Lufia: The Ruins of Lore

"I'm a HUGE Lufia fan, but... This is not right!"

I am a huge fan of the Lufia series. I own Lufia 1, 2, and even 3. I love them all to death, but what Natsume did to Lufia 4 is completely unforgivable in what may have been the worst blow to a series' reputation in the history of gaming. Read on, weary gamers...

(7/10) - Gameplay

The gameplay was relatively nice, smooth walking, great control. Each character can use their own special equipment, such as a sword for cutting down grass, a whip for crossing ledges, and a torch for lighting things up. The biggest problem is this game actually has SLOWDOWN. I don't know how they managed it, but while running you will constantly be slowed down about 50% thanks to the sprites on the screen and the huge maps. I can't complain about the huge maps, but the slow time got on my nerves more than an unmentionable amount of times. There is a neat monster catching system reminiscent of Pokémon, though the novelty wears off when you realize any monster you capture other than 1 or 2 ultimate ones will be outdated in a matter of minutes, no matter how much they level up.

(2/10) - Story

This is where the disappointing overall score factors in mostly, as the storyline to this series has been completely butchered. The only thing resembling the series is the sprites and music, but everything else, including the plot, has been watered down an unbearable amount. You do not even know who you are fighting against until nearly the end of the game, making the plot buildup to the final battle nearly zilch. There is no love plot in this game, so you can kiss your teary ending goodbye, and your main character says maybe 3 words IN THE ENTIRE GAME. If I wanted a silent hero, I would be playing Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana, but I would easily have chosen the ''Stupid'' Wayne over Eldin (The main character) any day of the week. At least he had a personality. They've butchered a few of their trademark characters with the disappointingly horrible face pictures that come with them. The cast in the game is devoid of any sort of real emotion. If you're looking for a good plot, don't waste your time on this one.

(8/10) - Audio/Video

The one thing I can not complain about is the old school feel of the game. The battle system is exactly like Lufia 2, thankfully, and the music contains many remixed pieces from Lufia 1 and 2. I was VERY disappointed at the fact that there is no Lufia or Sinistral theme that we all love. The battle animations stay true to the series, but many of the moves are also cheap knockoffs of their Lufia 2 counterparts.

(1/10) - Replayability

Once you get a taste of the full game there is absolutely nothing that could force you to go back to it again. The Ancient Cave is now a joke; 60 levels, and you can return to level 60 at any time you want if you've made it there before, making it EASY to collect the best items in the game. There is no Retry mode, though I don't blame them, the story isn't good enough to force me to play it again anyway. There is no Boss Battles which have alternate endings if you manage to beat the impossible ones, as every boss is pretty simple to beat.

(Neither) - Buy or Rent?

Unless you find this game as a cheap $5.00 - $15.00 sale, fans of the Lufia series, DO NOT GIVE NATSUME THE COMFORT OF SALES. I suggest we let them feel the burn for making such a horrible game, as the reason why the story is bad is because they axed the people who made the game originally, claiming they could do find without them. Well let their sales reflect that.

That may be rather unfair though, so if you ARE NOT a fan of the Lufia series, and just want a fun adventure, I am sure you can learn to appreciate the game for it's small faults, and it would be worth a $30.00 purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/03, Updated 06/06/03