Lost Sea Review

Lost Sea is the kind of game that starts off on a low boil and gradually gains momentum as the player makes their way through the stages. This format works for other titles; Skylanders, for instance, placed a huge emphasis on the development of powers and upgrades that allowed the character to adopt a more complex playstyle than had they started with. The protagonist of Lost Sea is in a similar situation, beginning their journey only being able to attack, and purchasing various evasive or combative moves as they go. Thing is, Lost Sea is actually a well-polished Roguelike and not just a Beat ‘Em Up; when the player dies, they are stripped of all upgrades or powers, and this means that those moves you had come to rely on disappear. Locking abilities behind upgrades may deliver some satisfaction initially, but in reality, it leads to the player feeling handicapped if it’s their fifth or sixth run.

The game is, if I’m completely honest, boring in its earliest stages; the lack of options when it comes to moves and the predictable lone enemies make for a few very dissatisfying levels. Once all of the abilities are unlocked and the player is faced with some real challenge, it starts feeling more like top-down Bloodborne than the Skylanders I had initially put it down as. I loved dodge rolling between enemies and executing three-sixty degree slashes because it was exciting and so far removed from the initial drudgery that the game had presented just half an hour earlier. This gameplay was complemented by tranquil, if not adventurous, music (think toned-down Indiana Jones) and some beautiful visual design; colours were vibrant, and everything stood out in a way that you would expect from such a light hearted game. As nice as the Lost Sea is, though, it didn’t stop me from muting the volume and putting on a podcast – as a Roguelike, it’s self-explanatory, and due to its relative simplicity in terms of level design, it never demanded my full attention.

One of the core elements of this game is the party system: the player will find various NPCs scattered around each level, all of which can be recruited providing there are enough spaces to slot them in. Each NPC has a number of talents which will either make certain unlockables available, buff the player character or provide a massive increase to the NPCs own health pool. However, aside from getting stuck on bits of scenery, carrying the groceries and dying, these characters don’t do much of anything. My first partner said “if we find an enemy, I’ll get out of the way for you”; he then promptly stuffed his head between his legs and was trampled by a giant. I essentially had to fight this enemy in such a way that would prevent my ally from getting into harm’s way, and that meant that I would be rushing into the way of other enemies in order to lure the first enemy away from the hapless ‘survivor’ (who had become my enemy in his own right due to his passive-aggressive prostration). I absolutely hate working with these stupid NPCs, but because they are also able to carry the tablets that are the main goal of each level, you sort of need them around unless you want to take three or four slow trips. I then ran into more issues – with a full party of five people, the ones stuck on the end quite often take offence at being last and stand dead still until I go and wake them back up again. Their path-finding is so phenomenally poor that if they can’t see Mummy Duck, they will obstinately get stuck on that knee-high wall, or wait for a piranha plant to finish them off. Like I said, the game can be incredibly exciting when you’re weaving in and out of enemy blows, but the impact is lessened somewhat by the need to babysit these impetuous morons.

The game could probably do with explaining itself a little better as well; I still have no idea what I’m doing by collecting these tablets, nor why I’m not allowed to visit every island in a given zone. The biggest perpetrators here are the items, which are found in chests; once they are collected for the first time, there is no guide as to what they are or what they do. I picked up a syringe at one point and have subsequently decided that it must have contained heroine – I received a massive speed and attack bonus for half a minute or so, then lost all of my health. Another one turned out to be a boost to experience pickup: if I had known that when I first found it, I wouldn’t have killed all the enemies before trying it out.

Lost Sea is a functional and good looking Roguelike, but the praise almost comes to a stop there; the game is marred by unlockable controls, poor explanations and bloody babysitting. Once I got a fair way in, the difficulty ramped up and I was in my element. Playing further stopped feeling like a chore and I started to enjoy myself until one of my companions started acting up again. If you do decide to give this one a go, stick with it until you’ve unlocked all of the abilities, as the initial few stages are an unfair representative of what the game as a whole can be.