The game even has a capture system similar to Pokémon. Simply wear down an enemy until it's almost dead, decide which card you want to sacrifice, toss it at the enemy while holding the L button, and bam! There's another monster in your collection. It's good if you've just 'gotta catch 'em all'. You can also buy cards from the card shop to fill out your collection. If that's not enough, you can collect red fairies an take them to the fairy collector in exchange for cards.
Going back to the card shop, you don't just buy cards. You can sell them, transform them into other card, or copy them. Selling them get you money so you can buy other cards. Transforming them is a good way to turn extras into cards you either don't have or word rather have and requires experience points. Copying them is good if you have a favorite or need extras to sell or transform and, like transforming, requires experience points. So as you can see, it's very much possible to get every card.
Katia can't just use these cards at her leisure. She needs crystals to use them. Each card has its own crystal value and if she doesn't have enough, she can still use them...at the cost of hit points. It cost ten hit points for each crystal you're short. Yes, Katia CAN die if she overuses cards when she short on crystals, so beware.
Also, you have the ability to skip a card if you don't want to use it yet, but the way it's handled is BS. When you skip a card, it's treated kind of like an used card. Put another way, if you skip a card you can't use it again until the battle ends. Why did they do it that way? Who knows? Just keep in mind that if you skip too many cards, you could be hurting yourself during a boss battle or a tough battle when you're already short on cards, because you'll run out of them faster. As mentioned, Katia can't fight without of cards, so you'll have to run from battle (which cost you a card) or abort the mission and start over. Or you could let yourself be killed. If you run out of cards at any point during the mission, you'll have no choice but to abort and restart.
There are some annoyances here and there. The first thing is the way Katia moves. It's hard to explain but she has to start moving before she actually moves. It's weird. Fortunately, this is only a problem when she starts moving or changes direction, but be prepared to take some cheap hits. She simply doesn't feel right, like she's out of shape or something.
The second annoyance is a serious problem throughout the game. When Katia gets knocked down, she takes her time getting back up. This allows opponents to size her up for the next hit. Combined with the first problem, you can imagine the frustration this can cause. I remember screaming at the TV, "stop falling down and start fighting, you idiot!"
The third annoyance is the camera. It's not always a problem, though. On certain levels, it seems like you can't just find a good camera angle. Sometimes the camera will make obstacles transparent, which can cause you to get stuck and cornered. You'll take plenty of cheap shots because of this.
The final annoyance is Helena, particularly at Grayl Castle (you fight her more than once). This purple cloak-wearing bitch pissed me off to no end. She's a card-user like Katia, only she NEVER runs out of cards. She's so cheap, I had to check to make sure I wasn't playing an SNK game (anyone who's ever fought Krizalid or Amakusa knows what I mean). She is beatable, but bring extra controllers and patience.
As for the other stuff, the graphics are only average and haven't aged well. The music is solid, yet somehow bland at the same time. As for extras...when you beat the game, you can replay the missions (you can't replay them until you beat the game). Extra missions can be unlocked by talking to Gurd (the owner of the card shop), so make sure to talk to her after every mission. There's also a two-player mode where you duel with another player (sorry, no co-op here). There's more than enough length (and frustration) to keep you occupied.
Lost Kingdoms is a mixed bag. It has a lot of interesting things going for it. You play as a (debatably) cute girl who fights a deck of cards. The graphics aren't bad, the music works, and the gameplay is nice. The execution is kind of shaky because of the way Katia and the camera handle, which can lead to cheap hits and deaths. Oh, and that darned Helena. Equal parts fun and frustrating, it's the very definition of a middle of the road game. Give it a try.
