HyrulianHero

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.