Lost in Random: The Eternal Die Hands-On Preview: On a Roll!

I've not played the original Lost in Random, but in the last two months I have been playing two games from separate studios, each with developers who worked on that 2021 action-adventure game. Strange, huh? The Midnight Walk from Moonhood Studios trades the third-person action adventure for a first-person/VR narrative adventure, still with a sense of whimsy but in a different world. Stormteller Games' Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is directly related to the original game, but still swaps out the genre.

Instead of the third-person action adventure formula, we get a top-down roguelite akin to Hades. Lost in Random: The Eternal Die isn't a direct sequel, but it does follow on from the events of the original game. Betrayed by her black die, Queen Aleksandra is absorbed into it, a realm combining fairytale and Alice in Wonderland. She is shrunk in size, and must defeat the black die AKA Mare the Night (see what they did there?) in order to escape and return to her own world.

The game flows like many other top-down action roguelites you'll have played in the past. You begin with a simple weapon and slowly upgrade yourself after fighting through a series of rooms, most of which contain enemies. Attacks can be light or heavy, with the former having a short combo. You can dash to get out of trouble, throw your own die Fortune to add in some extra damage, and get access to a special card ability which changes depending on which card you pick up. From throwing a wave of sand at enemies to lock them in time to becoming a ball of lightning, these abilities are powerful but have to be charged up by regular attacks.

The combat is quick and fun in the time we've spent with it. Perhaps not as immediately rewarding as the best of the genre i.e. Hades - which The Eternal Die seems heavily moulded from - but it's easy to pick up and play if you're looking to crack out a quick run or two. Upgrades add a layer of depth to the combat, as in your run you'll fill out a board with buffs which each correspond with a colour. Red upgrades basic weapon attacks, purple boosts your conjured effects, blue boosts your die damage, you get the idea. Match three of a kind, and you'll get a permanent buff depending on the colour, which allows you to strategize in a run, but I've not yet found a really good level of synergy between these abilities.

As you'd expect in a roguelite, you're not just going from one run to the next, and have a home base where you'll meet a varied cast of characters, allowing you to discover more about the story and new abilities. Considering Aleksandra's past life as an evil queen, it's quite interesting to meet the people she's trapped in the black die previously, with some willing to help in her quest to destroy Mare. In the camp, you'll gain permanent buffs as well, alongside new weapons. Mostly, I've stuck with the basic sword. The bow is a close second, but the slower spear and club can mean you're left taking too many awkward hits, especially in boss fights.

Speaking of boss fights, I've managed to reach two so far, and they're both the clear highlights of their own areas. The Duke and Duchess of Sixtopia - a ghostly couple who were banished by Aleksandra in the past - make for a truly challenging filter as the first tough foe, making you essentially fight two bosses at once in their second phase, and the great toad Eema is a great lot of fun to fight, too, if perhaps a little less entertaining due to her lack of dialogue compared to the Duke and Duchess. Neither fight left me feeling as if the game was too easy nor too hard, as victory remains in sight, even if I know I need to return back to camp and get myself some permanent buffs to health, damage, and more before I'll win.

Lost in Random: The Eternal Die doesn't do a lot you could describe as entirely new, but the personality of its world helps maintain its intrigue. Even as someone who hasn't played the original, I found the characters and surroundings to be brilliantly charming. Each character is voice acted, too, with most of them serving as wacky counterparts to Aleksandra's seriousness in her quest to defeat Mare. These characters can be found throughout a run and brought back to camp and eventually allow you to define Aleksandra's journey, whether you'll see her seek out revenge at all costs or begin a path of redemption.

In the oversaturated world of roguelikes and roguelites, it is difficult to stand out. The genre has rapidly risen thanks to the likes of Hades, Dead Cells, Darkest Dungeon, and more. It can be difficult to compete with those, and while I'm not quite sure Lost in Random: The Eternal Die does that just yet, I've had lots of fun with its quick, quirky combat, and am consistently fascinated by its wonderfully weird world.