LostMagic

LostMagic
Developer(s)	Taito Garakuta Studio
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Director(s)	FANG
Producer(s)	Naoto Tominaga Osamu Inoue
Designer(s)	Kōjirō Modeki Yuichi Tanzawa
Programmer(s)	Takashi Seguchi Yu Okano Kazunori Yamamoto
Artist(s)	Hisaya Souda Yoshiharu Satō Takafumi Funamoto
Writer(s)	Yuichi Tanzawa
Platforms	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game, real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

LostMagic (ロストマジック, Rosuto Majikku) is a role-playing game / real-time strategy game developed by Taito Corporation for the Nintendo DS system. It supports the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Gameplay

There are two primary elements to this game: the magic system, and the use of captured monsters as soldiers. Since mages, such as the one the player controls, cannot physically attack, the player must rely on magic. The player can launch a wide variety of magical spells by drawing runes on the DS's touch screen. Runes drawn more accurately result in more powerful spells. However, some runes are easier to draw than others, and drawing runes slowly may leave the player open to attacks. There are 18 different runes. The elements of magic that the player can use in LostMagic are: fire, water, earth, light, dark, and wind. Not too far into the game the player will be able to fuse runes, one example being fusing Fire 2 (explosion) and water 1 (ice shot) to make an explosion of ice. However, the combination of Ice 1 followed by Fire 2 is a completely different spell. Around the end of the game the player can fuse 3 runes together, creating 5832 new combination possibilities; however, some of these fail to work. In all there are 396 different spells. When used in combination, typically the first rune determines the effect of the spell, and the other(s) determine its elemental type. For example, any Duo Rune (a Combo of two runes) starting with Fire 2 will be an explosion of some type. The variety of spells in LostMagic leads to a greater depth of gameplay.

Most enemies can be captured with certain spells, and then brought out to fight for the player in later battles. There are a total of 62 monsters the player can collect. Player-controlled monsters fight with the same artificial intelligence as computer-controlled enemies. The player can give movement commands by selecting one or a group of monsters with the stylus, but more specific controls are not possible. Ultimately, the monsters control themselves, since if they get too close to a monster they will automatically run towards it and attack. The monsters can be leveled up to a maximum of level 50. Their stats slowly increase as they level up. In addition, their stats can be further boosted by "buff-up" spells, as well as items.

In addition to the stat boosting spells, there are a set of items the player can equip them with. The items work by boosting a stat by a percentage, rather than a fixed value. The player can also collect higher level versions of the items he already has. Lower level items tend to be found at the beginning of the game while higher level items tend to be found near the end of the game and are rarer than other items.

Multiplayer

Using multiplayer, players can fight against a friend or foe a short distance away. The battle options include "Free Duel" using preset character settings, and "Duel" using the saved character data. Actual duels will be saved, and are a fun way for players to gain experience points while learning of new spells from others.

In Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the player has the opportunity to fight using a preset character of Lvl 40, or their character and monsters from the Story Mode. Using the Story Mode, the character yields experience to level up your party for in Story Mode. Many reviews complain of lag in the online modes. The WiFi battles consist of epic duels between two mages and each of the monsters that are selected before the match begins.

Online gaming groups, sometimes known as clans, were popular in the Wi-Fi mode of LostMagic during its early months. Most gamers belonging in a clan could be recognized by an underscore and the initials of a clan after their name. However, because of a droop in LostMagic's popularity, most clans for the game died off and are no longer existent.

With single-card play, in which case only 1 person needs to own the game, the second player can only download a demo of the game. With multi-card Play, players take their Story Mode teams and fight each other for experience to level up. People fought in local multi-card play are automatically added to each other's Wi-Fi Friend lists.

Plot

The game's storyline centers on a young mage named Isaac whose father Russell, has left Isaac in the possession of the Wand of Light, one of seven powerful wands which allows him to cast damaging, healing, and other spells, and also capture and control opposing monsters. Isaac got separated from his parents when he was little, and was raised by a forest witch in the arts of magic.

