Developer: Zoink Games, Thunderful
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PS4, PS5, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Lost in Random – Review
It Takes Two is one of EA’s most recent releases, and it scored a whopping 9.5/10 on our site. It showed us that old-school platformers are still very loved by the general populace and that we all love a good co-op experience. Now, we get another new release from the massive publisher, but this time we are looking at an old-school adventure title that puts high-speed platforming in the background and focuses a lot more on its original card game-inspired mechanics and its interesting visual style. Even with the game skipping a few beats here and there, we very much enjoyed this original new release.
Story
Lost in Random teleports us in a world that used to be controlled by dice wielders, who were basically mages backed up by the power of sentient dice. Sadly, they are no longer present in the world that is governed by the evil Queen, who is the last supposed dice wielder in existence. The world is now divided into six realms, each corresponding with the side of her last remaining dice. The lowest class citizens are those who only have a value of one, while the Queen lives with the Sixers, in the nicest realm. The main character of the story, Even, is a Oner, who lives together with her parents and her sister, Odd. When Odd turns twelve, she must roll the Queen’s dice, and that roll will determine her fate. She rolls a six and is grabbed by the Queen to live with the other Sixers. Even feels that something is wrong, and she starts a quest to rescue her sister. When she stumbles upon Dicey, a sentient dice that responds to her commands, she may just achieve her goal. Nonetheless, in a world where ‘Random Rules’, anything can happen.
The story develops really nicely in this title, as you’ll have enough dialogues to go through, and the in-game cutscenes are also quite fun to behold. You can also find additional storybook pages if you’re an explorer, but these are just the icing on the cake. Overall, the story is very appealing and it unravels quickly enough for you to keep pressing onwards.
Graphics
Graphically this game is an absolute marvel. While it doesn’t necessarily look like a next-gen title on our PS5, it just looks great. The overall atmosphere and model design remind us heavily of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas. We did notice some character models being used over and over, but as a whole, everything is nicely designed, the enemies look spooky, and the world is fun to explore (albeit in a linear fashion). The lip-syncing may annoy some players, but it is done in the same fashion as old-school games dating back from the PS1 or N64 era. We did run into a few issues where subtitles didn’t work properly.
Sound
The sound design of this title is superbly handled. The narrator, as well as the different characters, have very nice voices to listen to, and they present the story with a lot of flair. We did notice a few audio bugs where different characters would talk over each other, or where audio would be cut off without any rhyme or reason. Nonetheless, the voice acting truly carries this experience from start to finish, as well as its adventurous and cinematic backdrop.
Gameplay
Lost in Random is an action-adventure game that is very reminiscent of games from the early 2000s. This means that the game isn’t overly complicated and just lets you enjoy a wondrous (albeit grim) world where ‘Random Rules’. From start to finish you’ll be following a fairly linear path in order to solve puzzles and battle enemies with a card game-inspired shtick thrown in the mix. As you progress through the game, you’ll gain more and more cards, which you can use in combat. You’ll have to choose which cards you choose as your active ones, as you may only have 15 cards in your deck.
In the game, you’ll be controlling Even for the most part, but also Dicey. Dicey can help you solve simple puzzles outside of combat, but he will truly shine when you’re battling the Queen’s evil minions. During combat, you’ll first have to gather crystals, which can be gained by using Even’s slingshot on the random crystal growths that spawn on enemies. When enough crystals are gathered, you’ll be able to throw Dicey, who will in turn then grant you mana depending on the throw. This means that if you’re unlucky, you’ll only gain one mana to use for that throw, but if you’re lucky and have a higher roll, you may be able to utilize more cards and then fight back with all your might. Dicey is limited at the beginning of the game, but he’ll also grow more powerful, allowing higher throws.
Overall, Lost in Random is a great experience, but it is held back by a few design choices. Things that immediately come to mind are the very slow pace of basically everything, the horrible map, and the fact that the game is very linear. While a few sidetracks can be found here and there, these are somewhat negligible for the most part. The option to sprint would have already made the game a lot more pleasant, especially when taking one of those sidetracks. We also encountered a lot of issues with hitboxes and invisible walls.
Conclusion
Lost in Random is a great Tim Burton-esque experience with a very interesting story and an absolutely perfect atmosphere for those in the mood for a proper adventure story. The game has a lot of fun mechanics on display, even though it does struggle with the pacing of a few of them. While linear in nature, you’ll have enough content to plow through. As a whole, we loved the experience and hope to see other games that play out in the same universe as this one.
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