This is a demo review.
This is a review for the file which is downloaded on Mar 10 2020. My playtime: 04:49:05

Intro
The Lost is a turn based game where you have to do odd tasks for your tribe. The current demo also has a prologue that tells the story about the chief and a war he participated in.

Graphics
To be honest, i'm quite surprised by the graphics. The game is full screen wide without any scaling on the tile at all, meaning that you can see a lot of tiles in one screen. The mappings are also done perfectly; i had a great time exploring the vast area. I also like the fact that the map for the areas are made so vast that the exits n the area are placed by either x mark or arrow mark that let you know that you can't go further or you'll move to other area that way, all without ruining the aesthetics.

However, i find it hard to see in the cave. The cave is very dark for me and i hardly can locate the vine that i need to climb. Actually, there is a torch in one of the caves too, but it's still somewhat hard to see even when i turned the lighting effects off.

Story
The game has two modes with different stories: prologue and main story. Actually, the prologue will eventually move to the main story so i don't really see a reason to skip the prologue at all if you're playing the game for the first time.

Anyway, for the story itself, the prologue starts directly in a war. To be honest, i'm not really sure about the war details, but the prologue is actually meant to focus on another story. The conversations between characters look weird as the chief just keep on commanding however he wants and the others are forced to follow. However, this make me can relate with how the other characters think and feel, as they are being forced to do things out of their will.

As for the main story, the story is shown in a more cheerful side as you're controlling someone with a sense of humor. I like the jokes that the character make and the conversation between each characters. All characters also have their own characteristics and talking style that make me able to differentiate them very well.

Even though i played the prologue, there are still some mysteries that are left unanswered (like Ragno's warning in the war) and some things that i don't understand (like Kaan's wife name, since it's written as Mila in the prologue and Lenta in main story. Or perhaps they are different people and i didn't catch it), it doesn't hinder me to enjoy the story to its fullest.

Lastly, i find that some sentences are lacking commas and the texts are very hard to read when it is in full capslock. Some dialogues (especially the one that flashses without confirmation button) flashes very fast that i tend to not be able to read the text.

The game
You'll start by choosing whether you want to play the prologue or the main story. The prologue serves as a tutorial and a... prologue. However, it is quite lengthy (i played it for ~2h) and covers an interesting aspect of the game. I find that the battle tutorial is introduced a bit late though because i already faced several battles before the actual tutorial is introduced.

To be honest, i find that the tutorial to be quite hard, especially since you can only heal yourself by using items. One of your party members (Mila) is also quite useless because she can't deal a lot of damage. I know that the game is supposed to depend on tactics, but prologue is supposed to be the beginning part of the game so i expected that it'll be easier than the main story.

Anyways, the game has a unique battle system. Each party members are divided into several roles that you can assign to: attacker, defender, magician, and supporter, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. You'll get a turn once your ATB bar is filled and you can attack, cast skills, defense, use items, or change your equipments in your turn.

There are 3 type of skills in this game: TP skills, battle skills, and weapon/magic skills (depends on your class). You can use TP and battle skills without wasting your turn. However, TP skills will cost TP (duh) to cast and battle skills will have their own CD and quota that you can use per battle. As for weapon skills, it's actually similar TP skills except that it doesn't cost TP and you need to equip the right weapon to cast them. Magic skills are also similar to weapon skills with an additional MP and/or HP requirement. However, i find that magic skills are quite at a disadvantage since they usually require a lot of MP to cast and the MP regen usually can't keep up with the cost.

You can level up all of your skills except the battle skills. I'm not sure what will happen if you level them up, but they can be leveled up pretty quick if you use them often.

I'm not sure if it's because i'm just starting the game, but i find that the game is very hard in prologue. I didn't know that i can change my positions in battle with a certain skill so i always restarted the game whenever my character is knocked back. The boss fight in prologue (the Cursed Book) is also so hard that one of my characters can die in one turn before i can even move. I don't really find any problem in the main story though because i know that i can always explore other areas before tackling the difficult enemies.

I find that full heals (either resting at an inn or "buying" heal from merchant) in the main story to be very expensive. You can only get ~20 gold in a fight but you have to pay 100 or 75 gold for it. It might not be a problem after you get a healer since you won't need it at all, but it becomes very costly in early game. Enemies also don't respawn so the gold that you can get is limited.

The game also offers side quests that you can trigger by talking to people or doing some tasks. These side quests usually can be noticed quite easily by the texts above the quest giver. However, there are also some side quests that can only be unlocked by doing certain tasks. The game also says that some quests might expire if you complete a certain main story, although i haven't really experienced it. Completing some side quests might also change minor parts of the village, letting you to access some parts that you can't access before. However, i find it hard to track my side quests progress since i have to check the everything (either items that i have collected or enemies that i have killed) manually; the side quest menu only ticks the progress once you finish the quest.

