Our platformer of the day is Lost Epic. It feels pretty epic (I got lost at a few points), so I think the title is apt. You are one of his last knights with the will and ability to fight God and save the world.
This is a Japanese release, so you should be familiar with subtitles. The only real drawback is that the text isn’t as big as I’d like. All of the audio is spoken in Japanese, but subtitles appear until you press the A button, giving you plenty of time to get the information you need and watch the game to understand the environment.
The game is primarily an adventure platformer, so it doesn’t need a lot of story elements to get things going. Still, Lost Epic comes with an interesting backstory and some compelling characters to interact with. Some act as narrators and waypoint guides, but they are more than just boring signposts. The old gods have left and six new gods have moved in. Your mission is to destroy them. To do this, you’ll need to destroy a bunch of minions (not the denim-clad yellow pills, but some of the ground forces you’ll face are quite nasty in their own right).
Lost Epic does a very good job of delivering something that looks great. For platformers, colors and shapes are used well. The fantasy world has plenty of detail without trying too hard to look photorealistic.
Audio is mostly very good. The sound effects and voice are also well done. The background music is also good and doesn’t distract from the experience. The only problem with sound effects is the footsteps. It changes a little depending on the type of ground, but it’s always a little clicky and the rhythm feels jerky.
As experienced gamers may wonder, the controls aren’t overly complicated. The Joy-Con’s left stick is used for left, right, up, and down operations. The B button will jump normally, or drop if the stick is down. All attacks are on the right side, Y for normal attacks, X for heavy attacks, and Y for divine attacks. Each attack consumes a small amount of stamina, so keep an eye on the stamina bar in the upper left corner of the screen. His two other pretty important buttons are his ZR, which is dodge/roll, and the L shoulder button, which knocks back healing potions to restore hitpoints (keep stockpiling potions- you will need it). Another nifty feature for dodge/roll maneuvers. Basically invulnerable when using evasion skills, but consumes additional stamina.
Lost Epic also includes required level ups and acquisition of new weapons and skills. In this regard, the game is more complex than you’d expect from a garden-variety platformer. The skill tree comes in the form of a “telling” book. There are 20 pages of skills and attributes that you can improve any way you want. As you progress through the game, you also have the opportunity to acquire new weapons and gather resources to improve your current weapons. There are not only minerals that can be used to enhance weapons, but also plants that can be collected to create potions. In fact, there are quite a few types of things you can collect and use, so take your time and experiment. and exploring.
Defeating enemies collects small red anima crystals. This is the game currency, so collect as much as you can. There are also some treasure chests, standing stones, and even fallen logs hanging around, waiting for you to hit them well to give them anima. Once you reach the shrine, you can exchange Anima to level up. When you die (and will), any anima you were carrying will drop in place.If you can get back to the drop spot, you can get your collection back
When I started looking at the skill trees and the list of things you have and can create or enhance, I was a little overwhelmed considering this is “just a platformer”. But with its story elements and expansive areas to explore, Lost Epic is designed to be more immersive. Once you get the hang of it, this game is really engaging. Basically just running around and killing stuff is enough to keep you moving to the next area for hours. I started playing on the console, but had to stop because I got a low battery warning. It didn’t feel like a long time between full charge and redock.
There are some weird things that bothered me about this game. There is a startup menu where you can choose to continue your current game or start a new game. With multiple game slots, you can play one or more of the multiple characters available. The annoying thing is that the only way to access this menu is to close and restart the software. I’m wondering if there is a button or button combination to access this menu, but I haven’t been able to find it. Another gripe is the intro scene. If you start a new session and select a new avatar, you will have to go through the movement tutorial and intro scene again from the beginning. There is no way to skip this.
Still, with a well-crafted story, plenty of action and exploration, engaging visuals, and easy-to-use controls, these annoyances are easily overcome. One thing I really appreciated, especially for a platformer, Lost Epic doesn’t rely on pixel-perfect jumps and grabs to get you where you need to be. You have to be careful with timing and targeting with these maneuvers, but this game is a bit more forgiving than many platformers I’ve played, so I agree with developers who demand skill without demanding utter perfection. is.
