Malik
(4/20/04)
Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals
Natsumi
This review originally was
presented on lazy.GEEKS (6/26/03)
Well, I just finished writing a
review of Lufia 4 for the GBA, and I realized I touched on a subject
near and dear to my nostalgic heart...Lufia 2. I also realized, many
people who currently play RPGs were not around in the glory days of
the SNES, and while it may be hard to come by, it's not impossible,
so I give you all a review of a game worth the struggle to track
down; Lufia 2 for the SNES.
This game came out near the end
of the SNES days, right before the system was reduced to a long and
painful death when Nintendo forgot to realize that the end was upon
them and the next generation was ready for action. This was, in my
opinion, the last RPG for the SNES that could truly stand out and
make a RPG fan say, "wow!"; which says a lot since the
SNES was king when it came to quality Adventure/RPGs (FF4,5, and 6,
Lufia and Lufia 2, Breath of Fire and BoF 2, Secret of Mana, Zelda
3, Romancing SaGa series...the only good SaGa games not on portable
systems...the list just keeps going on like this).
Story
First off, spoilers are a
coming. I'll warn you when they are going to show up...I'm just that
nice of a guy.
Well, to be honest, while I do
love this game, the story starts a bit cliché. It all starts when
you, Maxim, are trying to earn your meager way in the world as a
monster hunter. You get a few bucks here and there for bringing in
the carcasses to the local shop. Eventually, you go through your
standard training class, you start feeling adventurous, blah, blah,
blah. Then, you end up going through a cave and finding a mysterious
woman known as Iris, who tells you, rather evasively, about your
being an important part of a prophecy like prediction of the future.
Next thing you know, you and your woman are off on an adventure to
see what you can learn of your destiny and to learn about the world
itself at the same time.
After a while, the clichés
continue, you meet some more people who join you, and you end up
caught up in some weird stuff as strange men (supermen I should say)
start appearing and destroying towns, and in general, throwing the
world as you know it into chaos. So, like any typical/cliché RPG
hero, you decide it is your responsibility to save the world.
All of this is about as cliché
as a RPG plot can get (did I mention this game is set in a
medieval/fantasy style world? It is), but it's not the overall plot
that saves this game as much as the small things. There are
countless plot twists, from tiny to giant, that always keep you on
your toes. The plot can suddenly shift in anything from your stance
as a hero, to your love interest, to the political intrigue that
this world is so filled with.
(Ok, I warned you...spoilers
are in this paragraph, so you plot purists can all skip to the next
paragraph now)
Also, unlike so many RPGs of
this era, your characters have character. Unlike FF4-6 (which are
good SNES RPGs; don't get me wrong) which had very 1 dimensional
characters, Lufia 2 (and 1 for that matter) continuously extracts
new elements from each heroes' personality. You can actually feel
yourself get attached to some of these characters. When Maxim's love
interest changes you can't help but feel sorry for Tia (his first
love interest), when Dekar sacrifices himself to ensure your escape
you can't help but think, "Damn...Dekar was the man", and
when Erim (the Sinistral of Death) plays you all for saps and
reveals she was really Iris you can't help but think if anything in
this game was what it seemed. Most of all, when Maxim and Selan are
killed in the final fight you would have to be a complete bastard to
not feel a twinge of sadness.
(Ok, they've come and
gone...spoilers are now behind us)
Overall, this plot may be cliché
and leave you feeling like you've seen it all before, it's the small
things like the twists and character development that will keep you
wanting to play some more. When it comes to these elements, no other
game on the SNES (that came out in the U.S. anyways) came even close
to this, except for the original Lufia...but that's for another day.
Graphics
Well, first off, I'm not going
to judge this game on false virtues or false hatred, like so many
people would in today's 128 bit world. The graphics, for their time,
were hella good. Also, for now, they look like a really good GBA
game. The first two Lufia games both used a rather unique approach
to their graphical design, that still leaves me feeling nostalgic
when I see a game with bright colors. Ok, enough of that. The
graphics use a blending of bright colors, sharp images, and anime
style characters.
So, what does that mean? Well,
you play characters with big heads, bright hair colors (from red to
yellow to green to blue and so on), and obvious features (you can
tell a character's eyes from his nose and mouth, etc). For some
people, this means stupidity. I mean, how many people bitched and
moaned when Final Fantasy IX reverted to the glory days with
deformed characters (i.e. big heads)?
