In August 2024, Stormteller games and Thunderful Group revealed that a sequel from one of 2021 greatest indie games Lost in Random was getting a sequel schedule to be released in 2025. The news came as a shock as even though the original Lost in Random was generally well received nothing
about it was heard afterwards. The announcement trailer showcased a completely different style from the original and a mysterious playable character that didnt look like Even(our previous protagonist). It was soon reveal that the game would be a continuation of the story however the main character this time is none other than the evil Queen
Alexandra. At the same time the gameplay seemed to be following the steps of another big indie title Hades. The game seemed to had a top down camera angle with the Hero dashing, attacking and dodging enemy attacks similar to Hades. A few months later, the devs did confirm that this is the case and that Lost in Random the Eternal Die gameplay
will be a rogue like experience similar to Hades and other games. They added that what made the Original Lost in Random Stand out (Cards, dice rolls and randomness) will be in the sequel spin off as well.
A few more trailers dropped enchancing the previous statements and giving the players a clear look as to what to expect from this title. Leading to its release the devs released a Demo so that everyone curious enough or who hadnt made their decisions yet could spent some of their time to see what is this new random experience. The first critics of the game seemed very positive
especially on Sony console the Ps5. Upon release the game doesnt have a physical release and its available digitally in Standard and Deluxe Editions. Deluxe(Fortune) Editions simply included online goods such as cosmetics.
Minor Spoilers on the ending of the orignal game, If you havent played the original or havent seen the Official Lore Recap Trailer, you may wanna skip this segment. However the intro of the game is recapping the conclusion of the Queens part in Even's story.
Near the ending of the original game the two sisters Even and Odd manage to best Queen Alexandra, and through some events manage to snap out Alexandra of her evil manerisms which then leads to Alexandra to allow her sister Natalya to pass away peacefully. In her grieve, the Queen throws away her special(evil) Black dice and then the evil Lords came out of it.
The Evil Queen, not afraid of dying decides to phsae the Dark lords alone and sents Odd and Even away as she is about to phase them all alone. Alexandra was not alone as her trusty all Dice(before she obtain the ancient Black dice) rushed to her side. The ancient Black Dice absorbs the 2 inside its twisted universe. Inside the dice, Alexandra and Fortune(her Dice partner) wake
up and are surprised that Alexandra's body changed to represent her younger self than her tall powerfull form. Alexandra also notes that her powers are not the same as the ones she had prior to reaching this dimension and that infact she is significally weaker. The two are now lost in a Random dimension and soon encounter Mare the Knight who appeared infont of them.
Mare claims to be the being/body of the black dice that the Queen used and that he has alot plans to play with Alexandra and Fortune whilst the two are stucked here.
The Queen despite her new size and strength is still powerfull in spirit and with Fortune by her side she decides to play Mare's game(not that she has a choice) but because she believes defeating him will make her return back to the Kingdom of Random she once Ruled. As the duo make their way through the floors Alexandra encounters different people who re also trapped in here,
some completely unknown whilst others are characters with whom Alexandra didnt have the best relationships with or who have previously fallen from her powers. However for some the past is in the past whilst others hold a grudge. Most of Alexandras movements are being tracked by Mare who keeps interacting with the hero whether she responds back or simply ignores him.
Will Alexandra and Fortune make their way through Mare's games?
What is Mare's plan?
Who else will Alexandra encounter in this new realm?
What is the fate of the Kingdom of Random?
Will this story give Alexandra a redemption?
Personally i wasnt expecting the world of Lost in Random to return with a story like this but i am glad it did as i really enjoyed the world building the characters and whole idea. I also thought that the Story of Even and Odd was pretty much concluded and i believe its a great thing that the main character is a new one, especially the Queen. We get to learn more on her past and how she interacted with others. We can see how she thinks and acts now that she is no longer in possession of the black die. In Roguelike games, death is usually treated as part of the story and the same thing happens here. The idea is that Mare wants the Queen and Fortune to lose their Hope with every fail attempt. Each death is met with a more determined who simply refuses to give up and with every defeat she comes back more motivated to take down Mare. At the same time each time she interacts with an NPC with see the real Alexandra before she turned evil and before Natalia felt sick which is a nice change. Who knows perhaps Alexandra herself is ready to imbrace her new self or fall back to her old cold self afterall Mare has made plans for her.
