Lost Magic DS (IGN 6.5, a possible letdown?)

I am, but I'm also a little apprehensive after the apparent disaster that was Tao's Adventure - which I will probably still buy at some point. Hopefully the reviews for this one are a little more similar to the previews.
 
[quote name='botticus']I am, but I'm also a little apprehensive after the apparent disaster that was Tao's Adventure - which I will probably still buy at some point. Hopefully the reviews for this one are a little more similar to the previews.[/QUOTE]

The only part of the game I'm afraid of is having to memorize a lot of different spells that you must use the stylus to activate. Other than that, I think I'm sold.
 
[quote name='botticus']I am, but I'm also a little apprehensive after the apparent disaster that was Tao's Adventure - [/quote]

Same. I'm waiting for reviews.
 
Since I once again preordered at GameRush, I will probably have plenty of time to find out if this game is good or not. Here's hoping it's quicker than the month wait I had for MP:H and Tetris.

GameBrink had a review of the import version, but I'm surprised no one has issued a review the day before release.
 
Well I was just about to post, to see if anyone had this and what they thought about it because I don't see any reviews of it up yet.

Then I check IGN and magically there's a review.

6.5 hmmmm
 
[quote name='botticus']I am, but I'm also a little apprehensive after the apparent disaster that was Tao's Adventure - which I will probably still buy at some point. Hopefully the reviews for this one are a little more similar to the previews.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it seems once again that the reviews don't match up with the glowing previews (surprise, surprise). In particular, the previews made a big deal about the art direction (someone from Studio Ghibli or something?) and when I read the IGN review I was stunned by the slamming of the graphics - they basically said it was below GBA (eg, Golden Sun) quality and had nothing to say about the style.

Like you I have this preordered at GR, but I'm not sure if I'm disappointed it won't come in there or not. Looks like this and Tao might be ones to wait for on the cheap.

Damn, all I can say is New Super Mario better live up to the hype! But it seems the Nintendo 1st party DS titles generally do - it is some of these 3rd party offerings that have really been disappointing recently.
 
am i the only one who bought this game. its no mph but its wi-fi. i must have all wi-fi games... its a fun game besides all the the reading in single player. the wi-fi is fun you can battle with the character you progress with in single player or you can do preset battle both players are equal. to win wi fi you have to use strategy or you'll get you're ass kicked. ive only had time for a few games so far but its good.
 
IGN review for the lazy

68.3% on GameRankings

69% on metacritic

So not exactly blowing anyone's skirt up. I might pick this up in the bargain bin a year from now, but there seems to be little impetus to run out and pick it up at this point.
 
Darn it! I was hoping the hype would be true for this game. I will say one thing for RPGs that I like. For a handheld game, I don't need to be wowed with a great storyline. Just give me enjoyable gameplay.
 
Summary of the NP review/mini-guide with my take thrown in (from reading it, not from playing it):

The graphics aren't great, but they certainly aren't awful. If you've played a GBA RPG, these will look similar. No animation, but the general graphical quality reminds me of a primitive SoM look. Not quite as detailed with characters and whatnot, but distinguishable. I'd say it's disappointing from the standpoint that the DS can do better, but I don't think they'd detract from the game.

Pretty standard story, but it looks like there's a twist later on that will determine the type of character you are from that point on, so there's at least one story branch.

The battle is more like an RTS... you use the stylus to point and click your units around, fighting is in real-time, and you use the stylus to draw runes for spells (which seems difficult, but ingeniously so; very similar to how it would be in reality if you were a spellcaster I would assume - the more powerful the spell, the more difficult to memorize and execute). Some runes you learn as you progress through the game by meeting people, others you have to figure out yourself (combinations of basic runes, etc).

The multiplayer seems interesting. Battling against other players with the character and monsters you have gathered through the course of the game.

It seems the one overwhelming negative is a time-limit that is placed on each map. I'm really unsure how that comes into play (whether you have to complete a task or something in that time or the level simply ends after x time and you encounter a boss). Either way it limits the fun that could have been had. Another negative mentioned by the second reviewer is substandard AI, but no further details or examples (maybe the "I told my creatures to go that way but they couldn't walk around the rock"?)

So, my opinion after this review boils down to the usual "Well, I'd buy it for $20 or less... but with GR credit this is $20 or less - and finding DS games under $20 is a crapshoot" ;) So if they ever get it in, I will be jumping into it.
 
GameSpot gave LostMagic a 7.9. http://tinyurl.com/gcmm2

It looks like this game got average reviews across the board, although a 6.5 seems a little too low.

