Why Final Fantasy 16 Fans Should Keep an Eye on Lost Soul…

It's been a long and winding road, but Lost Soul Aside is finally ready. Chinese developer Yang Bing started the project in 2014, leading the charge on a prototype built with store-bought assets. Bing released an initial trailer for Lost Soul Aside in 2016, and then received funding from Sony under the company’s “China Hero Project” to found his current studio, Ultizero Games. Now, the game has a firm release date at the end of May 2025, and a full decade of work can finally be shown off in full to the public.

Besides the impressive historical context of Lost Soul Aside, the game itself also looks quite impressive. According to developer statements, it concerns the warrior Kaser and his dragon companion Arena trying to save Kaser's sister, as well as the whole world, from an interdimensional threat. To do that, Kaser and Arena will need to travel between dimensions themselves, engaging in Lost Soul Aside’s stylish action combat along the way. It looks and sounds like an epic quest, possibly because it reached a lot of the same conclusions that the recent Final Fantasy 16 did.

lost soul aside physical edition announcement

Lost Soul Aside Has Good News for Fans

Developer Ultizero shares some good news with gamers looking forward to its upcoming and very long-awaited action RPG Lost Soul Aside.

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By Pam K Ferdinand

The Action-RPG Lineage that Created Lost Soul Aside and FF16

Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy 15 Had A Far-Reaching Influence

Final Fantasy has been experimenting with action mechanics since its NES days, but began to pivot away from its turn-based RPG roots in the 2010’s. While the mainline numbered games weren't initially part of this movement, the open-world action-RPG Final Fantasy Versus 13 metamorphosing into Final Fantasy 15 forced the issue. Now, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is refining gameplay ideas Square Enix tried around that time, and Final Fantasy 16 has gone as far as modeling parts of itself after a hack-and-slash game, even with a Devil May Cry combat director on board.

It isn't alone in those pursuits anymore, although the competition has come from an unusual place. Lost Soul Aside shares FF16’s Devil May Cry inspiration, but actually originates from creator Yang Bing keeping up with Final Fantasy Versus 13’s marketing. Kaser’s appearance, attitude, and powers sometimes resembling a Noctis knock-off are intentional, even if many other specifics about Lost Soul Aside and FF15 have diverged. Still, there is some shared DNA there, and judging by its most recent trailer, Lost Soul Aside shares a lot of it with Final Fantasy 16 as well.

How Lost Soul Aside Resembles Final Fantasy 16

Although an in-depth look at Lost Soul Aside’s gameplay loop will have to wait a little longer, it has more in common with Final Fantasy 16 than their surface-level combat. That’s still relevant, as Kaser has melee, ranged, and mobility options comparable to FF16’s protagonist Clive Rosfield, but the RPG side of each game shouldn't be discounted. Despite its trailers focusing on action scenes, Lost Soul Aside was conceived as an action-RPG with all the equipment and exploration that implies. The juxtaposition between those elements and Lost Soul Aside’s linear action segments sounds very close to how Final Fantasy 16 divides its field map questing segments and pure action stages.

Lost Soul Aside’s Scale Sparks The Most FF16 Comparisons

However, where Lost Soul Aside and Final Fantasy 16 find the most common ground right now is in their epic presentation. Both games have made a point of showing off their colossal boss fights, with Lost Soul Aside even teasing something that looks like one of Final Fantasy 16’s Eikon battles. It's going to be an uphill battle for a former indie game to match the grandiose scale of FF16’s most impressive sequences, but it still gets a lot of style points for trying. The looks, vibes, and maybe even feel of Final Fantasy 16 appear to be present in Lost Soul Aside, so fans of the former should consider giving the latter a shot.