Here Comes The Rant
To get slightly off subject for
one paragraph; we need to stop, as a society of RPG playing geeks,
complaining about our RPGs and other games being too unrealistic.
For one thing, when The Getaway tried being realistic, did we all
rejoice? No, we played the game, got pissed at it's slow pace, then
threw it away or used it as a coaster. For another thing, if you
want realism, you are looking in the wrong place when you want
magic, blitzball (I hate you damned FFX fanboys), summons, or other
RPG elements. So, to put my point succinctly, I want my RPGs fake
and fun, with big heads, bright colors, fantasy themes, magic,
elves, moogles that hold "Save?" signs, chocobos that say
"Gwark!", dwarves that are either Scottish or say
"Rally Ho!", and evil moon men named Zeromus, and all you
damned whiney losers who have ruined our fun RPGs of the past with
your complaints...go play a ^@$#^* sports game, a driving sim, or a
war sim so those of us who like to escape the bullshit of our
everyday 8 AM - 6 PM faceless, corrupt, corporate lives can have a
little fun and play with our friendly elves, dwarves, moogles, and
gnomes in peace. What next you freaks? Want to complain that a
pikachu can't honestly shoot lightning and say that we should all
play with pokemons that look and act like real animals except when
they play some blitzball...by the way, I hate Pokemon, but I respect
it for it's imagination...also, I HATE YOU ALL!
Ok, back to the graphics. The
colors are one of the most stand out aspects of this game.
Everything, from the characters, to the trees, to the buildings and
even the monsters are all done with appropriate, yet bright, colors
that really make you feel like you are playing a fantasy game. Which
is how it should be.
The effects in battles are
rather nice for when this game came out. The later spells often take
the forms of summons (like the ultimate fire spell summons a
firebird) and the visual appeal of these spells are really
outstanding. There are no fancy portraits or anime style cut scenes,
which is a shame since some games had them in this era of game
development (such as Soul Blazer), but still, this one minor flaw
cannot be held against the game when the graphics are truly a
nostalgic breath of fresh air when compared to our realistic and
bland RPGs of this generation.
Audio
Another truly outstanding
element. The sound effects, like most games of this era, are nothing
all that impressive, and nothing in the least bit disappointing. The
good feature, though, is the music. Considering the MIDI sound of
nearly all game music on the SNES, Lufia 2 somehow sounded
orchestrated and planned. The music was not merely thrown together
in a hurry, as so many game soundtracks sounded like in the 16 bit
era. In fact, I'd have to say, the only other games that came close
to the level of quality that Lufia 2 had in it's soundtrack were
Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger. If you don't know these
games...they both rocked, so check them out...and if you do; 'Nuff
Said. Audio rocks on Lufia 2.
Game Play
So far the story, the graphics,
and the audio kick arse, so the game play has to suck, right? Wrong.
The game play of Lufia 2 is one of the few times in RPG history when
some truly innovative features were installed to a traditional RPG
series and it did not just take away from enjoyment of the series.
Of these innovations, the most
obvious is how a dungeon is played out. You are constantly faced
with challenging puzzles that can only be solved by using some
serious thought into how to manipulate your character, the
environment, and the monsters (which can be seen walking around the
dungeons...no random battles for you, you damned whiney losers) by
using a small assortment of tools and items. This means if you see
two switches that must simultaneously be pressed and a single
monster roaming the floor, then you must lure the monster to one
switch and then either trap the monster on the switch by maneuvering
obstacles around it or by paralyzing it with one of your tools. Or
if you see a large area of grass, you need to use either your sword
(or once you find them, flaming arrows) to mow the grass down to
uncover the proper path while facing the problem of the grass
growing back almost quicker than you can cut it down. In other
words, you must learn not just how to solve some rather thoughtfully
planned puzzles, but also what enemies are there for you to destroy
and what ones are there to solve the puzzles at hand. This type of
puzzle usage will keep you involved and thinking through out what
would otherwise be a long and boring dungeon. Simply put, this is an
amazing way to keep the player involved that one simply must
experience to fully appreciate.
