Lost Soul Aside Review

When I first saw Lost Soul Aside nearly a decade ago, it was the definition of a dream project. One man, Yang Bing, had put together a trailer that looked like something out of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a game I was personally obsessed with and heartbroken never came to fruition. That stylish action, that moody tone, that blend of fantasy and modern sci-fi. It looked like everything I wanted. Fast forward to today, and Lost Soul Aside has finally arrived on PS5, now built by a full studio and backed by Sony’s China Hero Project. The journey from a one-man project to a global release has been a long one. So the question is, after all these years, did it live up to the hype? The short answer: not quite. There’s something undeniably special about this game, but it’s also undercooked in ways that are hard to ignore.

You play as Kaser, a young warrior carrying a lot more baggage than he lets on. His world is one devastated by war, with the mysterious creatures known as Voidrax constantly threatening humanity’s survival. Kaser’s journey is personal, though, it’s about loss, trust, and coming to terms with the strange bond he forms with Arena, a living symbiotic entity who becomes both his companion and his power source.

Narratively, the setup is strong. Arena’s banter with Kaser gives the story some much needed levity, and his personality quickly became one of my favorite aspects of the game. He’s sarcastic, witty, and just unpredictable enough that I always wanted to hear what he’d say next. Equal parts tool in combat and character in their own right.

The Voidrax, meanwhile, serve as the main enemy faction. They’re varied in appearance, creatures that look both alien and demonic, but their presence is more functional than memorable. They’re there to give you things to fight, and while they sometimes look cool, they don’t carry the same narrative weight that, say, a rival human faction would have.

That said, the worldbuilding works better than I expected. There are interesting side characters, like Gethya, who not only has a great design but also brings some emotional grounding to Kaser’s journey. The story isn’t revolutionary, but it has enough heart to carry you through the campaign.

Here’s where the cracks begin to show. The campaign is extremely linear. Each chapter is basically a series of combat arenas strung together by cutscenes and some light puzzle platforming. You move forward, fight a group of enemies, get some dialogue, repeat. Boss battle every once in a while. It’s a formula that becomes obvious within the first few hours and never really changes.

Now, I enjoy straightforward action games, but here it quickly became exhausting. The constant waves of grunt enemies started to feel like padding, and more than once I found myself wishing the game would just skip to the next big cutscene or boss fight. When your story is one of the main hooks, pacing is critical, and Lost Soul Aside too often drags itself down with repetitive encounters.

At first glance, combat is the game’s strongest pillar. Kaser has access to three distinct weapon types, a mix of light and heavy attacks, a dodge that feels tight and responsive, and Arena’s suite of abilities. Visually, it’s a spectacle, combos chain together fluidly, special moves explode with color, and the animations give every fight a cinematic flair. If you’re into stylish action like Devil May Cry, this is the part that will hook you.

But here’s the problem, the enemies rarely put up much of a fight. Most of the grunts can be shredded with basic combos, and the AI rarely forces you to adapt. What should feel like a high-octane dance of blades ends up being more of a fireworks show, fun to look at, but shallow in practice.

The skill tree tries to add depth, letting you upgrade moves and unlock new tricks. It’s a welcome layer of customization, but again, when the core encounters don’t demand much from you, the extra tools sometimes feel unnecessary. I was unlocking flashy new skills, but rarely felt like the game was pushing me to actually use them strategically.

Where combat really shines is in the boss battles. These fights are dramatic, well-designed, and often genuinely challenging. The bosses not only look fantastic but also force you to master Kaser’s full moveset. In fact, given the game’s history, it was once rumored to be a boss rush title, I honestly think it would have been stronger if it had leaned into that direction. Strip away the filler encounters, keep the story and the bosses, and you’d have a much tighter, more thrilling game.

One of the things I did appreciate was the artistic direction. The world is striking, blending sleek sci-fi with grand fantasy landscapes. Kaser’s design fits perfectly into that mould, stylish but grounded. Arena’s shapeshifting forms in combat add extra flair, and the side characters often have equally sharp designs.

But the environments themselves? That’s where the PS3 vibes kick in. Too many areas feel barren, with empty stretches that look like they belong to an older generation of games. It’s a missed opportunity, because the art style is there, it just needed more polish and detail in execution.

The same goes for the audio. Some moments hit hard, with impactful music and strong effects. Other times, attacks sound tinny, enemies let out noises that don’t match their designs, and the mix feels unbalanced. The English voice acting, too, is wildly inconsistent. Some actors nail their roles (Arena and Gethya’s VA was a highlight for me), but the bigger emotional beats often fall flat because the delivery isn’t convincing.

One thing I do have to praise, though, is the lip sync technology. So many games, even big-budget ones, struggle to match English dialogue to character models. Here, it’s shockingly well done. Even when the performance itself was shaky, the characters at least looked like they were actually speaking the words. It added a layer of immersion that I wasn’t expecting.

Performance was a mixed bag. The game runs decently most of the time, but there are dips here and there, and Kaser’s running animation looks downright janky. For a game that nails so many combat animations, the simple act of moving around should feel better than it does.

That said, credit where it’s due, the team has been actively patching the game since launch. I’ve already noticed improvements in stability and polish compared to when I first started and my final score reflects that as it’s better now than it initially was. It’s clear the developers are listening, and that makes me hopeful for the game’s future.

Final Thoughts

So where does that leave Lost Soul Aside? For me, it’s a fascinating case of ambition colliding with inexperience. On the one hand, this is a project that went from a single developer’s passion to a full studio release, and that alone is worth celebrating. It nails some things, combat flash, boss fights, character design, and lip sync tech, but it falls short in areas that matter just as much, encounter design, pacing, world detail, and voice performance.

It’s not a disaster, not by any stretch. I had fun with it, and at times I could see the game it wanted to be. But after ten years of anticipation, it doesn’t hit the heights I hoped for.

If you’re into stylish action games, there’s enough here to keep you entertained, especially the boss fights. But it also feels underbaked, like a strong first attempt that needed more time and more experience behind it. I’ll be keeping an eye on what this team does next, because the potential is definitely there.

A PS5 review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

If you want to see more content like this and never miss one of our frequent gaming and anime giveaways come and Follow Ani-Game on Twitter.