Find the magic!
Many RPGs are known for their deep plots. The plot in LostMagic is simple, but still done well. Isaac Lightbrand is the protagonist of the story, and you follow his journey throughout the world to defeat the Diva of Twilight and restore peace to the land. It's not the most inventive, but what's most interesting about it is the options that the player is given. In numerous situations, you are given options of what to say or do. Many of these decisions will have a direct impact on events that occur in the story. Towards the end of the game, the player is forced to make a heart-wrenching decision; this final plot twist is certainly one of the high points of the game.
The game play in LostMagic is incredibly innovative, and could only have been pulled off on the DS. Throughout the game, you will learn magical runes, which you can then use to cast spells. Runes are performed in a simple yet creative way: they are drawn on the touch screen using the stylus. Also interesting about the rune system is the level of runes: you can perform first, second, or third level runes of any of the six elements (air, fire, water, earth, light, and dark). The higher the rune level, the more complicated it is to draw. By far the most fun aspect of rune drawing is the potential combinations. Every single rune produces a spell; however, it is also possible to combine up to three runes to create an even more powerful spell. Runes of any level can be combined, so the possibilities are huge. There are a total of about 350 spells in the game, all of which are performed through combinations of just two or three runes.
The second major aspect to game play in LostMagic is the monster system. Monsters roam the land in LostMagic, and using a special rune, you can capture them. Once monsters are captured, you may command about them to complete certain objectives. Each monster has a certain affinity (the affinities are the same as the elements of the rune system), and this drastically affects their strengths and weaknesses. For example, earth monsters are immune to earth magic, but are particularly harmed by wind magic. This rock-paper-scissors-like battle system adds a huge layer of strategy to each and every battle. This is because despite the huge number of monsters you may capture, you are allowed to take a maximum of three monsters into battle. You must evaluate the terrain and the enemy, and decide which monsters to bring. If you make a mistake and choose monsters that don't fare well in the battle, you'll loose very quickly and easily. The rune and monster system working in conjunction form to make a very interesting and enjoyable game play experience.
Unfortunately, the graphics in LostMagic are sub-par. It seems that in their rush to cram all the innovation possible into the game play mechanic, the developers glossed over more mundane aspects of the game. Everything about the graphics in LostMagic is very simplistic. You move from location to location on a world map that looks like something I could have drawn. When a battle is initiated, a very inelaborate environ. Monsters, both the ones that you control and the enemies, are very amateur. Even the graphics of characters when they are in a conversation aren't that great. Games like Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright have shown that there's such a thing as good 2D graphics on the DS; unfortunately, they're certainly not present in LostMagic.
Like the graphics, the music is also done poorly relative to the rest of the game. While the music is mildly catchy, it's certainly nothing great. Music in games, and especially in RPGs, should serve to immerse you more in the world your playing in. Sadly, the music does not serve that desired effect in LostMagic. Also not as good as they could and should be are the sound effects. There are mild sound effects when you perform a spell or when monsters are fighting, but they seem to be just thrown in there. Frankly, the music is disappointing; it should have served to make the game better. It's not that difficult to get good music in a game, but LostMagic didn't put music high on the lists of priorities.
Like many other RPGs, LostMagic provides a good, lengthy, and challenging game play experience. The game will probably take you around 15 hours to beat. There are several different required battles throughout the game; these battles are always the most difficult. However, the vast majority of the battles that you will fight are random battles, whose sole purpose is to level up your character and monsters. While these battles are what gives the game it's respectable length, they are pretty boring. The objective rarely varies; it's usually just to defeat all the enemy monsters. They're important to beat the game because of the necessary leveling, but you will likely get sick of them pretty soon.
While the random battles are pretty bad, the required battles in LostMagic are very enjoyable. The vast majority of the required battles are when you get to fight an enemy sage. These are very fun and very rewarding. In addition to maneuvering your monsters around and sending them into battle, you can actually duel the opposing sage using your spells. These battles are also what makes the game relatively difficult; you must either be at a pretty high level, or be very good at monster-directing and spell-casting if you wish to clear these levels.
Possibly the most rewarding aspect of LostMagic is the expansive rune system. As said before, there are approximately 350 spells that are available to you in the game, and it's quite a task to perform all of them. The game is great at recording which spells you've casted and which spells you've seen, so it's actually a reasonable goal to achieve all of the spells. Because of the myriad of rune combinations, it's very fun to simply experiment with all the spells. While the random battles are lack any sort of difficulty and are very monotonous, they do serve as a way to practice and experiment with runes.
Replay value in LostMagic is virtually nonexistent. While it has a decent plot and very enjoyable game play, there's just not much incentive to play through it all again. There are two different plot endings, but to be honest, it's not worth replaying the game just to see the one you missed the first time through.
Overall, LostMagic is an enjoyable RPG for the DS. It's strength is obviously in the spell-casting system; it provides tons of depth and strategy to an otherwise simple game. LostMagic may not be a game for the ages, but it certainly has its share of enjoyable moments. RPG fans should definitely look to pick this game up.