Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is a bold and atmospheric spin-off that reimagines the tactical RPG framework of its predecessor through a roguelite lens. Developed by Ocean Drive Studio, it trades the sprawling narrative and persistent campaign of Lost Eidolons for a leaner, more modular experience — one that’s built around iterative runs, strategic party-building, and a descent into madness that is both thematic and part of the core game mechanics. Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch therefore, is not a traditional sequel, but it shares the same DNA and is also more accessible for newcomers like me.
You begin as Ashe — a balanced fighter in the classic JRPG hero mould — waking on the shores of a cursed land with no memory and no allies. From this stark opening, the game unfolds as a series of Fire Emblem style tactical encounters — each one a self-contained battle map filled with enemies, hazards, and branching choices.
The roguelite structure means death isn’t failure, but part of the loop. You’ll return to camp, rebuild your party, unlock new upgrades, and try again. This cycle of death and rebirth is central to the experience, and it’s handled with enough finesse to feel rewarding rather than punishing. Each run teaches you something new — about enemy behaviour, skill synergies, or map layouts, and the game encourages experimentation through its branching paths and evolving roster.
Combat is the star of the show. It’s turn-based and grid-driven, with a strong emphasis on positioning, cooldown management, and ability synergy. Each character has a unique loadout, and building a party that complements those strengths is key. You’ll discover devastating combos — stuns that set up critical strikes, elemental effects that chain across multiple enemies and passive buffs that reward certain play styles.
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch’s battlefield design is dynamic, with varied and occasionally shifting terrain, enemy reinforcements and environmental hazards that keep encounters fresh. Each encounter feels like a tactical puzzle, where your characters will use their skills to unlock specific challenges — such as those posed by a given enemy type. Sometimes the challenge can feel impossible, but the death loop means that you’ll learn which enemy types are likely to appear and how to beat them, adapting your loadout accordingly.
Whilst I didn’t play the original first hand, where Veil of the Witch diverges most from its predecessor is in structure. Lost Eidolons was a traditional campaign with persistent progression and character arcs. The sequel is far less linear and more replayable, with minimal narrative and a focus on gameplay. Between battles, you’ll make decisions about which path to take, which characters to recruit, and which upgrades to pursue. These choices add strategic depth and replayability, and while the story is sparse, the atmosphere is rich. The world feels hostile and broken, and the descent into madness gives the game a distinct identity.
The madness system is one of the game’s more interesting mechanics. As you progress, your characters can descend into insanity, gaining powerful mutations but also suffering drawbacks. You might unlock a devastating area attack, but lose precision. You might see enemies that aren’t really there, causing you to waste turns. It’s a clever system that rewards risk-taking and adds unpredictability to each run. I was glad to see this kind of inclusion as more than just a thematic flourish, although it is perhaps not the most original of ideas.
Visually, Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is solid but not spectacular. The environments are moody and atmospheric, with a muted palette that suits the tone. Character models are detailed, and animations are fluid, though not flashy. There are occasional visual hiccups — screen tearing, texture pop-in, and awkward camera angles during combat. Whilst these issues don’t ruin the experience, they do remind you that this is a mid-budget title with some rough edges. The UI is clean and functional, but lacks some polish. Tooltips are helpful, but menu navigation can feel sluggish and occasionally you’ll feel the need to “press twice” due to a sort of response lag.
Character customization is modest but meaningful. You’ll choose a protagonist, recruit allies, and shape your party through gear and skill upgrades. Each character has a distinct role — tank, support, DP—and learning how to synergize their abilities is key to success. Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch doesn’t offer deep backstories or branching dialogue trees, but it does give you tactical agency. You’re building a team that has to perform in difficult situations,. and that’s appropriate for the format.
The camp serves as your hub between runs and here, you’ll manage upgrades, unlock new characters, and prepare for the next descent. It’s functional, but not particularly immersive. There’s no base-building or resource management — just a clean interface for planning your next move. I would have liked to see more dialogue options or immersion, but you can at least build relationships between party members.
The roguelite progression is handled well. You’ll unlock new characters, skills, and gear as you play, and each run feels meaningfully different. The branching paths offer replayability, and the difficulty curve is steep but fair. There’s no doubt that it offers a clever blend of tactical RPG and roguelite, although it does feel quite grindy at times. Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch rewards persistence and punishes complacency, meaning that you have to actively manage characters, skills, progression arcs and loadouts throughout.
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is a strong sequel to a game that was appealing enough to interest me in this second offering — it may be less narrative-driven, more gameplay-focused, and unapologetically challenging, but it’s a game that understands tactical combat and roguelite progression, even if it doesn’t always blend them seamlessly. That said, the genre fusion is occasionally awkward, the presentation has some rough edges, and the lack of narrative depth may disappoint fans of the original. But for those willing to embrace the grind, Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch may be shrouded in a veil worth lifting (huzzah!)
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is available now for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC.
