Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

"The greatest RPG for the snes."

Ahh, Lufia. The amount of time I have spent on this game is phenomenal. It is a truly amazing experience. The graphics are great, the fights are perfect and the side quests are very, very hard. Truly a gem among RPGs.

The story opens up very simply, a monster has stolen the key to the cave to Sundletan, and only Maxim can stop him. Why? Because Maxim is a monster hunter and thats his job. Pretty quickly he will meet a mysterious woman named Iris who seems to know more about Maxim's future than he does...For quite some time however the game does stay very low-key, and this is great. It is not until about a quarter of the way through the game are you introduced to the real problem, and not until about three quarters of the game until the party fully understands just what these 'Sinistrals' are all about. Very nice.

The game has 7 characters, all with their own unique personalities. Maxim is the all-round hero character, and is always a part of the group. Tia and Selan are the token females and are magic experts. Guy and Dekar are the powerhouses, able to deal immense amounts of damage and have the HP to back it up. Lexis is a scientist, and while not a particularly strong character he is not with the party for long. Arty (or Artea, the game can't make up its mind) is a very fast, highly skilled magic user who can pack quite a punch, a worthy addition to any team. Unfortunately for some, you can never choose who will be in your party, rather the storyline dictates who is with you in the fights. This is alleviated by the fact that the game can personalise the scenarios to the characters more, and it shows.

The characters can all use magic (except for Dekar and Guy) and everyone has the ability to use IP. As you get hit, the IP meter fills. When it reaches a certain amount, an item equipped with an IP attack may be used. For example: If Guy has the Gades Blade equipped and has 100% of his IP bar filled he can use the IP ability to attack 8 times in a row. Most of the IP abilities cost less than 100% of the IP bar, which is a very good thing.

Spells are for the most part purchased at shops, though some characters start off with a few spells. Every spell can be used to target between one and all of the monsters/characters. This is a perfect feature, as I know I have been annoyed on many occassions where I wanted to cure the undead monsters but leave the alive monster I was fighting alone. With Lufia 2 you can do this. Very nice.

The dialogue in this game is a little strange. It makes sense at all times, but sometimes comes across as a little simplistic. It is very good though, as the characters sometimes rubbish on about inconsequential things. Oh, and they often make jokes and poke fun at each other. Take that all the serious games out there that never let up!

Capsule monsters are a nice addition to the game. Basically, there is 8 capsule monsters scattered around the world. When you find one you may choose to have it join your party. If so, it fights to the right and below of your party and you cannot control it. Each capsule monster aligns with an element, except for Foomy who is neutral. Capsule monsters are hungry creatures and if you feed them what they like they can evolve to the next stage, kind of like Pokemon. Each Capsule monster has 5 different stages, though the last one cannot be obtained in the normal way.

Every single dungeon is scattered with puzzles. They thankfully start off very easy indeed, but as the game progresses they become mind-bogglingly difficult. The Hardest Puzzle in the World springs to mind. It took me about 4 hours to complete...The puzzles do increase in difficulty very slightly, so you will find yourself able to meet most of the challenges as they come.

Side quests. Well, the game only has two (three if you count fully evolving the capsule monsters) but they are big ones. There are 8 dragon eggs scattered around the world. If you can collect all 8, take them to the Egg Dragon and he will grant a wish. Do it 4 times and....Also there is the Ancient Cave. In the Ancient Cave your levels are taken down to 1 and all your items are taken away. The dungeon is 99 levels deep and you must get to the bottom. No, I'm not joking. From level 80 downwards you will meet enemies so difficult that they weren't put into the actual game! Inside the dungeon are red and blue treasure chests. Blue treasure chests hold items that you may take with you on your next journey into the cave and are often the best items in the game. Red treasure chests can hold anything from weapons, armor, spells and the ever elusive Iris Treasures. As far as I know, the secret behind the Iris Treasures has not yet been discovered...I know I could never get all ten.

The graphics are very crisp and clean, and Maxim moves about the maps very smoothly. While the towns and dungeons don't look hugely different from the last lot, this doesn't really matter much as the graphics are so nice. The sound is great but a few more dungeon themes would have been nice.

Overall, this game is amazing. I absolutely love it and never tire of playing. Get it now!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/15/01, Updated 07/31/02