Lost Eidolons is a turn-based tactical RPG from Ocean Drive Studio that’s exclusive to PC at the moment but will launch on Xbox in 2023. For a project from a smaller studio it’s equally impressive and ambitious, so we took a look when the game launched last week.
We first heard about Lost Eidolons when its developers successfully ran a Kickstarter campaign a while ago, but hadn’t gone hands on until now – nor did we know much about the premise. You play the role of a mercenary captain, who quickly gets thrust into a plot that involves a rebellion against Emperor Ludivictus. He cruelly rules over Artemesia, a fantasy realm infused with magic and creatures on top of a rather medieval looking environment.
Protagonist Eden is joined in his quest by his group of mercenaries, who can be upgraded and customized and also feature in the game’s narrative as this is a game with plenty of conversations – though you rarely if ever have any choices to make in them. This can make some of the interactions feel like they drag on a little too long as you’re waiting for when you can get hands-on with the action again, even though the voice acting is well done.
The combat in Lost Eidolons is somewhat reminiscent of Divinity: Original Sin 2 – or Gears Tactics if you’re more inclined towards Xbox IP. There’s a set number of turns for each encounter, and keeping turns in reserve means you’ll be granted bonus XP upon victory. Turns typically consist of a move command and an action command, which ranges from an attack to using an ability or object. Positioning and environmental effect matter when moving around the battlefield, as you’ll be hurt by nearby fire and electrical attacks are boosted if there’s water nearby.
From a well-developed combat system to an impressive narrative scope and game length, Lost Eidolons is clearly a project from a smaller team looking to craft something not too unlike a typical AAA experience. Besides a few rough edges, we’d say they succeeded. The game takes a while to get going and could have used more streamlining in terms of story development and gameplay tutorials, but it’s worth sticking with and maybe we’ll see some of these things get ironed out a bit in a future update.
What’s also impressive about the game is its audiovisual delivery. As mentioned there’s voice acting here for the narrative portion, but it’s nice to look at as well, with a 3D engine that looks the part even though it doesn’t push next gen boundaries. We saw similarities to games like Bannerlord, which have much higher budgets and teams to work with, so we were impressed with what the team at Ocean Drive pulled off.
Lost Eidolons is a game that can be picked up at half the price of a AAA RPG, and while it may lack a bit of polish here and there it’s very competitive in terms of scope, content and fun to be had. You might have to look past a few rough edges, but PC RPG enthusiasts should find plenty to enjoy.
Score: 7.1/10
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