"This game is quite different."

It's hard to come by a series like Lost Kingdoms. I had never played a series like it before.

Story(mine, not it's. you're supposed to ignore this)

It had been a couple of months since I had a Game cube. I was lacking. I had yet to play Ocarina of Time (never had a N64), so I went to eBay looking for the elusive Collector's Edition. I found it packed with Lost Kingdoms. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford it. Anyway, the seller had a neat description of Lost Kingdoms, which made me interested in both games. Little while later, I saw it at Gamestop, cheap. I bought it. It ruled...but that isn't what this review is about. It's about me getting the second one after playing the crap out of the first one. I had to buy it...so I did. This is my review:

Story

Okay, If you played the first one, you'd know about Katia defeating the evil Emperor, and becoming a legendary queen. This takes place two hundred years later, introducing a new character: Tara Grimface; an orphan who was taken in by a band of thieves called "The Scorpions." She feels that she owes them for her rescue, so she uses the mysterious runestone to activate magic cards (her sole weapon) so she can aid the thieves with their...thieving...yeah. As the plot unfolds you learn of an evil emperor trying to do the typical evil stuff. Guess what? U GOTS TO STOP HIM! CROMG, NO WAI!
Story gets an 8/10

Graphics

Big improvement over the first! We have cut scenes which are a bit more...involved, big detailed levels, and a cast of which are animated...a wee bit sloppy. Other than that, the main character is animated very well, the monsters are awesome, and they all vary greatly. The cards all look different enough so you can tell them apart during the heat of battle. There are some interactive levels, with destroyables and junk like that.
Graphics get a 9/10

Sound

There aren't too many sound effects, but they all sound well enough. Explosions, slashes, and stomps are good as they are. All of the monsters have their own battle cry/roar/scream/fart/ and everything, so for monsters, it's fairly diverse. The voice acting tends to be a bit cheesy at times, but it isn't a huge problem. It ain't THAT bad. Have you played Baten Kaitos? Anyway, we got some good music here. It suits the levels. I have one in mind that freaked me out...that level had a nice theme to it...and the music could have done that single handed. Good music, jah >_>
Sound gets a 9/10

Controls

It's really easy to pick up, play, put down, eat, crap, take a shower, sleep, and pick up again later. Out of a thirty card deck, your hand consists of four, which you activate by pressing A, B, X, or Y. Easy. If you don't like what's in your hand, you hold R and press one of the said buttons. To power up a card or start a combo, you hold Z and press the said buttons. Simple.
Controls get a 10/10

Gameplay

Get this, Homes: No more random battles! FREEDOM!!! Yeah, big improvement there! If some ugly faced monster attacks you, you can run the **** away! Anyway, the gameplay is all about those cards mentioned up there. You collect them. You buy, find, earn, and capture them. All of the cards from the first game made it here, though they may have changed. There are different types of cards: Independent cards will attack enemies and move around on their own; Weapon cards are used for an instant attack like a sword slash; Summon cards briefly take your place to attack for you. The summons are much better this time around: you get to choose from two of that summon's attacks! We also get two new types: Transform and helper cards. Helper cards are similar to independent cards, but they don't attack. They boost your stats, or some boring crap like that. Transform cards will give you the ability to transform into a monster with two different attacks. There are six elements, one of which is new: Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, Neutral, and the new element Mech, which is similar to neutral. Other than those two, each element has it's strength and weakness, just like most other RPGs.
Gameplay gets a 10/10

Replayability

Well, you've got your lengthy side quest or two, more little side quests, a secret ending, and 205 cards to collect, which can be quite difficult. Some can only be found once, so might I recommend a walkthrough from our very own GFAQs here?
Replayability gets an 8/10

Overall

If you can find this game, it'll probably be cheap, as it's been out for awhile. The day I submitted this was the same day that I called up four different game stores that didn't have it v_v

Wish me luck...

Overall 10/10 (not an average)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/06