Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

"Final Fanta- what? Chrono who?"

INTRO

Well, I am not implying that this game totally knocks Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 2 out of the water but this game is just awesome! It is an extremely great game, but here is how it all started between the confrontation of myself and this game. About four years ago there was this new game out in stores and as I walked through my local Blockbuster, searching for a game to rent I came across a game called ''Lufia 2.'' I was puzzled because I've never heard about it. I decided not to take my chances with it so I left it alone. Then three years later in the year 1999 my friend was on his computer playing this really cool looking SNES video game. It looked like a lot of fun and I asked him what he was playing. He just turned slowly and said ''Lufia 2.'' I was astonished and quite disappointed that I had let a fun RPG just pass by. Luckily, there is emulation which I got. I know it's not the real thing, but the ROM is exactly how the game is because later that year I found a friend with Lufia 2 and I bought if off her. I just love everything about this game. It has gracefully appeared to me as one of my favorite Super Nintendo RPGs. Lufia 2 is my favorite SNES RPG alongside Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy 2. I am so happy that I have played this game because it is those kind of RPGs that you feel good to play through until the end. Enough about me, let's talk about Lufia 2. Lufia 2 was released and developed in 1996 and is made by Natsume and Taito. This game is really something and is much better than its prequel or actually sequel Lufia. Well, that's pretty much for the introduction, now let's see how this game is like!

STORY: (10/10)

OK, this story may sound original but as you move on and on through the game the story always gets better. This story takes place before the first Lufia, so this is the past. Let me tell you, Lufia 2 does a great job of the past and a great job of intertwining both games. OK, well here is the story from the beginning in my words. A monster hunter named Maxim was just leading a regular day when one day he heard that a red ball of light has landed in the sea. Ever since that ball of light landed, the monsters have grown smarter and stronger, which is a threat to humanity. Maxim goes to check out a cave where monsters have raided the place and there he meets a mysterious woman with a mysterious sense of aura. She tells Maxim that his destiny is to fight and to save the world from the evil. What!? Maxim himself is confused but continues on his destined journey in search of this evil that the mysterious woman speaks of. She says that the ball of light is the cause and it's the start .... only the start. Maxim goes on a journey through the whole world meeting people who also are destined to fight and to rid of this evil. Problem is that even Maxim himself is clueless, but he continues the journey. The story seems very weird, but it has a point and you as Maxim complete his journey and discover more about the ball of light and that mysterious lady. I enjoyed the story a lot. It has a great cast of characters who all are cool and you grow attached to them as you play. Overall, great story.

GAME PLAY: (10/10)

Lufia 2 just is probably one of the funnest RPGs I've ever played! The beginning of this game says ''Natsume: Serious Fun'' and let me tell you that they are so right! There is a lot to explain, but I'll try and sum up everything as good as this game is. Well, the cast of characters are really good and you easily get attached to them. The game may seem linear because you always know where to go, but that still does not ruin the fun of this game. This RPG is pretty much a true RPG. It has numerous amounts of towns and dungeons and the dungeons are actually fun! Dungeons are everywhere in this game, but they rarely get boring. With many challenging puzzles and many monsters this game is just so addicting! First off, the best thing about this game is the battle system. There are no more random battles unless you are on the world map. This is a wonderful thing. In dungeons, you see the monsters but they move when you move. If you are scared that you're going to get in a fight you can stop for a second and think away out of the mess. The fights are fun too. You can choose many things in battle such as just attacking, using magic, using an item, defending, running away or even using an IP attack. IP attack? What's that? Well, it just so happens to be like the limit break in FF7 which is probably where Square got that idea from. Anyway, this is like a special attack, but it's from your weapon. This makes it so you actually think of what to purchase at a shop instead of just getting what's powerful because IP attacks can be elemental or healing. IP attacks are something that you have to keep alert of. Also, in dungeons there is a skill ring you have where you can use skills. You can shoot arrows or set off bombs. These skills are required for some dungeons. This shows that the dungeons aren't as easy as a walk through the park (which can be hard in some areas). There are many treasure chests in dungeons so you always have to watch out for secret passages or cracked walls and so forth. You have to think, but not very hard, in this game which is very good. There are up to 4 characters in battle with you for your party, but wait ... what about Capsule monsters? Yes, Capsule monsters. These critters are here to help your team. This makes it 5 people in the party at once for battle. Unfortunately, you cannot control the Capsule monsters during battle but you feed them and they grow. There are five different levels for each Capsule monster and as they grow their stats grow as well. There are seven Capsule monsters and only one can be in battle at a time. Now, there are also a lot of different kinds of weapons, armors, shields, helmets, rings, and even stones to choose from to equip on your character. Trying to divide their stat equally and making them all good in one way is the key to perfection and Natsume just does that. Each character has different stats and sometimes they can be much different. Leveling up in this game isn't so difficult either. Battles give you enough experience to gain levels and Capsule monsters can gain levels as well. When leveling up, on the screen the game shows how much of each statistic your person gained which in my opinion is really good to have in an RPG and nice to look at. Gold isn't much of an issue either in this game. You get decent amounts during battles. This whole game is basically varied with many enemies, many towns, many dungeons, much equipment, and so on. This game has decent time. What I mean is that it took me about 28 hours to beat and that's somewhat good time. There's other stuff to do in the game, but I'll get to that later. Everything in this game is just so great that it makes a fine RPG. Everything about this game just screams ''perfection.'' I'm not saying it's perfect, but it comes pretty darn close! Overall, funtastic game play and possibly the funnest RPG I've ever played in my life!

