Originally posted on Classic Game Room.
If the Nintendo GameCube had anything going for it in its life span, it was the exclusive titles that appeared on the platform. While most of these titles were first party releases, occasionally Nintendo was able to snatch up some third party exclusives. One being the 2002 Activision published Lost Kingdoms, developed by From Software. While the title didn’t leave much of an impact, this fun action adventure card-game was definitely a welcome addition to the GameCube’s library.
Those who played the PlayStation 3 exclusive, Folklore, will find a lot familiar in Lost Kingdoms. Battles take place in real time cutting out sections of the in-game map for random encounters. Players fight back against creatures using cards which are mapped to the A, B, X and Y buttons on the GameCube controller. Using these cards, players can perform standard melee attacks, set traps, or summon monsters who either fight along side the player or do heavy instant damage.
Cards have hit points that deplete upon use. Once they are fully depleted, they are removed from your hand until you leave the dungeon. With only thirty cards to a deck, players have to play conservatively. Just throwing out any card in your hand won’t get you anywhere. Each creature and card have certain elements. Players need to make use of elemental weaknesses for maximum damage and minimum card usage. If you do start running low on cards, there are cards scattered about dungeons, special cards that will recover depleted cards, and fairies flying around in dungeons who can recover a single card.
While Lost Kingdoms gives you plenty of fire power in terms of cards, the character you control, Princess Katia, isn’t much of a fighter. She’s sluggish and has no maneuvers to help keep her out of the way. When in enemy contact, you just have to run and cross your fingers and hope that you don’t get hit. Add in small battle arenas and some severe knock back, and you have yourself some frustrating moments. Of course, the easiest answer is “don’t get close,” but Katia moves so slow that it is difficult to even just run away from enemies when they start chasing you.
Lost Kingdom’s dungeons are surprisingly short, often only amounting to a few rooms. Throughout the dungeons you will find hidden treasure chests that contain cards. Many of these chests are behind obstacles that, in some cases, can only be removed via using a combat card. The only problem? You can’t use a combat card unless you’re in combat. Lost Kingdom’s random encounter rate isn’t exactly high, so don’t be surprised if you walk in circles for over a minute just trying to initiate a battle to get that one chest. In general, the ability to use cards outside of combat would have been nice. All too often you’ll find yourself running around borderline dead with nothing you can do about it until combat initiates.
Also surprisingly short is Lost Kingdom’s entire length. I was able to cross the finish line of the story in just under four hours. And while there are some side quests to add on some additional content, don’t expect to pull much more than five hours out of the entire experience. Those desperate to get their money’s worth can collect optional red fairies, level grind cards to synthesis them into new cards, and replay dungeons to score a one to five star ranking based off your performance. Essentially, you can sit down and experience everything Lost Kingdoms has to offer in a single night. There is a two player versus mode as well, but I wasn’t able to try it for this review.
Overall, Lost Kingdoms is a fun game that requires a bit of strategy to make sure you make it out of each dungeon alive. Some of the controls and design decisions are strange, but the overall gameplay makes up for it. The biggest deal breaker for Lost Kingdoms is probably its short length. It certainly isn’t the best GameCube exclusive out there, but it is still a title that no one should be ashamed of having in their collection. Just make sure you don’t pay too much for it, as you’re not going to get much mileage out of this title.
