Lost Eidolons

Lost Eidolons is a 2022 tactical role-playing game developed and published by South Korean game developer Ocean Drive Studio. Gameplay involves the player character, Eden, controlling a group of mercenaries through a series of turn-based tactical battles to overthrow a kingdom's emperor.

The game received generally positive reviews, with reviewers praising the gameplay, story, characters, and voice acting. However, the pacing of the story's presentation, level of polish of the game, art and animations, and variety of gameplay received more negative feedback. A sequel, Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, was announced in 2023.

Gameplay
Lost Eidolons is a tactical role-playing game, where the player controls an group of mercenaries in a quest to overthrow a kingdom's evil emperor. The game is divided into 27 chapters, each containing combat segments, where the player controls the army through turn-based, grid-based tactical combat, and camp segments, where the player controls the protagonist in real time in their camp.

Each player and enemy character has a class, as well as equipment. Weapons include melee weapons such as axes, swords, and spears, bows, and magic. Combat revolves around a weakness system, based on characters' equipped weapons and armor. There are also enemy monsters, which use their own weakness system. Stages contain terrain that affects combat; for example by dealing damage or reducing the movement of units. Magic attacks can affect terrain, such as fire attacks lighting igniting wooded areas. By participating in combat, characters level up, allowing them to become stronger and unlock new classes. In combat, the player can undo their actions a number of times per battle.

Performing activities with the player's companions during the camp phase raises their rapport, allowing the player to recruit new characters and unlock bonuses.

The game features various difficulty options, including permadeath and turn limits, but both of these can be turned off.

Development and release
Ocean Gate Studio is a South Korean game development studio founded by a team mostly from Nexon, including creative director Jin Sang Kim and head of operations Jungsoo Lee. Lost Eidolons was their first project, which they undertook as they were interested in creating a story-based game without the monetization limitations of an MMORPG or free-to-play game. Kim described the game as having gameplay influences from the Japanese Fire Emblem series, with the aesthetics of Western titles such as Baldur's Gate or The Witcher.

Lost Eidolons held a campaign on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in April 2021, which was held not for the purpose of funding game development, but for the purpose of increasing the game's scope and bringing it to other platforms. The game was released for Windows on 13 October 2022, and later for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S on 24 August 2023.

Reception
Lost Eidolons received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, and 73% of critics recommended the game according to OpenCritic.

RPG Site described the game as a good first foray into the genre by Ocean Drive Studio. They praised the game's mechanics, complimenting the depth created by the gear and tactical mechanics. However, they criticized the story, art, and animations. They found that the game borrowed elements of traditional western role-playing games more than typical for the genre, with characters not being locked to classes and a rarity-based equipment system.

Softpedia praised the amount of content and the complexity of the turn-based combat, but criticized the presentation and considered that the game's first few chapters got off to a slow start.

RPGamer praised the game's characters and voice acting, but felt that these elements were dragged down by presentation, both graphically by the game's UI and animations, and by the game's story. They also praised the depth of the combat system, while feeling that the latter part of the game and optional battles were repetitive.

The Escapist  considered the story and characters well written, but commented that the camp portions could be tedious to some players, and that the game could have had more diversity in its battles. The publication also highlighted how the story is intertwined with the combat mechanics in each chapter, rather than just in cutscenes.

Legacy
A spin-off sequel, titled Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, which features roguelike elements, was announced on 1 September 2023. It was previewed at PAX West 2023.