Codex Lost – PlayStation 5 Review

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Feathers and magic await in Freemana’s new souls-like magic game Codex Lost and is currently £19.99 on the PS Store. I was super excited to get a hold of this game, as I’ve been waiting for someone to make a magic-focused souls-like game. I also like owls quite a bit which is definitely a selling point for this game. This new semi-open world game introduces you to different types of magic and a story of bosses with too much power. Codex Lost 

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bird curator with lightning magic

I’m a big souls fan so I knew what I was getting myself into when I downloaded Codex Lost, but how well does it run and is it a true souls-like?

A lone figure in a boat navigates a misty, luminescent lagoon surrounded by glowing plants and towering structures under a starry sky.
The quest for the Grimoires begins

Gameplay

Codex Lost introduces you to the Curator and the story through an opening cutscene. As the chosen Curator, it is up to you to find and retrieve the five missing Grimoires. They are currently being held by foes that are causing havoc with the immense power granted to them by said Grimoires and it is up to you to restore the balance. The keepers of these books are your goal and the main bosses of the game. It sets out the story pretty quickly which is to its strength. Beyond that, though, the game takes a relatively vague approach to storytelling, which I enjoyed as a veteran Souls fan. You have to put a little more effort in to uncover the full story.

As with most RPG games, you start Codex Lost with choices. Unlike other souls-like entries, Codex Lost‘s choices burrow down to what type of mage you want to be. As the Curator, you start with three spells. You choose both the type of attack – basic, AOE, ranged – and the magical element. Arcane magic does moderate damage and is a pretty balanced option whilst Fire does more damage but costs more mana. I ended up going with arcane as my basic, fire as my ranged and lightning as my AOE and the difficulty felt pretty natural.

A list of spell selection options categorized by Basic, AOE, and Ranged types for Arcane, Fire, Lightning, and Ice elements.
Sometimes there is strength and dex… other times is fire or ice

Story Telling

As you make your way through the game, you’ll find yourself in both dungeon-like areas as well as open world exploration. The open world areas are where you meet the majority of the enemies that you’ll be facing as well as NPCs. Fully voiced, the NPCs give you additional information about the world and hints towards story progression. However, the majority of the story is told through item descriptions and notes, very similar to From Software. If that kind of story telling isn’t your favourite, then you’ll probably struggle to engage with the story Codex Lost is trying to tell.

Spell Crafting

It’s hard to not compare this game to other souls-like games, given the approach to combat and story telling. Even though a lot of those other games were made by bigger companies, Fremanagames manages to keep things unique with its spell system.

Finding recipes throughout the world is how you find new ways to play. The spell crafting element of this game is really interesting and adds another ranking system to levelling up. As you find recipes and ingredients, you unlock additional magic types, allowing you to increase your arsenal of fire power. It’s a pretty simple system but the Codex Lost approach adds another level of intrigue. It’s pretty exciting to realise you have all the ingredients to unlock another spell, going back to the Library hub where you level up, and adding your new spell to your spell book.

The spell crafting opens up a massive array of character development opportunities and can massively determine the type of Curator you’re playing as. It’s definitely best to have a mix of the different magics so you’re not stuck dealing with resistant characters. If there is an element you favour, though, there’s plenty you can do with those spells, as long as you find the recipes.

Interface for crafting the "Arcane Blast" spell, displaying its effects, required materials, and a description of its origin.
So many spells to create, so little time

Combat

Despite the beauty of it, the Codex Lost combat leaves little to be desired. It suffers from the same issues that most mage-based builds do in that it gets kind of boring. You can stand at the back of an arena and ping spells towards enemies with little worry about actually getting hit. The character also feels like it’s running at a three second delay where you can press to dodge or block but by the time the command is completed you’ve already been hit. In some instances with highly aggressive enemies, the AOE and ranged attack feel like a waste of a spell slot because they will fly over an enemies head or miss them completely.

The mana system can also be irritating. For a character that relied entirely on spells, your mana pool feels very small to begin with. There are opportunities to replenish it without resting – parrying, killing enemies etc. A lot of the time, I was forcing myself to use my basic attack as I’d ran out of mana at the very start of an area. The replenishment is so minor that sometimes it feels like it might as well not be there. Even when you build enough up, it drains quickly and you’re back at square one.

A wizard in a dark, ancient temple prepares for battle against the Silent Gravekeeper, holding a staff and displaying spell icons.
Start the epic music

Graphics & Audio

From a general point of view, Codex Lost is a pretty game with a good soundtrack. There were a number of instances where I was surprised by how pretty the game was. However, there were an equal number of instances, if not more, where it felt like things were a bit flat. There were times where I was in underground dungeons where the lighting is used really well to create visually stunning places. In comparison, big opens areas that were outside the boundaries of the game felt flat, as if little care had been put into creating the space.

I also had issues where the game repeatedly stuttered. This mostly happened during combat, as if the game couldn’t keep up with itself. I’d be mid fight and then I’d be dead without anything on the screen moving. I’m not sure if this is just the graphics struggling to keep up with the spells but it’s really frustrating when you’re two hits from beating a boss and then you’re dead without having a chance to save yourself.

A wizard in a dark robe stands on a wooden bridge, wielding a staff and a spellbook, overlooking a mystical landscape.
Every open world moment has a bit of beauty

Longevity

Repeatedly having to deal with stuttering during combat makes it hard to immerse yourself in Codex Lost. I keep going back to it to play more but the sluggishness and combat issues make it difficult. I do want to uncover more of the story and meet more NPCs so I will keep playing. It doesn’t have the same oomf as some other souls-like games which is why I’m struggling to stay engaged.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Codex Lost is a game that’s rough around the edges but has some pretty good content. Considering it’s not a triple A game, it does a lot well. The effort that the devs have put into creating it is clear from the offset. As I’ve said, I will keep going back to it because the premise has me locked in.

Unfortunately, I can’t give it more than the Thumb Culture Silver Award as the issues I did face were enough for me to walk away for a bit.

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.

If you want to add more games to your library you can check out our PlayStation reviews here!

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