Characters

• Isaac Lightbrad: The main protagonist and the playable character. In the good path, he gets a new wand and becomes the Sage of Hope, while in the evil path, he hunts down the other Sages and is eventually killed by the Diva of the Twilight.
• Trista Windell: The Sage of Wind, she is the sister of the Diva of the Twilight and her former master was The Master of the Curtain Mist. She first meets Isaac by literally falling out of the sky and onto him.
• Leonard Davia: Leonard is the sage of darkness. Later in the game, he appears to be under the control of the Diva of the Twilight's magic and Isaac must fight him. Upon defeating him, the player is bestowed the Lost Magic of Darkness and Leonard then explains the Lost Magics. Also, on the good path, Leonard will take you to meet his mother, who is in fact an Elder Dragon, and she will teach Isaac an ancient technique called the "trio rune," which, unlike the duo rune, will only let you make certain combinations instead of letting you make too many combinations. In the ending of the good path, he disappears, along with the other monsters. In the evil path, however, Isaac hunts him down and ultimately kills him.
• Russell Lightbrad: Isaac's father and the Sage of Light. He confronts the Diva of the Twilight in the beginning of the game and is soon presumed dead.
• Popokura: The Sage of Water and Trista's former master. He confronts Isaac at the beginning of the game while under the Diva's control and awards Isaac the second level Water rune, and the power to combine other runes and forge "Duo Runes," after getting defeated by him.
• Christiva: The Sage of Fire. She kidnaps Trista while Isaac is fighting an evil mage. Isaac later rescues Trista from her grasp and defeats her. Christiva then bestows him the second level fire Rune.
• Geh Olg: The Sage of Earth. His student is a powerful seer who lives in a tower in the desert. He is confronted by the Diva and loses the match and his wand. The Diva of the Twilight then controls him with her magic but he seals himself inside a powerful sandstorm to protect others. His student then takes it upon herself to guard the sandstorm and not let anyone else in. Isaac later ventures to the Goldsand Dunes and confronts his student. After a bit of persuasion, she lets Isaac in and he ventures off to find the General of the Gravel Stone. Upon finding and defeating him, he is awarded the second level earth rune.
• Seneka Windell: The Sage of Balance and the main antagonist. She is commonly revered as the most beautiful Sage of the seven. At some point in the game, she goes on a rampage for more power, stealing the wands from the other Sages and putting them under her Magic. At the beginning of the game, she is confronted by the Bishop of the White Night and soon knocks him out and puts him under her magic. The power of the wand of balance gives the wielder the power to quell other elements.
• Hanna Arlent: Isaac's former master, as well as the former Sage of the Wet-Wood Forest. She finds him while he is lost in the Wet-Wood Forest and takes him in and trains him like a grandma. Unfortunately, she sacrifices herself soon after Isaac meets Trista so that they could escape from the Diva's attack.
• Zoe and Taro: A pair of siblings that Isaac briefly encounters on his journey. They originally appeared in the earlier Taito game Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 70.19% Metacritic 68/100 Review scores Publication Score Edge 5/10 EGM 5/10 Eurogamer 6/10 Famitsu 30/40 Game Informer 6/10 GamePro Game Revolution C GameSpot 7.9/10 GameSpy GameZone 8.2/10 IGN 6.5/10 Nintendo Power 8/10

Japanese magazine Famitsu gave LostMagic an overall score of 30/40 (individual reviews: 9/7/8/6). The game got a score of 70.19% from GameRankings and 68 out of 100 from Metacritic.

Sequels

A spiritual successor, Takt of Magic (タクトオブマジック, Takuto obu Majikku), also developed by Taito but published by Nintendo, was released for the Wii in Japan on May 21, 2009. A sequel titled Lost Magic: Concerto for the Fallen (ロストマジック ～精霊の協奏曲～, Rosuto Majikku Seirei no Ky) was made by Taito for mobile phones.

External links

• Official website
• Official website (Japanese)
• LostMagic at MobyGames