For hundreds of years the five kingdoms have existed in near total isolation and alliances between the kingdoms are forbidden by ancient covenant. Suddenly a small forest vanishes, replaced by a mass of dark fog that soon engulfs a nearby town. Fearing for the survival of their land, the Kings cast aside the covenant of old and convene in a council of war to try and devise a method of dispelling the dark mist that is rapidly consuming the land. Unable to come up with a working plan the leaders flee back to their domains, and it isn’t long before the darkness is at the doors of King Feobane of Alanjeh. Determined to find the source of the black fog Feobane sets out with a contingent of the royal guard and vanishes into the fog. Katia, the game’s protagonist, and Feobane’s heir is left in charge of the castle. When it is finally overrun by demons spawned by the fog she flees taking a treasure called the Runestone with her.

Lost Kingdom offers these unique features:

• Non-traditional action/RPG based on card battling
• Dramatic storyline that drives the single-player adventure
• Use your wits and a deck of cards to battle evil monsters
• Collect, arrange, and manage your card deck
• Draw upon the elemental powers of fire, water, wood, and earth
• Summon monsters to fight for you, or morph into your very own creture
• Travel through an vast 3D world visiting diverse locations
• Gain experience for your cards and upgrade them
• Trade, buy, and sell your cards at shops
• Dark, realistic style and theme
• One or two-player modes
• Dolby Surround sound support

While the game, for the most part, is completely linear, there are a few side-quests that can be accessed by talking to Gurd at the apothecary. Speaking of the apothecary, it is one of several sources for new cards in the game. While inside, Katia can buy, sell, copy, and transform cards to enhance her decks. Another way to gain new cards is to search the levels. Cards can often be found in or under objects and in the treasure chests strewn across the land.

The last way to acquire cards is by using the “Capture Throw.” In battle, target an enemy and use the “Capture Throw” command to throw a card at it. If the correct card is thrown at the correct moment, Katia will be rewarded with the enemy’s card. While difficult to execute, this is a good method to employ when it comes to collecting some of the rarer cards in the game.

Battles occur in a similar fashion to those in the Final Fantasy games. At random intervals Katia is attacked and the game enters battle mode. In Lost Kingdoms all combat is in free-roaming, real-time. Instead of using spells and swords to assail opponents, Katia’s entire arsenal consists of a deck of cards. The cards are used to call upon creatures to vanquish your foes. Each card can only be used once, so there is some planning and strategy involved in deciding which card to play.

At the beginning of a battle four random cards from the deck of up to thirty are placed in Katia’s hand. They fall into four categories: Summon, Attack, Independent and Trap. The Summon cards work like the summon spells in Final Fantasy, in that they call forth beings who appear on screen briefly to dish out a good chunk of damage while the Attack cards cause quick, close range damage to your foes.

The Independent cards are the battle system’s main hang-up. When cast, they call up a creature that will move about the screen of its own will attacking any enemies it encounters. Nice idea; too bad the intelligence of these creatures rivals that of boiled cabbage. They frequently run in the wrong direction and find themselves separated from the battle by various obstacles, and due to the game’s crummy collision detection, often get stuck and killed before the battle ends.

The Trap cards can be laid down between Katia and the enemy, and when the villains step within range the Trap creature becomes active, dishing out a fair amount of damage then vanishing.

As in most RPGs, the magic (or cards) all hail from one of five different alignments: fire, water, earth, wood and neutral. Fire works well against wood, water kills fire, simple stuff. When choosing which card to play it’s always a good idea to pay attention to the alignment of the opponent.

Lost Kingdoms doesn’t have much of a story. In fact, to call the narrative minimal would be an exaggeration. With care, it’s possible to avoid the story entirely with the exception of four or five occasions.

Often with RPGs the developers have to sacrifice eye candy for gameplay, but in this case where the gameplay isn’t all that engaging, there really is no excuse for the sub-par visuals.

Without question, the weakest links in the audio department are the game’s sound effects. The hacks, slashes and impacts are lacking in punch and the sounds of battle sound tame. The game supports Dolby surround, but you will be hard pressed to hear any spatial surround effects.

While head-to-head does have the same problems as the battles in the main game, it adds a human opponent and allows the players to bet cards on the outcome of the battle. It’s not much but it should extend the life of the game to some degree.

The multi-player mode does add a little value, but only the hardcore fans will stick with it for very long. Beating the game within a 3 or 5 day rental is definitely feasible, and once beaten there’s little reason to purchase this title.

The lack of story would hurt any RPG and with Lost Kingdoms it’s just one of several inadequacies. For anyone itching for a role-playing experience on their Cube, Lost Kingdoms would definitely make a good rental. For those looking for a truly fulfilling experience though, it may be best to wait for some of the forth coming games like Kameo or Legend of Zelda.