Lost Magic

If you own a DS, buy it. If there is a gaming bone in your body, you will be more than happy with the purchase. I don’t know if I would call Lost Magic a system seller, but put the game together with the new DS Lite and you’ve got a pretty compelling argument.

LostMagic is definitely for everyone. It incorporates different genres such as RPG, RTS, and action adventure to create an experience that is sure to bring you many hours of entertainment.

LostMagic is a solid offering for handheld fans clamoring for a good roleplaying game. A weak storyline and some other minor problems keep this from being a classic along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but the large variety of spells and monsters and WiFi multiplayer support should keep players entertained for many hours.

Lost Magic strives to accomplish something innovative and enjoyable, it falls short in its implementation, resulting in a game that frustrates and disappoints.

I just think the game fails at some very small but critical facets, and as a result the game has lost some of the charm it could have had.

Lost Magic lacks a compelling story or decent balance for the single-player mode, so Wi-Fi battles are pretty much the selling point here. The question is whether or not that's enough, in your opinion, to overcome the game's innate shortcomings.

While the symbol-drawing controls and cunning elemental system are deep and enjoyable, the rest of the game drags it down to a level of tedium from which even the competent multiplayer can't rescue it.

I highly recommend this game, especially for adult gamers who have a hard time finding a challenge on the DS. It's like a Pokemon RTS. And not only will you want to catch all the monsters, you'll want to complete your list of spells (which are cast using an innovative rune-drawing system). There's a very strong appeal to people who like collection-based games. I understand that this game failed to gain popularity because it was regrettably released still needing to be tweaked a bit. The inconsistent difficulty curve could certainly use some ironing out. But like I said, it's a rare example of a hard game on the DS so that's a plus. And the charming graphics/story/character design make me willing to forgive its flaws.

The concept was interesting, but ultimately it was very gimmicky. You will still get a more fun experience from selecting the specific attack from any modern RPG.

I remember getting this game in 2006 and me and my sister were quite curious about this game: Nintendo ds was at its beginnings and most of their games were still gimmicky but not bad (nothing like the **** 3ds and it's messed up design in most games). However when I took this game in and played it for about 2-3 hours I just stopped: this game is unforgiving and has 3 fatal flaws, 3 unforgivable mistakes that basically ruins what could be a magnificent game. 1) Clunky Controls: as I said the DS was at its start and the gimmick of the touch screen was used very heavily during that time. However, while some games were great in this regard (Elite Beat Agents, Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright), this one is the in the "not so great" category: you can easily mess up the rune if you're slightly off the right path and that uses mana...which means you must not mess it up. The game also controls like an RTS but sadly it's so crippled since you will always have to highlight the units and click and do it EVERY-SINGLE-TIME for moving around. Oh and I wouldn't want to forget to mention that your units move incredibly slow, so if you mess up something you might have to wait a lot of time in order to have them returning in position. It's just beyond bad and it's so bad that the second point is related to control, and that is... 2) No Pathfinding: in most RTS when you click somewhere, your units will reach it by finding the best route possible - hence the name pathfinding. Sadly this game has none and it's very common that your units will go to a wall and be stuck forever until you make them move on the right track. And how did you move again? Of course, highlight+clickposition EVERY-SINGLE-TIME. What's worse of all this and the biggest flaw that basically makes this game from a rather clunky rts-rpg game to a chore is, unfortunately, the most common one... 3) Time limit: I don't know who was the **** that thought this was a good idea but - shock - it isn't: not only it adds an element of rush in most battles because of the time limit, but you'll have to deal with the clunky interface AND the clunky controls AND the lack of pathfinding AND make sure you don't make mistakes AND do it within the super strict time limit AND with the slowest units ever created in an RTS. And you might wonder. how much time do you have in these battles? Surely it can't be too bad- You have 5 minutes in basically 50-60% of the battles. The highest time available is 10. Oh oh and guess what? There are battles that only have 3 minutes! Seriously whoever thought this was a good idea clearly had no idea how to make a fun game. I mean it's like putting time limit in a dungeon and without any chance of replacing your group without waiting hours and ....Oh right that game is Final Fantasy XIV.... Case in point, this game had potential to be great, but instead feels like a chore and a "challenge-fest" for those who don't have enough challenges in their games. It might become easier, later on, I admit (I only reached level 19, 10 years ago, but that's as far as I could go) but I simply cannot play any longer than this. It's just a shame really but alas, the fact that it remained unplayed for nearly 10 years it's proof that this game wasn't meant to be popular and perhaps just niche. ...meanwhile I still play Elite Beat Agents, Phoenix Wright and many other valuable games that at least are playable from the start.

I got this game in 2007, looking for a decent RPG. Unfortunately, this game is severely lacking, falling victim to the issues that seem to be plaguing the genre as a whole in the past decade or so. Only recently was I willing to pick it back up and play it through. Graphics and artwork are excellent. The storyline is a sub-par and quite predictable. The combat system DROVE ME INSANE. I can't draw to save my life, and my handwriting isn't great either, so I found the rune casting system to be very unforgiving. I frequently found myself failing to cast my runes frequently through the entire game. I do agree that it's nothing to judge till you're at least 2-5 hours in, but that's only because the battle system takes about that long (or longer) to become complex enough to be interesting. It's not awful, but in all honesty, it sat in my closet for four years. Take that as you will.

Lost Magic is itself an ironic name as the game contains a magic that most will never experience. Played somewhat like a real-time RTS minus resource management (mostly) and building, you control Isaac, an aspiring magician who collects monsters throughout his adventure and uses them and his magic runes to battle other monsters and magicians. If I recall correctly, there are 296 different magic spells Isaac can learn from a combination of six different runes, drawn on the DS touch screen. Isaac can choose up to two groups of monsters to take with him into any given battle. Battles are accessed via an overworld screen as the narrative plays on in a mostly linear fashion. The artwork for this game is wonderful. It never feels forced, designs are original and brilliant. Even the sprite-work has a unique charm to it, tiny DS screen notwithstanding. The story is simple but not quite as straight-forward as one might at first expect. A couple of "twists" keep the tale interesting and characters have at least a bit of personality. The most engaging aspect of the story is the world as it feels consistent, believable. By keeping the world simple, the developers were able to keep every facet of the world feeling cohesive and sequitur. There music is nothing to write home about and the sound design in general is lacking. A couple of the themes are catchy but for the most part, the music falls flat and the effects are...well, it's a DS game. The gameplay is quite simple but managing your magic gives the game enough substance that even the somewhat repetitive battles can be played differently every time. The monsters you take into battle don't honestly change the gameplay much but they're not carbon copies either; each monster group has its own strengths and weaknesses. The real star here is Isaac's lost magic. With six runes and 296 combinations, you'll constantly be considering which effects best fit the situation, how fast they are to draw, their range, power, effects, and magic consumption. This is where Lost Magic truly shines. Expect to find new effects on your third and fourth play-though. This is a fantastic budget game, definitely one to pick up if you are looking to fill out your backlog of DS games.