Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re having a good day. This is a review on Lost Portal, a dungeon crawling CCG (collectible card game) battle RPG with some rogue-like elements. For tips and tricks, check out Gaming Tips and Tricks 17. I have fully played the game and beaten it. I did not reach the level cap of 34 before writing this review. I will have a video of a Lost Portal Review up on Saturday at the Lunar Nebula LLC Gaming YouTube channel. I’m not being paid to write this blog, and it contains information based on my opinions from playing Lost Portal.
Parents should know-Lost Portal is rated 9+ on the App Store for Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes and Cartoon or Fantasy Violence. I don't remember any curses, yet the Let's Play on my channel would showcase them if there are any. They would be few and far between since I can't remember off the top of my head if there are any. The game features some scary artwork including skeletons, monsters, and the like. It's similar to Magic The Gathering's artwork, yet less foreboding. If you think the artwork of Magic is too much for your kids, think twice about this game. The battles in the game are card battles, there is no gore, and overall it's a simple and fun deck-building RPG (role-playing game) game kids can enjoy. The only in-app payment is the Aerahym expansion which adds over 30 new cards, 3 new dungeons, a higher level cap at 34, more game save slots, and more character customization. You can pay the initial price of $2.99 (or wait for it to go on sale to $0.99) once and play forever. Literally, the game can randomly generate more end game content indefinitely if you have the resources.
Life Lessons- Losing is a part of life. Even in easy mode, with a really good consistent deck, there is a high probability you will lose at least once. Perseverance will reward the player with more cards and gold for progression through the game.
Story- It's a simple tale of finding the portal stones, defeating the bad monsters, and reuniting the cities. Some themes of Lost Portal include transportation and communication. These are essential to society.
Gameplay- Lost Portal is a single player turn-based card game with RPG skill acquisition and exploration. Timing your plays is important. Building a consistent deck will contribute to your victories. You can read Gaming Tips and Tricks 17 for more tips on gameplay. It can get monotonous if you're building towards one perfect play style. That's one reason I played it on easy mode first. I wanted to try different decks and prevent the game from becoming stale. Progression through the game, finding sweet cards, and learning the skills to build your ultimate character will be enough for some players to keep grinding through games with the same cookie cutter tactics. I highly recommend Easy mode so players can learn what the game is like and decide if they want to challenge themselves in the hard mode grind. Important note, buying the expansion is most helpful to new game states since the expansion cards won't be available at merchants if you buy the expansion after you've started a file because the world and merchants are generated at the beginning of the game. You can still collect the expansion cards from expansion monsters.
Sound- The music provides a good background video game soundtrack. It varies in loudness quite a bit so be careful when wearing headphones or recording. It's not extremely memorable but it certainly does the job. I enjoyed the variety and thought it spiced up the games.
Price- This is a paid game on iOS and other platforms. As mentioned earlier, you can pay the initial price of $2.99 once and play forever. Literally, the game can randomly generate more end game content indefinitely if you have the resources. The Aerahym expansion is $1.99.
iPad notes- Lost Portal requires at least 210 MB of data available to download. It doesn't require Wi-Fi to play. Some sections of the game made me turn up the brightness on my iPad Air 2 to increase visibility. The game never crashed on me and works well.
More Info- Lost Portal's website is http://lostportalccg.com/ and Mike Camilli has a great FAQ section on the game. He answers questions and helps players out. http://www.pockettactics.com/reviews/review-lost-portal/ is a Pocket Tactics review of Lost Portal.
Would I recommend Lost Portal on the App Store? It depends! Lost Portal is a solid CCG when you want a stable, offline game. It can get monotonous when you're trying to build towards one perfect deck or play style. I started to get bored and was able to make new decks to destroy the monotony. The Hard mode is definitely challenging and may decrease the monotony by forcing players to reevaluate their strategies when they lose important cards or gold. Overall, I enjoyed the graphics, music, and gameplay. I would have taken more breaks between play sessions if I wasn't recording the game on Lunar Nebula LLC Gaming. If you have $3 left to spend, are tired of Free to Play, and want a challenge, then Lost Portal is another game to add to your collection!
