Lost Epic

It should come as no surprise that the “Souls-like” genre is here to stay. Today I’m going to be taking a look at a new side-scrolling souls-like game called “Lost Epic”, produced by Team Earthwars. But anime-inspired souls-likes are nothing new, so what sets Lost Epic apart from the competition?

Anime with an Edge

If you enjoy the anime aesthetic you will probably enjoy this game for its artstyle alone. The colors in particular really pop out of the screen, and there are really nice effects included that players might not notice, such as the depth of field and parallax scrolling that the camera does. Animations fairly well-done with some exceptions here and there, and it is usually very clear when big attacks are telegraphed, which is definitely a good thing since the enemies here regular hit for tons of damage. Being a souls-like game and no doubt taking heavy inspiration from the Dark Souls series of games, many of the mechanics you would expect to find in the genre return here.

Skills Done Right

One of the standout features in Lost Epic that caught my attention was the way that the skill system was designed. When you level up your character gets stats that can be appropriated in a number of different ways. These can include obvious uses such as increasing your hit points or attack damage, but it should also be noted that you can level up skills that are tied to a specific weapon type. This is a neat system because once you’ve found a weapon you enjoy, you will not only improve with it over time due to learning how it works, but it will get more powerful in game alongside your natural growth with it.

Bring a Friend (or don’t)

One feature that may not be immediately obvious is the inclusion of Co-op. This is actually pretty rare in the souls-like genre since these games are typically created with the intention of being punishingly difficult. However bringing along a friend is not only fun, but it also makes the experience a bit easier to manage. Unfortunately, the multiplayer is limited time due to it being tied to an in-game item, and it will kick out your friend before the zone finishes. Kind of annoying as a game like this really could have used a more “real” co-op experience. But again, it is still in beta so this could change in the future.

Beta Bugginess

This game is still in beta, which means it’s still being worked on, so while lots of it works well, if you pick this one up you should expect there to be a little bit of jankiness. Which is fine for the most part as I didn’t encounter any game-breaking bugs, but certain parts of the game like the user interface could stand to be a little more polished.

For the price tag it’s definitely not too bad for what it is, and if you are in the target demographic for this game, meaning you really wanted to play an anime-inspired Dark-Souls 2D sidescroller, then there’s a really good chance you’ll enjoy this game. The story mode is a reasonable 20 hours, which is perfectly fine for the price tag in my opinion.

Pros:

• Beautiful 2D anime aesthetic
• Satisfying and intuitive animations for both enemies and your own character
• Good variety of different areas to travel through
• Fun to play and not too punishing
• Cool system for upgrading your character’s abilities over time

Cons:

• Slightly buggy, still in beta
• Multiplayer could have been integrated better
• Story is basic but serviceable, nothing mind-blowing
• Some of the skill trees are lacking interesting choices or variety