As seen in the trailers this spin off title changed everything and instead of an action character based 3d game it turned into a Roguelike adventure similar to games like Hades. The player will always control Queen Alexandra and her by her side is her trusty dice Fortune. By default, the player can manuver freely, use Alexandra's Sword for close range attacks and even use Fortune for a long range attack.
Queen Alexandra can also use a dashing ability which can be used to manuver faster around the world, jumb above big gaps, close the range between her and her foe, dodge away from upcomming damage and to trigger traps and escape before the blow.
These are the fundamentals but the more the player experience the game the more abilities they can obtain. The fundamentalsof Rogue like games is that you play the game with limited abilities and the more you die the stronger you become, similarly to other games
its genre.
In fact one of the first things Queen Alexandra will receive is the Magic cards. Each card is unique and has its own unique attack. Some cards cast a single spell like fireball, others throw multiple poison potions, some call for torndadoes, other summon a giant 20 sided that rolls damaging everything in its path and so many more that is worth exploring to find out.
The cards are always random, you cannot forge a deck like the original and everything is up to luck. The cards are attached to one button and Alexandra can use a normal attack by tapping the button or hold the button down and wait for a flash to release which will cause a Perfect Card attack. On the card it usually writes what a Perfect attack does more than the regular one.
Each card attack also has an Energy cost. The Energy bar of Alexandra is placed above her HP bar on the bottom left. The Yellow bar represents her energy and the stacks of each spell are automatically placed allowing you to know how many times you can use that ability. The energybar refills by dealling mellee damage to the enemies.
In each try, the Queen obtains currecny and buffs by clearing the floors. On the top right theres a minimap with the available areas the player can move towards. Each room needs to be cleared by defeating the enemies or clearing the platforming challenge. There are also some rooms that re safe or have NPCs like the Market lady or a new card room. When clearing the rooms a chest will spawn near Alexandra or
two other options. The chests/Coffers offer the player Pearls and Relics which can be equiped to empower the charracter. These items are placed in a special board representing the Queens power. Each treassure consist of a magical colors that are equivalant to a certain stat. For example, color red is enchancing the sword(Mellee Damage.). Placement on the board is important as a set of three matching colors will
cause harness boost. Harness boost increase the boost of your status for the entire run, meanning you can puzzle new pieces for better results. On the other hand, there might be a chance of two options. In some cases the options are between money and HP(potion) which are self explanatory. In other cases the player will have to make a decision between two key items Pip Dust and Cinder which will be used later. This decision will occur everytime the player clears a room with enemies
or parkour challenges.
Upon defeat Alexandra and her Dice will find themselves in a place called the Sanctuary where she is welcomed by a character named Chance who explains that Dying in this world is not final as Mare things permanent death
is consider freedom for its pawns. Sanctuary is the place where the player can permanently upgrade Alexandra. Sanctuary is the place where some friendly NPCs reside and will help Alexandra given that she also helps them back. For example,
theres an NPC name Rack who asks Alexandra to find him a body. The head is in the Maze and the body in the Sanctuary. When Alexandra helps him, he becomes the Blacksmith who can exchange Cinders for weapon Upgrades like stronger melee attack or
apply status like fire on mellee. Unlocking other weapons is also available when exchanging. The weapons are either the Sword, the bow, the spear or the hammer each specializing in a certain battle style. Additionally every weapon has 4 different upgrades
that not only deal more damage but also apply powerups. For example, the blade can be sharp(dealling more damage), infused with fire, poison or wind(each releasing an elemental attack based on the attributr.) The bow is capable of piercing through enemies, shoot more arrows
in short gap or have exploding arrows.
