It’s been a long and winding road, butLost Soul Asideis 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 forLost Soul Asidein 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 ofLost 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 inLost Soul Aside’s stylish action combatalong the way. It looks and sounds like an epic quest, possibly because it reached a lot of the same conclusions that the recentFinal Fantasy 16did.
The Action-RPG Lineage that Created Lost Soul Aside and FF16
Final Fantasyhas 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-RPGFinal Fantasy Versus 13metamorphosing intoFinal Fantasy 15forced the issue. Now, theFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketrilogy is refining gameplay ideasSquare Enix tried around that time, andFinal Fantasy 16has gone as far as modeling parts of itself after a hack-and-slash game, even with aDevil May Crycombat director on board.
It isn’t alone in those pursuits anymore, although the competition has come from an unusual place.Lost Soul AsidesharesFF16’sDevil May Cryinspiration, but actually originates from creator Yang Bing keeping up withFinal Fantasy Versus 13’s marketing. Kaser’s appearance, attitude, and powers sometimes resembling a Noctis knock-off are intentional, even if many other specifics aboutLost Soul AsideandFF15have diverged. Still, there is some shared DNA there, and judging by its most recent trailer,Lost Soul Asideshares a lot of it withFinal Fantasy 16as well.
How Lost Soul Aside Resembles Final Fantasy 16
Although an in-depth look atLost Soul Aside’s gameplay loop will have to wait a little longer, it has more in common withFinal Fantasy 16than their surface-level combat. That’s still relevant, as Kaser has melee, ranged, and mobility optionscomparable toFF16’s protagonist Clive Rosfield, but the RPG side of each game shouldn’t be discounted. Despite its trailers focusing on action scenes,Lost Soul Asidewas conceived as an action-RPG with all the equipment and exploration that implies. The juxtaposition between those elements andLost Soul Aside’s linear action segments sounds very close to howFinal Fantasy 16divides its field map questing segments and pure action stages.
Lost Soul Aside’s Scale Sparks The Most FF16 Comparisons
However, whereLost Soul AsideandFinal Fantasy 16find the most common ground right now is in their epic presentation. Both games have made a point of showing off their colossal boss fights, withLost Soul Asideeven teasing something that looks like one ofFinal Fantasy 16’s Eikon battles. It’s going to be an uphill battle for a former indie game to match the grandiose scale ofFF16’s most impressive sequences, but it still gets a lot of style points for trying. The looks, vibes, and maybe even feel ofFinal Fantasy 16appear to be present inLost Soul Aside, so fans of the former should consider giving the latter a shot.
