Lost Eidolons was first released in 2022 by a new company called Ocean Drive Studio. This was their first fully released game, and with over a thousand people backing them on Kickstarter, there was a lot of hype and expectations for a new tactics-based RPG. Does this game have what it takes to stand up to other games in the genre, like Fire Emblem and Banner Saga? In my maiden post, I will discuss various aspects of this game, from the gameplay, story, and graphics, and even add some insights based on the team involved. At the end of this all, I will honestly review the game.

One of the first things I think I should write about is the team involved in creating this game. The game had a relatively small team of around thirty-five people compared to the Fire Emblem series, which can have upward to eighty-five, making this somewhat of an indie game that presents itself as an AAA title. I want to talk about three prominent people: Jae Kim, the CEO; Hyojin Lee, the game director; and Jin Sang Kim, the creative director. Each of these men had previously worked together at Koei, so they all understood each other’s strengths and what they wanted out of this game. Also, because of their affiliation with Koei, you can see that impact in the game’s story. With almost sixty years of combined experience in the gaming industry, these men have plenty of knowledge to pull from. Is all that enough to create a game with lasting power, though?

It is hard to talk about a game and ignore the gameplay elements, especially in a genre that emphasizes gameplay and strategy. While playing the game, nothing about the combat stuck out to me as genre-defining; then again, changing the formula for tactics-based RPGs is pretty hard. I enjoyed not having to micro-manage my equipment after every battle. Those who have ever played a game like Fire Emblem know how tedious it feels when weapons continually break on you; that is not a worry in this game. Now, in terms of the difficulty of this game, if you have no prior experience with games like this, I suggest you start with story difficulty since even normal difficulty is pretty hard. In the world of tactic RPG, I equate Fire Emblem to Pokémon and Banner Saga to Dark Souls. Lost Eidolons falls somewhere in the middle, with the difficulty spike getting ramped up to eleven a little past the mid-way point of the game. You also have a free-roam camp in the game that allows you to converse with other members of your war party and build relationships with your comrades between chapters. Each central party member, of which there are around twenty-five, has milestone points in rapport that, besides a select few characters, does not offer much outside of learning more about their background. However, be forewarned that the game tells you it is impossible to max out all your relationships, so choose wisely. I found a few missed opportunities in the game, though, and one of those was the blacksmith. Although he is a mainstay in the camp, not much can be done with him since he does not upgrade weapons or armor and is only there to move along missions in the main story or side quests.

Speaking of missions and stories, this game is built around the story of the main character, Eden. Unfortunately, for me, the story falls flat in a few ways. Firstly, the tutorial mission that opens the game gives away a central plot point that will not happen till mid-way through the game, so a lot of the emotional impact that comes with that falls somewhat short. I will say, though, that the relationship between Eden and his “brothers” Francisco and Leon is one of the highlights and draws direct comparison to another Koei game titled Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the characters of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. Most characters, from Robin, Marchelle, Linard, Andrea, Balastar, and even Klara, are well done. Everyone has their path and reasoning for joining the war and stands out. After finishing the game, though, I feel like Ocean Drive Studio played it safe in their story since it has been seen before, especially in other titles in the same genre, including Fire Emblem. A few plot points also never get fully resolved, so you might be left scratching your head, questioning what just happened and why it had to happen. Some plot points also take too long to get to; considering the title of the game mentions Eidolons, there is not a single mention of them until about three-quarters of the way through the game. Although I feel like the story was a little too cookie-cutter in the formula, the studio does have belief in the game as it does set up a potential sequel. The world of Artemesia is vast and brims with so much potential, I just hope this team can push the story forward more in their future outings.  

At the end of this, I want to give a few star ratings to certain aspects of the game before I give my final score. Each of these scores is based on a best-of-five star rating.

Gameplay – 3 Stars. For a tactical RPG, it does what it needs to be right, and there is not one factor in the game that lowers this or raises this score significantly.

Story – 2 1/2 Stars. This game is a typical revenge story and some of the plot points in the game go unanswered leaving me with more questions at the overall arc of the story. The characters are, for the most part, done well and the relationship between Eden, Francisco, and Leon helps carry the motivations of the rest of the party.

Graphics – 3 1/2 Stars. I love the realistic look of the game, but with such a small team helping this game there are certain bugs that pop up that I do no think would have happened if they toned the graphics down. That being said Character designs look fantastic and if you can get past the clunkiness of certain cinematic scenes everything was done well.

Appeal – 3 Stars. for gamers that do not play tactical RPGs this will probably be one you can avoid for now. You will not come into this game with a newfound love and respect for the genre and to top it off there is not a ton of replayabilty. For those that frequently play tactical RPGs this game is one that might grab your attention, and if so go for it and test your mettle.

Overall Score – 3 Stars. Although some aspects of this game fall flat, this is still a game and mostly a studio in Ocean Drive Studio gamers should keep an eye on. For their first ever released game they passed the bar, and more expectations will come from future titles in this series. This game will not set the world on fire, but it does well enough the studio should continue expanding into this franchise since there is a lot of room to grow.