One of the most irritating thing I've noticed lately is games that abuse the use of card games or similar systems where it doesn't belong, or just the overuse of card-based concepts in general. It sucked for Pokemon, it sucked for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, it even sucks for all the excessive Yu-Gi-Oh video games save a few of the GBA titles.
I don't know what this obsession with cards is that the Japanese have, but at least one game got it right, and became one of my favorite Gamecube titles. Lost Kingdoms II, or Rune II in Japan, was an action/RPG title that had elements similar to other action RPGs like Zelda, but with a card game twist on it. The heroine, Tara Grimface, uses magic granted through her True Runestone to bring cards to life, and uses them to battle in realtime fights with monsters that roam free (in other words, no random battles).
The card system usually becomes too convoluted in many card-based games, but Lost Kingdoms II made it simple by dividing the cards into four different types; weapons deliver single strikes (sword slash, beam spell, etc), summons deliver a single attack or effect before disappearing (like a summon monster in most final fantasy games), assists walk with you and perform their effects or attack, traps (proximity explosions and such), and transformations change you into various shapes to access other areas (birdman to fly over gaps, golem to break down walls, hellhound to jump high walls).
Cards are collected by throwing Blank Cards, purchased from town, at sufficiently weakened creatures, or by finding them in treasure chests. When entering an area, cards from your assembled deck are picked four at a time and assigned to a button (Y, X, A, B). Many cards possess multiple "charges", meaning they can be used multiple times or stay activated for prolonged periods of time before the magic is depleted. The myriad of cards in this game ensures you can make a variety of different decks, completely customizable to your needs or play style.
Battles occur in real time, with monsters roaming about. As objectives are completed in areas, or new cards or obtained, other areas of a level open up or new monsters appear. The levels are designed interestingly enough, however the game suffers from short play time and mediocre story. The other issue that I have with this game is the music -- it's not so great, and gets monotonous quickly (especially the overworld music). Monsters are interesting enough, though some of them borrow a bit excessively from real world lore. Of course, this is made up for by having a cthulu-wannabe card that has a useful effect.
Lost Kingdoms II was a pleasant play, and the innovative play style more than made up for its shortcomings. I only wish it had been longer.
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