Lost Dimension is the perfect example of a 5-6 out of 10 game getting bumped up to about a 7 for having a genuinely neat core mechanic baked into it. As you mentioned, every aspect of the game is just serviceable, but the traitor system and short length genuinely make each run feel pretty exciting and with Materia carry over in NG+, it's not even that big a deal to replay imo. I really like this game, even though it's admittedly only pretty good.
Ooh, really like the video, glad you’re giving this game the attention it deserves, but I’m going to have to fight you on the characters Yoko hates her telepathy because it completely invalidates the main purpose of her dream job. What’s the point of trying to sing to people and convey your feelings and stuff through heartfelt lyrics when you can just beam your emotions directly into their brain with a skill that is virtually innate and requires no skill to master. It’s like if you really tried hard to be a pilot because you love airplanes, but you gain the ability to fly, so your dream is effectively worthless. That’s an interesting conflict! Agito wants to be friends with the end, and yeah, that’s most of his link, but there is a basis to that, and it isn’t as clear cut as it seems to be. Basically, he can teleport anywhere. Distance is no factor to him, and neither is emotional distance. He is instantly friendly with everyone he meets, but he can’t really make lasting connections, and his link is about him coming to terms with the fact that his happy go lucky nature is holding him back, both from experiencing true friendship, and viewing the mission objectively (ie: realizing The End is a bad guy). I’m not trying to say that these characters are flawless, or that they compete with characters from Persona or whatever huge JRPG happens to be your favorite, but I do think that each character uses their limited screen-time excellently, and I would love to see a sequel that delves into them more. The writing for them is actually pretty genius, as each character’s struggle ties in perfectly to both their gift/materia and their backstory/personality/aspirations.
Hey Brando, I’m glad to see you doing more things outside of the Yoko Verse. Your videos are well made and your narration and knowledge are god-tier. Keep it up man!
The unique mechanic definitely makes all the difference. Although I am surprised that no mention is made of the fact that you can equip the abilities of erased party members to the remaining ones to create some interesting synergies as well as unlock unique attacks.
"Can a single unique mechanic make or break a game?" YES YES YES YES YES. I enjoy my comfort food games as much as anyone but I've seen a lot of good games ruined by one bad idea or middling games absolutely saved by one really good idea. Especially as the market becomes more and more saturated USPs are becoming more and more important for games to set themselves apart from the crowd.
I genuinely really loved this game when I played it. It hit that perfect sweet spot of intriguing story, old-school mechanics and charming jank, so seeing it get some love really surprised me and made me smile. In terms of games like Lost Dimension, while the gameplay is different, being a roguelike, Baroque on the PS2/Wii had a very similar feel to it: it's beyond the end of the world, with the only places in existence being a scrappy ruined village filled with vaguely human mutants and a sunken tower going down into the depths of the earth. There's a lot of randomised elements, even down to how the game feeds you story to begin with, and it takes a lot of work to piece it together, but the music is outstanding and it's more of a survival horror at times than an action rpg. Similarly, Rengoku on the PSP is another tower-centric game, where you play a combat robot trying to fight their way to... freedom maybe? The story isn't the first game's strongest point. The second is a massive improvement from start to finish, however and, again, has an outstanding OST.
An underrated gem for the PS3, PC and PS Vita ^_^ So glad to see this game getting some coverage. Thanks man! Thank goodness someone besides me has heard of the other games mentioned in the video :D
I'm gonna be honest at the time of this game's release around 2013ish, I was obsessed with this Valkyria style game play since there was nothing else like it at the time, so it was kinda unique back then. This company is still making games like this to this day from caligula effect overdose, its sequel that comes out in october, and finally a new IP monark. If possible I would like to see more retrospectives on those titles as well, since they also follow a theme of one unique mechanic within a "generic" cookie cutter game play scheme
23:26 One game I think was worth playing was Remember Me. The memory remix segments, although few in the game, were good enough to keep me going thru an otherwise unremarkable, but not bad, game. Had the game been outright bad then I don't think the memory remix segments would've saved it.
Alright I'm convinced. I just picked this up Edit: Alright, I'm 8 hours in. Game is awesome. It's funny, the traitor mechanic in lost dimension is more fun than the core gameplay
Who's your favorite character so far? I really love Marco, Agito, and Yoko. Yoko and Zenji are the only people who have never been my traitors and I've done 3 playthroughs so far
This made me weirdly enough think about the Knights in the Nightmare review from the youtuber KBash. Its interesting to see what mechanic people came up with in games that are largely not remembered or noticed.
I’m playing through this right now on PS3 and absolutely loving the “survivor” mechanics. I’m not usually a strategy rpg guy but this hits the same notes that games like Arc the Lad did. Something about it just works for me
Ok that traitor thing sounds cool as hell, that alone kinda makes me wanna play it. I skipped the spoiler stuff so if it’s on sale I might just grab it sometime
Really liked this game. I'm a sucker for psychic powers as a plot point but the way the story could twist and turn was interesting and encouraged you to replay multiple times.