CONTROLS: (10/10)

Amazing! Lufia 2 also has prefect controls. Meaning that there is nothing wrong with the controls. In the beginning of the game you learn the controls for dungeons. The controls for dungeons aren't that hard to adjust to. Swinging the sword to cut down bushes is something new in an RPG. A is the main button as most RPGs and also the X button is the menu button. The Y button is used in the dungeon for skills, such as the arrow, bomb, hook, etc. The characters are very responsive and even during battle there is no problems. In the first Lufia, the controls were to slow but that was changed in Lufia 2. The characters move the same in both dungeons and towns and the world map. Good paced and easy, that's the way an RPG should be right? I had absolutely no problems with the controls and most the stuff you might not know is said in the beginning so if you play this game past that part you'll know what to do. Overall, the controls are pretty much perfect.

MUSIC/SOUND: (10/10)

The music is pretty good. It's nothing like oh say... Nobue Uematsu (or whatever, I don't care about the spelling), but it's still very good and goes very well with the game. There are a lot of themes whether it's for a certain event or just a dungeon. Most of the themes are sort of repetitive, but that's only in some cases and it isn't much of a big deal. There is enough themes for the game. The intro music is fairly good as is the dungeon music. I like the boss battle music and the end of battle music, like when you gain experience. Now, the sounds are very good as well. Most of the good sounds are not only heard in battle, but those noises such as a slash or a punch or magic are very good. There's a big variety in the sounds. In dungeons the skills such as arrows or bombs have good sounds as does with swinging the sword. The text even has noise and it does not get annoying. In the beginning there is a lot of sound FX. Overall, the music and sounds of Lufia 2 are not the best part of the game, but it is still great!

GRAPHICS: (9/10)

These graphics are superb in every possible way and is pretty much the pinnacle of 16-bit graphics. Then why did it get a 9 you ask? Well, mainly because of one thing that kind of seemed weird, but did not bother me much. During battles, it's not like Final Fantasy where it's from the side. It's facing forward so your party is on the bottom and your enemy is at the top, kind of like Chrono Trigger but not fully. That's not the problem though. During battles, the background seems extremely lifeless. If you battle in the sea, it should be moving, kind of, but it does not at all and keeps the same background. You might think I'm expecting too much from a Super Nintendo game but other games have that kind of stuff move. Also in battles, enemies don't move and when they do it's slightly. Other than that, and I did say that stuff did not even bother me, everything is perfect. The whole game is very colorful and has a nice environment so it seems very fun to play. The characters are fairly large and all detailed enough. Backgrounds are great, very detailed with lots of color and depth. Enemies look very good as well. Everything in this game graphics wise is pretty much perfect, but not as good as every SNES game. Most likely it's on top 10 for SNES graphics. Overall, amazing graphics!

CHALLENGE: (8/10)

The challenge of Lufia 2 isn't that hard. I gave it an 8 because some dungeons are well, you know, hard. When I mean hard I mean that you need a FAQ or walkthrough to get past it. For example, The World's Most Difficult Trick which is in one of the last dungeons is extremely hard and I personally could've not done it without a FAQ. Battles aren't too hard and boss battles usually vary. Everything other than those tough puzzles are either fun or quick. There's no need to worry about the difficulty about the game. Although, there is the Ancient Cave. I was going to mention that in replay, but I guess it comes handy here too. The Ancient Cave is a cave with 99 floors and each time you go in it changes. Not only that, but your whole party starts at level 1. As you get farther and farther down the difficulty gets higher and higher and there are no save points in there. Other than that everything is just fine. Overall, the challenge is kind of hard.

REPLAY: (10/10)

Well, you already read about the Ancient and let me tell you that it is very hard. A part from that the floors constantly change and it has 99 floors. That's a lot of replay value and tons of game time. The game itself is very fun so that is worth replaying. I replayed the game about twice and I'm probably gonna go in for a third round :). After you beat the game for the first time there will be retry mode which is pretty much the same as the regular game, but this time you get 4 times the experience and gold from fights. Pretty cool huh? Well, then if you beat it on retry mode you will then get Gift mode which is just the Ancient Cave. Although, you get to choose your party to go in the Ancient Cave. There are a total of seven characters, so you can choose up to three of them to go along with you. Mainly, this game is so fun I don't mind replaying it over and over. I don't beat it in like three days. I usually take my time with it so it doesn't really get boring. Overall, the replay value for Lufia 2 is very high and for 1996, that's rare in an RPG.

PROS
- Serious fun!
- Great story and cast of characters
- High replay value
- Great graphics
- Fun battles and dungeons

CONS
- It ends :)
- There's no Lufia 3 (but there will be ... unfortunately it's only gonna be for GBC :( aw man.... )

OVERALL: (10/10)

All right, it looks like I'm finished here but I have to tell you something. Buy Lufia 2 now! Well, it's about four years old so I don't know if you'll find it so easily. Let me tell you this then. Buy it, download it, it doesn't matter how you get it! {crowd cheers} Just as long as you play this game. This game is truly a wonder and I recommend you do this after you play Lufia 2. Play Lufia 1 because then you will get the whole story to Lufia and let me tell you that it is wonderful. I clap my hands to Natsume for making a seriously fun game that will always be on my top 10 games (for SNES :P). Seriously though, this game is great and it's an RPG where everyone can feel the wonders of role-playing games. Hopefully Lufia 3 is like this because if it is ... well I guess I'm gonna have to buy a Gameboy Color then :). Oh well, I'm done here. I hope this review has helped you to decide on whether to buy or download this game because it is definitely worth it. Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/26/00, Updated 08/26/00