Last week, we talked about the story of Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, a sort-of-hidden gem RPG for the Super Nintendo. The story was solid, if a little standard, for an RPG of its era. But did the gameplay match?
Honestly, we are kind of in a weird place here. When I review RPGs, I talk a lot about how important things like story and character development are and how those things can make up for mediocre or even poor gameplay. A lot of RPGs don't really do anything different gameplay-wise, but make up for that with an awesome story or great characters. But with Lufia II, it's the gameplay that really makes the game stand out against its contemporaries. The story is fine, but there are aspects of the gameplay that are truly unique to Lufia II and those are really what makes it worth playing.
I will start with the one aspect of the gameplay that was fairly standard for the era, the combat. Like the story, it's very good but also very by the numbers. You have a typical tun based RPG combat system with a four person party, where you can attack, defend, use items or use special moves and magic. The attacks are pretty standard fare, you have a good collection of offensive, defensive and support abilities that improve throughout the game. Magic is purchased here, so you can't grind to give yourself over-powered abilities early. I have always had mixed feelings about this setup, but I do think it works here. The one unique aspect of combat comes from the IP system. Some items you equip will come with abilities that require IP to use. You gain IP by taking damage from enemies, so you are really incentivized to use these attacks as soon as you can. Most of them are very useful and they allow the non-magic using characters to do something other than attack, which is nice. Additionally, the system really makes you think about your equipment setup, as you will often have to choose between better raw numbers or more useful IP skills, which is cool.
Also relevant to combat are capsule monsters, which you can recruit eight of throughout the game. They are sort of like Pokemon, but before Pokemon (at least in the U.S.), so that was pretty cool. They aren't required, but they do help you out in battle. Each one is tied to an element, some are almost entirely focused on offense while others offer support abilities. They even evolve like Pokemon, feeding them your items will cause them to grow. Each one has five forms that come with new moves, and they also gain stat boosts by leveling up with exp. Unfortunately, you can't control them in combat, so you are kind of stuck with their good but not great A.I. I think they might have been a little bit overpowered if you were allowed to have what was essentially a fifth party member.
While the monsters are a cool addition, the biggest differentiator between Lufia II and its contemporaries are the dungeons. This is where the game absolutely shines, it has some of the best, well thought out dungeons of the era and I would absolutely hear the argument that they are the best. Just about every one is the perfect length, with each dungeon feeling intimidating and cavernous without feeling ridiculous or overwhelming. While encounters on the world map are random, they are touch based in dungeons and are thus easy to avoid if you really just want to speed through. Monsters do respawn if you leave certain sections of the dungeon, so it's nice that you don't absolutely have to fight them again if you get lost or have to backtrack. I have to give a lot of credit here, I never really did feel "lost" despite also feeling like I really needed to work hard to find the exit. That's a fairly strong indicatior of good design. It felt like the dungeons were much more open than what you would typically find in a 4th generation dungeon, but also always found a way to direct you back to the main path.
But it's more than just really good design that makes Lufia II's dungeons different. It's also, for lack of a better term, what they are asking you to do. The best way I can describe the gameplay here is that Lufia II's dungeons feel more like they were inspired by adventure titles like Zelda rather than traditional RPGs like Dragon Quest. Spend any time reading up on Lufia II and you will se one factor come up more than any other: the puzzles. Each dungeon is full of them and they range from incredibly simple (defeat all the enemies, hit a switch, move some pots, etc.) to unfairly difficult (block sliding puzzles that take more than 50 steps to solve). These will absolutely test your puzzle solving and exploration skills, which I really like. Outside of a few exceptions, most of the puzzles have reasonable solutions and the touch based encounters mean you won't be constantly fighting and you have as much time as you need. Maxim also has a set of tools similar to what Link would have to work with, including bombs, arrows, hammers and even a hookshot. You need to explore these like you would Zelda dungeons, bombing suspicious looking walls and getting creative with how you get around. I really like it a lot, the dungeons were the best part of Lufia II and I would argue by a large margin.
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention all of the optional content. Side content wasn't really a given at the time, but Lufia II had plenty of it. You might even argue that the capsule monsters are side content, because you have to find them in out-of-the-way locations. You have a dedicated casino where you can earn really strong items, as well as a dragon egg hunting sidequest that will lead to you getting the game's best equipment. But by far the biggest sidequest is the Ancient Cave, which opens up about halfway through the game. I hesitate to even call this "side content" or a "mini-game," it almost plays like it's own separate spinoff title. What you have here is a roguelike dungeon crawler, about 10-15 years before these games became popular on consoles. Your party must descend 100 floors of increasingly challenging enemies to battle the boss located at the bottom, a tall task considering you need to leave all of your equipment behind and your level resets to one as soon as you enter. You will find chests containing items, spells and abilities throughout...but you can't keep them. Unless you received that item from a blue chest. Those will stick with you after you leave. But you are looking at maybe eight to ten of these per run, so it's going to take a while to be able to fully outfit your party. It is almost essential that you make multiple dives into the cave, slowly but surely gathering new equipment and abilities as you grind your way through.
