Ever since Devil May Cry exploded on the scene, I have thoroughly enjoyed ‘high action’ games. Characters who wield ridiculous power and an impossibly agile prowess excite me. Why? That means I’m bound for precise dodging mechanics, intense boss fights, and hordes of creatures to rip through. Well, a Chinese company called UltiZero Games is making a game called “Lost Soul Aside.” It looks spectacular.

Lost Soul Aside appeared in 2016

In 2016, Yang Bing released a video showing the project named Lost Soul Aside. Fans praised the visuals, the animations, and the overall design. The real ringer? Yang Bing was the only developer for this solo project and used the unreal engine 4. In an interview with dualshockers, Yang Bing revealed that Sony approached him after he released the trailer. They brought it into the China Hero Project. Bing reveals, in the same interview, that Epic Games also helped Sony with their project. Watch the original trailer below:

The ‘indie game’ clearly looks as good as most AAA titles. No wonder multiple companies approached Yang Bing. People following the game have already compared the action to Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy XV. Yang Bing has said it’s “something like combining Final Fantasy with Ninja Gaiden,” which may be why I got Soul Caliber vibes. In 2016, Lost Soul Aside Facebook posted that Yang Bing considers the game an action RPG – that could have changed by now. Regardless, Lost Soul Aside should speak to a few audiences. 

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Here is the most recent gameplay trailer: 

But what is it about?

Kazer, a young man who travels with what Yang Bing calls a Crystal Dragon, is the main protagonist. The Dragon speaks and can take various shapes to help Kazer. 

“10 years ago, there was a war between 2 countries. A few years after the war ended, unknown monsters began to emerge and slaughter the humans. As leader of the royal Knights, Kazer had a blessed family, but it was shattered by the arrival of the monsters. After a chance meeting, Kazer began traveling with the monster (Crystal Dragon) known as Arena,” reads a Twitter post from 2017.

Lost Soul Aside story details.
Check out our site: https://t.co/EwXTMBdKHk pic.twitter.com/xPNN85KjFq

— Lost Soul Aside (@Lost_Soul_Aside) March 29, 2017

The gameplay trailer released 4/26/2021 shows that Kazer’s Dragon has its own motives. He often asks to take over in combat, so it might act independently of the protagonist. Luckily, Kazer has a host of summoned weapons and defensive abilities to help, should the Dragon turn on him. His possession of the Dragon could be why the combatant in the trailer considers him inhuman.

Concrete details are still scarce. 

The China Hero Project

Sony Interactive Entertainment started the Shanghai China Hero Project in 2016 to support Chinese developers. Why? China’s Ministry of Culture decided video games were harmful to young people, threatened state security, and disturbed social order. In 2000, China banned foreign consoles, stripping many consoles we played from their hands. Gaming fans did find a way around it. However, in 2015, China lifted the ban, and Microsoft’s Xbox One was the first console released.

There are still censorship laws that stop companies from releasing many popular video games in China. Nevertheless, Sony created the China Hero Project to help expand their library. Lost Soul Aside is part of this initiative.

We are happy to announce Lost Soul Aside will be joining 3 other China Hero Project titles at PlayStation Experience 2017. If you are at the event in Anaheim on December 9th & 10th, you'll be able to go hands on with a special demo the team have prepared. https://t.co/pngVeQS8jN

— Lost Soul Aside (@Lost_Soul_Aside) November 17, 2017

Their website reads: “China Hero Project (CHPJ)” is a program based on PlayStation platform, which strongly support Chinese funded game developers (mainly start-ups) to enter the whole Chinese and global market, committing to” create a successful game works (=star) worldwide” and “cultivation and development of Chinese game industry”. 

Lost Soul Aside was Yang Bing’s focus

In a noisypixel interview with the China Hero Project owner, he brought up Lost Soul Aside. The CHPO revealed that Yang Bing received all the money he needed and a team to create the game. He also explains that Bing requested that his team be removed from the spotlight to focus on the game. 

Here’s a quote:

“Since last year, Yang Bing received the fundraising he needed to complete his game without any concern of money. After this, he requested that his team be removed from the spotlight so that they can go back to working on the title. Before this, in 2018, we were showing the game’s concept to give the western audience a chance to see how great this game is and show potential investors that there is a demand for the game. We respected his request to focus on game development as the team size is 20 people now and they are preparing something big to show off.”

Now we wait

Eager players will have to wait until 2022 to get their hands on this stylish video game. Lost Soul Aside will be on the PS4, PS5, and PC. Due to Sony’s involvement, an Xbox One or Series X/S may be off the table for 12 months. That’s not too long to wait. Until then, there’s still Devil May Cry 5 and Final Fantasy XV.