There is also a compass in the game that will point you to where you have to go to progress the main story. To be honest, i like that feature since i tend to forget where to go after i haven't play a game in a long time.

The movement in this game is done very smoothly, I can see that i'm moving based on the obstacles' shape instead of a box like the usual RPG Maker games.

Sometimes you're prompted to choose a dialogue that will branch to different story and/or difficulties in the game. I usually choose the easiest difficulty and i haven't really try another option so i'm not really sure if it'll affect the ending or not, but some dialogue will be played out differently depends on what you choose.

You can recruit party members in the game. These party members can be unlocked either by doing main quest, finishing a side quest, or just by talking to the person. You can only bring a maximum of 4 people to battle though.

Lastly, there is a long delay whenever i'm opening and/or closing the menu and moving to other places. I also think that the victory sound comes a bit late than how it's supposed to be.

Pros:
- Vast map
- Recruitable party members
- Tactical battle system
- Story branching
- Side quests

Cons:
- Unable to track side quests
- Inns are too expensive
- Long delay after opening and/or closing menu and moving to other places.
- Enemies don't respawn

Conclusion
This is an enjoyable turn based game with a lot of areas to explore.

Final Rating: 4/5
This is a promising game. There are a lot of features available and the battles are not boring. I just find the delays annoying although i think it might have something to do with my old laptop and the low spec.

---
Typo (note that i found some of these right after i skip the text so some might be inacurrate):
Prologue:
- After you read History of Mezun: Letter 4/5, Mila has a typo when she said "familiar"
- After you take out an old book from the shelf in the cave: "<Mila Look out, it's a trap!" the name should be on the top.
- After you fight scorpions: "and stung by the scorpios" should be "and stung by the scorpions"
- When you talk to one of the soldiers in the camp (after you inflitrates as reinforcements): "I think it's a good thing that we drafted so many peasants for the front lines, better them then us right *Hahaha*!" should be "I think it's a good thing that we drafted so many peasants for the front lines, better them than us, right? *Hahaha*!"
- When you talk to soldiers on the west side of the camp with general: "(Gaurd duty is so boring...)" should be "(Guard duty is so boring...)"

Main story:
- When you talk to Doktan Child near Kaan's house: "But mom said we should stay in the village, it's to dangerous for us to go outside!" should be "But mom said we should stay in the village, it's too dangerous for us to go outside!"
- When you talk to Sharona about Finding the culprit sidequest and forgive her: "I have some assaigments to take care of first, after that we will need to look for another place outside of Dokta where you can stay." should be "I have some assignments to take care of first, after that we will need to look for another place outside of Dokta where you can stay."
- When you talk to Doktan Guard near the village exit: "And I'm getting payed for it!" should be "And I'm getting paid for it!"
- When you "buy" heal in Mezun Merchant: "Payed 100 gold" should be "Paid 100 gold"
- When you talk to the bald man in the inn: "Be carefull now." should be "Be careful now."
- When you talk to Lia for the first time: "So your not only a strong warrior but a handsome one as well!" should be "So you're not only a strong warrior but a handsome one as well!"
- When you talk to a black haired Doktan Villager in The Drunk Lizard: "Stop glansing at my beer!" should be "Stop glancing at my beer!". Staring might be a better word choice though.
- After you finish Fanatics side quest: "Why do i keep on getting involved in peoples affairs?" should be "Why do i keep on getting involved in people's affairs?"
- When you talk to Torun for the first time: "The bridge to the east has been damaged, you're trading post is deserted and we don't have enough wood to fix it ourselves." should be "The bridge to the east has been damaged, your trading post is deserted and we don't have enough wood to fix it ourselves."
- After you fight 2 skeletons in the bridge, when Ragno is talking to Kael: "I guess your right, he can be so short sighted, especially when it comes to superstition." should be "I guess you're right, he can be so short sighted, especially when it comes to superstition."
- When you're taking side quest The hunt begins: "I know you strong, but killing creature stronger then this creature is dangerous." should be "I know you strong, but killing creature stronger than this creature is dangerous."
- When you're fighting in Fighting Pit, Guardian is written as Gaurdian.
- After you cross the bridge "Don't defy the The Glowing Fire!" should be "Don't defy the Glowing Fire!"
- When you talk to Torun to complete Befriending the Rikta side quest: "May the Fire protect you friend." do you mean "May the Glowing Fire protect you friend."?
- When you inspect the signpost in Palm Forest: "A well, never mind." should be "Ah well, never mind.". Perhaps using Oh is a better choice.

---
Suggestion:
- Perhaps you need to change the side quest description text when you navigate through the side quests with arrow keys instead of pressing z to trigger it.
- Change Trading Post text to white color so it doesn't cause confusion. The Trading Post doesn't have a side quest i believe (since you can't interact with it).
- Nerf Curse Book damage.