PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

Although The Lost Child is a far cry from El Shaddai, Sawaki Takeyasu clearly crafted something special here. If you're a fan of first-person dungeon crawlers then you surely won't be disappointed with this fulfilling monster-recruiting adventure.

Even if the intricate and very traditional history could not capture your attention, the bestiary collection and its evolution could keep you glued to the screen for weeks.

Old-school dungeon crawlers aren’t all that common these days, so The Lost Child made for a refreshing experience. A little more depth – and better balanced difficulty – in the combat wouldn’t have gone amiss, though. But even as it is, The Lost Child is worth picking up.

It’s not always fun to read or look at, but I can get lost in grinding, evolving, and purifying more demons for hours.

As a dungeon crawler, The Lost Child really doesn't do anything wrong, but it also clearly never strays too much out of its comfort zone either. El Shaddai fans in particular will no doubt find something to enjoy in The Lost Child, and even diehard dungeon-crawling fans might have a good time. Those without nostalgic fondness for El Shaddai or who aren't quite sold on the genre might be best served giving a series like Shin Megami Tensei a try as their first take on a story-driven dungeon crawler instead.

A bland and monotonous dungeon crawler game with visual novel bits and twists.

After the uniqueness El Shaddai offered, we’ve found The Lost Child quite generic. It’s entertaining and works as a dungeon crawler, but that’s pretty much it.

Technically out-dated, The Lost Child is too clumsy and not enough challenging to generate a single spark of interest. Fortunately, the characters and story are compelling, which may seduce some players.

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.

There's nothing inherently broken about The Lost Child's mechanics or narrative, but there's also nothing compelling about them either. Ultimately, The Lost Child is just a gravely tepid dungeon crawler with nothing interesting to show. Check it out if you love the genre and are simply curious what's on offer here, but this RPG is easily skipped.