an unnamed protagonist, tasked with taking down various gods in an attempt to save humanity. It’s a cliche story for sure, and it does little to drive the player to continue the game. However, it does set up the game’s premise and variety of biomes. As the God Killer traverses through everything from lush forests and underwater kingdoms to underground mines, players can’t help but feel compelled to continue exploring. 

Visually, the game’s art style doesn’t stand out from other titles, but the various environments and attacks are a joy to behold. Leading artist, Namie’s history of work on other titles like Arknights and Azur Lane shows competency in creating visually appealing art, though none necessarily stand out from your standard gacha, waifus, and husbandos. Though the occasional odd animations look out of place or seem to lack animation frames at times, these are easy to overlook as players get into the real meat of the game. As players explore, they’ll hear the game’s accompanying soundtrack that appropriately exudes the feeling of wonder and exploration that is key to the game. Unfortunately, the lack of variety in tracks does tend to get repetitive and the occasional electronica that drops as players face tougher enemies feels out of place, regardless of the game’s environment.

As a “souls-like” game, Lost Epic focuses on having players grind it out and learn the enemies’ patterns. It is undoubtedly a lot more forgiving than other souls titles, offering a variety of scaffolds like visual cues to help players get into the genre, while still maintaining many of the mainstays of the genre like whiff–punishing and parrying enemies' attacks and extending these same concepts to the bosses and rewarding players for their abilities rather than grind-time. 

The feeling of euphoria will likely compel players to keep playing further, easily logging hours into the game to learn enemies’ patterns and explore the game’s areas. The scarcity of save points will mean that players will have to plan accordingly and use their resources, though some will naturally overextend and find themselves facing the same two words that every souls-like will tell them before taking all their leveling resources, leaving them in absolute silence as they question every decision they’ve made up to that point. While earlier enemies and single enemies will pose little challenge to most seasoned gamers, hordes of enemies can be overwhelming and challenge players to use every strategy and weapon at their disposal. Fortunately, the game’s three primary weapon types, swords, heavy swords, and bows, all feel unique from one another and the final decision to use one or another can likely be credited to strategy as much as it can be to preference.

Though it seems that Lost Epic calls itself a souls-like title just as a marketing gimmick, it does the genre proud as a 2D sibling, albeit with a more visually appealing coat of anime paint on top. A combination of distinct weapons, visually satisfying attacks and combos, and gorgeously drawn environments make Lost Epic a fun and accessible title that will keep players grinding away for hours.

SCORE: 7.0

Review copy courtesy of oneoreight