Lost Kingdoms 2
Lost Kingdoms 2 is a role playing game that was developed by FROM Software, and was released on the Nintendo GameCube on May 13, 2003.
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Developer: FROM Software Publisher: Activision Release Date: May 13, 2003 Platforms: GameCube JustRPG Score: 80% Pros: +Appealing characters. +Decent story line. +Good card game mechanics. Cons: -No replay value. -Mediocre voice acting. |
Lost Kingdoms 2 Overview
Lost Kingdoms 2 is a role playing game that was released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube. This game continues the story from the first Lost Kingdoms game, but generations later. In this game the players takes on the role of Tara Grimface, a thief trying to find her place in the world. The game’s combat system is card based and offers decent challenges for veteran gamers.
Lost Kingdoms 2 Screenshots
Lost Kingdoms 2 Featured Video
Lost Kingdoms 2 Review
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Last month Lost Kingdoms 2, the sequel to one of the Gamecube’s few original RPGs, was released. Featuring a variety of improvements over the first game in the series, Lost Kingdoms 2 should be enough to answer the cries of RPG-starved Gamecube fans. |
| You play the game as Tara Grimface, a young girl traveling with a band of thieves known as the Band of the Scorpion. The land of Argwyll has been at peace for some time, and the Queen has kept the country in order with her powerful runestone. These runestones give their possessor the ability to summon powerful creatures that are trapped within cards, and no one would dare to defy the Queen, whose power with the rune is unmatched. But the peace is not to last. In the region of Kendarie a power hungry royal has discovered how to create runestones. These stones are not nearly as powerful as the Queen’s stone, but they still posses great power, and may lead the Kendarie people to victory. With a powerful rune of her own, Tara finds herself caught up in the struggle between the Queen and the armies of Kendarie. |
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Lost Kingdoms 2 features a lot of references to the original game that will please fans. This adventure takes place 200 years after the events of the first game, and the heroine of the original has now become a legendary queen. All in all, the game features a decent, but hardly impressive story. It’s not the deepest or most developed of all the stories you’ll encounter through your RPG experience, but a more lighthearted game is always a nice change now and then. It focuses as much on the development of the main character, Tara, as it does the struggle between the forces of good and evil, so don’t expect anything epic. But, you can still expect a fairly interesting and enjoyable story. |
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| Gameplay in Lost Kingdoms 2 is like no other (well, aside from the original). This is a real time action RPG where you fight using magical cards. The gameplay is pretty simple to catch onto and the controls are very easy. You control Tara with the control stick, and the C Stick moves your camera. You can take a deck of up to 30 cards along with you to each level, and you have a hand of four. The A, B, X and Y each correspond to one of the cards in your hands, and simply pressing one of those buttons will allow you to play that card. If you don’t like your hand you can rotate cards by simply pressing the button corresponding to the card you don’t want and the R button. Cards can be charged up to greater power by pressing the Z button along with the button corresponding to that card, but this takes up greater magic. |
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Each card has its own magic cost, and your MP depletes as you summon creatures. When you injure an enemy they drop magic crystals, which then refill your MP gauge. This was a little bit annoying, because your MP gauge never grows very large, and summoning creatures eats it all away in no time. Battling larger monsters can be a pain because they don’t drop a lot of crystals until they die, and its tough to kill them when you use up all your MP in the process. |
| Another issue I had with the game was with the 30 card limit. In each level you can only use 30 cards, and each card can only be used once. Once you’re in a level you can’t edit your deck at all (except at points in a few levels that will let you add any card you picked up in that level), so if you use up your 30 cards you’re screwed! You’ll have to start the level over entirely, and hope you can get through without using up all your cards this time. You’ll often find yourself avoiding enemies and running straight through a level so that you can conserve your cards. Fortunately, when you die or abort a level you don’t lose anything. You get to keep any items and experience you gained in that level, and all your cards become recharged. Also, the levels aren’t all that long, so if you do have to restart it won’t be that big of a deal. Running out of cards can be a real pain, but enough was done to minimize the problem that it never became more than an annoyance. |
