The Lost Child E3 Impression

The Lost Child is an upcoming first-person dungeon crawler done by Kadokawa Games and is something of a spiritual sequel to El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. Taking on the role of a journalist-photographer for an occult magazine, you’re sent on assignment to investigate why people are committing suicide at a train station; the rumour is they’re being pushed onto the tracks by demons! After you almost become a pancake yourself, you’re saved by a mystery woman in purple, who hands you a mysterious suitcase then disappears.

Back at the office, a scantily clad woman introduces herself as Lua (an angel) and declares you’re the chosen one. Your boss, however, doesn’t give a crap, and wants you to check out a nearby spa, where apparently angels have been sighted; what a coincidence! The spa turns out to be a bust, but while you’re there someone steals your new suitcase. Ugh, what a drag. Lua chases after him and you decide to also pursue. This is your first taste of the combat system. Dungeon crawling is done in first-person, and the mini-map is readily available to show players where they are. The game also contains an auto-walk function, so players can quickly re-tread ground they’ve already been through.

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Combat is also done in first-person, and has an easy-to-use Hostility system, which tells the player how much a monster hates each of the individual party members, and therefore which character is most likely to be attacked; the more open the “eye” beside a party member, the more likely they are to be targeted. The game also has a monster capture mechanic to it — enemies can be captured and, once purified, added to your party. They can also be leveled up and evolved into new forms; most enemies have two evolutions. All of this is done via Karma, a currency that acquired by battling and comes from conversation choices as well. Karma is used for more than just this purpose, and so plays many roles in Lost Child.

There’s a lot more to uncover about Hayato Ibuki, and thankfully players won’t have to wait overly long to do so. The Lost Child launches on PlayStation Vita, PS4, and Nintendo Switch on June 18.