Lost Magic

Apologies for the delay! Haha, been so busy playing Skyward Sword and working that I completely forgot to update even after the holidays ended!

Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Ubisoft, Taito Corp.
Platform: Nintendo DS
Release: 2006
Rating: E

- Graphics -

Being a very early DS release, the SNES-style graphics we see here are fairly typical, but high quality. Non-animated sprites during dialogue sequences may seem like a turn-off, but there are so many different lively expressions for each character that it'd almost be a shame to see it animated.

Graphics: 7/10


- Story -

The game starts out pretty straightforward: Isaac finds a strange girl in the plains and brings her home for his grandmother to meet, when disaster strikes and they're forced to flee. The quest then begins in full: Learn a rune from each of the 6 Elemental Sages. However, about halfway through, we're given a choice to play through either a "good" or "evil" game-- this is what really sets the game apart.

Story: 9/10


- Gameplay -

If the story wasn't good enough for you, here's something even cooler. This is where the game really shines, with the rune-based battle system. In order to cast spells, players draw various runes on the screen (a total of 18 different runes), and up to 3 runes can be used in conjunction (though not all "Trio-Rune" combinations have an effect, all "Duo-Runes do). If that weren't enough, monsters can be captured and used to aid you; The game is pretty much impossible without them, so you'd better learn the runes to capture them quick!

Gameplay: 1010


- Music -

The soundtrack was definitely well-done, but at the same time, it didn't feel like some of the tracks really fit-- some of it really just felt like background music because, well, "it's a game, it's gotta have BGM!"

Music: 6/10


Total Score: 8/10

Not available for other systems.