Lufia: The Ruins of Lore

"This really tainted the series."

Having played and immensely enjoyed the first three games in this somewhat-obscure series. I was eager to try the fourth installment. Ruins of Lore, while not terrible, is disappointing in more senses than one. Why is this? Let's see each aspect of the game.

Graphics: This doesn't affect the score here. I don't rate graphics because I believe them to have little to no impact on games.

Sound: The music for this game isn't that really bad, but truth be told there's nothing special about it. Considering this series has always had outstanding music (notably, Lufia 2), this is quite a letdown.

Story: Ruins of Lore is a sidestory to the series, meaning that the Plot has virtually nothing to do with that of its predecessors. Basically, you play as a kid who gets his "hunter's license" (it's not really made clear what hunters are, so you most apply logical guessing to figure it out). Eventually, after helping someone, you're supposed to stop a military kingdom from using a legendary beast to conquer the world (whee, never seen that one before. Yes, the plot is completely cliche, but even cliche plots can interest you if they're well explained. Sadly, that doesn't apply here. Notably, this game also lacks really interesting characters, another thing this series had done very well up until this point.

Gameplay: Here's what probably dragged the game's final score down the most. This game is INCREDIBLY difficult, and requires insane grinding to be able to progress in the story. There's also classes now, but they hardly make up for the game's flaws. (plus, two characters are unable to have classes for reasons that completely elude me). The concept of "capsule monsters" from Lufia 2 has been reintroduced here, only it's been watered down to the point where you have to catch them yourself by throwing discs (sound familiar?), and the monsters are pretty much worthless in battle. Add that to the fact that experience points are split between characters, and grinding becomes even harder that it already was. The battle system also lacks anything unique, such as 2's IP system (there's an IP system here, only it's completely different and not really very useful or original) or 3's 3x3 battle grid, which required strategical thinking. Dungeons are also painfully long, and you have to do them all over again if you die, which happens all too often.

In summary, Lufia: The Ruins of Lore is a considerably mediocre addition to this series. Here's a perfect example of a game that COULD have been done better, but falls short of most RPG fans' standards. If you've played and liked the first three games in the series, you're likely to be disappointed, and if you haven't, there's probably even less reason to play this game, as there as far better RPGs for the GBA. For that reason, I recommend you rent it first to try it out. However, don't expect to be able to beat it if it's a rental, as it's extremely time consuming. Here's hoping Natsume will eventually revive this great series with a game that's actually worthy of the title.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/08

Game Release: Lufia: The Ruins of Lore (US, 05/06/03)