This really looks like a game that might've easily been pitched by Atlus themselves. They've always been into non-standard gameplay mechanics, so it's right up their alley.
I liked this game. The random traitor gimmick was cool, it reminds of hidden identity/traitor board games, which I love. Too bad there aren't more video games with this idea. Also, the materia system is pretty interesting. In short, each character has one materia which gives them their unique ability, flight, super strengh, pyrokinesis, etc. When you vote them off, they leave their materia behind, and you can equip them to your remaining characters, so you get cool combos like super strengh + flight or whatever. Some combinations even give out unique skills. I dunno, I thought that was super neat.
Im currently finishing this game, its actually much better than I thought but I kinda suck at finding out who is Sus lol. Surely will play even more often to get the good ending once at least. (Im playing on PSVita, one of the twelve consoles in circulation is here haha)
I always thought there were, like a dozen? of us that finished this game. Never thought I'd see a whole review vid of it. It's "serviceable" -we have Nocturne and 999 at home.
also known as the game I procrastinated the heck on true ending of because the traitor system forced me into more playthrou- resets than would be "optimal" that being said, I really enjoyed how customizable everyone were and how you can really turn Sho into a murder machine, and whodunit mechanic actually made me feel something instead of "ah shit it Dangan again" and yes, I do remember Time and Eternity p.s: Zenji is kinda eh on his own but that's not what he's for, he's for buffing the heck out of the others because he has some skills on his tree that can break battles in half (aside from stat buffs, I think he is the one with the skill that makes units act twice in one turn). I wish I could look this up to make sure, but this game is so buried, there's fuckall on it as far as guides go, so the source is "trust me bro" on this.
I dunno, I agree that Zenji is kind of a gimmick character, but he personally was always in my team since I considered him useful (he also never betrayed me throught my two playthroughs, so I appreciate that). Zenji is crappy early game, but he does start to shine late game since his skill requieres your team to actually be efficient. He has a good buff skill (Full Helix or something like that), he's versatile (meaning he can switch roles from tanking to healing if necessary on the spot) AND he can act as a bridge between two different characters (for example, say that for some reason Agito is low on HP, but he is too far away for Sojiro to reach, but Zenji is closer and he's linked with Agito; you can heal Zenji and he'll transfer the HP he gains to Agito). And no, you're thinking of Daydream, which is Sho's unique skill. Zenji can copy it though, effectively giving you two uses of it without any proper set up (since you can infinitely spam the hell out of it if you know what you're doing).
I absolutely love this game. It's in my top 10 video games. No, it's not the best game ever made and it has its issues but it holds a special place in my heart. It always makes me sad when Marco's the traitor :(
this reminded me of my time with breath of fire v - dragon quater i am propebly the only human on the planet that loves this game but man i had such a good time with it
As someone who played and quite enjoyed Lost Dimension....yea, all of this is perfectly fair. I'd say the combat/progression system of being able to equip the survivors with the powers of those who have been voted off adds some extra spice to an otherwise mediocre combat system, but without the pseudo social deduction system the game wouldn't be half as memorable as it is. Regarding the requirement for the true ending though, I'm like 90% sure that if you need to get a specific character's loyalty mission completed, you can just let them survive up to the fourth floor even knowing they're an imposter to get the mission done anyway, so it's not as doomed to endless looping as it might seem on the surface. The playthrough that becomes the true ending does require you to properly sus out all the imposters, but that doesn't have to be the same playthrough that you complete the last loyalty mission you need.
@BrandoSP my best guess for why Yoko wouldn't want to be a singer with mind reading is that she can't turn it off and crowds hurt her. That said, it doesn't look like it bothers her in the crowds she enters. So... I dunno, worried if she hears people thinking she sucks she'll break down?
This game is solid but unfortunately it does not do enough to stand out from the pack. The combat is enjoyable if a bit barren once you figure out the mechanics. The story follows some standard JRPG troupes you have probably seen somewhere else. It was fun to figure out who the traitor was on each floor. Lost Dimension is a competent game, where you definitely get your money's worth but doesn't push boundaries when it comes to JRPGs or Visual Novels.
In regards to the question at the end of the video: Yes, although it depends how important the mechanic is in the scope of the game and how it impacts or synergises with other mechanics. In Lost Dimension I can see how traitor system influences your team composition or personalike social aspect of this game. I'm certain that at some point you were 'forced' to chose a team without a healer/tank/high DPS character to figure out the traitor or you abandoned character's social link. However if this "cool" mechanic is just different way to upgrade your weapons then I doubt it can carry the game on it's own. For example in Disgea you have to complete item's world(random generated maps) to upgrade it. It's certainly unique way to upgrade equipment but it wouldn't carry the whole game. Although in combination with "residents" mechanics and character worlds in later instalments it enchances those mechanics, contributes to them and plays with overall playing off of RPG tropes in this series.
