Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals
Reviewed by SizzleSword
Lufia 2 is a calssic-like RPG with pumped up graphics. Although it is
the second in the Lufia series, it takes place 100 years before Lufia I
(lots of people get confused in the storyline when they play Lufia II
first, though). The graphics are very detailed, the sound is very good
and crisp, and the controls are tight, not awkward. The story begins
when Maxim (the main character) goes to check out a cave that a nearby
town said that was infested with monsters. In this time, monsters
weren't very plentiful, and each town only needed about one guard to
keep the monsters away. At the end of the cave, a woman named Iris
appeared and told Maxim that he has a special power that only few
others have. This makes him very curious, and he feels like finding
out exactly what this woman means when she said 'special power'.
Maxim's girlfriend, Tia, notices that Maxim is going to leave, and begs
him to take her with him. At first, Maxim tries to tell Tia how dangerous
the journey would be, but she still wanted to come. Maxim and Tia set of into
the wilderness to fight enemies and to talk to people that will give helpful
advice. They will find other party members that also contain this special
power, and find out the exact meaning of special power (a power able to
defeat the Sinistrals, beings of higher power, that is trying to steal a very
powerful sword and destroy the humans). This is where the real adventure begins.
Graphics 9 out of 10
Like I said in the above paragraph, the graphics are very clear and crisp.
Although the enemies don't really move their arms to attack, they'll shake
their body right before they attack. The battle backgrounds change whenever
you fight on different types of land, or in dungeons, towers, shrines, or caves.
The towns and villages look beautiful, with lots of detail in each and every
house. When you get the ship, submarine, and airship, lots of Mode 7 takes
place. The only drawback with the graphics is that many of the enemies
look exactly the same, only attacks and colors are changed. The spells
have lots of detail, and look really good. The only thing that I really found
'wrong' with the graphics are in Premarl, the Submarine Town, and in
the 99 level of the Ancient Dungeon/Cave. They're really glitched up, and
you can't see where you're going most of the time.
Music and Sound 11 out of 10
The music in this game is excellent. I have the Lufia/Estpolis soundtrack,
and I listen to it about twice a day. Almost each place has different
music (except for each of the towns and villages). The music goes along
with the places and environments well. There aren't many sound effects
(the main ones are the sound of a your sword, bombs, arrows, and hookshot).
Although there aren't many different sound effects, the ones that are
present sound good. I could easily say that the music and sound is one
of the best parts of the game.
Game Challenge 8 out of 10
Even though Lufia II is an RPG, it may seem like an Adventure game
in many cases. The enemies and bosses aren't hard, and if you do get
beaten, all you have to do is gain a few more levels. You'll get the
'Adventure' feel when you start having to figure out puzzles in the
caves, shrines, dungeons, and towers. Something that also makes the
game easier in the caves, shrines, dungeons, and towers is that you
can see the enemies, and you can avoid them easily in most cases. I
wouldn't quite call this 'a beginner's RPG', but I do think that it is
on the easy side.
Game Play-Fun 9 out of 10
When you play and find out different things, you'll really want to see
if the things are true, and find more stuff out about the characters.
Something exciting happens in almost every town/castle. The puzzles
are lots of fun (though frustrating in some cases), and will take you a
long time to master. The casino is also a nice, different touch to keep
gamers happy. Characters often tell jokes and such, so the game is quite
humorous. There's so many things to do in this game, it's fun to find out
what happens next.
Frustration
Lots of people get frustrated on the puzzles, because they are really
hard. I never got a Player's Guide to figure out the puzzles, and it took
me about 2 hours to figure out how to do one puzzle. The frustration is
about the only thing that will turn gamers away. There is at least one
puzzle in each cave, tower, shrine, or dungeon, and most of them are
really hard, and will take time to figure out. Instead of buying a Player's
Guide, I recommend you trying to figure them out at first, because after
you complete them, it will make you feel good about yourself, knowing
that you completed such a hard puzzle.
Replayability 10 out of 10
With the Casino and the Ancient Dungeon/Cave, you'll play this game
forever. The Casino is awesome, and you'll actually win casino coins to
buy items at the small shop in the casino. Whenever I play Lufia II, I
always check out the casino. The Ancient Dungeon/Cave is a 99 floor cave
that takes about 7 hours to complete. The thing that makes this hard is
that there are no save points in the whole cave, and if you feel like stopping
for a while, the only thing you could do is let the game sit until you're ready
to play again. The good thing about the Ancient Dungeon/Cave is that there
are items, spells, weapons, and armor that cannot be found anywhere else
in the game in it. Also, if you get to the 99th floor, (the game will be
glitched, and it may take some time to find the doors and treasure chests
and such [note: the game is not glitched forever, only at these two parts
of the game]) you'll fight the Juggernaut Slime, and they get a key to open a
door at the surface that contains some priceless items, weapon, and armor.
This place is frustrating (being 99 floors), so not everyone will be willing
to do it.
Game Value 9 out of 10
Well, I traded a game called Phantom 2040 at a pawn shop for this game,
and I feel very lucky that I did. The last time I checked any game stores,
Lufia 2 was like $69.99, so I got pretty lucky on the deal that I made at
the pawn shop. If I would have rented this game, and then saw it at a video
game store for $70, I would have probably still bought it. It's easily one of
the best RPGs for the Super NES, for any RPG lover should have this game in
their collection.
Overall 10 out of 10
With all of the things that this game has to offer, it's a great game. You'll
literally play this game forever, with the Casino and everything. I have 99
hours on the game that I play most often (although it took me about 16 hours
to actually beat the game). If you beat the game, you'll also get a 'Game +',
in which you get 4 times as much experience points and gold as you did in the
regular game. If you beat the Game +, you'll get another option called 'present'
or 'prize' or something, that lets you go through the dungeon with whoever you
want in your party (you pick 4 people, the best ones).