Lost Soul Aside Review: Masterful Combat Held Back by Everything Else

Have you ever played a game that made you simultaneously fall in love and pull your hair out? Lost Soul Aside Review is exactly that kind of experience—a game that delivers some of the most exhilarating character action combat in recent memory, only to repeatedly undermine itself with a forgettable story, shallow RPG systems, and technical rough edges that shouldn’t exist after a decade of development.

After spending over 25 hours with the final, day-one patched version across multiple platforms, we can definitively say that Lost Soul Aside succeeds brilliantly at being a Devil May Cry-inspired action game while failing spectacularly at being the action-RPG Sony marketed it as. The central question isn’t whether the combat is good—it’s exceptional. The question is whether that phenomenal core can justify everything else you’ll have to endure to experience it.

Key Takeaways

• Combat system is genuinely exceptional – fluid weapon switching, demanding defensive mechanics, and stellar boss fights rival genre leaders
• Story and characters are profoundly disappointing – generic plot, paper-thin characters, and poor English voice acting drag down the experience
• Technical performance varies significantly – PS5 runs well post-patch, but PC performance remains inconsistent across different hardware configurations
• Identity crisis hurts the experience – shallow RPG elements feel tacked-on and interrupt the flow of excellent combat
• Value proposition is questionable – at $59.99, it feels overpriced for what essentially amounts to a very good character action game with significant flaws

The Development Journey: From Viral Video to Sony-Backed Reality

Lost Soul Aside has one of the most remarkable origin stories in modern gaming. What began in 2014 as Yang Bing’s solo passion project—inspired by a Final Fantasy XV trailer—exploded into viral fame when he released a stunning proof-of-concept video in 2016. That single video caught Sony’s attention and earned the project a spot in their China Hero Project, providing the funding and support needed to transform a one-person dream into a full studio production under Ultizero Games.

This development history explains both the game’s greatest strengths and most glaring weaknesses. The combat system, which Yang Bing spent years perfecting as the project’s original focus, feels incredibly polished and refined. Everything else—the story, RPG systems, and general polish—feels like it was added later to meet publisher expectations for a broader, more marketable product.

Understanding this context is crucial because Lost Soul Aside isn’t just competing with other action games; it’s fighting an internal battle between what it was meant to be (a pure character action showcase) and what it became (a compromised action-RPG).

Combat System: Lost Soul Aside Review

Lost Soul Aside’s combat is nothing short of spectacular. From our extensive testing, this system ranks among the most responsive and expressive we’ve encountered in the character action genre, delivering the “very smooth” experience developer Yang Bing promised while providing enough depth to satisfy even the most demanding players.

Weapon Switching and Combo Mechanics

The core combat revolves around seamless weapon switching that allows for incredible player expression. You can cancel almost any attack into a weapon swap, creating flowing combos that feel both natural and impressive. The standard sword offers quick, balanced attacks perfect for building momentum, while the greatsword delivers devastating heavy hits that can break enemy guards but require more tactical timing.

What sets this system apart is how it encourages experimentation. Unlike games that lock you into lengthy attack animations, Lost Soul Aside’s cancel system means you’re always in control. We found ourselves discovering new combo routes even 20+ hours into the game, a testament to the system’s surprising depth.

Defensive Systems and Boss Battles

The defensive mechanics demand precision and reward mastery. Dodging and parrying require tight timing windows—there’s no spamming your way through encounters. Parryable attacks are indicated by blue flashes, but recognizing these cues while managing multiple enemies requires genuine skill development.

The boss encounters represent the combat system’s absolute peak. Each major fight feels like a masterclass in action game design, demanding that you fully understand weapon timing, defensive options, and enemy patterns. From our experience, these battles rival anything in Devil May Cry 5 or Bayonetta 3 for sheer intensity and design quality.

Arena: Your Dragon Companion

Arena, Kaser’s transforming dragon companion, adds a unique strategic layer to combat. This isn’t just a cosmetic feature—Arena provides powerful special abilities like Crystal Blast (area-of-effect damage) and Mountain Break (devastating single-target attacks) that can completely shift the momentum of difficult encounters.

The transformation mechanics feel smooth and responsive, never interrupting the flow of combat. In our testing, Arena’s abilities proved essential for handling the game’s more challenging encounters, particularly in the later chapters where enemy aggression ramps up significantly.

Story and Characters: The Game’s Biggest Weakness

If the combat is Lost Soul Aside’s crown jewel, the narrative is its anchor dragging it down to the ocean floor. This is not hyperbole—the story actively harms the overall experience in ways that go beyond simple disappointment.

Plot and World Building

The plot follows the painfully familiar template of an oppressive empire, plucky rebels, and ancient evil returning to threaten the world. Protagonist Kaser’s quest to save his sister Louisa from dimensional invaders called the Voidrax hits every predictable story beat you’d expect from a decade-old JRPG playbook.

More frustrating is how the game handles world-building. Critical lore and character background information is buried in menu text rather than being naturally integrated into gameplay. This approach immediately signals that the developers treated story as an afterthought rather than an integral part of the experience.