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Each card is of a certain element (fire, water, etc.), and like any game, summons are strongest against the opposite element (fire hurts water). The more you use a creature of a certain affinity the more powerful you become with that affinity, and the weaker you become with other affinities. You can choose to power up one affinity to insane toughness, or you can use different cards to create a more balanced deck. You can also perform combos with these cards by playing a specific combination of cards at once. Tara gains experience through slaying enemies, and this increases her max HP and max MP. Her cards also gain experience, which is used at card shops to upgrade them into more powerful cards, or to make copies of your current cards. |
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| There are a variety of different card types, and each one has its own use. Think of it like Magic: the Gathering. Some cards summon a creature that will come and fight alongside you for a limited time. Other cards will transform Tara into a creature temporarily, or will summon a creature that appears only to execute a powerful attack. There are five different types of spells, and over 200 different cards. All of this adds up to quite a bit of strategy to the game. Which spell type to I want to use? Which specific card would be best? You have to think fast, because Tara is going to have to fight an army of enemies single-handedly! If you like Magic: the Gathering (like I do) then I have a feeling you’ll enjoy the battlesystem this game has to offer. |
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Part of the fun of Lost Kingdoms 2 is in the card collecting. With plenty of cards to collect, you can spend hours and hours working on your deck. You can create various decks to equip yourself with, but you can only take one with you per level. To expand your deck you can pick up new cards at shops, upgrade cards through experience, find cards spread throughout different levels, or collect cards through a variety of side quests. You’re also rated on a scale from one to three based on your performance in each level. At the end of the level you get a number of free cards based on whatever your performance rank was. Work hard in each level, and you can earn some great cards! Not only will collecting all the cards make you better at combat and give you access to the strongest creatures, but it’s also just a fun thing to do. There are hordes of different cards featuring awesome creatures, like dragons, vampires, robots, werewolves, and much, much more! |
| The game really isn’t very long, and you can easily beat it in less than 15 hour. The short length may turn some RPG fans away, but the card collecting fun can go on for hours. Should you decide to try and collect every card, you can easily get 25 hours or more out of the game. Once you’ve got a load of cards you can build all sorts of customized decks. Think how cool it would be to have a deck completely composed of dragons. Yes, you can have multiples of each card, and yes there are enough different dragons in the game that you could do this! Or you could just create a super powerful deck and lay waste to any enemy that dares cross you. With the large amount of cards, and all the different creature and spell types, there’s a lot you can do with your deck. On top of all that, there’s a two-player mode where you can go head to head and face off with your decks. Although a single playthrough of the game may not take long, the game has plenty to offer that will keep you going. |
| Tara, and other characters, are all done pretty well. Character models are very interesting and pleasing to look at, and the movements are realistic as well. The creatures Tara summons all look very cool, and there’s a lot of variety in their appearance. The only real problem I had with the look of the game was trying to figure out the pictures that were on the cards in your hand. It’s often difficult to determine which creature is in your hand based on the small picture. |
| The game’s music wasn’t anything spectacular, but it’s not bad either. Although, I do remember at least a few times where I found the music to be annoying. But, it generally fits the game, and provides some additional entertainment along your quest, but it’s probably not anything you’re going to remember once you’ve finished the game. The game also features some voice acting, which was done pretty well, but there isn’t a lot of it. The sound effects during combat are also done pretty well. |
| Lost Kingdoms 2 is a solid gaming experience, and it’s definitely worth the attention of any Gamecube owner who needs an RPG. It’s certainly not without minor flaws, but it’s a lot of fun, and one of the few RPGs available to Gamecube owners. Some gamers may find $49.99 too high of a price for a game they can beat over a weekend, but if you’re weary give it a rental. Let’s hope that the Gamecube continues to see games in the Lost Kingdoms series! |
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Final Grade: 80% |
Lost Kingdoms 2 Screenshots