Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

"Why hasn't this game gotten a bad review yet? 'Cause it's too damn good!"

I'd give this game higher than a ten if I could. Seriously, it is this close to being a perfect game. Made in 1996 by Taito, Lufia 2 was the first of the Lufia series to make it to the U.S. The first night I rented this game, I rented it because I didn't have a next-gen console, and Earthbound was gone, so there was nothing else to rent. Amazing what one little night can do. That night changed the way I looked at other RPG's. Good graphics, good sounds and music, fun gameplay, and no random battles are several factors that lead this to being my 2nd favorite RPG, and one of the greatest ever made.

Story: 8/10
Still more of the same "Young man must battle evil and save the world" story, but it picks up as it goes along. You will meet many interesting people in this game, and the plot soon takes on many twists. It is the prequel to the first Lufia. You are Maxim, a monster hunter. You go off into a cave to kill monsters, but inside the cave, a mysterious woman tells you you must fight evil to save all of mankind. Maxim sort of reluctantly goes on this quest, which is quite long. It is a pretty enjoyable story.

Controls: 10/10
Well, it is an RPG, after all, so the controls aren't complicated. They are pretty smooth. You have your buttons to open and navigate the menu, perform actions, swing your sword to cut grass, and, of course, walk.

Graphics/Sound: 9/10
The graphics are excellent, for an SNES game anyway. They are bright and colorful, the spells look neat, and the towns look great. A lot of detail has been put into the monsters, all though they have no real movements in battle. They just kind of bob around while you are making your battle decisions, and they wiggle when they attack. The dungeons all look pretty neat, and the world map is nicely done. The sounds are acceptable, too. The text makes noise when you talk to people, and the sound gets lower or higher pitched, depending on whom you are talking too. If you are talking to a knight, the text will give off a lower sound than when you talk to a little girl. You only hear smacking sounds when an enemy attacks you directly, and the spells don't have much sound put into them. A quick fanfare plays EVERY time you open a chest, which can get slightly annoying. But, the music is nothing short of spectacular. All of the songs in this game are memorable. I especially like the world map, castle dungeon, and boss music themes, although every song in this entire game is awesome.

Gameplay: 10/10
Simply amazing. I have yet to play anything like it. This is a true RPG. Although it is quite linear, it is very fun. This game answers a big complaint to may RPG gamers: the elimination of annoying random battles. While in a dungeon, you can see the monsters before you fight them. And if you don't want to fight, you can avoid them. The fights are Dragon Warrior style, where it is as if you are facing your enemies from the front, except you can see your characters, too. Battles are turn-based, and some of the regular enemies are kind of tough. The boss fights vary from easy monsters that actually appear as normal enemies later on, to some very hard fights, like the Tarantula. The dungeons are filled with puzzles, some of which are challenging, and really add to the enjoyment of the game. Some of these puzzles require a certain item; some just take a lot of thought. It is these puzzles that make this such a great game. In fact, while on a hard puzzle, you want to hurry up and finish it, just so that you can go on to the next one and get stuck again. The game is also very long, which is good, because you can't get enough of a game like this. Lufia 2 also has one of the most innovative side-quests of all RPG's: the Ancient Cave. The Ancient Cave is an incredible 99 floors deep, and each floor is randomly generated. To make things even harder, all of your weapons are taken away, you begin at level one, and you can only leave and take what you find with you if you find a special item. This is one of the greatest games ever made.

Overall: 10/10
This game is so incredible and fun, you'll want to play it again, and you can in the new game+ mode. Replayability in RPG's is hard to come by, yet Lufia 2 delivers this.

Rent or Buy?
BUY!!!!!!!! If you are an RPG gamer, and you pass this game up, you're not a true RPG gamer.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/15/05