The ambitious, Final Fantasy-inspired action RPG Lost Soul Aside is almost here, marking the end of a long development journey that began with a solo developer. Now backed by Sony and a 40-person team, this character-driven adventure blends high-speed action with a strong narrative. Recent footage and details reveal exactly what to expect before the August 29 release.
Story, Characters, and Inspirations
Lost Soul Aside follows Kazer, a stoic hero armed with unique abilities granted by a dragon-like companion named Arena. The plot revolves around overthrowing an oppressive empire, rescuing Kazer’s sister, and confronting the extradimensional Voids. Not all Voids are hostile — Arena, a crystal-formed Void, joins Kazer in an alliance that expands his combat and traversal abilities.
Kazer’s sister once fought alongside him against the Empire before the Verdrax invasion, suggesting she could return later in the story. The cast includes allies from both the empire and resistance forces, offering a mix of personalities that range from comedic to morally complex. Creator Yang Bing has cited Final Fantasy as a major influence, blending fantasy elements with realistic locations. Crystals play a central role in the world’s design, with Arena’s body reinforcing that theme.
Traversal, Combat, and Weapons
While its environments offer wide areas and branching paths, Lost Soul Aside is not an open-world title. Instead, it delivers a linear structure with large, explorable zones. Arena enables creative traversal through dash jumps, gliding, dragon flight, and even a crystal hoverboard. These tools combine platforming challenges with smooth movement, keeping exploration fast-paced.
Arena also transforms into four distinct weapons: one-handed sword, greatsword, poleblade, and scythe. Each caters to a different style — the sword favors agile combos, the greatsword deals heavy, slower strikes, the poleblade provides ranged pressure, and the scythe blends multiple traits for a technical option. Players can switch seamlessly between them mid-combat, unlocking new combo possibilities.
Each weapon has up to four active skills mapped to face buttons, from poleblade energy blasts to aerial sword rush attacks. Weapon abilities expand through a skill tree with stat boosts, passive effects, and unlockable moves. Weapon fragments, found throughout the game, allow for appearance customization and skill upgrades.
Mechanics, Systems, and Difficulty
Combat draws inspiration from Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, leaning toward accessible hack-and-slash gameplay. Dodging is quick and responsive, with parries available but not mandatory as in precision-focused titles like Sekiro. Depth comes from chaining combos and triggering “combo bursts” — timed inputs within an attack string that amplify damage.
The fusion gauge adds variety, letting Arena strike enemies directly with claw attacks. Fusion abilities can be upgraded alongside standard weapon skills, creating a layered combat system that rewards timing and adaptation.
PC Features, Requirements, and Editions
On PC, Lost Soul Aside requires 80 GB of storage. Minimum specs include a Core i5-10400 or Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, GTX 1060 or RX 5500 XT GPU, and 16 GB RAM. Higher settings recommend an i7-11700 or Ryzen 7 5700X paired with an RTX 3070 or RX 6800 XT. Ultra settings with ray tracing call for an i7-13700K or Ryzen 7 7800X, RTX 5070 Ti, and 16 GB RAM. PC features include unlocked frame rates, 4K resolution, ray tracing, HDR, and full DualSense controller support without a PSN requirement.
On PS5, the game supports advanced haptics and will be enhanced for PS5 Pro, with visual and frame rate improvements. Two editions are available: the Standard Edition at $59.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition at $69.99, which includes three weapon fragment skins, an Arena skin, health and XP boosters, and a digital soundtrack.
