Lost Magic (Nintendo DS) - Review by Trent

Introduction

When you look at the box, before you pick up and play the game, you know you're going to be in for a wild ride. The RPG developed by Taito and published by Ubisoft promises to be a "new kind of RPG", a slogan which is slapped across the box like a marketing campaign for a new soft drink product. A simple design escalates the box into a work of art which draws you to the final purchase before you plug in a game, now you ask the simple question as you blow the cartridge and push it into your Nintendo DS- was it worth it?

Gameplay

The game has a lush story line which has the main character traveling around the world learning about magic. It's a simple story which mimics many built up franchises, master teachers student the ways of the magic, then a disaster strikes there little world which flings the student into a world full of dangers and mysterious monsters.  The aim in the long run is to challenge the Diva of Twilight, who is the confused sage who wants to destroy the Great Creators work and build her own world. The game even, when the time is right offers you a choice, join her or kill her- it really opens the last half of the game up with different strategies, levels and story lines to go with both options.

The actual gameplay however can be related to Pokémon, you capture various monsters using your range of spells and then with them now in your "party" you can command them to attack other monsters and magicians. Your magic you collect can be used to get an upper hand on the situation or help you build a strategy, for example some moves are defensive (such as walls), while others are offensive (such as fireballs for example).

There is no over world as such, just a map which your character (and other key character events) can move from map point to map point. Each map point has a uniquely designed level for when battles occur in the location, and story wise contains a panel which is unique to that land type.

Controls

The game is quite centred on the touch screen and puts it to good use. You select your characters on screen and then command them to perform a task by a swift movement of your stylus.

There are various buttons which can help you move around the level and load the spell screen (which allows you to draw on the touch screen what spell you want to perform).

Graphics

The graphics are not the best in the world, but they are quite reminiscent of what the traditional RPG sprite pallet was. The game also has various in game artwork pieces which are used for the story sections, these are done quite well and looked very polished. It gives the game a leg up no doubt.

Sound

Lost Magic has an alright soundtrack. It's hard to describe if it is good or bad, as the music is very tinny at times as well as distorted, but overall it suits the game well and gives the player a great feeling of accomplishment at every moment possible.

Dual screen

The Dual Screen set up isn't used that well in Lost Magic, it's quite the traditional "remove all the excess status updates and put them on the top screen" situation. Though don't get me wrong, it works quite well like that because that leaves the bottom screen for all the action.

Because the bottom screen is where all the action is, the game is overall a touch screen game, and pretty much any action you can possibly think of is performed using the touch screen. This really makes the game feel quite smooth and responsive. If the game was more restricted to button operation it really wouldn't be as engaging as what the end product turned out as.

Final comments

Lost Magic is one of those games which over the years after its launch has become forgotten to many gamers. It's a hidden gem for the Nintendo DS which hits so many perfect notes, it wasn't funny. It works well for what the product is, and the story might be a bit predictable but it fits, overall the glue has set quite well for this game, and it's one of the reasons why any Nintendo DS owner should pick this game up - if they can find it.

Pro: A fresh RPG for the Nintendo DS, Simple yet effective graphics
Con: Battle system a bit finicky at times, Story a bit predictable
Final score: 9.2

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