“Lost Dimension” was a great game! (Especially b/c I got it for free from PS Plus, lol). The VITA was excellent, except for a huge mis-step by Sony. And that was choosing a proprietary memory card rather than something like an SD card. And then Sony SERIOUSLY over-charged for that proprietary memory. But I loved my VITA and can’t wait until the Steam Deck can emulate it and PS3 titels!
This is the kind of game I love to hear about. I might not love playing them, but obscure overlooked games are such fascinating pieces of history they're really my jam. And toast, even. Jam and toast.
Yo this game is one of my favorites on the vita. Sadly my vita was stolen a few years back and when I saw this on steam I bought it immediately. I wish all vita games came on steam. I always wanted to learn how to sort out the traitor easier once I beat the game.
This game surprised me in a good way. It certainly has a sort of jankiness to it, it's these kinda games that have some original ideas that really make them memorable. The characters have just enough personality still to make them stand out. The only one I actually did not like was George. He's just way too one note FOR HONOR etc. Granted he was my MVP in the final battle for my second run because apparently I screwed up and brought two traitors again. So meh. Heh. Without rambling too much more. I highly recommend this game and is an absolute no brainer purchase when it goes on sale under 10 (when I bought it). Mana is so OP btw. One trick you could do is she can handle fights alone quite well so if she goes berserk it's usually a good thing because she'll just shred through high hp enemies haha
1. Thank you for letting more people know about this game. It's fun and I would like to see more like about 2. I hate you for this title. 3. I like appear the trillions shout out. So I can mostly forgive you for 2... Mostly
This game does look fun, although consider how thr game is designed, you will either be at the mercy of shomma, or your shomma. Bassically unless you can defend yourself to others, your out, traitors have the benefit of not needing to sabatouge, so as long as their active, they can survive to the end. Considering how this death game is designed. Shoma is at a clear advantage, so as long he just doesn't piss anyone off, and can put the peices togather, he's fine. Obviously, thats the point, the end wants shomma to suffer, but yeah
This reminds me a lot of No-One Has To Die! A really awesome little newgrounds game with a very similar "time travel through all traitors to find the best solution" plot conceit. I'd love to hear your opinion on it, because it's absolutely in the same vein as Lost Dimension and I think you'd enjoy it a bunch.
Do you like niche Japanese franchises? Yes i love persona Hit too real for me i had that conversation many times when i was in college 😂 Also as a person from the UK I only know ghost light because they were the ones responsible for bringing over the Shin megami tensei games over here on the ps2 and source Of the classic meme "featuring dante from the devil may cry series".
Hmm quite the interesting game honestly mechanics in a game that is interesting seem really fun and the other parts are bearable it would be a worth game for me.
Another game with a traitor system is "Dark Rose Valkyrie". You also get to do something akin to phoenix wright by interrogation and finding clues to solve "cases" (basically someone did something bad, like eat all the ice cream. Its mostly jokes except the last case or two where it actually is based on the story). Though, how the traitor is decided is kinda boring (spoiler: you can force the traitor to be a specific member by min maxing their affection). The story is ok, but the gameplay is hit or miss for people. If i was to rate, id say probably a 6ish out of 10. Its not bad, but has room for improvement.
This is false. Only the first traitor in your first playthrough is set for story reasons, anyone else after that is randomized the moment you begin a NG. Considering the fact that you need to reach Floor 3 before you can max their relationships (necessary to get the True Ending), if during the first two floors you get one of the traitors that you got in your previous playthrough, you'll be forced to go through a 3rd run (or, if you're EXTREMELY unlucky, maybe even a 4th run).
@@loren5432 I only needed two though. It's been so long I don't remember specifics but I had looked into it and the consensus at the time was two and that's what happened for me. I don't know if I just got lucky or what but I don't know if I woulda finished if it it took three or more.
You got lucky, traitors are completely randomised on all runs except the very first play through (George will always be the first traitor), I played through the game 4* in a row, never once had Yoko make it past round 4 without stabbing me in the back. George ironically never betrayed me again after the first forced one.