You could spend 20-30 hours on the Ancient Cave alone, especially if you want to collect the legendary Iris treasures. These don't really do anything, but they are still fun to chase just based on their sheer rarity. I like these kinds of games, but I recognize that many people don't. Fortunately for those folks, the ancient cave can be skipped entirely. It has no plot signifigance and anything you earn there outside of blue chest items has no bearing on your party. You may want to try and do a deep run or two, because pulling an overpowered blue chest item can make the middle to late portion of the game substantially easier, but it's not a requirement.
The world map is a little bit more standard fare, especially for the era. However, it's very well designed and fun to explore. I do wish you had free reign a little earlier, but I can't complain. I also have to call out the towns and castles as being really well done too. In many 4th gen RPGs, all the towns feel very similar regardless of how they are supposed to be presented. But Lufia II really does a lot to make the backwater villages feel different from the bustling castle towns. The castles themselves, often their own separate entites here, are all fun to explore and both feel large in theory without actually being so in practice. I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but I have a little bit of a thing for 4th gen RPG castles and I feel like designing areas like these is a lost art in modern JRPGs. So it was probably a little bit of personal bias, but I really liked this part of Lufia II.
Our last positives here are going to be the graphics and sound, both of which I thought were outstanding. That Lufia II was a late gen SNES game really showed, especially in the graphics. The battle screen looks really good and the enemy sprites are highly detailed. The bosses are particularly well designed, especially once you start fighting the Sinistrals. I do wish they had a bit more animation, they just kind of flash when they perform attacks, but they still look nice. The spell animations are pretty cool and really show off what the SNES was capable of. I really like the sound, I don't know if it's objectively the best by I think it's an incredibly fitting soundtrack for the game. I think the boss theme might be one of my favorite of all time.
But just like with the story, I found quite a few things I disliked with the gameplay. I mentioned it when I discussed the story, but I didn't really love the pacing here. It was a rare RPG that actually started out with a better pace than it finishes with. I really liked the major plot twist at the midway point, but it did mark a substantial change in how the game was paced. Once the back half of the game starts, you get thrown straight back into the town/dungeon/town cadence that RPGs were trying to break away from at the time. It's not the end of the world, but it was very jarring because the virst half of the game was much more varried. The whole second half feels really rushed and I think that was a little bit unfortunate because there was a lot going on story wise.
Speaking of things that were starting to go away but were still present here, at no point can you actually choose your party members. You are always locked in to whoever the story necessitates you having, which I don't really like. One of the things that I always like about RPGs, and one of the things that I think gives them replayability, is being able to play through the game with different party compositions. At least there is some level of selection here with the Ancient Cave. You can take that on at pretty much any time in the last two thirds of the game, I think Tia is the only party member you absolutely can't bring in there. But at the end of the day, that's just a sidequest. The main game has a totally locked party and I really don't like that.
The battles do get a little stale at the end of the game, I like the battle system but the endgame kind of boils down to you relying on the same attacks over and over again. This isn't uncommon in RPGs, especially from the 4th generation, but it was highly noticable here. I think this would have been mitigated a little bit if there were more high level attacks, but there just aren't that many highly powerful spells or abilities or builds. I find this happens a lot in RPGs where you have to buy spells rather than learn them. It's part of the reason that I don't really like systems like that. It's a bit of a nitpick, but it was still definitely an issue I had.
The last thing I will say was actually not really an issue for me, but I think a lot of the puzzles were a little bit more obtuse than they should have been. Most of them were pretty simple in theory, defeat the monsters, move the blocks, push the switches. But many of them require quite a few steps and a lot of trial and error. I found them very difficult, but I also don't mind having an entire play session taken up by solving a single puzzle (why do you think it took me so long to get this review out?). It wasn't an issue for me, but it might be for some people. And I will also say that it did have an impact on the pacing. Puzzles in RPGs aren't anything new, but they typically aren't this complex.
At the end of the day, I don't think I quite enjoyed Lufia II as much as a lot of RPG fans seem to...but I still really liked it a lot. It was a well made, high quality game that had an okay story and some strong characters. In many ways, it felt a lot like a Zelda game in terms of dungeon structure and puzzles, which I think was cool. I'm actually a little surprised that this design space isn't explored more, adventure and RPGs are different genres, but have some similarities. There were a lot of really good RPGs of this era and this was definitely towards the top of the heap. It's probably a top 10 RPG on the SNES and definitely in the top 20. I don't know if I quite put it in the truly upper echelon role playing games of all time, or even of its generation. But it's definitely a must play for fans of the genre, or adventure game players that are looking to cross over into the RPG genre.
