It's like a polished version of the first game. The story is presented with more competent cutscenes. The combat doesn't go into its own battle screen, which improves the flow a lot better. The general gameplay is pretty underwhelming though. The story is super shallow and unremarkable, but it was passable. Overall, less memorable than the original, but steps in the right direction in terms of providing a greater mainstream appeal. Has pros and cons, but nothing I really care much about. It's easier than the original, but also has questionable game design here and there.

Weird how this one both improves upon the original and somehow ends up being exactly the same game. I definitely prefer the full 3D and the real time battle system as a way of making the game flow better, but all the combat and card effects still feel dreadfully slow and tedious despite how much I wanted to love it. Even the graphics, the card art, the scenery desgin; everything looks better but it just didn't improve enough. At the very least, many people will finally have the FromSoft game for them as this is the easiest to get into and to actually play, just couldn't stick with it myself.

Lost Kingdoms II is an ambitious sequel that has some cool ideas on how to open the gameplay up into a real-time action-adventure, but doesn't fully deliver on the new concepts.

There's a crazy amount of new cards, summon cards have been expanded to have multiple effects, and there are several potent card combos with unique effects you can discover. The expansion of the core card battling is pretty much all improved; it's a shame the switch from encounter-based combat trivializes such a large portion of the game.

While the open-world battling makes the entire game flow more seamlessly, it kills the more deliberate pacing and removes much of the challenge of the first game. Deck management and card restoration effects were crucial in the first game, but almost entirely irrelevant here. You are free to run past any encounter with practically no consequences.

Transformation cards are one of the more interesting new mechanics - transforming into monsters to fly across gaps, jump onto ledges, or break down walls - but are sadly rarely utilized for anything more than obtaining a few optional chests or items. The mechanics end up feeling undercooked and are just begging for more compelling level and puzzle design.

Overall, it is impressive From Software managed to make such a vastly different and still largely enjoyable sequel with such limited development time. With all the resources the studio has nowadays, one can't help but think of all the potential of a modern Lost Kingdoms III. Make it happen.

The first Lost Kingdoms was a janky but unique title that I am quite fond of. For years its sequel was out of my grasp. I heard about how it added so much and fixed up so much of what held the first one back. And on paper, that's true. The random battles are gone, you can control the camera, there's more cards and card types and it feels like FromSoft really tried to touch up the core game... and then didn't do anything else. Its short, which isn't a bad thing, but feels light and without much to chew on. Bosses are few and far between and what's there are not very memorable. It genuinely feels like they spent all their money upgrading the system and then forgot to make a game around it. The random battles and fixed camera of the first game were rough at times, but it was filled with tons of levels, bosses, secrets and stuff to actually do. The art style is also a slight step down this time around; the card designs don't look quite as cool and the protagonist lacks the visual charm of Katia. I'm glad I finally was able to play this one, but its probably my least favorite FromSoft game and a step down from its bizarre, fascinating predecessor.