If there's one thing I've learned in my time interacting with others, games like this essentially are treated as an anomaly. As the video touched on, they are just too niche and flawed to appeal to most people. Mechanics often can be jank or obtuse, presentation usually aren't stellar by any means, some can be way too short or longwinded for what they are which leads to pacing issues, writing (and if applicable, translation) quality are all over the place, so on and so on. Of the multiple games listed at the beginning, I've played most of them myself, "Lost Dimension" included, and yes, I enjoyed the majority of them. "The Witch & The Hundred Knight" specially is still one of my favorite games period...and that got terrible scores. Heck, as I'm watching/listening to this, I'm actually playing another such game, "Record of Agarest War Zero" and I recently watched a 40+ minute summary/review bashing the game (well, the first game in the series and not the prequel I'm playing specifically but still, I played the original as well) for being a waste of time. I don't know why these type of games appeal to me and I don't have it in me to make a deep dive analysis to even try to understand. The unique gimmicks they often have do help but even then, I usually don't have issues or mind the flaws or middling qualities of the overall package. So I just end up enjoying or appreciating the games for what they are trying to do, that's it. Sadly, I know I'm pretty much alone in that. At this point, I just wish I could avoid all the cringe-y and accusational jokes that get spewed out so frequently at them...and the few people that enjoy them.
I had my vita.. committed vita owner I've owned 6 over the years (one fell in the bath, thanks Japanese second hand electronics shops)... Late in my vita career, after I'd played all the games I liked, thanks to PKGj or whatever it was called... this was about the last title I tried... The predictable characters turned me off. Though I did think the traitor dynamic was interesting. Nice to know how it ends.
Have you played Natural Doctrine? I think the tag team mechanic is better there. Interesting tactics game that deserve more love but it isn't for the faint of heart. *Ehm*....... "it's the Dark Souls of tactics RPGs"
The fact that this video have less than even 10.000 views as I'm typing it is simply unjust very sus youtube algorithm Susan you are the impostor amogus
Next coding interview I go into when asked why the demo algorithm is so slow and unoptimized I’m gonna say “it’s galaxy brain and just thinking really hard.” This is a terribly niche joke based on a single line in a 24 minute video, why am I commenting this?
my Vita slim died from a bad USB cord when it was charging overnight, i was charging it every night because i played so much on it, I even have a switch but IMO the Vita is just as good for what it is..... so i've been using RPCS3 a lot lately... I literally popped a transistor on the back of the board, and NOBODY EVER sells the slim motherboards on ebay, but its littered with phat motherboards. Really annoying, because i had just replaced the display and put new white joysticks in it a few months prior and was using it every day.
The main mechanic is the part of the game I can't get myself to do. I got to the first choice part and haven't progressed. I hate the feeling of losing a character on purpose. So I just have the game on my steam list but have only put maybe 10 minutes every year.
Watched twenty seconds and realized I was dealing with a redditor obsessed with Among Us (the current "thing") and can't make a review without spoilers, which I'm at least grateful I was warned about.
This game sounds like a waste of time with a one trick pony. I can see how that unique mechanic really made it engaging for you, but I'd say it's a pass for most people.
Lost Dimension is the perfect example of a 5-6 out of 10 game getting bumped up to about a 7 for having a genuinely neat core mechanic baked into it. As you mentioned, every aspect of the game is just serviceable, but the traitor system and short length genuinely make each run feel pretty exciting and with Materia carry over in NG+, it's not even that big a deal to replay imo. I really like this game, even though it's admittedly only pretty good.
That traitor mechanic being randomized every run is such a good idea
Ooh, really like the video, glad you’re giving this game the attention it deserves, but I’m going to have to fight you on the characters
Yoko hates her telepathy because it completely invalidates the main purpose of her dream job. What’s the point of trying to sing to people and convey your feelings and stuff through heartfelt lyrics when you can just beam your emotions directly into their brain with a skill that is virtually innate and requires no skill to master. It’s like if you really tried hard to be a pilot because you love airplanes, but you gain the ability to fly, so your dream is effectively worthless. That’s an interesting conflict!
Agito wants to be friends with the end, and yeah, that’s most of his link, but there is a basis to that, and it isn’t as clear cut as it seems to be. Basically, he can teleport anywhere. Distance is no factor to him, and neither is emotional distance. He is instantly friendly with everyone he meets, but he can’t really make lasting connections, and his link is about him coming to terms with the fact that his happy go lucky nature is holding him back, both from experiencing true friendship, and viewing the mission objectively (ie: realizing The End is a bad guy).
I’m not trying to say that these characters are flawless, or that they compete with characters from Persona or whatever huge JRPG happens to be your favorite, but I do think that each character uses their limited screen-time excellently, and I would love to see a sequel that delves into them more. The writing for them is actually pretty genius, as each character’s struggle ties in perfectly to both their gift/materia and their backstory/personality/aspirations.
Hey Brando, I’m glad to see you doing more things outside of the Yoko Verse. Your videos are well made and your narration and knowledge are god-tier. Keep it up man!
Thanks! Will do!
