Lost in Random: The Eternal Die review

I think 2021’s Lost in Random was rather underrated. I called the adventure game “captivating, magical and original” in my review, and four years later, I still can’t think of a better way to describe it. Lost in Random: The Eternal Die isn’t exactly a sequel, but it takes the whimsy that made the first game so endearing and turns it into a roguelike. It’s a design choice that actually works, and this action game filled with character and heart goes some way to giving the likes of Hades a run for its money.

Lost in Random: The Eternal Die casts you as Aleksandra. Once the Queen of Random, she’s found herself in a dark and broken version of her kingdom, on a mission for revenge and redemption. She’ll need to battle her way through rooms of enemies, fight against fearsome bosses and survive an ever-mounting challenge. Being a roguelike, chances are you’re going to fail several times before you make any real progress. But that’s the whole point, of course. Unlocking permanent upgrades and new weapons along the way makes your challenge a little more manageable each time you play.

There are four weapons available to unlock in The Eternal Die: by default, Aleks is equipped with a sword. You can use your upgrade points to unlock a bow and arrow, a spear and a mace. Each one also has three separate forms it can take: you can upgrade the bow to give it explosive charged shots, for example, or improve your sword so a charged attack fires out a powerful whirlwind. You’ll want to experiment with several different weapons and builds to see what works best for you, but there’s enough choice here to suit multiple different playstyles.

Of course, your weapon is just the start of things. You can also damage enemies by tossing your trusty die, and you’ll also have a card attack at your disposal. You’ll pick up cards during a run, but you can only have one equipped at any one time. These powerful attacks require energy to use and come in various forms. One card might fire out poison arrows, while another surrounds you with a swirling storm, applying chill to every enemy it comes into contact with.

Each run of Lost in Random: The Eternal Die will also bestow you with various perks and abilities that can ultimately make or break your attempt at freedom. I love the unique skill grid here: every time you successfully complete an encounter, you’ll be given a reward, which is often a skill or ability. You’ll place that ability in a grid, and it’ll be applied to Aleks. But each ability you pick up is also colour-coded, with weapon damage, card damage, dice, conjurations or luck each having their own colour. You’ll need to match three colours in a line to get a 50% boost to that stat, so the more colours you manage to match in your skill grid, the more powerful Aleksandra can become.

Related: The best roguelike games on PS5

I absolutely love the additional challenge of trying to match as many colours as possible: it makes you think harder about what abilities you should choose when given a choice. Do you value a particular ability, or do you want to choose something that will ultimately improve your attack damage? You’ll also occasionally find dyes which can add a colour to an ability already placed in your grid, giving you additional opportunities to enhance your power. Seeing Alekandra’s abilities grow during the course of a run feels seriously good.

Completing a run of Lost in Random: The Eternal Die means making your way through four unique worlds, each one with bosses and sub-bosses for you to defeat. Each world is laid out as a series of rooms, with what awaits you as you walk through a new door a surprise until you get there. Most rooms are combat challenges, tasking you with defeating multiple enemies before you can move on. But you’ll also find respite areas like a shop and a game of chance where you have the opportunity to bolster your health and abilities.

The bosses are the biggest challenge in The Eternal Die, and to overcome them you’ll need to learn their attack patterns, utilise your dodge and make use all the skills in your repertoire. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of video game bosses on the whole (I know, shame on me, right?) but here, I’ve savoured the challenge. Each failed attempt is a learning experience, and next time you go in you’ll be a little more prepared, knowing what attacks to expect and how to act accordingly.

Unlike other roguelikes, however, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die doesn’t do much to mix things up. The worlds you face are the same each time, with the same enemies and the same bosses. The exact room layout will change, of course, but largely you’ll come to know what to expect. It’s not a dealbreaker, but having to constantly replay the earlier worlds to reach the tough bosses waiting for you later on might become a bit of a slog.

There is a difficulty option available here, thankfully, so if you find the game’s default ‘Normal’ difficulty too tricky, switching over to Easy will hopefully make things a little more manageable for you. Here, the amount of damage enemies do will scale depending on how many times you fail, making it fair but also lenient. You can change difficulty on the fly, and you’ll likely be pleased to hear that playing on Easy doesn’t affect your ability to earn achievements/trophies.

I’ve absolutely loved my time with Lost in Random: The Eternal Die. Controlling Aleksandra is responsive and pleasant, and pulling off her repertoire of skills, whether it’s firing a fast slew of arrows or performing a charged slice attack with your sword, feels seriously satisfying. My only real complaint is that, for some players, repetition may set in — but that’s also the nature of a roguelike, so if that’s a problem, you’re likely playing the wrong game.