Another innovative twist is the
capsule monster. Back before we were all thinking about Pokemon,
Lufia 2 had 7 unique monsters that you may find (if you look hard
enough and solve some more unique puzzles) that will work with you
in combat (or against you). These monsters each had an elemental
association (fire, water, dark, light, air, earth, and neutrality)
and a unique personality. Some were fast, some ferocious, some
helpful (the light monster liked to heal people), and some were
cowardly (they would usually run away since their bravery was low).
As you use them, they would gain levels and skills, and as you fed
them items they liked, they would begin to evolve into more powerful
forms. Also, once one evolved, you could always revert it between a
highly evolved and newby form with no cost what so ever (provided
you got it evolved to begin with). Each monster had 4 basic
evolutions and one unique special evolution that you could only find
by using a lot of guessing (or FAQs). Most importantly, unlike
Pokemon (or disk monsters of Lufia 4), each evolution was radically
different from the previous form (except for the neutral capsule
monster or the early forms of the fire one).
In battle, you have no control
of the monster, but on the plus side, it will not take up a valuable
position in your battle formation. In Lufia 4, you have to switch
out a party member to use the monster of your choice, but in Lufia
2, there was a special position just for it.
Another great feature is the IP
meter. As you find certain pieces of equipment, you will find some
that have special abilities. Unlike Final Fantasy games which had a
similar thing, you could not just keep using the ability without
reservation. You had a bar, called the IP bar, that when you get
injured would fill up. You would use these points to activate
special abilities. It's in a way like getting your adrenaline
pumping and thus pulling out a little more power when you need it
most.
Another overlooked feature of
Lufia 2 is Forfeit Island. Whenever you sold an item, if you later
wished you had it again, you did not need to fear. Every item ever
sold in Lufia 2 would end up on Forfeit Island. Also, the island had
a special casino with some really fun games (not just slots like
most games, but also cards and a really fun bingo game that combined
the luck of bingo with the skills of...well the skills of Lufia 2
bingo...just play it and you'll see).
Most importantly of all, the
rest of the Lufia 2 game play is just like a tradition RPG. This
means the battles play out like a good old RPG, the traveling and
exploration is just like a good old RPG (with random fights on the
map screen), town exploration is tradition...it's like paradise for
us true, hardcore, old-school RPG fans of old.
Best of all, when you finish
the game, you can play it again in a special new game mode that lets
you gain experience and money at 4 times the normal rate, so you can
replay the story without worrying about levels or finances. This is
something more modern games need to facilitate replay of the story
without the headaches of replaying the challenge.
When you put all of this
together, you are left with not just a good RPG, but a good RPG with
enough innovation to keep you constantly playing to see and solve
more. Unlike the Final Fantasy series of recent years, the
innovation is kept to a minimum to ensure you don't end up with
crappy features that leave you wanting more (or should I say
less...less innovation that is)...like drawing magic in FF8.
Conclusion
I know this is a very old game,
and that it's only becoming more forgotten and lost with each
passing day. That is the sole reason that the master of all geek
objects that should be collected and treasured, Malik, decided to
treat you all to a glimpse of how things used to...nay...should be.
The story is still one that can draw me in today (even after beating
the game more times than I can count). The graphics and the audio
are both beautifully done with bright colors and sounds that don't
leave you feeling depressed or enraged (as overly depressive or
overly cute games often do). Best of all, the game play is probably
the best blend of tradition with enough innovation to keep even the
whiney, supposed RPG fans of today happy and (hopefully) quiet. I
may sound like a fan boy, but there is only one possible issue I
could ever have with this game...to show you all that there is
something I don't like and am thus being fair in my review, I'll
mention this...when you get the Dual Blade (the Excalibur of Lufia 1
and 2), the room is horribly distorted and it will look like the
game has crashed. This is a bug in every copy, so it's not just your
copy of the game. This means you must travel the room blindly seeing
where you are and where the sword is, but not seeing the walls.
Almost made me cry the first time I played it...Anyways, back to my
conclusion. With all the good features, and so little to complain
about (to think I can't find much to complain about), I
give Lufia 2 a 9.9/10 (it
would get a perfect 10 if the room with the Dual Blade was not
glitchy...this brought me down from my euphoric high long enough to
knock off a 0.1).
To put it in three simply
words...Play Lufia 2.
Malik
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