The Lost Child
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
The Lost Child Trailers
The Lost Child - Gameplay Trailer (Switch, PS4, PS Vita)
The Lost Child - "Astrals" Trailer (Switch, PS4, PS Vita)
The Lost Child - "Walking Among Gods" Trailer (PS4, PS Vita)
Critic Reviews for The Lost Child
The strange thing about The Lost Child is that, despite its many, many flaws, it still manages to be entertaining by virtue of being a bog standard, but competent, first-person dungeon crawler with a great pace of progress.
The Lost Child is a JRPG with a number of quirky and interesting elements, not least of which is its Pokémon-like monster capture system. However, its dungeon crawling underpinnings are just too dull and repetitive, and its narrative approach too stilted to draw in anyone but die-hard fans of the genre. Even then, you'll need to come prepared to grit your teeth and grind.
The Lost Child is a dull, uninspired dungeon crawler. On paper, a Lovecraft dungeon crawler with a Japanese flair could be something truly iconic and memorable. Instead of realizing that ideal, The Lost Child apes existing dungeon crawlers and throws a dozen ideas at the wall, with none of them managing to stick. Combat can be fun and the El Shaddai nods are cute, but it isn't enough to make this cosmic terror worth losing your sanity over.
The Lost Child is like that car your friend really likes but is hideous to look at. It's made of different parts, some of them from a different kind of car entirely. It makes funny sounds, and the sound system is a disaster. But they've had that car for years, and it still somehow runs without any problems. This visual novel/dungeon-crawler/monster-catcher is a whole lot of stuff mashed together, sometimes to awkward results. But the real meat and potatoes, the monster-catching, is not only the glue that holds The Lost Child together, but it's also a big ol' can of elbow grease that pushes the whole package forward. It's not always fun to read or look at, but I can get lost in grinding, evolving, and purifying more demons for hours.
The Lost Child isn't a game bereft of merit, and we're sure that there's a number of people who'll enjoy the visual novel slash first person dungeon crawler approach taken here. But it's certainly a game with limited appeal - even among the role playing game demographic - thanks to the lifeless battles and cumbrous dungeon design. It's a game that pays more than a passing nod to numerous other RPGs - Pokemon, Persona, and other Shin Megami Tensei titles - but sadly, never approaches the quality of any of them.
The Lost Child is a classic-style turn-based role-playing game with a first-person view, which features an intriguing story, well-designed puzzles and lots of opportunities to improve your party. On the other hand, this game is made with a very low budget, and it is pretty evident. If you're not a fan of exploration in the countless labyrinths, there's a chance that you'll get bored pretty quickly.
Review in Russian | Read full review
The Lost Child is clearly inspired by several popular series from different genres and it does a decent job at that, featuring elements that will be easily identified by the players. Where it does not do so well is on delivering a good performance and capturing the player's attention, as this is a game that has problems with standing out, aggravated by its rather poor presentation, which ends up reinforcing how The Lost Child does not manage to be a compelling and engaging experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
This dungeon crawler takes heavy influence from Shin Megami Tensei but mostly feels like a poor imitation.