Another important NPC is Aama who will permanently increase the Queens status when exchanged with Pip Dust. Aama is capable of enchancing one attribute at a time or to give Alexandra one passive abilities. For example, the players can increase the max HP
of the hero making her more durable. They can also not do that and instead make Alexandra restore HP every time she clears a room of enemies. If HP is not the main issue, you can make changes to the Energy bar or even the power/duration of a card ability.
Aama will also request Alexandra to find some of the lost Dicelings. Aama can also grand ressurection stones, evade inchancements and many many more. Similarly to the blacksmith, the Blessings of Aama have 2 side effects. For example, the ressurect can either ressurect the hero with more HP
or ressurect with less HP but more shields. Moreover, theres another NPC, the Rug Reader, who will make sure Alexandra is always dressed to fit the situation she is in.
To sum up the gameplay after a couple of tries:
The player will exit the Sanctuary with the weapon and blessing of choice. They will choose to pick or ignore the card which will grant them a special attack. They will proceed to enter rooms which will either have an encounter, a parkour challenge, a safe NPC(market, mini game, new card etc)
and procceed to the next one. The combat allows the player to use their weapon for quick attacks of heavy attacks. They can throw Fortune at an enemy whose damage will be based on the roll(6 being the critical) and if the players equip abilities Fortune will cast the cerain attack, eg. rolling 2-5
will cause poison upon impact. The other offensive ability will be the one from the card(charged or tapped.) When clearing a floor a chest will pop with rewards or a chest will contain Relics or Pearls. Relics give Alexandra more passive attacks and pearls allowed to match the color of the relic to enchance its ability and give Alexandra an extra boost for that run. Every non key item(pearl, Relic, money)
will dissappear after the run where as every key item(Diceling, NPC item) will remain with the player. The goal is to manage to find Mare and take him down by clearing all bosses. A death will sent the player back to Sanctuary where they can once again upgrade their hero and start all over again with new
cards, relics etc.
The gameplay had me locked in from the beginning but one thing that was cleared to me ever since the reveal was the big change of genres. I personally found the gameplay of Lost in Random(2021) very original and fun. The idea of deck building, dice throwing and shooting the weak parts to power up was so good, here the same mechanics exist, are well translated but doesnt feel the same. Despite that, the new game is polished, it feels like Hades had a perfect match with the Lost in Random elements to create this gameplay. Its important to state that it feels different than Hades and its not just a Hades clone. As mentioned the gameplay hooked me from the beginning as it can be very challenging at times given the fact that managing life(atleast at first) is difficult. The bosses have good mechanics and are overall fun to go up againts. Repetition is NOT a problem here, as the developers give the players alot of choices to make everything unique. There are four weapons each playing very different than the other with each of them having their own different buffs and powerups. For example u can use the bow with piercing damage or instead of piercing have it shoot multiple arrows. Or instead of having a powerfull sword, have it apply fire etc. Aside from the weapons and their unique attributes, the player can equip Queen Alexandra with unique passives abilities, like increasing her MAX HP, healling after every encounter, recover energy upon defeating enemies etc. Additionally, the developers added a decent amount of spell cards and relics which on its own always depends on luck. Last but not least the Pearls you get each time are also radomized which once again makes everything different.
The adventure of the Queen is more objecitve oriented than Even's was. However, similarly to Even, the queen can also help the people of Random who re also trapped inside of the black die. Everyitme the Queen manuvers around the world she can find rooms that have an NPC inside. Upon interacting with them, some will go away (like the shop lady)
whilst others will make their way to Sanctuary. Those found in the Sanctuary will sometimes have an exclanation mark(!) which upon interacting will trigger a small dialog. Some will request for small favors like Aama's request which requires that the player will find random Dicelings(small dices) hidden around the world or finding the memory fragement
for the Visionary. There are no hidden pages or anything else to collect that was not a quest material. However, there are lore elements that are saved in the manual if the player comes across them. These items can be things like a Tent Alexandra and her sister used before or a painting on the wall with their picture. Each time an interaction occurs it is saved in
the queens memory log. Gameplay wise, the player can choose to master every Weapon and every Blessing by collecting and spending both Pip dust and Cinder.