Among us, JRPG and Brando SP are the three words I expect to hear when the world ends
And... The world ends
With you
The unique mechanic definitely makes all the difference. Although I am surprised that no mention is made of the fact that you can equip the abilities of erased party members to the remaining ones to create some interesting synergies as well as unlock unique attacks.
Sounds potentially morbid…
Please keep covering these delightfully obscure JRPG’s.
"Can a single unique mechanic make or break a game?" YES YES YES YES YES. I enjoy my comfort food games as much as anyone but I've seen a lot of good games ruined by one bad idea or middling games absolutely saved by one really good idea. Especially as the market becomes more and more saturated USPs are becoming more and more important for games to set themselves apart from the crowd.
“I AGREE WITH THAT”
XD
I have never seen anyone else talk about this game, but I kind of loved it, so thanks for spreading the word!
I genuinely really loved this game when I played it. It hit that perfect sweet spot of intriguing story, old-school mechanics and charming jank, so seeing it get some love really surprised me and made me smile.
In terms of games like Lost Dimension, while the gameplay is different, being a roguelike, Baroque on the PS2/Wii had a very similar feel to it: it's beyond the end of the world, with the only places in existence being a scrappy ruined village filled with vaguely human mutants and a sunken tower going down into the depths of the earth. There's a lot of randomised elements, even down to how the game feeds you story to begin with, and it takes a lot of work to piece it together, but the music is outstanding and it's more of a survival horror at times than an action rpg. Similarly, Rengoku on the PSP is another tower-centric game, where you play a combat robot trying to fight their way to... freedom maybe? The story isn't the first game's strongest point. The second is a massive improvement from start to finish, however and, again, has an outstanding OST.
You ever play Heroes Of Mana on the DS?
An underrated gem for the PS3, PC and PS Vita ^_^ So glad to see this game getting some coverage. Thanks man!
Thank goodness someone besides me has heard of the other games mentioned in the video :D
I'm gonna be honest at the time of this game's release around 2013ish, I was obsessed with this Valkyria style game play since there was nothing else like it at the time, so it was kinda unique back then. This company is still making games like this to this day from caligula effect overdose, its sequel that comes out in october, and finally a new IP monark. If possible I would like to see more retrospectives on those titles as well, since they also follow a theme of one unique mechanic within a "generic" cookie cutter game play scheme
23:26 One game I think was worth playing was Remember Me. The memory remix segments, although few in the game, were good enough to keep me going thru an otherwise unremarkable, but not bad, game. Had the game been outright bad then I don't think the memory remix segments would've saved it.
So you wouldn’t REMEMBER IT???
XD
Alright I'm convinced. I just picked this up
Edit: Alright, I'm 8 hours in. Game is awesome. It's funny, the traitor mechanic in lost dimension is more fun than the core gameplay
Who's your favorite character so far? I really love Marco, Agito, and Yoko. Yoko and Zenji are the only people who have never been my traitors and I've done 3 playthroughs so far
Such an interesting mechanic! It's cool learning about games I may never have played or cared about otherwise. Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This made me weirdly enough think about the Knights in the Nightmare review from the youtuber KBash. Its interesting to see what mechanic people came up with in games that are largely not remembered or noticed.
I’m playing through this right now on PS3 and absolutely loving the “survivor” mechanics. I’m not usually a strategy rpg guy but this hits the same notes that games like Arc the Lad did. Something about it just works for me
Ok that traitor thing sounds cool as hell, that alone kinda makes me wanna play it. I skipped the spoiler stuff so if it’s on sale I might just grab it sometime
Man I didnt finish the game but I loved it. It had an interesting appeal and i am surprised to see a video on it.
Kinda got obsessed with this game... I still am since it's now on Steam... also, it runs way smoother on PC/Steam btw.
You got no idea how much dopamine flooded my brain when you mentioned trillion. Games goated
Really liked this game. I'm a sucker for psychic powers as a plot point but the way the story could twist and turn was interesting and encouraged you to replay multiple times.
It's 4:45 am- and you've ALMOST convinced me to play this obscure trash bc of the mechanics. Great video
That's why I'm here
Thanks for the review guy I don't know.
This really looks like a game that might've easily been pitched by Atlus themselves. They've always been into non-standard gameplay mechanics, so it's right up their alley.
I liked this game. The random traitor gimmick was cool, it reminds of hidden identity/traitor board games, which I love. Too bad there aren't more video games with this idea.
Also, the materia system is pretty interesting. In short, each character has one materia which gives them their unique ability, flight, super strengh, pyrokinesis, etc. When you vote them off, they leave their materia behind, and you can equip them to your remaining characters, so you get cool combos like super strengh + flight or whatever. Some combinations even give out unique skills. I dunno, I thought that was super neat.
