History VideoGame / LostKingdoms

The ''Lost Kingdoms'' video game duo (also known as ''Rune'' in Japan) were the UsefulNotes/NintendoGamecube's answer to the EasternRPG genre before ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' graced it. They were created by Creator/FromSoftware and published by Creator/{{Activision}} outside of Japan (where they were published by From themselves).

* BareYourMidriff: Katia and Tara's outfits both do this.

The ''Lost Kingdoms'' video game duo (also known as ''Rune'' in Japan) were the UsefulNotes/NintendoGamecube's answer to the EasternRPG genre before ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' grazed it. They were created by Creator/FromSoftware and published by Creator/{{Activision}} outside of Japan (where they were published by From themselves).

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Shavel Passage in 1 is a more medieval take on the trope. It's large enough to house a swarm of Flayer Spawn and it's progenitor, a Mind Flayer.

** The Blue Dragon in 2 got nerfed pretty badly. You either cough up your entire hand to fully heal yourself, or drop your health to 1 to recover all of your cards. Either effect is too prohibitive given it's cost and affinity level.

** The Berserker's attacking anyone is actually a benefit more than a penalty due to inability to command independents. The willingness to chase Tara makes them very easy to lead to the correct target (as soon as Tara is even the smallest unit further from it than the nearest enemy, Tara is ignored entirely, and Tara is quite a bit faster) and can always be dismissed if they threaten any allies (While you need to pay summon cost again to continue their lifespan, it's pretty low for its power). Combined with their high rate of fire for it's attack (which is still better than otherwise comparable cards), and it's quite the useful card.

** Chariobot is probably one of the best Transform cards in terms of damage. However, moving around requires you to attack, which'll eat away at it's lifespan, but melee focused monsters will have a hard time doing anything to you. It's also easily missable.

''Lost Kingdoms II'' followed a year after the original in the real world, but 200 years have passed in-universe. This time, you play as Tara Grimface, a secluded woman that helps her adoptive father with his group of thieves, the Band of the Scorpion. All she really cherishes in the world is the Runestone she's had ever since she was a young girl and her father for raising her. As she tried to make out her world, they get a tip from someone that one of the nearby regions has been mass-producing, albeit weaker versions of Runestones and decided to drop by for payday. From then on, Tara must save the world from one of the other gods that have been released on Argywll by one of the lesser kingdoms and their greedy king, Leod VIII. They also did what ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' would become known for in pretty much the same style; etching out random battles.

* DummiedOut: Digging through the game files for 2 reveals a few unused/excluded features, partly in due to the odd publishing situation. The Western version was shipped first (possibly due to Activision's deadline demands), and the Japanese version was shipped a month later, meaning that the Western version is technically the incomplete release.
** The Japanese demo has a different costume for Tara (see Stripperific below)
** The Japanese version of the game has an unused Stage 26 (s26.pds), which is full of enemies with unfinished AI in an arena.
** You can collect [[https://archive.org/details/LostKingdoms2StrategyBookJP/page/n127 music cards]] found in blue chests as part of an unlockable in-game music player. You can see a leftover sprite of one of the cards in the Western release still on the [[https://i.imgur.com/YOHhOvQ.png signboard in front of the first card shop]] (top row, second from the left), and somewhere in the church card shop.
** Cards in the Japanese version have a rating and icon for range.

%%* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Shavel Passage

* AntiGrinding: You couldn't level up unless you progressed with the storyline in the first game.
** Somewhat true: Katia couldn't level herself up, but her creatures could still gain XP for copy/transform/fuse. [[AwesomeButImpractical A dedicated grinder could level up their decks to maximum, but wouldn't have the mana or HP to cast anything on the high end.]] This was a game-breaker in the first game, as the casting system made it possible to cast everything in your hand at your leisure. Provided you didn't mind being a OneHitPointWonder.
** In the first game, if you quit before a mission was done, you would keep all the EXP you got, and have to play through again.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The God of Destruction. Reduces everyone on the screen to 1HP, including you. Averted in the sequel where now it only affects Fire, Wood, Earth and Water monsters, but is rather expensive.

