Lost Kingdoms II
May 22, 2002

     After Queen Katia defeated the black fog that threatened the five kingdoms of Argwyll 200 years ago, she united these five kingdoms.  With the exceptions of a few scuffles that would take place, Argwyll was at peace.  The same runestone that Katia had once borne has been passed down from Queen to Queen, ever to be ready when evil will decide to strike again.  But now the Kendarians have found a way to replicate runestones and mass produce them.  Although these imitations are only able to control less powerful monsters, the Kendarians are bent on domination of the Argwyll.  The current Queen seems to be doing nothing about it, and the kingdoms are at the mercy of the Kendarie.  Argwyll must now look to a most unlikely saviour for its survival.  Shrouded with a mysterious past, Tara Grimface too bears a powerful runestone that is the only hope to deliver Argwyll from evil.

     A sequel to From Software’s sleeper-hit and underrated game?  No way!  Though, I don’t see how it can be called ‘Lost Kingdoms II’, did they lose 2 more kingdoms?  No, but oh well, c’est la vie.  I got a free Memory Card 59 with it, so I’m happy; perfect timing, I needed another one.

     So incase you haven’t read my review on Lost kingdom’s II’s predecessor, (which is called Lost Kingdoms if you haven’t guessed) then I’ll give you a brief description on what LK is all about.  Lost Kingdoms is a card-based, real-time RPG.  This meaning, you rely on cards for your offense and defense, and it is in real-time (don’t know what real-time is then… heh… heh… eh…… your hopeless…).  Each card has its own attributes, either wood, fire, water, earth, neutral and machine.  Each have unique abilities and can be either a summon, independent, transformation or weapon-type card.  That pretty much summarizes how the game plays; now let us get into the thick of things.

     As with the majority of sequels out there, the successor surpasses its predecessor.  In Lost Kingdoms II, this is true.  All of the cons of Lost Kingdoms have been improved to become pros in Lost Kingdoms II.  Random battles have been taken out, thank goodness.  The graphics have improved.  Also, when you call back a card, instead of not being able to use it until the next battle, it is sent back to the bottom of your deck.

     I think there should be more FMV sequences.  In Lost Kingdoms II, they are awfully pretty, especially the introduction.  Too bad there was only one.

     Oh yes, and there is actuall voice-acting!  Not bad voice acting, though there are ventriloquist characters.  But Tara, like Katia, is a man… er… woman of very few words, though she’s not mute.

     One of the problems with this game is camera.  It is one of the few things that were not improved.  Instead it’s worse in LKII than LK.  You’ll more than likely find yourself constantly adjusting the camera with the c-stick. 

     I would say that the story was good, but not great; it had the potential to be better, but it was not.  I think story-wise, Lost Kingdoms wins.

     You don’t need to have played the first Lost Kingdoms, but I recommend it so you get the most out of Lost Kingdoms II.  People that liked the first will assuredly love the second.  But Gamecube owners who are expecting a Final Fantasy-type game for their frothing mouths, will absolutely not find what their mouths are demanding in Lost Kingdoms II.  Instead, they’ll find a nice, innovative game worth your while.  Lost Kingdoms successor has surpassed it in almost all areas.

- Bobo

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