Character Development and Voice Acting

The cast of characters ranges from forgettable to actively annoying. Kaser lacks any distinguishing personality traits, while the supporting cast consists of generic archetypes that never evolve beyond their initial introductions. The dialogue feels stilted and artificial, made worse by English voice acting that ranks among the poorest we’ve heard in a major release.

From our testing, switching to Japanese audio with subtitles significantly improves the experience, though it can’t fix the fundamental problems with character writing and development. The audio mixing issues—with music and effects cutting in and out during scene transitions—further damage any potential emotional impact.

Technical Performance and Polish Issues

Lost Soul Aside’s technical presentation tells a tale of two different games depending on your platform and hardware configuration. Our comprehensive testing across multiple systems reveals significant disparities that potential buyers need to understand.

PC Performance Analysis

PC performance varies dramatically based on your hardware configuration. On high-end systems (RTX 3080/4090 class), the game generally runs well at high resolutions and frame rates after some initial stuttering in opening areas. The game supports ray tracing, DLSS, FSR, and full DualSense controller support, which are excellent additions for PC enthusiasts.

However, we’ve documented numerous reports of severe frame drops during combat encounters and game crashes, even on systems that meet or exceed recommended specifications. The inconsistency suggests optimization issues that the day-one patch didn’t fully address.

PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro Experience

The PS5 version offers the most stable experience we’ve tested. Two graphics modes are available: Quality mode targeting 30 FPS with enhanced visuals, and Performance mode aiming for 60 FPS. Post-patch, Performance mode maintains its target frame rate more consistently than pre-release footage suggested.

PS5 Pro owners get significant enhancements including dynamic 4K resolution, improved ray-traced reflections and shadows, higher quality textures, and more stable frame rates. If you’re choosing between platforms, PS5 Pro currently offers the definitive experience.

The “Jank” Factor

Beyond performance metrics, Lost Soul Aside suffers from numerous polish issues that remind you this isn’t a AAA production despite its price point. The protagonist’s running animation looks bizarrely choppy and unnatural—not a technical glitch, but a poor animation choice that makes basic traversal feel awkward.

Platforming sections feel imprecise and clunky, while the camera frequently struggles to keep up with character movement, creating a disorienting “catch-up” effect. These issues, while individually minor, collectively contribute to a feeling that the game launched before it was truly ready.

Value Proposition: Is It Worth $59.99?

The elephant in the room is Lost Soul Aside’s $59.99 launch price, which places it directly against major AAA releases despite feeling more like a polished AA production. With an estimated 20-25 hour campaign and significant quality inconsistencies, this pricing feels optimistic at best.

From our analysis, the value equation depends entirely on what you prioritize in gaming experiences. The combat system alone justifies the price for character action enthusiasts, but players expecting a well-rounded action-RPG will likely feel disappointed with their purchase.

Consider waiting for a sale unless you’re specifically seeking a pure action experience and can tolerate significant narrative and technical shortcomings. The combat is genuinely special, but everything surrounding it needs work.

Who Should Buy Lost Soul Aside?

• Character Action Purists: This is an easy recommendation. If you live for the mechanical depth of Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, or Ninja Gaiden, Lost Soul Aside’s combat system delivers exactly what you’re seeking. The narrative flaws become tolerable when the gameplay is this exceptional.
• Action-RPG Fans: Approach with caution and tempered expectations. The RPG elements are shallow and poorly integrated, while the story actively detracts from the experience. Wait for a sale unless combat is your primary concern.
• Story-Driven Players: Skip this entirely. The narrative, characters, and world-building represent the game’s weakest elements. You’ll spend more time frustrated than entertained.
• Technical Perfectionists: Consider your platform carefully. PS5 Pro offers the most polished experience, while PC performance remains inconsistent. If technical issues break immersion for you, wait for additional patches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

Lost Soul Aside represents both a remarkable achievement and a frustrating missed opportunity. Yang Bing and Ultizero Games have created one of the most mechanically satisfying character action combat systems in recent memory, wrapped in a package that consistently undermines its own brilliance.

The combat alone elevates Lost Soul Aside above many of its contemporaries in the action genre. When you’re in the zone, chaining combos and perfectly timing parries against challenging bosses, it’s easy to forgive the game’s numerous shortcomings. These moments of pure action gaming bliss justify the decade-long development cycle and showcase the potential that made Sony believe in this project.

However, the surrounding elements—story, characters, RPG systems, and technical polish—feel like afterthoughts that actively detract from the core experience. The game would have been better served embracing its character action roots rather than trying to fulfill publisher expectations for a broader action-RPG experience.

Our recommendation: Lost Soul Aside earns a conditional recommendation for action game enthusiasts willing to overlook significant flaws for exceptional combat. For everyone else, wait for a substantial discount or consider it only if you’re specifically seeking a pure action experience.

Carlos "Lobo" Silva

Carlos is our lead Action-Adventure and Shooter game analyst, with a past in competitive FPS leagues. He has a keen instinct for what makes gunplay feel responsive and level design engaging. His reviews and guides deconstruct the core mechanics of action games to help players master movement and aim.