I'm blown away by how excruciating this game is.

Everything about it is laborious, like a relic of the worst elements of 3D platformers made years prior, with none of the charm. The controls feel like you're swimming through molasses and had me double checking to make sure I didn't accidentally turn off game mode on my TV.

Lead designer George Andreas later stated they should have scrapped Kameo and started over, and I have to agree. Its troubled development really shows and it's hard to believe Rare could make a game this bad.

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.