Im currently finishing this game, its actually much better than I thought but I kinda suck at finding out who is Sus lol. Surely will play even more often to get the good ending once at least. (Im playing on PSVita, one of the twelve consoles in circulation is here haha)
appreciate this review! this game is extremely hard to find, either as a disc or an archived file
I always thought there were, like a dozen? of us that finished this game. Never thought I'd see a whole review vid of it. It's "serviceable" -we have Nocturne and 999 at home.
Lost Dimension
Gnosia
Raging Loop
Great games revolving around identifying impostor/traitor
Nice
Never heard of this game but i know the video'll still be interesting cause BrandoSP uploaded it
also known as the game I procrastinated the heck on true ending of because the traitor system forced me into more playthrou- resets than would be "optimal"
that being said, I really enjoyed how customizable everyone were and how you can really turn Sho into a murder machine, and whodunit mechanic actually made me feel something instead of "ah shit it Dangan again"
and yes, I do remember Time and Eternity
p.s: Zenji is kinda eh on his own but that's not what he's for, he's for buffing the heck out of the others because he has some skills on his tree that can break battles in half (aside from stat buffs, I think he is the one with the skill that makes units act twice in one turn). I wish I could look this up to make sure, but this game is so buried, there's fuckall on it as far as guides go, so the source is "trust me bro" on this.
I dunno, I agree that Zenji is kind of a gimmick character, but he personally was always in my team since I considered him useful (he also never betrayed me throught my two playthroughs, so I appreciate that).
Zenji is crappy early game, but he does start to shine late game since his skill requieres your team to actually be efficient. He has a good buff skill (Full Helix or something like that), he's versatile (meaning he can switch roles from tanking to healing if necessary on the spot) AND he can act as a bridge between two different characters (for example, say that for some reason Agito is low on HP, but he is too far away for Sojiro to reach, but Zenji is closer and he's linked with Agito; you can heal Zenji and he'll transfer the HP he gains to Agito).
And no, you're thinking of Daydream, which is Sho's unique skill. Zenji can copy it though, effectively giving you two uses of it without any proper set up (since you can infinitely spam the hell out of it if you know what you're doing).
@@loren5432 Daydream spam was what I did, yeah
I absolutely love this game. It's in my top 10 video games. No, it's not the best game ever made and it has its issues but it holds a special place in my heart. It always makes me sad when Marco's the traitor :(
this reminded me of my time with breath of fire v - dragon quater i am propebly the only human on the planet that loves this game but man i had such a good time with it
Didn't play half the games you mentioned at the beginning but I remember them and that Era fondly
As someone who played and quite enjoyed Lost Dimension....yea, all of this is perfectly fair. I'd say the combat/progression system of being able to equip the survivors with the powers of those who have been voted off adds some extra spice to an otherwise mediocre combat system, but without the pseudo social deduction system the game wouldn't be half as memorable as it is.
Regarding the requirement for the true ending though, I'm like 90% sure that if you need to get a specific character's loyalty mission completed, you can just let them survive up to the fourth floor even knowing they're an imposter to get the mission done anyway, so it's not as doomed to endless looping as it might seem on the surface. The playthrough that becomes the true ending does require you to properly sus out all the imposters, but that doesn't have to be the same playthrough that you complete the last loyalty mission you need.
@BrandoSP my best guess for why Yoko wouldn't want to be a singer with mind reading is that she can't turn it off and crowds hurt her. That said, it doesn't look like it bothers her in the crowds she enters. So... I dunno, worried if she hears people thinking she sucks she'll break down?
This game is solid but unfortunately it does not do enough to stand out from the pack. The combat is enjoyable if a bit barren once you figure out the mechanics. The story follows some standard JRPG troupes you have probably seen somewhere else. It was fun to figure out who the traitor was on each floor.
Lost Dimension is a competent game, where you definitely get your money's worth but doesn't push boundaries when it comes to JRPGs or Visual Novels.
3:18 what’s the intro going to be …?
3:21
Me: PERSONA! Sun Wukong!
XD
This is on sale cheap at steam right now. Thanks for the vid.
Holy shit. I literally just remembered this game I never got to play it but I was considering buying it for my vita purely on the premise alone.
In regards to the question at the end of the video:
Yes, although it depends how important the mechanic is in the scope of the game and how it impacts or synergises with other mechanics.
In Lost Dimension I can see how traitor system influences your team composition or personalike social aspect of this game. I'm certain that at some point you were 'forced' to chose a team without a healer/tank/high DPS character to figure out the traitor or you abandoned character's social link.
However if this "cool" mechanic is just different way to upgrade your weapons then I doubt it can carry the game on it's own.
For example in Disgea you have to complete item's world(random generated maps) to upgrade it. It's certainly unique way to upgrade equipment but it wouldn't carry the whole game. Although in combination with "residents" mechanics and character worlds in later instalments it enchances those mechanics, contributes to them and plays with overall playing off of RPG tropes in this series.