* {{Backtracking}}: Averted in the first game, where after clearing a stage, it's locked off until the end of the game. Made card grinding a tad difficult.

* BonusDungeon: Plenty to go around, the Proving Grounds in II being a more traditional version of this trope in action.

** Banshees also can make the bread and butter of any deck, with a cheap cost, low level, great damage, ignores defense, and the ability to turn killing blows into EXP, allowing you to easily make copies of not only them, but other cards in your deck.

* CounterAttack: Crystal Magic in the second game, just make sure you actually get in range or the card's for naught.

* FightLikeACardPlayer: All four face buttons represent your hand, and all actions you can do derive from those card.

** Unless you import him from 1, Jack-O-Lantern isn't obtainable for [=NTSC=] regions in 2.

* LagCancel: Quick usage of separate Weapons cards in tandem is usually faster than just using the same Weapon card over and over. This even works if you're using different copies of the same card, most notably with Lizardman.

* MagikarpPower: In battle, the Goblin Lord just walks around, digging up magic stones and doesn't fight anything. At first it might seem useless, but against a long boss fight it can come in handy since long fights mean you'll be using more cards that cost you magic stones and when you run out, you lose a portion of health per each card. With it, you won't have to worry about running out of magic stones in long fights.

* {{Ouroboros}}: One of your high level mons can evolve into one. It's one of the best Orbit cards in the game to boot. Just don't send out Master Berserker.

* BoringButPractical: Basilisks have a small chance of petrification and can cancel each other out, which can prove lethal against Runestone Masters.

** Golden Butterfly + Running Bird = TimeStop, which ''[[GameBreaker nothing is immune to]]''.

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: The opening cutscene in 2 makes you think "Holy crap she's not to be messed around with". Several of the cards she uses are ones that she hasn't actually acquired yet.

* DeathCryEcho: Quite a few cards have sound attacks that pierce defense, the Mandragoras and the Banshee being the most prominent.

* LagCancel: Quick usage of seperate Weapons cards in tandem is usually faster than just using the same Weapon card over and over. This even works if you're using different copies of the same card, most notably with Lizardman.

* TheFourGods: The Great Turtle (Genbu), White Tiger (Byakko), Blue Dragon (Seiryuu) & Great Phoenix (Suzaku). In the Proving Grounds, one of the last rooms requires you to ''fight all four of them at once''. [[note]]Master Berserker is a ''godsend'' here[[/note]]

** 2's final boss can be taken out by Vampire's Death Spell with 100% success.

The games were a strange but effective combination of CardBattleGame and real-time combat. You build a deck of monster cards, and can then use these cards in battle to channel the powers of the creature within. Some would simply [[SummonMagic summon the monster]] into battle, but others gave you standard RPG effects like special attacks, healing or buffs. New cards could be acquired from treasure chests, fusing existing cards, buying them off a mysterious merchant or by [[GottaCatchEmAll capturing weakened enemy monsters]].

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Katia, the princess of Alanjeh and the potagonist of 1. In 2 [[spoilers:Tara is also a princess, although in a roundabout way.]]

The first game was released in 2002, and focused on [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Princess Katia of Argywll]], whose country is being invaded by a black FogOfDoom infamous for leaving nothing in its wake. Katia's father- the king of Argwll- has left the castle to try and stop the advance of the fog, but has not been seen since. When the castle itself is invaded by the black fog and the monsters that dwell within, Katia takes up a royal artifact called a Runestone, which lets her summon monsters that can fend off the horrors of the fog. She then embarks on her own journey to discover the source of the fog and find her missing father.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: The Japanese demo of Lost Kingdoms 2 has Tara (Liz in the Japanese version) wearing a much more risque and weird outfit that includes [[https://i.imgur.com/6YqritT.png thigh-highs and angel wings.]]

* Flashback Cut: Happens a few times to explain Tara's troubled upbringing as an abandoned child. She also has bizarre framing hallucinations of herself as a child, who talks to her in one-sided conversations.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot Tara being raised by the Band of the Scorpions is never touched upon aside from a passing comment by a villager, and they're never brought up again after [[spoiler:they're all killed by the God of Harmony.]]