9/10
Honestly, we are kind of in a weird place here. When I review RPGs, I talk a lot about how important things like story and character development are and how those things can make up for mediocre or even poor gameplay. A lot of RPGs don't really do anything different gameplay-wise, but make up for that with an awesome story or great characters. But with Lufia II, it's the gameplay that really makes the game stand out against its contemporaries. The story is fine, but there are aspects of the gameplay that are truly unique to Lufia II and those are really what makes it worth playing.
I will start with the one aspect of the gameplay that was fairly standard for the era, the combat. Like the story, it's very good but also very by the numbers. You have a typical tun based RPG combat system with a four person party, where you can attack, defend, use items or use special moves and magic. The attacks are pretty standard fare, you have a good collection of offensive, defensive and support abilities that improve throughout the game. Magic is purchased here, so you can't grind to give yourself over-powered abilities early. I have always had mixed feelings about this setup, but I do think it works here. The one unique aspect of combat comes from the IP system. Some items you equip will come with abilities that require IP to use. You gain IP by taking damage from enemies, so you are really incentivized to use these attacks as soon as you can. Most of them are very useful and they allow the non-magic using characters to do something other than attack, which is nice. Additionally, the system really makes you think about your equipment setup, as you will often have to choose between better raw numbers or more useful IP skills, which is cool.
Also relevant to combat are capsule monsters, which you can recruit eight of throughout the game. They are sort of like Pokemon, but before Pokemon (at least in the U.S.), so that was pretty cool. They aren't required, but they do help you out in battle. Each one is tied to an element, some are almost entirely focused on offense while others offer support abilities. They even evolve like Pokemon, feeding them your items will cause them to grow. Each one has five forms that come with new moves, and they also gain stat boosts by leveling up with exp. Unfortunately, you can't control them in combat, so you are kind of stuck with their good but not great A.I. I think they might have been a little bit overpowered if you were allowed to have what was essentially a fifth party member.
While the monsters are a cool addition, the biggest differentiator between Lufia II and its contemporaries are the dungeons. This is where the game absolutely shines, it has some of the best, well thought out dungeons of the era and I would absolutely hear the argument that they are the best. Just about every one is the perfect length, with each dungeon feeling intimidating and cavernous without feeling ridiculous or overwhelming. While encounters on the world map are random, they are touch based in dungeons and are thus easy to avoid if you really just want to speed through. Monsters do respawn if you leave certain sections of the dungeon, so it's nice that you don't absolutely have to fight them again if you get lost or have to backtrack. I have to give a lot of credit here, I never really did feel "lost" despite also feeling like I really needed to work hard to find the exit. That's a fairly strong indicatior of good design. It felt like the dungeons were much more open than what you would typically find in a 4th generation dungeon, but also always found a way to direct you back to the main path.
But it's more than just really good design that makes Lufia II's dungeons different. It's also, for lack of a better term, what they are asking you to do. The best way I can describe the gameplay here is that Lufia II's dungeons feel more like they were inspired by adventure titles like Zelda rather than traditional RPGs like Dragon Quest. Spend any time reading up on Lufia II and you will se one factor come up more than any other: the puzzles. Each dungeon is full of them and they range from incredibly simple (defeat all the enemies, hit a switch, move some pots, etc.) to unfairly difficult (block sliding puzzles that take more than 50 steps to solve). These will absolutely test your puzzle solving and exploration skills, which I really like. Outside of a few exceptions, most of the puzzles have reasonable solutions and the touch based encounters mean you won't be constantly fighting and you have as much time as you need. Maxim also has a set of tools similar to what Link would have to work with, including bombs, arrows, hammers and even a hookshot. You need to explore these like you would Zelda dungeons, bombing suspicious looking walls and getting creative with how you get around. I really like it a lot, the dungeons were the best part of Lufia II and I would argue by a large margin.
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention all of the optional content. Side content wasn't really a given at the time, but Lufia II had plenty of it. You might even argue that the capsule monsters are side content, because you have to find them in out-of-the-way locations. You have a dedicated casino where you can earn really strong items, as well as a dragon egg hunting sidequest that will lead to you getting the game's best equipment. But by far the biggest sidequest is the Ancient Cave, which opens up about halfway through the game. I hesitate to even call this "side content" or a "mini-game," it almost plays like it's own separate spinoff title. What you have here is a roguelike dungeon crawler, about 10-15 years before these games became popular on consoles. Your party must descend 100 floors of increasingly challenging enemies to battle the boss located at the bottom, a tall task considering you need to leave all of your equipment behind and your level resets to one as soon as you enter. You will find chests containing items, spells and abilities throughout...but you can't keep them. Unless you received that item from a blue chest. Those will stick with you after you leave. But you are looking at maybe eight to ten of these per run, so it's going to take a while to be able to fully outfit your party. It is almost essential that you make multiple dives into the cave, slowly but surely gathering new equipment and abilities as you grind your way through.
