Card-based role-playing games are all the rage, Pokemon being a prime example. However, Rune (or Lost Kingdoms, by its European name) is set to change the genre.

Carrying one of the most cliché driven plots ever, Lost Kingdoms storyline isn't like the depth seen in some other RPG games, for example Hybrid Heaven (N64), and the Final Fantasy series (practically everything). The plot goes that a dark force has swept the countryside, destroying everything good in its path. After a bit, a warrior came around and fought the Darkness, and won, of course. He beat the Darkness by using his powerful magical cards (more on this later). The land was made a better place and towns, cities and people prospered. Eventually, however, the Darkness returned and took over the land again, restoring it to its Evil-ridden world once again. That's when you step in. You have to collect all the magic cards and return the land to its more peaceful state. You control Princess Katia Gerber of the Kingdom of Orange. Using the cards, you must collect all of them to help your Kingdom prosper again, make it a Found Kingdom, not a Lost Kingdom (wow, that was sooo cheesy).

Alright, the plot sucks, but that certainly does not ruin the game. Think Sonic or Mario. The battles show PLENTY of promise. The cards are placed in a deck, a shuffled deck more interestingly, promising more varied and non-Pokemon, “one move wonder” gameplay that plagued game genre's like Pokemon. The cards have potion abilities, attack abilities and defensive abilities. Beasts are summoned through the cards, with you either controlling them, or them having a mind of their own. These interesting facts will add very dynamic and exciting gameplay in Lost Kingdoms. Players can also only have four cards in their hand, so they will need to alternate their cards in order to keep their enemy's on their toes. The cards and Katia will gain experience by battling more, true RPG-style.

The graphics unfortunately fail to show the true power of the GameCube, but are still very pretty. The textures are well detailed, as are the characters, and especially the monsters. A recently released screenshot of a wolf shows great detail, and is one of the shots that show the GameCube's power being used.

The game looks really quite brilliant, with lush, if slightly bland visuals accompanied by an engaging combat system. The only game that this game can be compared to is Kameo, and to compare for yourself, you will find a preview of Kameo in the preview section. Looks promising indeed. The game is due for release 4th quarter in Europe and America, so that could really be anytime late this year. Look forward to it.