I’m finding it hard to take Lost Soul Aside seriously. There are a few reasons for this, but chief is the protagonist’s name is Kaser. It’s pronounced like the German word for cheese. And people thought Clive was a bad name?!
Instead, I’ve taken to calling him NotThis, in relation to his design being a complete steal of Noctis from Final Fantasy 15: the dark spiky anime hair, the all-black goth outfit, the big sword. It stems from Lost Soul Aside’s origins as a Final Fantasy-meets-Devil May Cry fan project that now, a decade later, has finally seen a full release. But sadly it struggles to emerge from the shadow of those origins. Devil May Cry 5 has deep, stylish combat; sexy characters, and an undeniable sense of effortless cool. Lost Soul Aside, well, doesn’t.
You can still see the original trailer for Lost Soul Aside released in 2016, though its Chinese developer Bing Yang began development in 2014 as a graduate student in South Korea. I remember seeing it at the time – it was a hugely impressive project from a solo developer created in UE4 that garnered plenty of justified attention. That included some Sony execs, who soon provided funding through its China Hero Project and now, a decade later, have published the game.
First, the original Lost Soul Aside trailer…Watch on YouTube
It’s hard to tell how much has changed in that time. The original trailer features the darkly-clothed Kaser with his dragon-cum-sword companion traversing a multitude of fantasy worlds, each flourish and swing of his weapon accompanied by a distinctive electric blue glow. It’s an ambitious projection of what the final product could be, with its open worlds and extravagant attack animations, but you get the sense maybe Sony had to rein in that ambition during development. Lost Soul Aside in release-form is a linear and contained experience that plays like a character-action game from years ago, in line with the likes of Devil May Cry 5 and Bayonetta – a comparison the game’s very development invites.
…And secondly, its recent launch trailer for comparisonWatch on YouTube
That would be a refreshing change from the vast open world epics and wannabe Soulslikes of 2025 – if it worked. Unfortunately, from the first few hours, Lost Soul Aside at launch is a clunky mess.
The story is laughably bad, a load of nonsense about an evil empire and a soul stealing demonic entity that requires fragments of crystals to best, each acquired across different dimensions. The opening segment features a polluted Midgar-esque imperial city of slums and factory facilities, and introduces us to the underground terrorist group Glimmer. Except where Final Fantasy 7’s Avalanche blows up an entire reactor in the game’s opening, Glimmer’s act of rebellion is to…set off some fireworks? It’s intended to “ignite the will of the people” but it’s a flimsy impetus for what is ultimately meant to be an epic adventure.
Image credit: Square Enix
Image credit: Sony / Eurogamer
You can’t tell me these aren’t the same character
It also introduces us to NotThis – sorry, Kaser – and his harem of sexy-yet-vacuous female sidekicks. Kaser is your typical stoic hero with little to say for himself, though he does have a nice jacket (in fact, the intricate costume design throughout is a highlight). Instead, he lets his weapon do the talking – literally. When he isn’t morphing into different weapon shapes, Lord Arena (or simply “Massive Dragon” as he’s introduced), hovers around Kaser and comments on his actions. He’s actually funny though, like a grumpy old man awoken from slumber, his grand, almost operatic voicework at odds with the flat delivery from other characters.
“Massive Dragon” in action | Image credit: Sony / Eurogamer
Indeed, Lost Soul Aside is gaining attention online for all the wrong reasons. Within the first couple of minutes a child character is unceremoniously booted across the screen in a clip that’s been very unsurprisingly shared across social media, while a Big Climactic Moment in the opening that sees Kaser falling to his doom has one of the worst (best?) “noooo” screams I’ve ever heard.
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The rest of its storytelling feels held together by glue and prayers. Background music shifts suddenly between in-game action and cutscenes, while cinematics are jarringly cut together, and there are odd pauses into dialogue sections. Performance issues continue into gameplay too: framerates are choppy on a base PS5; more than once I’ve encountered bugs that wouldn’t load the next section, forcing a restart. One boss had a fancy cape that glitched and stretched across the whole screen with every whirling vault. At the least, the studio has promised rapid fixes, so performance could be imminently improved.
This glitching cape somewhat got in the way | Image credit: Sony / Eurogamer
Really, the storytelling is superfluous to the combat, the real core of the game. Here, Lost Soul Aside is perfectly playable once you find your rhythm of last-minute dodges and perfect blocks, and initially it’s satisfying to see Kaser rapidly dashing across the screen in a flurry of spins and dodges, all with that distinctive blue hue. Build up enough energy and Kaser sprouts demonic arms and enters what I’ve dubbed Dante Mode, complete with shocking white hair.
Yet basic abilities are doled out far too slowly across the prologue, and despite multiple skill trees, after a few hours of play combat hasn’t meaningfully developed beyond a single additional weapon. There’s a loose floatiness to Kaser’s movement that’s seen him careening off platforms more times than I’d like to admit, but besides some light platforming and battling samey enemies in obviously-signposted arenas, there’s little else to do.
There are still some handsome environments, and I particularly enjoy the chibi characters on the world map | Image credit: Sony / Eurogamer
Ultimately, what lets Lost Soul Aside down is a lack of character, in every aspect. And that’s what makes Devil May Cry such an enticing game. Dante is an exceptionally cool, quippy character, his mix of sword and gunplay for juggling enemies remains iconic, and the modern-gothic world he explores is distinctive. Each time I’ve loaded up Lost Soul Aside, all I could think about was how much I’ve been meaning to play Devil May Cry 5 again since Capcom released the PS5 patch a few years ago. What a game!
Instead, I played Lost Soul Aside, with its pristine, doll-like visuals, comedy jank, and lack of anything novel to say. And a protagonist who sounds like cheese.