Lost Ember Reviews
Lost Ember wears its influences proudly but it doesn’t surpass them. Nonetheless, it’s a personal tale told with style on a large and frequently beautiful canvas. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version suffers from performance problems that are detrimental to the overall experience. If they can be fixed – and we’ll update this review if they are – you can happily add another half-point to our score.
Lost Ember offers a beautiful and unique adventure that’s unfortunately held back on the Nintendo Switch by some technical issues. Are these issues problematic to make the game feel terrible to play? Certainly not, but you won’t be getting the same compelling experience with the game that you can get on other platforms. Outside of these issues, Lost Ember has its share of special moments. I loved discovering its open-world and switching between creatures felt great, with the game offering this genuine sense of freedom that just makes exploration so enjoyable and liberating. Here’s hoping that a patch with fixes is released sooner rather than later then, because as it stands this gem of a game is a little too flawed to make it essential for Nintendo Switch owners.
Lost Ember attempts to be an artistic experience, yet struggles to be an enjoyable game. The story is uninteresting and predictable, the gameplay is boring and sometimes frustrating, and the huge performance issues on Switch makes this game close to unplayable at times. While there is clearly potential here, Lost Ember fails to deliver on nearly every front. There are plenty of other artsy games on Switch to pick up over this one.
Lost Ember provides players with an open world to explore through the viewpoint of various animals. And although it can be effective, its high price and downgraded graphics mean the Nintendo Switch may not be the best way to play it.
Overall, Lost Ember isn’t a terrible game; it does, however, strive to be profound and ultimately is not quite so. The narrative is ambitious but never strays from the beaten path. Navigation is problematic and leaves players lost when it shouldn’t. Performance is also far from optimized for Switch. While the body swapping and visual design are solid, the former is let down by linear traversal and the latter isn’t enough to make up for the other flaws. Hopefully a patch will come along to tackle some of these problems, but in the meantime consider Lost Ember if you’re willing to put up with a number of different issues.
The story in Lost Ember is one about a lone wolf and a curious spirit trying to remember what they have forgotten about their past lives in a journey across a beautiful world where past stories are re-told and truths are revealed.
Lost Ember has lovely visuals, simple gameplay mechanics and a heartfelt story. The calm and peaceful vibe of the gameplay is perfect for players looking for a laid-back game to play. It is not overly long, coming in at around five hours. If you like games with a strong narrative, animals and a little exploring the environment then Lost Ember might certainly be worth a look.