Completing the game is not the end as the player can choose to defeat Mare with every weapon. Challenging runs also exist(for 100% completion) which further add additional time. Additionally, upon Mares first defeat the player can choose to escape the Eternal Die or try to save every possible NPC by completing their side quest.
At the same time, next to the portal where the player can begin their run a new spiked artefact will appear that can add an additional level of difficulty such as increased HP on the enemies, the enemies deal more damage, the get additional shields and so many more. This significally increase the level of difficulty and replayability as
each time Alexandra takes down Mare a new "sin" will become available.
Graphics wise, Lost in Random the eternal die is very good looking game but in comparisson to the original it feels lack lustered. Durings Even's adventure we got to walk up the ladders, explore the 6 cities of Random and interact with its people. Because of its Genre everything felt perfect and unique.
Alexandras Adventure is always gonna take place in the 5 worlds Mare prepared for the Queen. The rooms are different but they re very similar structure wise and the path of the hero is not as free. They re well designed but fail to leave a long memorable impression. The design of the Queen, as well as the NPC is
very good and everyone have unique appearances. Gameplay wise, things are cleared however, the final world is a bit more tricky to understand what is happenning with all the projectiles and AoEs happening at the same time. The game is lacking cutscenes but at the same time it doesnt really need it. The key rooms will
always treat the players with some Lore for Alexandra with a combination of voice acting and statues portraying the event.(Eg how the Queen got the Black Dice, how her amry chased the Dices etc.)
Audio wise, both the narrator and the Npcs do a fantastic job voicing the characters they Potrayed. Our main character the Queen does an excellent job showing her emotions, her confussion, her anger, her regrets her pain. I was always interested on how she will react to the world around her. In the Mazes of Mare the
audio is there. It feels night during the basic gameplay, but its not something you re gonna praise or remember after the game. On the other hand, during gameplay sound can give important hints on upcomming damage/attack, indicate the bar status of Energy(when its fulled) and can can also hint the perfect card attacks.
Last but not least audio indications can be heard when trowing Fortune, her Dice rolls(on critical or based on pearls) also indicate the critical rolls.
Overall Lost in Random the Eternal Die is a fun and addictive game that respects the time of the player. A good performance can last about 60-80 minutes which i believe is a respectable time for a run. The plot of the game is about the villain of the original, Queen Alexandra. It follows the events after the Evens adventure with the Queen going againts her own Black dice and the spirit that empowered it, Mare. The queen is determined to destroy it whilst the dice has prepared alot of games for her. The gameplay formula differs, as this time the game is roguelike at heart but it also contains the magic of the original with its unique Dice throwing and card combinations. In this game, the queen can choose one of four weapons and its attached power up and proceed to try and best Mare's games. By her side is her dice Fortune which can be used offensively by throwing it towards enemies. The higher the roll the bigger the damage. Cards can be found in the room which can be used with the right amount of energy and timing. Pearls, Relics and Blessings are there to grant uniqueness to each round and grant various of passive abilities to Alexandra. The enemy designs are of decent quality and quantity and the same goes for the amount of rooms found in each floor. In the world there are NPCs who will require Alexandras help and will also help her in advance with various items and side quests. Completing the game once is not the end, as the players can then challenge themselves by adding their own "rules" to the run such as enchanced enemy attacks, weaken Alexandra and many many more to keep you invest in the game. The completion of a successfull run took me 10 hours, which for its price i consider decent, and i still play it as i want to experience the other weapons(with each of their buffs) and different Pearl/Relic combos.