Lost Soul Aside is far from a perfect game, but it has undeniable style—within its combat sandbox, that is. Kaser and Arena's flashy tsunamis of destruction are enough to get anyone hyped up for an epic, corny, human-vs-monster showdown, and clever mechanics like Burst Pursuit keep fights feeling dynamic and flexible.
At the same time, this wild and bombastic approach to combat means that Lost Soul Aside is a little too easy. The game loses the sense of tension present in more methodical action games like Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok, and is notably less challenging than its character-action contemporaries, like Bayonetta 3. Indeed, with Kaser being more or less unstoppable on the battlefield, Lost Soul Aside can feel a bit like a breeze at times, and one central combat mechanic only exacerbates this sense of gross player power.
Lost Soul Aside's Staggering System Is Broken
Players Can Completely Cheese the Lost Soul Aside Stagger Mechanic
Like so many melee-focused action games, Lost Soul Aside allows players to chip away at a stagger meter, which acts as something of a second health bar. It's similar to Sekiro's posture system, in that depleting this supplementary meter opens up the enemy to a powerful finishing move, allowing players to deal immense damage in a single sequence. But unlike in Sekiro and similar games, staggering enemies in Lost Soul Aside rarely feels earned. In fact, it comes far too easily, thanks to a combination of low enemy defense and Kaser's blindingly fast attacks.
By leveraging Lost Soul Aside's sword-upgrading system, players can further increase Kaser's stagger damage, making the system even more unbalanced.
Perhaps this wouldn't be so significant if the reward for breaking an enemy's stance were not so great, but Lost Soul Aside effectively hands victory to the player upon breaking stance. Once an enemy's stagger bar is depleted, they will remain stunned for several seconds—sometimes as many as ten—during which time the player is free to whale on them with no resistance of any kind. Staggered enemies often take more damage as well, and this can be augmented with specific pieces of gear. Then, at the last minute, the player can press the requisite buttons to launch into the finisher animation, which prolongs the stagger period by the finisher's duration.
This means that players can enjoy upwards of fifteen seconds of free, heightened damage against an enemy, after just a small amount of effort. In another game, this might be a welcome feature, a moment of reprieve and celebration in the midst of a tough enemy ambush or boss fight. But thanks to Lost Soul Aside's easy combat, this stagger mechanic winds up feeling overpowered, trivializing the game.
Lost Soul Aside Is Simply Too Easy at Times
Lost Soul Aside is flashy and chaotic, but don't be fooled: it's remarkably easy. As previously mentioned, Kaser can attack at blistering speeds, meaning that there's little reason to be methodical or tactical about attack timing, and defensive options are even more outrageous. Players can block while moving, and enjoy generous invincibility frames during dodges; after just a few hours of practice, avoiding damage while dealing it out becomes a walk in the park.
Which is why the stagger mechanic is an issue. In other games, like Lies of P, staggering an enemy is a hard-won reward, something that players have to fight tooth and nail for, which is what makes the extra damage potential so satisfying. With Lost Soul Aside's boss encounters and group battles being rather frivolous, it's hard to really enjoy the excessive damage granted upon staggering an enemy, which is a shame.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 63 /100 Critics Rec: 22%
- Released
- August 29, 2025
- ESRB
- Rating Pending
- Developer(s)
- Ultizero Games
- Publisher(s)
- PlayStation Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
Embark on an epic odyssey to save your sister and the whole of humankind from dimensional invaders in Lost Soul Aside – a stylish single player action-adventure RPG.
Chain lightning-fast combos, learn new abilities, and upgrade your weapons as you take on formidable enemies and colossal bosses in fast, dynamic combat.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- PC Release Date
- August 29, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- August 29, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Adventure, JRPG
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Weak
