Lost Soul Aside's Cinematics Make Promises Its Gameplay…

For all its shortcomings, there's no doubt that Lost Soul Aside looks great and takes every opportunity to show that greatness off. Nowhere is that clearer than in its many cinematic moments, which portray Lost Soul Aside's Kaser as a protagonist who grows stronger as his relationship with his companion Arena develops. In these spectacular moments, Kaser can be seen pulling off daring maneuvers that one would only ever find in fantasy entertainment, and each one suggests an upward trajectory of power, teasing the idea that players are witnessing a hero in the making.

However, for all its spectacle, Lost Soul Aside fails to translate most of its show and tell into "play and do" for the players themselves. The game's cinematics build anticipation for the abilities Kaser should eventually unlock, but its gameplay remains mostly the same. Instead of feeling like Kaser is actually learning something, then, it almost feels like these moments really are purely to show off what Lost Soul Aside is capable of achieving visually with Unreal Engine 4, as it's a bit of a letdown to immediately go back to being normal once the cinematic ends.

Lost Soul Aside's Cutscenes Oversell Kaser’s Growth

This divide between what Lost Soul Aside's cutscenes show and what players can actually control is most apparent when Kaser performs flashy, elaborate stunts in them that players are never capable of doing in combat or exploration. He may combine those moves with Lost Soul Aside's Arena in a pre-rendered sequence, but none of those abilities then carry over to the player's skillset. As a result, there's this frustrating sense of limitation that's hard to shake, as though players are merely spectators of Kaser's journey of growth rather than active participants.

Of course, the intent behind this may have been to show Kaser's struggle to master Arena's power, which is a big part of Lost Soul Aside's story and the relationship between the two characters. Even so, the execution of it all leaves little room for payoff. The cinematics keep escalating, all while the gameplay just stays where it is. Instead of giving players an actual sense of actual growth, it's more like Lost Soul Aside wants to do it all for them, making them watch Kaser's potential unfold without ever being allowed to harness it themselves.

Gameplay Progression That Feels Stagnant

A strong progression system is often the heart of the best action RPGs, rewarding players with a growing sense of accomplishment as they unlock new active and passive abilities their characters can utilize in combat and exploration. But this is where Lost Soul Aside falls short somewhat, because the cinematics promise a progression curve that the gameplay cannot (or will not) deliver. Players might find themselves witnessing Kaser unlocking this new ability during a cinematic, thinking they will be able to use it in gameplay, only for that moment to never arrive.

This inevitably results in both a narrative and gameplay that feel flat. Even as Kaser shows himself to be more capable in story beats and transitions, and even though players can unlock new skills for him in Lost Soul Aside's weapon trees, what they witness him doing in the game's cinematics is far from anything they will ever be capable of doing. Instead of reinforcing the narrative of Kaser's growth and his increasingly strong bond with Arena, the gameplay contradicts it, weaking both the story and the player's investment and making Lost Soul Aside feel more like a treadmill with a cinematic backdrop.

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