Lufia, an RPG similar to Final Fantasy II(SNES), mixes some of the best RPG elements, and adds a few innovative ones. The games begins with a fairly long introduction. After about 4 minutes of story, you and 3 companions are sent to travel in a mazelike tower to fight the 4 Sinistrals: Gades-Master of Destruction, Amon-Master of Terror, Erim-Mistress of Death, and Daos- Master of Chaos.
Your levels are high, your items list is full, your HP/MP are at the max. You now control the warriors to defeat the Sinistrals. Taito has instantly put you in the thick of the game. This is obviously a different approach. Immediately, you are forced to learn all the controls of the game and have an oppurtunity to sample what all the items and magic can do. There is no save here, so get ready for about 15-20 minutes of fighting. On the cover of the box, it states that your actions control the openning scenes. I am not sure if you defeat the Sinistrals or not, if the game begins differently. But it is not overly difficult to wipe the 4 baddies out. Once victorious, you are thrust 90 years into the future, in a town, and now begins your new adventure. You are now the descendant of the hero that wiped out the Sinistrals, so it is in your blood to carry on the elimination of the once-again risen Sinistrals after a 100 year peace period.
After some story, you now can save the game at the cleric. There are 3 slots for a save, and the amount of time you have played is also shown. It took me 42 hours, with all characters in the 60+ levels to finish, so you will be enjoying this for a good amount of hours. You immediately meet Lufia, whom you have known for a while. During the game there are some comical, jealous-like, sentimental, and good-natured banter among the characters. Towns are nicely laid out, with some having castles and palaces to explore. Very easy controls for calling up item, equip, status screens. One good point is when buying or selling in any shop, you can select 1, 4, or 10 items at a clip. The need for many item selecting is done quick and easy. A feature that is lacking in most rpgs is the ability to run away from a fight with 100% chance of success. No problem in Lufia..just use the item "smoke ball".
At the back of the instruction booklet there are a number of pages which helps you out in your journey. Also included is a map (numbered with the corresponding towns). On the reverse side of the map, is the usual rpg breakdown all of the items/weapons/armor/magic spells/etc.
OK...time to venture forth:
The hero now begins in the town of Aleika. Some time later you will team up with Lufia, and after that Arguro, the commander of an army, and Jerin, a half-elf, half-human character. All can learn and cast magic spells except Arguro. All towns are nicely laid out, with most having an Inn to replenish HP and MP, an item shop, a Cleric's house to save your game, and a weapon and armor shop. Lufia makes wandering in a town quite enjoyable. Your characters move at an accelerated pace in the town which definitely helps you take care of business rather quickly, zip around the houses, and get on with the lengthy quest. Once outside of a town your pace slows down (standard rpg speed) and the monsters attack. Fighting is not too constant, where you get frustrated constantly in battle. There are 2 items that when used will either increase battles or slow them down. So, if you are in the mood to build up some HP/MP, use some foul water and you will be attacked after each step. Use sweet water to avoid fighting for a while while travelling. Both these items last for a limited amount of time.
During the course of the game you will be able to warp to any town that you previously visited, whether using an item or magic. A nice feature is that there is a Shrine that you can visit and speak to the Keeper, who will tell you what you have to do next. Visit the Keeper as often as you like, to make sure you are following the correct course in the game.
There are the usual status, magic, equip and menu windows. All are easy to select, and very helpful. When calling up the magic screen you can see what each magic spell does. In the equip windows there is no doubt if a character should be equipped with a particular item since you can see increase or decrease in attributes for each item.
As you venture outside of towns, there will be many battles. The monsters are well drawn out, and the fighting is very easy to control. Towards the bottom-middle of the screen, there will be 5 options during the battles. Simply select on the boxes marked fight, spell, item, run, or defend for each of your characters. After that, the battle takes place. Hit points are shown for each hit, and there are no guides to know how many more hit points to go before creature will die. Of course your character boxes will display all your hit points, magic points and level. There is a downside to the fighting techniques. For example.... there are two different monsters on the screen and your party has chosen to attack only one of them. After two characters have defeated it, the remaining characters will attack the same one! But it's gone! So, in any given battle when a monster dies, and any other character was instructed to attack it, it will attack thin air. The game does not automatically switch to a monster that is left. Sounds worse than it is. After awhile, you become use to this and attack accordingly. This method definitely makes you try to make every hit count.
As in any rpg, there are a number of ways to travel across the land. A map is included with the game, with numbers and corresponding town names. As you travel on land, your party will get a ship, capable of travelling on the water. Later on, this ship will get wings, and have the ability to fly. And finally, it will transform into a vessel capable of traveling under the water (wherever there are eddies present).
Exploring caves, towers, and undersea cities, searching for many important items, locating key characters, and travelling around the land using different transportation methods are only some of rpg-ing you will do in Lufia.
Taito, by combining the best aspects of rpgs, and throwing in some well thought out new ones, has produced an excellent rpg for all ages and all levels. To rate this game using numbers for gameplay, graphics, sound, etc. , is something that I feel would not be too helpful. But overall, Lufia deserves high marks in all categories. If rpgs are games you enjoy, then you will find Lufia to be challenging, entertaining and highly addictive. A top-notch rpg!
This review is Copyright (C) 1993 by Stephen Sidler for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.