Preview | Lost Epic - I Think I Need A Map...

There are two things you should know about me. Number one, I love a grind, but only sometimes, and I’m not 100% sure what the difference is between a good grind and a bad grind, but there definitely is one, and at some point, I’ll crack the case and be able to tell you why I love spending hours killing the same enemies in Dark Souls 3 and hate killing the same enemies in Dark Souls 3 for Proof of Concord Kept. Number two, I’m a big old weeb. I’m talking about anime tattoos, being hyper-excited for every new anime that comes around, and suffering through more bad anime tie-in games than is probably healthy. 

Yes, this game has backtracking.
Yes, this game grinding enemies for upgrade.
But the real question is, can I flip the map upside-down?

Now then, that little intersection brings me quite nicely into the target audience for Lost Epic… no wait. LOST EPIC. There we go. This is a 2D Metroidvania that has you playing as one of many customisable anime boys and girls, all of whom have to fight not just god, but gods plural. You know, classic anime stuff. 

Live Your Best Life

We all know looks are skin deep, so LOST EPIC embraces that and lets you be a dogboy, catgirl, waifu, husbando, or whatever else you want. However, no matter what anime trope you embody you’re always going to be using basic attacks, strong attacks, and special skills to take down the holy ones standing in your way. Combat is fast-paced, and the enemies you’ll face along the way often range from fodder that poses little threat, to behemoths that need specific timing to counter, or they’ll finish you off in a couple of hits. 

“So what you are saying is I’m a fantasy anime protagonist?”

You can only parry most enemies by using one of your special skills, and you gain new skills by using new weapons and mastering the particular skill each one offers. It’s a fun way of earning new skills, and because you can equip four at a time, it allows you to build specific combos outside of just hammering light attack. 

For example, I had one skill launch me into the air before punching the ground and causing an explosion which I’d follow with an uppercut of sorts, then a spinning attack to return me and my enemies to the ground, all to be then finished off with an eruption under their feet. These combos are fun, and while it often feels like overkill, the bigger enemies required at least that much attention to take on, with bosses requiring far more precision to overcome. 

Fighting Gods is For Losers; Let’s Do Some Gardening 

I mentioned grinding earlier, so let’s chat about that. Alongside the ability to craft, upgrade, and evolve weapons, you can also do things like plant seeds to grow bushes to make your health potions, or go fishing to catch bits to cook up for extra health and whatnot at a later date. 

I know I should be killing god … But, like… what if I just made some killer braised beef?

In fact, you can also grab iron ore from mines, farm-specific monsters for different parts, which is useful because they’ll occasionally drop elementally-infused bits which can then make elementally-infused weapons, and just generally spend a lot of time doing the same stuff to become stronger, improve your equipment, and master new skills. If you thought Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s odd mini-games and surprisingly in-depth minor mechanics were cool, well let’s just say LOST EPIC was taking notes.

Basically, there’s an awful lot to do in this game even as it stands in Early Access. While the actual story content currently lasts under ten hours, you can lose a lot more time than that to LOST EPIC if you’re the kind of person who can’t resist crafting the next weapon upgrade, or if you just love fishing. 

Oh, you look like you’d be good in a stew!

So Much to Do

On top of all of that, there are also specific quests to complete, special monsters to take down, hidden skills all over the place, and a fair few other things to do. 

It’s all rather a lot, and very overwhelming at first, but also all fairly good fun. While there are some issues here in terms of balance, as many fights are made harder by simply yeeting more enemies at you rather than challenging to approach combat in new and unique ways r, nailing a combo or perfectly countering a lumbering great wolf is always fun. 

Yep, we’re in anime town.

If any of this sounds like it’d be up your alley, then it probably is. LOST EPIC is a game made up of a lot of different parts, and while a lot of that is fairly surface level, it does mean that you can choose to distract yourself at various points with little tasks that’ll both help you out in the long run, and also not frustrate you if you’re stuck on the boss fights. You’ll definitely get stuck on the boss fights too, because they’re absolutely brutal. One of them even keeps fighting when there’s nothing left of them but a head. 

Ooooooh, there’s the map I was looking for.