Developer: Lancarse
Publisher: NIS America
Platform: PS3, PS Vita
Tested on: PS Vita
Lost Dimension – Review
What would happen if you mix a bit of the juicy elements of Resonance of Fate, Hyperdimension Neptunia and Danganronpa? We believe the outcome would be very much like Lost Dimension, a game that knew a very mild reception in Japan, but still made it to the west. Be ready to climb a tower filled with treason, sleuthing and a key to save the world from destruction.
Story
The world is under attack by a mysterious entity called ‘The End’, and thus far he has killed over two billion people. The population of Earth is dwindling, and regular army forces can’t even come close to the powerful terrorist. This is where a handpicked team of eleven people comes into play. Of course this group is not your regular strike force, but each of the members has its own ‘gift’, which is pretty much a special power. You will play the leading role as Cho Kasugai, a young man who has the ability to pick up afterthoughts of people, and when needed dive into their heads to gain more knowledge about their motives. Sadly, it seems that you have lost your memories and are not that sure about who you ‘truly’ are.
When you, and the ragtag team of super-humans enter the tower that The End spawned out of nowhere, you immediately get to see the villain in the flesh. The terrorist forces your team to climb all the way to the top, whilst glaring at Cho with an overdose of hatred in his eyes. That being said, there is one massive catch, namely every floor you climb, you will have to sniff out a traitor in your party and erase his very existence. To save the lives of many, you will need to stain your hands with the blood of those you have deemed allies. Oh, and to top things off, you will have to reach the top of the tower in thirteen days, as there are nuclear weapons directed at all major cities of the world.
Whilst the narrative of the story is brought to you in a fairly simple way, the overall story proves to be catchy, especially due to the ‘traitor’ element that constantly keeps you on edge. Lost Dimension will force you to get to know all of your companions and then toss you into a world of hurt, as you will have to find out who will betray you each floor you climb and hope it’s not one of your favorite characters. A fun touch is the fact that every playthrough the traitors will be randomized, thus presenting you with a slightly different story if you wish to go through all the hardships for a second time.
The only minor issue is the fact that most of the conversations are rather superficial, which sometimes makes it easier to kill off those you haven’t talked to as much. Nonetheless, the game provides a lot, even if it’s sometimes lacking in content.
Graphics
Having tested the PlayStation 3 version, it’s surprising to say that the game still looks good for the high standards the new generation of consoles has presented us with. The characters themselves look great, nicely detailed and the game uses many detailed textures to spice things up. The only problem is the lack of ‘decoration’ and items in the combat maps, making the game sometimes feel quite empty. Sadly, this is a problem that tends to occur in many titles of NIS America, and this time proves to be no exception.
The game also has a few anime cutscenes and ‘visual novel’ portions that look detailed and overall great. It makes Lost Dimension feel like a series at times, rather than a game. All of this adds up to the atmosphere of the game and the overall anime-ish vibe the game is going for.
A small bug was noticed, namely that when switching to new characters during conversations (in cutscenes), the character that is about to speak next often ‘flashes’ onscreen, giving a very annoying image every time it happens.
Sound
Overall the sound and music quality is quite high in Lost Dimension, albeit that some of the songs get quite repetitive as they are overused. This immediately becomes a minor bother, thanks to the great voice acting. Nonetheless, the overall vibe would have been even better, if even more conversations were fully voice acted, instead of small bits and pieces scattered throughout the many conversations the game has to offer. Luckily, most of the conversations that happen during the main quests/storyline are voiced for the most part.
Gameplay
Lost Dimension is a strategy RPG at its core, as you’ll be spending most of your time on the battleground. You will always lead a team of six in battle, and in-between you will occupy yourself in finding possible traitors that are trying to stop you from saving the world.
The battle portion of the game proves to be straightforward, as each of the party members will be able to move within a circle each turn, which immediately points out how far they can move during their turn (The boundaries close in, as you start moving, indicating your reach). After you have moved a specific character, you will be able to choose between several options, namely attack, gift, defer, item and wait. Most will point out what they do, but gift and defer are quite original implementations the game has to offer.
Every character has ‘gifts’, which are basically the same as spells, but they won’t really consume mana (GP) alone, but sanity (SAN) as well. Sanity, is as one expects, the mental health of your characters or those of the enemy team. When a SAN meter runs dry, that character will be extremely vulnerable the next turn, making him/her/it an easy prey.
Defer is the chance to hand out the turn of an active character, to one that has already had its turn. This often comes in handy when a character is out of range for an attack, but is standing next to one of your own, that already has had its turn. When deferring, you will be able to grant that other characters another turn, allowing him either to attack again, or move closer to an enemy, allowing him to strike, whilst otherwise neither of you could have done anything.
Another aspect in combat that is very important is ‘assist’. Your characters will assist one another, if they are in range for an attack, when the active character attacks a foe. If you plan your moves right, you will be able to pull off several assists, when attacking your enemy.
Just like in many other RPGs, you will receive experience points at the end of each battle, allowing your characters to level up, making them stronger and granting them points to spend on their ‘gift’ trees. These trees will consume received points, in areas you wish to invest them in. You will be able to go in a lot of different directions, with many of your characters, providing you the chance to choose a skill set that suits your play style.
Outside of combat, you will have no chance to rest, as you will have to concern yourself with who will be the traitor in your party, on each floor you climb. You’ll be able to do this by playing with different team members, seeing you will hear ‘voices’ at the end of each combat, allowing you to eliminate when you hear negative voices (red) compared to positive ones (white), with each different setup. At the beginning this will be a fairly manageable task, but as you close in on the last floors, things will get a lot trickier. It’s advised to keep notes, and mark people in the ‘vision’ menu, that will be unlocked on the second floor. In here you will be able to see how everybody likes each other, their battle rankings as well as the last few setups you’ve tried in combat, and the amount of voices heard afterwards. Each floor you will have a few characters that present you with a red voice, but this does not prove they are actually the traitor. If you have a few leads, you will be able to use a ‘deep vision’, by consuming one of the rare vision points you have earned by completing the main quests of the game. This deep vision will unlock a small mini game, in which you will have to follow the thoughts of the person who’s head you will be residing in. At the end your suspicion will either be confirmed or denied. That being said, these VP are very rare and thus you will have to use them wisely.
When you are successful in pinpointing a traitor, a vote will occur at the end of each floor, and the character with the most votes cast on him will be erased. When a character is erased, he will leave a stone with all his abilities inside behind. This stone can be equipped by one of the remaining characters, unlocking the deceased character’s ability for the one that has his stone equipped.
Other than that, the game offers a few weapon upgrades, but the overall gear system remains fairly simple. Truth be told, this is not really a bad thing, as you will already have enough things to keep in mind when plowing your way to the top.
During your playthrough you will also have to bond with all of the characters, even if you don’t know who is on your side yet. Sadly, due to the fairly superficial conversations, this might get boring at certain times, because you will have to spend a lot of time befriending your companions.
Conclusion
Lost Dimension is a solid Strategy RPG, with an original touch that does wonders for the genre. You will of course concern yourself with a lot of planning during the many battles the game pulls you through, but outside of battle you will still have to keep your wits about. The story might be portrayed in a simple fashion, however the gut wrenching choices you will have to make to save the world, will put you on an emotional rollercoaster. The game truly allows you to get close to every single one of your valued companions, to eventually force you to kill a character you care for a lot. Be prepared to enter a dimension for the lost.
Lost Dimension - Review,
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