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon
Parents should know-Lost Portal is rated 9+ on the App Store for Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes and Cartoon or Fantasy Violence. I don't remember any curses, yet the Let's Play on my channel would showcase them if there are any. They would be few and far between since I can't remember off the top of my head if there are any. The game features some scary artwork including skeletons, monsters, and the like. It's similar to Magic The Gathering's artwork, yet less foreboding. If you think the artwork of Magic is too much for your kids, think twice about this game. The battles in the game are card battles, there is no gore, and overall it's a simple and fun deck-building RPG (role-playing game) game kids can enjoy. The only in-app payment is the Aerahym expansion which adds over 30 new cards, 3 new dungeons, a higher level cap at 34, more game save slots, and more character customization. You can pay the initial price of $2.99 (or wait for it to go on sale to $0.99) once and play forever. Literally, the game can randomly generate more end game content indefinitely if you have the resources.
Life Lessons- Losing is a part of life. Even in easy mode, with a really good consistent deck, there is a high probability you will lose at least once. Perseverance will reward the player with more cards and gold for progression through the game.
Story- It's a simple tale of finding the portal stones, defeating the bad monsters, and reuniting the cities. Some themes of Lost Portal include transportation and communication. These are essential to society.
Gameplay- Lost Portal is a single player turn-based card game with RPG skill acquisition and exploration. Timing your plays is important. Building a consistent deck will contribute to your victories. You can read Gaming Tips and Tricks 17 for more tips on gameplay. It can get monotonous if you're building towards one perfect play style. That's one reason I played it on easy mode first. I wanted to try different decks and prevent the game from becoming stale. Progression through the game, finding sweet cards, and learning the skills to build your ultimate character will be enough for some players to keep grinding through games with the same cookie cutter tactics. I highly recommend Easy mode so players can learn what the game is like and decide if they want to challenge themselves in the hard mode grind. Important note, buying the expansion is most helpful to new game states since the expansion cards won't be available at merchants if you buy the expansion after you've started a file because the world and merchants are generated at the beginning of the game. You can still collect the expansion cards from expansion monsters.
Sound- The music provides a good background video game soundtrack. It varies in loudness quite a bit so be careful when wearing headphones or recording. It's not extremely memorable but it certainly does the job. I enjoyed the variety and thought it spiced up the games.
Price- This is a paid game on iOS and other platforms. As mentioned earlier, you can pay the initial price of $2.99 once and play forever. Literally, the game can randomly generate more end game content indefinitely if you have the resources. The Aerahym expansion is $1.99.
iPad notes- Lost Portal requires at least 210 MB of data available to download. It doesn't require Wi-Fi to play. Some sections of the game made me turn up the brightness on my iPad Air 2 to increase visibility. The game never crashed on me and works well.
More Info- Lost Portal's website is http://lostportalccg.com/ and Mike Camilli has a great FAQ section on the game. He answers questions and helps players out. http://www.pockettactics.com/reviews/review-lost-portal/ is a Pocket Tactics review of Lost Portal.
Would I recommend Lost Portal on the App Store? It depends! Lost Portal is a solid CCG when you want a stable, offline game. It can get monotonous when you're trying to build towards one perfect deck or play style. I started to get bored and was able to make new decks to destroy the monotony. The Hard mode is definitely challenging and may decrease the monotony by forcing players to reevaluate their strategies when they lose important cards or gold. Overall, I enjoyed the graphics, music, and gameplay. I would have taken more breaks between play sessions if I wasn't recording the game on Lunar Nebula LLC Gaming. If you have $3 left to spend, are tired of Free to Play, and want a challenge, then Lost Portal is another game to add to your collection!
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon