LostMagic

LostMagic is an RPG with heavy real-time strategy elements for the Nintendo DS. Developed by Taito, the game stars Isaac as he utilizes an army of captured Monsters (borrowing from the Pokémon series) and magic spells to defeat his enemies. Using the stylus, players draw simple runes in order to summon spells in real time, while ordering his captured monsters around the battlefield map.

The game also supports 2-player multiplayer with multiple carts, as well as online play with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. With only one cart, a player can only send a downloadable demo to another Nintendo DS.

Art direction
The art direction for LostMagic was handled by the notable Yoshiharu Sato, who has worked on various animes such as "My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "Porco Rosso." Sato has also worked on other video games, such as the PS2 games Graffiti Kingdom and Magic Pengel.

Storyline
Once upon a time, the world was made by The Creator. Upon leaving the world, he divided his power into seven wands, and entrusted them to seven sages. However, in the present day, the most beautiful of all the sages known as the Diva of the Twilight made a grab for power. She attacked the other six sages, hoping to claim their wands and become the new Creator, though the other sages are skeptical if such is even possible.

The Diva of the Twilight manages to take all the wands except for the Wand of Light, wielded by the leader of all the sages, Russel, the Bishop of the White Night. Although Russel was defeated, the Wand of Light was not stolen, because he gave it to his unknowing son, Isaac. Just a few days ago, Isaac didn't even know his father was a sage - he just barely learned how to draw runes and cast magic. Now on the run from the Diva with the former Wind Sage, Tricia, Isaac must deal with the burden passed on to him by his father, while encountering many dangers and twists along the way.

Gameplay
Outside of battle, players control Isaac on an overworld/mapscreen, which only lets them click from point to point on the map to dicatate where to go. Sometimes, these maps will lead to a random battle for training. If there is a blue arrow above them, it will lead to a story event, which is usually a character conversation (on the top screen) followed by a battle.

Each battle takes place on a pre-set map, much like other strategy games. On this map, players control Isaac and any monsters that he has on his team. All battles take place in real time. Tapping his monsters and then a target will make them attack. Tapping a place on the ground will make them move there.

EXP is gained from completing maps. It goes to both Isaac and the monsters in his current party.

Runes
Isaac, however, cannot simply tap on an enemy and bash them with his staff. Players must hold L to bring up the Rune screen, then proceed to draw a figure to queue up a spell. If the player successfully draws this rune, they then get to unleash it. How this is done depends on the spell - For the basic Fire attack, players just tap a direction, and a fireball shoots out. For the basic Earth spell, players draw a line within Isaac's range, and a line of spikes come up in that line.

The better the spell, the more complicated the rune is to draw. The faster and more accurate the drawing, the stronger the spell. In addition to this, players can mix & match runes, creating "Duo runes". For example, the basic Ice and Wind runes will create a frost cloud that will freeze enemies in a certain area.



Monsters
Monsters are caught with dark spells. Isaac throws out a book, which shoots out a hand and grabs an enemy monster into it, kind of like a Poké Ball. They can be added to his party/Line-up after the battle. Once they are in your line up, they can be equipped with one stat boosting item. Monsters also gain stats by levelling up.

If a monster dies in battle, it is not gone forever. It can be used in the next battle, but not in the current one. The number of monsters Isaac can take in his line up depends on his level. This capacity is represented by a number, and different monsters take up different amounts. For example, a simple Green Shog will only take up 2 spots.

A stronger Gale Wolf will take up 4.



Online Play
LostMagic is one of the first games to allow for online play by Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. In this mode, players can play with people on their friends list (after exchanging WFC Friend codes outside of the game) or play any random opponent. You can play with pre-set monsters and characters, to allow for an even playing field, or play with your monsters & stats from a saved game file. If you use a saved game file, you will gain EXP that can be used in the single player story mode. The online modes have been criticized for their excessive lag in movement and execution.