Lost in Blue
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| Lost in Blue | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date(s) |  September 27 2005 2005 November 15, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E10+ OFLC: PG PEGI: 7+ |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
Lost in Blue is a continuation of Konami's Survival Kids series. It shipped on September 27, 2005 for the Nintendo DS. Lost in Blue makes extensive use of the system's touchscreen and microphone features as two young teenagers, Keith and Skye, struggle for survival in a deserted island. The user will have to learn to use the island's natural resources to create a make-shift home away from home.
Due to an undershipment, the game was difficult to find in the months following its North American release.
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[edit] Gameplay
Lost in Blue's gameplay uses most features of the DS hardware. In the fire building sequence, for instance, the player must alternate pressing of the L and R buttons in order to build enough friction on the wood, and then blow into the DS microphone to successfully ignite the fire. The touch screen interface is used for navigating menus, and the island can be explored and interacted with using either the touch screen or the standard control buttons. The game's primary action takes place on the touch screen, while the top screen is used to display Keith and Skye's health, which is categorized by hunger, thirst, stamina, and hit points. If any of the first three categories hits zero, the character's hit points will begin to drop. It is also possible for other conditions, such as passing out due to lack of stamina, to occur. The player loses if either Keith or Skye runs out of hit points and dies. Therefore, it is necessary for the player to monitor the health of both characters and make sure that they eat and drink plenty of food and water and also get plenty of rest.
The game's primary protagonist is Keith, who must lead Skye around the island by hand due to her poor eyesight. Upon completing the game, a "Skye Mode" is unlocked, which allows the player to play the entire game from Skye's perspective. In this mode, she can freely move about the island without assistance, though she is unable to climb as Keith can, severely limiting her range of travel.
[edit] Story
Lost in Blue is not a linear game in its gameplay and its multiple endings provide a different story nearly every time one plays through it. The story advances through exploration of the island, which is almost entirely comprised of moving deeper inland into the island and uncovering its secrets. Some days may not be spent exploring and advancing the story but rather by just trying to survive by collecting food, building furniture, and so on.
The story begins with the protagonists, teenagers Keith and Skye, riding on ship when a massive storm causes the vessel to sink. In the commotion, Skye manages to get on a liferaft while Keith plunges into the water, at which point he loses consciousness.
Keith wakes up on the beach of the south side of a deserted island. After exploring his surroundings, he finds shelter in a cave. The next day, Keith crosses a nearby river and finds Skye asleep next to her raft, which is apparently undamaged. After she wakes up, Keith and Skye meet for the first time and, she tells him that she can't see very well because she's lost her glasses. Keith offers to help her look for her glasses, but accidentally steps on them during the search. With Skye's vision severely impaired, she becomes dependent on Keith to guide her safely around the island.
The two return to the cave and make a home. In the following days, Keith enters a routine of leaving the cave to explore the island and gather food and supplies, and Skye helps by preparing meals. Keith also brings Skye along with him on occasion when he finds an area of the island that he can't traverse by himself.
During his explorations, Keith comes across some ancient ruins on the island that are clearly man-made and filled with various puzzles. Eventually making his way to the other end of the temple, he discovers that there are in fact other people on the island, but his joy turns to caution when he overhears a conversation between the two men discussing their orders to kill intruders. Keith decides to stealthily slip past them in order to try and use them to escape the island. Sneaking into the bandits's hideout, Keith discovers a ship, and after uncovering what information he can returns to Skye.
When Keith returns to the bandits' hideout, he discovers that the guards have shaped up and are more vigilant. He also discovers a uniform that he can use as a disguise to sneak into the hideout.
[edit] Endings
It is at this point that the story begins to branch towards one of four possible ending variations. Each variation is followed by a universal ending that depicts what happens to Keith and Skye after they return to civilization.
Ending One: Escape via Skye’s Lifeboat When Keith first grabs the uniform it is also possible to get a flare gun from the same room. Keith then returns to Skye and the two of them make their escape via the lifeboat. Keith and Skye can launch the lifeboat and fire the flare to get a boat’s attention. If the player attempts to escape the island in this manner without taking the flare gun first, a bad ending is triggered in which a boat sails by Keith and Skye's raft without noticing them and the two eventually starve to death.
Ending Two: Escape via The Radio Late at night, Keith can sneak to the bandit leader's room and hear him mumble a radio frequency in his sleep. Later, Keith sneaks back into the room and uses the radio to call for help. Keith returns to Skye and in a few days a boat comes to rescue them from the island.
Ending Three: Escape via Cargo Crates Keith needs to discover which crate is being shipped on the day of his planned escape by eavesdropping on the bandit leader and bandit foreman. Keith drugs the Foreman with a sleep-inducing mushroom and steals the warehouse key. He then brings Skye into the warehouse and the two hide in the crate that is shipped that day.
Ending Four: Escape via The Boat This is the most ambitious of the endings. Keith drugs the squad leader to get the boat key and can get a gas can where he found the uniform. Keith also needs the map which he must get by sneaking into the boss's room. He can then get Skye and steal the boat, successfully escaping the island.
Universal Ending After their return to civilization, Skye is interviewed by reporters and many photos are taken of her. They ask her how her experience on the island changed her. It is revealed she has become a writer, and wrote about her experience on the island. Depending on how good their relationship was on the island there are two outcomes: 1. Skye and Keith are still friends despite her new found fame and the game ends with an image of the two holding hands. 2. Skye and Keith go their separate ways. It is possible to read text from Skye's book during the end credits.
Extra Ending After spending 365 days on the island, Skye confides in Keith about her thoughts that nobody is looking for them anymore. Keith comforts Skye by telling her that they have been able to survive for this long, so why can't they survive longer? Thus, Skye and Keith choose to remain on the island together, instead of escaping. This ending takes the longest to achieve, and may be considered less satisfying to watch. Therefore, most players will not reach this ending. (This has been confirmed as a false ending that was all a rumor)
[edit] Sequel
Konami announced a sequel for this game, also for the Nintendo DS. Like the first one, there is also a boy and a girl stranded on an island. New additions to the gameplay include fighting with wild animals by using weapons that are found or made and weather phenomena like earthquakes and hurricanes that occur unpredictably. Both characters have different abilities that are necessary to explore and traverse the island.[1]
[edit] Gallery
 Early European Packaging |
 Making a fire |
 Collecting Shells |
 Fishing |
