After the narrative preamble, the first, most notable aspect of Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is how similar it is to Supergiant Games’ Hades. Perspective aside, it encompasses similar systems, leans into prog rock tunes during combat, and even offers the same “Failure makes you tougher” style of Easy Mode. There’s even a take on the Mirror of Night, where each Talent has an alternative to invest in separately, and only one can be active at a time. Direct homage or best form of flattery? It’s up to you where those first impressions fall.

But dig a little deeper, and you’ll see more notable differences and mechanics that translate the very nature of Lost in Random – the rule of randomness – into a compelling action rogue-lite experience. It’s not reinventing the genre or going beyond what genre fans know – but it is leveraging all those differences in some fun ways.

Following up directly on the first game’s conclusion, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die follows Aleksandra, the former Queen, as she battles the Black Die. The latter afforded a great deal of power, but after a tragic incident caused her to confront it, Mare the Knight, its new master, trapped her inside. Fortune, Aleksandra’s personal die, who only recently came back to life, is with her, though, and together, they search for a way to defeat Mare and escape the Black Die.

"Of course, the main component of Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is combat, and there’s plenty to be had. Each of the four realms has a unique gimmick to it, offering just enough flavor to distinguish them beyond the art direction."

Such a premise leans well into the ever-changing biomes and Mare’s plan to use Aleks’ memories against her. This highlights the nuanced character development of our anti-hero, who acknowledges her past misdeeds yet fully focuses on revenge rather than any heroic ventures (like saving others trapped within the Black Die). However, as she gets to know them, Aleks’ mindset shifts in that direction while cherishing some of the better memories with her sister, Natalya. It’s a sweet redemption story of sorts, though a lot of your emotional attachment will hinge on the events of the previous game and full knowledge of all the terrible things Aleksandra did.

Without it, you’re left wondering as to the significance of that adult Sixer or why Aleks doesn’t want to fight a certain boss. The Eternal Die does a decent job explaining eventually past events like the No Dice War and what happened with the Witches, so it’s not a dealbreaker, plus the Journal is rife with lore to fill in the blanks. However, my connection to the newer characters ranged from surface-level intriguing (Chance) and beloved (Rack, who doles out different weapons, or Mannie Chex, who sells different items between realms) to indifference (Sophia Firbase, the Rug Reader, take your pick).

Still, there are more hits than misses, if only narrowly, and I’m always keen to hear Rack’s next joke and how Aleksandra will react with disdain. Additional conversations and developments unlock across multiple runs, and it’s acceptable, though nowhere near the sheer amount of Hades. There is some cleverness to the writing – hats off to whoever came up with the Discard pile, a venerable trash heap where you end up after every run.

Of course, the main component of Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is combat, and there’s plenty to be had. Each of the four realms has a unique gimmick to it, offering just enough flavor to distinguish them beyond the art direction. The room variety is also solid, whether you’re dealing with traps and Elites or completing a minigame.

Each of the four weapons contains multiple upgrade paths, which can bestow new abilities and passives, like the sword unleashing whirlwinds or the mace creating pools of poison. You have the standard attack and Charged Attack on top of throwing out whatever Card is equipped. Cards can be discovered throughout runs and add another attack on top, like an orb that inflicts weakness or a cone-shaped breath of fire. However, Perfect Card attacks can provide additional effects. That seeking attack may go from two projectiles to five, or that weakening orb will explode and inflict Weak in a larger radius against foes.

"Then there’s the Relic system, which is probably one of the more unique upgrade systems I’ve ever seen in the genre, at least on the action side."

None of this would matter if the combat doesn’t feel sleek and responsive, and Stormteller Games excels there. Everything, from cancelling attacks to narrowly dodging, feels great, accompanied by a strong assortment of enemies. I could have done with less aggressive tracking on some ranged enemies or the lack of Timestop on another enemy type, but most strike a good balance between fun and challenging. The bosses are equally endearing, even if they feel a little too limited.

But what really sets The Eternal Die apart is the dice mechanics. Fortune serves as a projectile that can be tossed at enemies, and depending on which face it lands on – and the Relics equipped – it can activate different effects. Those minigames are also dependent on die rolls, whether it’s the face determining the difficulty of an optional encounter (and the reward) or a little faux board game where you move spaces according to roll. It can even influence how much health is recovered from a healing station, for better or worse.

Then there’s the Relic system, which is probably one of the more unique upgrade systems I’ve ever seen in the genre, at least on the action side. You start with a single space to which a Relic can be equipped, whether it’s an element added to Charged attacks, the second hit from an enemy dealing 40 percent reduced damage, etc. This opens up the eight neighboring squares, which you can equip with more Relics. Alternatively, you can toss in Pearls of varying colors.

When matching three of a kind, they’ll boost a specific stat like weapon damage, card damage, or luck (which influences Multicasts) and then shatter. However, Relics can also have colors – up to three depending on the rarity – and upon matching with two Pearls – or each other – can consume the color and stay on the board. So play your choices well, and it’s possible to match multiple colors with a single Relic to obtain stat upgrades. You also have the option to dye them, which is good for colorless Relics, but even better for those that don’t make three-of-a-kind.

It’s an ingenuous system, one that rewards you for balancing out Relic choices – because some are much better than others, like the slowly increasing critical hit chance until the next hit or Perfect Card Attacks inflicting status ailments – with stat upgrades. If I lean into dice damage, then Fortune will deal more damage when thrown.

"How much mileage you’ll get out of it ultimately depends on your skill, but don’t let the Hades comparisons dissuade you. Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, and throughout its admittedly short run time, The Eternal Die aims to please."

Weapon damage is still important, especially in conjunction with Weak and status effects dealing damage over time. Conjurations are another solid area since even holding Fortune or leaving it on the ground can result in seeking icicles or a poisonous cloud, depending on the Relics. Couple this with a ability that increases evade chance while carrying Fortune, and you can forgo the dice throwing altogether. Alternatively, lean into it more with a ability that allows for recalling Fortune with a button press rather than picking it up manually (albeit with a three-second cooldown).

All of this combined makes each run feel pretty unique from a build crafting perspective and had me itching to get back in after another failed run. Though some Relics will start looking familiar sooner than you think, I was surprised with even more options over subsequent playthroughs. Even after finishing the story and fully upgrading two and a half weapons, there are still dozens of Relics yet to be discovered.

There is a post-game with Sigils that up the difficulty of the bosses while granting them new attacks and the Corruption Decrees. The latter gives you three choices of modifiers to add to a run. With each Sigil, the number of selected modifiers increases, upping the challenge and feeding further into the chaos of randomness.

Despite the distinct shift in perspective and structure from its predecessor, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is a good rogue-lite, which introduces enough of its own twists on top of the clear inspiration to ensure a fun time. It looks sharp, and the sound production, from the voice acting to the effects, is strong, even if the rock tracks can sometimes become monotonous. How much mileage you’ll get out of it ultimately depends on your skill, but don’t let the Hades comparisons dissuade you. Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, and throughout its admittedly short run time, The Eternal Die aims to please.

This game was reviewed on PS5.