You could spend 20-30 hours on the Ancient Cave alone, especially if you want to collect the legendary Iris treasures. These don't really do anything, but they are still fun to chase just based on their sheer rarity. I like these kinds of games, but I recognize that many people don't. Fortunately for those folks, the ancient cave can be skipped entirely. It has no plot signifigance and anything you earn there outside of blue chest items has no bearing on your party. You may want to try and do a deep run or two, because pulling an overpowered blue chest item can make the middle to late portion of the game substantially easier, but it's not a requirement.
The world map is a little bit more standard fare, especially for the era. However, it's very well designed and fun to explore. I do wish you had free reign a little earlier, but I can't complain. I also have to call out the towns and castles as being really well done too. In many 4th gen RPGs, all the towns feel very similar regardless of how they are supposed to be presented. But Lufia II really does a lot to make the backwater villages feel different from the bustling castle towns. The castles themselves, often their own separate entites here, are all fun to explore and both feel large in theory without actually being so in practice. I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but I have a little bit of a thing for 4th gen RPG castles and I feel like designing areas like these is a lost art in modern JRPGs. So it was probably a little bit of personal bias, but I really liked this part of Lufia II.
Our last positives here are going to be the graphics and sound, both of which I thought were outstanding. That Lufia II was a late gen SNES game really showed, especially in the graphics. The battle screen looks really good and the enemy sprites are highly detailed. The bosses are particularly well designed, especially once you start fighting the Sinistrals. I do wish they had a bit more animation, they just kind of flash when they perform attacks, but they still look nice. The spell animations are pretty cool and really show off what the SNES was capable of. I really like the sound, I don't know if it's objectively the best by I think it's an incredibly fitting soundtrack for the game. I think the boss theme might be one of my favorite of all time.
But just like with the story, I found quite a few things I disliked with the gameplay. I mentioned it when I discussed the story, but I didn't really love the pacing here. It was a rare RPG that actually started out with a better pace than it finishes with. I really liked the major plot twist at the midway point, but it did mark a substantial change in how the game was paced. Once the back half of the game starts, you get thrown straight back into the town/dungeon/town cadence that RPGs were trying to break away from at the time. It's not the end of the world, but it was very jarring because the virst half of the game was much more varried. The whole second half feels really rushed and I think that was a little bit unfortunate because there was a lot going on story wise.
Speaking of things that were starting to go away but were still present here, at no point can you actually choose your party members. You are always locked in to whoever the story necessitates you having, which I don't really like. One of the things that I always like about RPGs, and one of the things that I think gives them replayability, is being able to play through the game with different party compositions. At least there is some level of selection here with the Ancient Cave. You can take that on at pretty much any time in the last two thirds of the game, I think Tia is the only party member you absolutely can't bring in there. But at the end of the day, that's just a sidequest. The main game has a totally locked party and I really don't like that.
The battles do get a little stale at the end of the game, I like the battle system but the endgame kind of boils down to you relying on the same attacks over and over again. This isn't uncommon in RPGs, especially from the 4th generation, but it was highly noticable here. I think this would have been mitigated a little bit if there were more high level attacks, but there just aren't that many highly powerful spells or abilities or builds. I find this happens a lot in RPGs where you have to buy spells rather than learn them. It's part of the reason that I don't really like systems like that. It's a bit of a nitpick, but it was still definitely an issue I had.
The last thing I will say was actually not really an issue for me, but I think a lot of the puzzles were a little bit more obtuse than they should have been. Most of them were pretty simple in theory, defeat the monsters, move the blocks, push the switches. But many of them require quite a few steps and a lot of trial and error. I found them very difficult, but I also don't mind having an entire play session taken up by solving a single puzzle (why do you think it took me so long to get this review out?). It wasn't an issue for me, but it might be for some people. And I will also say that it did have an impact on the pacing. Puzzles in RPGs aren't anything new, but they typically aren't this complex.
At the end of the day, I don't think I quite enjoyed Lufia II as much as a lot of RPG fans seem to...but I still really liked it a lot. It was a well made, high quality game that had an okay story and some strong characters. In many ways, it felt a lot like a Zelda game in terms of dungeon structure and puzzles, which I think was cool. I'm actually a little surprised that this design space isn't explored more, adventure and RPGs are different genres, but have some similarities. There were a lot of really good RPGs of this era and this was definitely towards the top of the heap. It's probably a top 10 RPG on the SNES and definitely in the top 20. I don't know if I quite put it in the truly upper echelon role playing games of all time, or even of its generation. But it's definitely a must play for fans of the genre, or adventure game players that are looking to cross over into the RPG genre.
9/10
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