Great video as always!
2:40 the name is fitting
XD
“Lost Dimension” was a great game! (Especially b/c I got it for free from PS Plus, lol). The VITA was excellent, except for a huge mis-step by Sony. And that was choosing a proprietary memory card rather than something like an SD card. And then Sony SERIOUSLY over-charged for that proprietary memory. But I loved my VITA and can’t wait until the Steam Deck can emulate it and PS3 titels!
This is the kind of game I love to hear about. I might not love playing them, but obscure overlooked games are such fascinating pieces of history they're really my jam. And toast, even. Jam and toast.
Yo this game is one of my favorites on the vita. Sadly my vita was stolen a few years back and when I saw this on steam I bought it immediately. I wish all vita games came on steam. I always wanted to learn how to sort out the traitor easier once I beat the game.
13:39
O
M
G
XD
Thanks for that
So I'm not the only one that played this game?
I think there's at least 6 of us now
I made it all the way to the end boss, but my novice build couldn’t stand a chance against him.
This game surprised me in a good way. It certainly has a sort of jankiness to it, it's these kinda games that have some original ideas that really make them memorable. The characters have just enough personality still to make them stand out. The only one I actually did not like was George. He's just way too one note FOR HONOR etc. Granted he was my MVP in the final battle for my second run because apparently I screwed up and brought two traitors again. So meh. Heh.
Without rambling too much more. I highly recommend this game and is an absolute no brainer purchase when it goes on sale under 10 (when I bought it). Mana is so OP btw. One trick you could do is she can handle fights alone quite well so if she goes berserk it's usually a good thing because she'll just shred through high hp enemies haha
6:33 SHE PUNCHED A MECHA?!
XD
The Vita was LEGIT!
I ran into a weird glitch in the final fight where the end just stopped fighting. Made the battle easy but was also anticlimactic
1. Thank you for letting more people know about this game. It's fun and I would like to see more like about
2. I hate you for this title.
3. I like appear the trillions shout out. So I can mostly forgive you for 2... Mostly
We need to bring back obscure Vita games
Let's be honest though, music does lowkey slap
This game does look fun, although consider how thr game is designed, you will either be at the mercy of shomma, or your shomma. Bassically unless you can defend yourself to others, your out, traitors have the benefit of not needing to sabatouge, so as long as their active, they can survive to the end. Considering how this death game is designed. Shoma is at a clear advantage, so as long he just doesn't piss anyone off, and can put the peices togather, he's fine. Obviously, thats the point, the end wants shomma to suffer, but yeah
This reminds me a lot of No-One Has To Die! A really awesome little newgrounds game with a very similar "time travel through all traitors to find the best solution" plot conceit. I'd love to hear your opinion on it, because it's absolutely in the same vein as Lost Dimension and I think you'd enjoy it a bunch.
Oh my god I remember this game it was so cooooooooool!
You should check out Gnosia, its on switch and coming to PC soon and it does something similar but focuses entirely on the part you found interesting.
I would play more than 2 hours of this game if the pc wasn't so bad
Do you like niche Japanese franchises?
Yes i love persona
Hit too real for me i had that conversation many times when i was in college 😂
Also as a person from the UK I only know ghost light because they were the ones responsible for bringing over the Shin megami tensei games over here on the ps2 and source Of the classic meme "featuring dante from the devil may cry series".
Hmm quite the interesting game honestly mechanics in a game that is interesting seem really fun and the other parts are bearable it would be a worth game for me.
i also love the vita, mine were taken by a hurricane :(
Good job now it’s hella expensive
$6 if you wait for a steam sale
Another game with a traitor system is "Dark Rose Valkyrie". You also get to do something akin to phoenix wright by interrogation and finding clues to solve "cases" (basically someone did something bad, like eat all the ice cream. Its mostly jokes except the last case or two where it actually is based on the story). Though, how the traitor is decided is kinda boring (spoiler: you can force the traitor to be a specific member by min maxing their affection). The story is ok, but the gameplay is hit or miss for people. If i was to rate, id say probably a 6ish out of 10. Its not bad, but has room for improvement.
I'm pretty sure on a NG+ , people who were traitors originally can't be a traitor again. So you only actually need to do two playthroughs.
This is false. Only the first traitor in your first playthrough is set for story reasons, anyone else after that is randomized the moment you begin a NG.
Considering the fact that you need to reach Floor 3 before you can max their relationships (necessary to get the True Ending), if during the first two floors you get one of the traitors that you got in your previous playthrough, you'll be forced to go through a 3rd run (or, if you're EXTREMELY unlucky, maybe even a 4th run).
@@loren5432 I only needed two though. It's been so long I don't remember specifics but I had looked into it and the consensus at the time was two and that's what happened for me. I don't know if I just got lucky or what but I don't know if I woulda finished if it it took three or more.
