Lost Soul Aside Review: Dazzling Combat, Uneven Journey

Table of Contents

Lost Soul Aside at a Glance

After more than a decade in development, Lost Soul Aside finally arrived on PS5 and PC with PlayStation as publisher and Ultizero Games at the helm. It’s a single-player, spectacle-fighter-meets-action-RPG with a linear campaign and hefty boss encounters. Release landed Aug 28–29, 2025 depending on platform region, and early reception has been mixed, with post-launch patches already rolling out.

Why that matters: You’re getting a flashy combat sandbox from a small studio nurtured under Sony’s China Hero Project—which explains both the ambition (combat) and some rough edges (platforming, pacing) you’ll feel along the way.

Is Lost Soul Aside like Final Fantasy?

Short answer: kinda… visually and tonally, yes; mechanically, it leans Devil May Cry. The moody prince-adjacent protagonist, glossy cutscenes, and empire-vs-resistance framing echo Square Enix’s vibes. But once you’re in the arena, the game prioritizes snappy cancels, weapon swaps, and spectacle over party tactics or classic JRPG progression. Coverage and comparisons across the community have called out those FF parallels, while also stressing the game’s hack-and-slash DNA.

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Verdict on the comparison: if you’re coming for FFVII Remake-style team synergy or cinematic story highs, temper expectations. If you want stylish, combo-forward duels that feel closer to a character action game, you’ll vibe.

Lost Soul Aside Gameplay: Where the Steel Sings

The combat is the headliner, no contest.

Weapons, Cancels, and Skill Trees

You can map out a build around quick blades or beefier reach, then mix light/heavy strings and unlock weapon-specific skills on branching trees. It’s “easy to pick up, expressive to master,” with mid-combo weapon swaps that keep pressure high and reward timing. The fundamentals—parry, perfect dodge, stagger management—all place you on that razor’s edge where one mistake costs, but one clean read deletes health bars.

Arena Powers, Burst Pursuit & Fusion

The signature twist is your dragon-like partner Arena, whose Arena Powers layer on burst windows (damage amps, shields, heals). Burst Pursuit extends strings if you hit the rhythm cues; Fusion Merge/Blast cashes in a gauge for cinematic finishers. It’s the difference between “solid” and “send-it,” and it’s where high skill ceilings emerge.

Boss Fights & Difficulty Curve

Bosses oscillate between colossal arena swipes and nimble duels, with late-phase surprises that pop off. If you’re allergic to telegraphed patterns, you might bounce early; if you love learning a moveset and earning the Sync-style finish, this is your playground. Patches have since eased a few spikes, added more QoL (autosaves, skippable cutscenes), and tuned balance.

The catch: Outside combat, the level design can feel corridor-y, with invisible walls and awkward platforming that occasionally undercut the momentum. Post-launch updates are chipping away at the rough bits, but the contrast between god-tier combat and tepid traversal remains visible as of early September.

Lost Soul Aside Characters: Who Actually Lands

You play Kaser, a blade-savvy lead bound to Arena, a quippy, shape-shifting companion who fuels your mid-battle tools. The inciting wound—Kaser’s sister, Louisa, lost during a catastrophic meteor event—sets up a chase against the empire’s machinations and the extradimensional Voidrax threat. The setup is clean, the banter sometimes charms, but characterization outside the leads can feel like sketches: archetypes in cool coats.

Standouts:

Kaser & Arena: The core duo. Their synergy is mechanical (powers) and tonal (barks that punctuate fights).
Louisa: The emotional driver; she’s the reason the plot keeps a pulse.
The Empire & Voidrax: A familiar pairing of human oppression and cosmic invaders—serviceable foils for big set-pieces.

What Works — and What Trips Up

The Wins

Combat clarity and swagger. Tight input feel, readable telegraphs, delicious cancellations.
Build expression without bloat. Weapon trees + Arena Powers let you pivot styles without drowning in gear spreadsheets.
Boss spectacle. Multi-phase showdowns with satisfying “you learned the dance” payoffs.

The Misses

Pacing valleys. Walk-and-talks and lightweight puzzles slow the roll.
Traversal friction. Platforming sequences can be floaty and punish line-of-sight more than skill.
Performance wobbles on PC. Launch window brought mixed Steam reviews over frame pacing and QoL gaps; updates are in progress.

Tips for Your First 5 Hours

Invest early in survivability and utility. A bigger Arena Power slot and dodge/parry windows pay dividends across every boss, regardless of weapon main. (Community guides broadly agree: capacity/QoL unlocks first, damage later.)
Pick a main, keep a sidearm. Specialize in one weapon’s rhythm, but level a second for range or posture break.
Treat Burst Pursuit like a metronome. Hit the timing to extend combos safely rather than greed for raw damage.
Save buffs for phase shifts. Arena shields/heals feel best right after a boss evolves its pattern.
On PC, tweak first. Lock a frame target, toggle ray tracing off until patches settle for your rig.

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The State of the Game (Week 2)

Metacritic sits in the low 60s for PS5, squarely “mixed,” and Steam is hovering in Mixed territory as well. The studio has acknowledged the feedback—framerate, invisible walls, and QoL requests—and is actively shipping patches. If you’re patient with post-launch smoothing, the highs are high enough to justify a run. If you need the full package—story pacing, traversal, stability—to be pristine on day one, give it a patch cycle.

Verdict

Lost Soul Aside is the kind of game that makes your hands happy even when the world around those hands won’t stop tripping. The combat is superb, the boss design is spicy, and the audiovisual swagger goes hard. The story beats and traversal? More serviceable than special. With performance improving, this is already a worthwhile ride for action diehards—and a “wait and see” for everyone else

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