Lost Dimension is a tactical RPG released for the PS3 and Vita. The unique feature setting Lost Dimension apart from others is that within the party of 11 characters, 5 of them will be traitors and for each playthrough, this is randomized. Theoretically, this means that you will get different traitors each playthrough and keeps the experience fresh. In actuality, the traitor system is superficial at best and doesn't affect too much of the gameplay or tension within the story. At the end of each battle, the main character, Sho, can hear the inner thoughts of the six member party and from this, can tell if any of them might be the traitor.
Sho's ability to determine whether there is a potential traitor among your party means that you just need to reshuffle your party around for each battle to systematically determine who the potential traitors are. This is because even though there is one true traitor, each round will give you an option of three to choose from. In order to pinpoint who exactly the traitor is, Sho has Vision Points which will explicitly tell you if they're on your side or not. However, you cannot just blindly use these points on all characters as these points are limited.
There are enough Vision Points to allow you to use three per round (i.e. to check out each of the three potential traitors) but any more and you will have to start guessing who the traitor is when it comes the time to decide who to erase. The game is mission based. You choose which quest to take on which will put you on a map with enemies. The game is simple to understand and the tactical elements keep you drawn in. You choose five other characters in addition to Sho to join you in the selected quest. During each turn, each character can move within a specified radius dictated by their stats.
During a character's turn, they can attack, use gifts (i.e. special abilities) or use items. The twist during battles is that each character can Defer, which means giving another character that is physically near them, an extra turn if they have already had theirs. This creates strategic elements since when you decide to attack an enemy, other nearby characters will assist, lending their firepower. This means through a series of Defers and careful positioning, you can devastate a powerful enemy within a turn. Plus, if you attack an enemy from behind, you get a bonus damage multiplier.
The characters either use guns or knives/swords, which affects their attack range. Enemy types unfortunately are limited in variety and design, you'll quickly see the same enemies pop up as you go through each quest. You gain experience after each battle and your characters level up fairly quickly. As you level up, you gain Skill Points which you use to advance through each character's skill tree and learn more Gifts. There is a Comrade System (i.e. friendship) between each battle, which basically boils down to just reading some dialogue as the characters interact. It is a weak system which makes the whole thing boring.
The player is supposed to build your bond and get to know each character but the game does this poorly, and the writing is not great. You can replay quests at any time and in an effort to keep things interesting, there are slight variations to the objectives in some maps. Most of the ones are defeating all enemies, but you'll occasionally get one where it's to defeat a specific enemy. You have to pay attention to the objectives because the game may be pitting you in a battle against so many enemies it is difficult to win on your first playthrough. If you find the game too difficult though, you can switch the difficulty down from Normal to Easy.
The battle environments do not feel like they vary that much since the colors palette are similar. Lost Dimension has a strong sci-fi atmosphere. The story is told via 2D animation, and character dialogue with portraits in a visual novel style. The story is weak and does not suck you in like it should. The characters lack any development and are one-dimensional. You don't end up creating any sort of bonds so when a character reveals that they are the traitor, you don't really care.
In Lost Dimension, the world is about to be destroyed by a villain known a The End, and your party of 11 must travel up the tower in order to stop this from happening. As you go up each floor, you have to decide who is a traitor and "erase" them. Afterwards, the character cannot be used anymore. Considering that each character has unique abilities and skills such as healing abilities or being a strong melee character, this would present a problem in terms of difficulty balancing. Fear not because when the traitor is erased, they leave behind "materia" that you can equip to other characters and therefore inherits their abilities.
Note however that erased characters cannot have their skill tree progressed any further. Once you finish the game the first time around, you can load it up again for a New Game+, which carries over your friendship status (if completed) and gives you a bonus amount of skill points to start off with. The bonus skill points make the earlier levels easier and any dialogue you've already seen can be sped up. The second playthrough reveals more story elements and the True Ending requires a minimum of two playthroughs. That said, the True Ending was exaggerated and disappointing even though it was supposed to surprise the player, and connect the traitor mechanic into the story.
The game takes around 8-10 hours to finish the first playthrough, which feels too short but only because the battles were so fun. Overall, Lost Dimension will not give you much reason to care for its characters but the gameplay is solid and the tactical battles are well done. Once you understand the mechanics, you strive to aim for finishing battles as quickly as possible through careful strategic decisions. Due to the randomized traitor mechanic, this makes subsequent playthroughs more refreshing and less chance of burning out as chances are, your traitors, and thus your playable characters, will be different. Lost Dimension is a solid game that is worth playing.
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