You got lucky, traitors are completely randomised on all runs except the very first play through (George will always be the first traitor), I played through the game 4* in a row, never once had Yoko make it past round 4 without stabbing me in the back. George ironically never betrayed me again after the first forced one.
If there's one thing I've learned in my time interacting with others, games like this essentially are treated as an anomaly. As the video touched on, they are just too niche and flawed to appeal to most people. Mechanics often can be jank or obtuse, presentation usually aren't stellar by any means, some can be way too short or longwinded for what they are which leads to pacing issues, writing (and if applicable, translation) quality are all over the place, so on and so on.
Of the multiple games listed at the beginning, I've played most of them myself, "Lost Dimension" included, and yes, I enjoyed the majority of them. "The Witch & The Hundred Knight" specially is still one of my favorite games period...and that got terrible scores. Heck, as I'm watching/listening to this, I'm actually playing another such game, "Record of Agarest War Zero" and I recently watched a 40+ minute summary/review bashing the game (well, the first game in the series and not the prequel I'm playing specifically but still, I played the original as well) for being a waste of time.
I don't know why these type of games appeal to me and I don't have it in me to make a deep dive analysis to even try to understand. The unique gimmicks they often have do help but even then, I usually don't have issues or mind the flaws or middling qualities of the overall package. So I just end up enjoying or appreciating the games for what they are trying to do, that's it. Sadly, I know I'm pretty much alone in that. At this point, I just wish I could avoid all the cringe-y and accusational jokes that get spewed out so frequently at them...and the few people that enjoy them.
With you covering obscure games with unique mechanics, I'd love to see you tackle Resonance of Fate in the future too
It did get that re-release a few years ago
its xcom dangenronpa....
Lmao truu
a yes the prequel to scarlet nexus
I know. My deja vu had deja vu.
@@NieR.Amanda ;)
I had my vita.. committed vita owner I've owned 6 over the years (one fell in the bath, thanks Japanese second hand electronics shops)... Late in my vita career, after I'd played all the games I liked, thanks to PKGj or whatever it was called... this was about the last title I tried... The predictable characters turned me off. Though I did think the traitor dynamic was interesting. Nice to know how it ends.
Please do a video on the zero escape series, even just VLR would be cool
Have you played Natural Doctrine? I think the tag team mechanic is better there.
Interesting tactics game that deserve more love but it isn't for the faint of heart.
*Ehm*....... "it's the Dark Souls of tactics RPGs"
Will give it a look
@@ThBrando it shared a lot of your criticism to Lost Dimension. There is a small plot twist early on in the game that I haven't recovered from yet lol
The fact that this video have less than even 10.000 views as I'm typing it is simply unjust very sus youtube algorithm Susan you are the impostor amogus
Next coding interview I go into when asked why the demo algorithm is so slow and unoptimized I’m gonna say “it’s galaxy brain and just thinking really hard.”
This is a terribly niche joke based on a single line in a 24 minute video, why am I commenting this?
7:43 MONARK Resonance??
XD
9:25 yep, MONARK
Since I bought a Vita, I better get this!
16:53 that’s it
I AM BUYING THIS
my Vita slim died from a bad USB cord when it was charging overnight, i was charging it every night because i played so much on it, I even have a switch but IMO the Vita is just as good for what it is..... so i've been using RPCS3 a lot lately...
I literally popped a transistor on the back of the board, and NOBODY EVER sells the slim motherboards on ebay, but its littered with phat motherboards. Really annoying, because i had just replaced the display and put new white joysticks in it a few months prior and was using it every day.
21:12 Mass Effect??
XD
12:53 CERTAIN PLAYERS WOULD
XD
You should check out Valkyria chronicles 4.
Dude I have been wanting to replay VC4 so bad lately idk why lol.
I booted up the game to try and get the true ending and everyone was invisible 😭
Closer to Danganronpa than Among Us, but sure, whatever makes you think you're funny.
amogus
13:20 im already tracer
Sus
The main mechanic is the part of the game I can't get myself to do. I got to the first choice part and haven't progressed. I hate the feeling of losing a character on purpose. So I just have the game on my steam list but have only put maybe 10 minutes every year.
Watched twenty seconds and realized I was dealing with a redditor obsessed with Among Us (the current "thing") and can't make a review without spoilers, which I'm at least grateful I was warned about.
sus
This game sounds like a waste of time with a one trick pony. I can see how that unique mechanic really made it engaging for you, but I'd say it's a pass for most people.
That's a valid take, sometimes a single mechanic can't carry a game for some people.
You smoking the big white rock of you think those live2D bootleg ass animation rigs look good
The battle system reminds me of Tales of Cold Steel... and that gives me the shivers 🤢 That game's dialogues are 90% filler; terribly written.