As others have already mentioned, I hope Contact doesn't end up this way. I figured LostMagic would be at least a AA title, so it is a bit of a letdown for me.
 
I've spent 2.5 hours with LostMagic and I'm really enjoying it.

The BAD: The A.I. is stupid (characters get stuck on objects and require a lot of steering), the difficulty is a bit of a rollercoaster (up and down), there is some bad slowdown when the map is full of enemies, too much of the strategy takes place BEFORE the battles as you select which of your monsters you will send into battle; sometimes the screen gets so cluttered that I can't seem to select the right character with my stylus.

The GOOD: Simple graphics make it easy to spot the characters; drawing runes with the stylus is extremely forgiving and easy to do; there is a good sense of character customization like in Morrowind where your character gets stronger in the skills that he practices; the music is pretty good in spots; characters level up quickly which makes for a good sense of progression; lots of variables make the battles intense rather than simplistic.

Overall I'm having fun with it and I'd say a final score of 7-9 out of 10 would be appropriate. IGN's 6.5 doesn't seem quite right, but they're entitled to their opinion.
 
[quote name='boyward']I've spent 2.5 hours with LostMagic and I'm really enjoying it.

The BAD: The A.I. is stupid (characters get stuck on objects and require a lot of steering), the difficulty is a bit of a rollercoaster (up and down), there is some bad slowdown when the map is full of enemies, too much of the strategy takes place BEFORE the battles as you select which of your monsters you will send into battle; sometimes the screen gets so cluttered that I can't seem to select the right character with my stylus.

The GOOD: Simple graphics make it easy to spot the characters; drawing runes with the stylus is extremely forgiving and easy to do; there is a good sense of character customization like in Morrowind where your character gets stronger in the skills that he practices; the music is pretty good in spots; characters level up quickly which makes for a good sense of progression; lots of variables make the battles intense rather than simplistic.

Overall I'm having fun with it and I'd say a final score of 7-9 out of 10 would be appropriate. IGN's 6.5 doesn't seem quite right, but they're entitled to their opinion.[/quote]

Yeah, I agree. A 6.5 seemed a little too low for me, I think GameSpot's score is a little more accurate in this case.
 
[quote name='botticus']Nintendo Power gave it an 8, though the second opinion was a little disappointed with it given the potential.[/quote]
I don't trust Nintendo Power's reviews. It's a mag made and opperated by Nintendo. The reviewers get paid with the profits Nintendo gets from the games they review. If they want to get paid well, all they have to do is review a game well.
 
[quote name='SingingPorkBurger']I don't trust Nintendo Power's reviews. It's a mag made and opperated by Nintendo. The reviewers get paid with the profits Nintendo gets from the games they review. If they want to get paid well, all they have to do is review a game well.[/QUOTE]
That's true to a point. But if their reviews aren't reasonably accurate to the point where people don't believe them, they don't get subscribers, and then they don't have jobs. And they give plenty of 6s and below, which is really bordering on bad in most review circles.

For the record, Lost Magic is an Ubisoft game, and they scored it higher than Odama, which was a Nintendo game.
 
is it just me or is misson 5 very hard. where you got to run to the left hand side of the screen. and you make the walls. Then again i might of messed my game up cause i havent caught any monsters besides 1 and the respawning monsters on the right hand side destory them
 
[quote name='slidecage']is it just me or is misson 5 very hard. where you got to run to the left hand side of the screen. and you make the walls. Then again i might of messed my game up cause i havent caught any monsters besides 1 and the respawning monsters on the right hand side destory them[/QUOTE]

Do you mean "Chapter 5" which comes up several hours into the game? Or are you just getting started and you're on your fifth battle against the six Orkuses? If the latter, then you should be able to just backtrack and capture some monsters from an earlier battle to build up your army.
 
[quote name='boyward']Do you mean "Chapter 5" which comes up several hours into the game? Or are you just getting started and you're on your fifth battle against the six Orkuses? If the latter, then you should be able to just backtrack and capture some monsters from an earlier battle to build up your army.[/QUOTE]

no i mean i think it was the 5th battle but i got it done. You had to build a wall and try to run to the upper left hand corner in less then 5 mins.

after seeing i could melt the ice it got ever easy. Though the next battle (kill everything in 5 mins was hard in a way since there was like 15 monsters all over the place


I already returned the game to gamefly. I might pick it up if it ever falls to the 10 buck level. Its an okay game but it would be a wonderful game if


You was allow to backtrack all you wanted

and the MAJOR THING NO TIME LIMITS

time limits just killed this game from being fun. I think this might been a major seller if there was no time limits.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top