Lost Dimension

Gameplay

Lost Dimension is a tactical role-playing video game. During the game, the characters attack enemies as a group, with each character having unique attacks and abilities. The game's "Assist" feature automatically occurs when an ally is nearby when the player attacks. Each character also has a unique "Gift" special ability, and by obtaining "Gift exp" in battle, new abilities can be unlocked. The "Defer" feature allows the player to pass up their turn to an ally; this can be used to allow the strongest party member to continue to attack, and take advantage of the characters' strengths and weaknesses. There is also a "Berserk" feature; when a character becomes berserk, they gain a boost in attack but will hit both allies and enemies alike.

Lost Dimension also features a visual novel-like system where the choices of the player determine the fate of the game's story, as well as its characters. One of the characters amongst the group is a traitor, and who it is varies from game to game. A system randomly selects the traitor at the start of each floor, and the player must use deductive skills to find out who the traitor is. During the "Judgement" phase of the game, the player has to pick out a character to be eliminated from the group. It is best to eliminate the traitor, though if the player chooses wrongly an innocent character may be killed. To determine who the traitor is, protagonist Sho Kasugai uses his ability, "Vision", to look into the future to obtain hints on the traitor's identity. The player can also look into the thoughts of the different characters, as well as question them. Eliminating allies is necessary to climb the pillar, with one team member being eliminated per floor.

Story

Lost Dimension takes place in the near future, with the world in ruin. The game's protagonist is 18 year-old Sho Kasugai, a member of S.E.A.L.E.D., a secret service group tasked with investigating a giant pillar that appeared out of nowhere. He has a special ability called "Vision", which grants him the ability to foresee events before they happen, and after he used it to save people from a mass destruction, he was chosen to be a member of S.E.A.L.E.D. Other major characters include a mysterious man known as "The End", an international terrorist known for causing massacres and destruction, and is the reason why the United Nations put together S.E.A.L.E.D., in order to arrest him. The End's ultimate goal is to destroy the world, and considers the fight against S.E.A.L.E.D. to be nothing more than a game. Additional members of S.E.A.L.E.D. include Mana Kawai, who has the special ability "Accelerate", Marco Barbato, whose Telekinesis that can pick up and crush enemies, Yoko Tachibana, a 17-year-old girl who aspires to be a singer with the gift of telepathy, and Zenji Maeda, who takes abilities from others. Toya Orbert has magnetic powers, and Himeno Akatsuki pyrokinetic skills. George Jackman with psychometric powers, Sojiro Sagara who can heal other teammates and restore their condition. Nagi can levitate and Agito will be able to teleport throughout the stage.

Development

The game is developed by Lancarse, developer of Etrian Odyssey and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, and published by FuRyu, developer of Unchained Blades. The game's story is written by Jun Kumagai, who has worked on the scripts of the Persona 3 movies, as well as a few episodes of Persona 4: The Animation, with Takeshi Oga being head of tower designs and character designs being provided by Yuu Yamashita and Makoto Tsuchibayashi. The game's producer is Hiroyuki Abe. The game was revealed on April 17, 2014, and is scheduled for release on August 7, 2014 in Japan, with players who pre-order the game receiving bonus content such as an alternate costume, as well as an additional quest. Select retailers also offer additional items. A demo of Lost Dimension was released on July 30, 2014, and is free to download.

Reception

It has a score of 72% on Metacritic.

All four Famitsu reviewers gave the PlayStation 3 version of Lost Dimension a score of 8, for a total of 32/40, while the PlayStation Vita version received scores of 8, 8, 8 and 9, for a total of 33/40. It has a Metacritic score of 72% The Vita version sold 3,868 copies during its first week on sale in Japan, ranking 19th for all video game sales for that week, while the PS3 version failed to enter the top 20 sales chart.

IGN awarded it a score of 7.0 out of 10, saying "Lost Dimension has interesting characters and smart combat, but lacks a compelling story."