Known in Japan as Estpolis Denki II

Lufia 2

Released to America in Summer of 96 (Japan early 95, almost immediately before Chrono Trigger by Squaresoft).

This Neverland epic probably lost thousands of gamer hours because Chrono Trigger is on so many “Top (X)” lists around the globe.  The Lufia prequel (see Mother vs. Earthbound) is somewhere between 25-90 hours on a play through. There are many elements to the game, sidequests essentially, which can be completed without too much detouring or retracing (with one huge, deliberate exception).  Let’s break down this RPG and get the word out for why it is so awesome.  Classic games still stack up with releases a decade later because they pushed their limits and reached the boundaries within their simplicity.  Modern developers are constantly restricted by deadlines, technical requirements, and supporting the flash-media genre where every second of the game is interactive.

I.  The leveling system.

Metal Slime

Red Core

First and most importantly the game tells you exactly how much experience you need to your next level after every battle.  There was no running back to the first castle or using Gwaelin’s Love (which you earned 70% of the way through Dragon Warrior). The monsters give a good amount of experience for their difficulty throughout the game.  If you want to grind, you are always able to do so right outside your next destination. Lufia II has its share of metal slimes (high XP, low GP) called Cores.  Their run away is set to about 80%, and award thousands of XP (55,555 for an empty core).  Clearly there was a programmer with an affinity for numerology behind the scenes here.  There is also the classic “Monster Island” (Breath of Fire II Winter 94) where you can get some pretty unique items, hard battles, and tons of controlled XP.  In addition to your basic commands like Fight and Run, there is the IP system.  I can only guess that they are “item points” or something.  As you take damage your loadout can use the IP you gain to cast special abilities for no MP cost.  This means a clutch warrior with no magic can still throw out the occasional heal or your back row caster can wail for huge numbers too.  I don’t know the origin, but other games have also had items that could be cast in battle, but this is its own intricate system.

II. The dungeon system.

In every dungeon you can expect some puzzles that will really bend your mind if you don’t run away to the nearest gamefaq.  The dungeons use a variety of different tilesets and have interactive parts that keep the player in the game.  You can use bombs, arrows, a hookshot, and even an hourglass (if you get stuck) to blow up, switch, or fly across gaps in each labyrinth.  In the dungeons all enemies have animated sprites and there is no random battle system.  This said, almost every battle can be avoided and the player’s leisure.  This means healing when you have to heal, and running when your MP is low. You can stun enemies with your dungeon items to sneak by them in corridors, or to engage them from the rear to get first strike (much like Earthbound of Summer 94).  Conversely, if you are caught from behind you can expect some punishment from a monster first strike.  Maybe at the time, or even in the modern era you may come to a puzzle and think “What kind of maniacal baddy put this weird checkers puzzle in the middle of this dungeon,” but they are neither too simple nor too hard.  The solutions even reset once you leave the zone, which means you should either memorize the solution or write it down for later.  Most bombable walls stick out, but there is nothing more badass than a dungeon that recognizes the third dimension.  Can’t get across part of the map?  Easy.  Go downstairs and bomb some columns to bring the floor above down.  Stay classy, SNES.

III. The towns and townsfolk.

World Map

World Map

People in the towns are helpful.  Their dialogue changes depending on your progression in the game (minimally, but changes so).  If you can’t remember where you are supposed to go, you can ask everyone in town.  The game has the Warp spell, and tells how and when to use it, instead of expecting you to figure it out.  You can always warp to the bottommost town and check the meager number of houses for some information.  This is a really important aspect for me in RPG towns.  There are NOT 100 houses with NO signage that have NO purpose at all.  The houses in Lufia II are all either shops or quest/sidequest related.  Furthermore, the castles and bigger towns are bigger on the world map.  The smaller villages have fewer homes within.  Simplistic, yet realistic.

IV.  The story and the main quest.

This isn’t meant to be a spoiler guide, so I can’t reveal all of the plot twists and tragedies.  Towns get destroyed (like in Final Fantasy 2 (FF IV in Japan) Summer 91).  In Chrono Trigger there is a court trial, in Lufia II there is a wedding.  Party members die and get replaced.  The principal evil is constantly unnamed and changing.  There is a character arc.  Your characters actually change and develop over time.  The main character speaks (unlike Chrono) and as a third person omniscient, we see peoples’ thoughts.  (I had to included the plural of people because their are rival kingdoms and elves in the game.)  You need to build a boat, convert it into a submarine and explore at will.  Once again this adds a third dimension to an otherwise 2d game.  The game also has a cutesy/playful way of addressing the gender double-standard and sexuality.  You actually conceive the main character of Lufia I along your travels.  Weird.  Abandoned girlfriends start to miss you, and characters resurface as if they are actually experiencing emotions.

V. The world map.

Pieces of the world map are either passable by foot, impassable, passable by boat, passable by submarine, or passable by foot and submarine (a bridge between continents).  They really pushed the limits here, and the map grid is larger than average, but realistically sea-covered.  The later towns are creatively blocked by kingdoms controlling local shrines, or the mere lack of a ship.  Despite the hugeness of the map, the developers thought of everything that might come up.  Using the Warp spell takes your latest mode of transportation with you and you find it right outside the town.  Towns are listed in chronological order on your warp list.  You find that the overall construction of the game is pretty sensible because castles have warriors who are actually able to travel from place to place, while townspeople are too weak to battle the monsters.  The soldiers are too weak to face the greater evils so you actually liberate each country as you move across the world, tracking down the source of all the evil.  For the most part, people are willing to deal with it, but your party members’ excitement to continue the quest really motivates you to keep going.  Though, there is no harm in putting the controller down, or venturing off on some other task…

VI. Sidequesting – Casinos and Capsule Monsters.

Markou

CM

The in-game casino is pretty simple.  The machines are set to benefit the player over time (hurray!) but can take all of your coins.  You can buy coins and you can gamble with them.  You can play Blackjack, Slots, Action Bingo, and 5-card Stud.  This is almost as fun as Vegas Stakes (Summer 93) where you can play Roulette and Craps as well.  However, in Lufia II your winnings can be traded for rare/unique items.  Either way you handle your acquisitions, you’re looking at a grind.  Either get the gold to buy the coins, or gamble your fortune up by hitting “777” on a 100-coin slot… about a dozen times.  Capsule Monsters are NPCs that act as your 5th man in battle.  They don’t ever need to be resurrected, and cannot be intentionally healed.  They are either elemental or physical and you can swap them out whenever you aren’t in a battle.  They level like a member of the party, but they evolve by eating your items, old weapons, or magical fruit.  The gear that benefits them is divided into 3 tiers, each with a complex craving system.  The monsters have insatiable hunger for 96 bars of yumminess.  They can reach their final form if you give them their special fruit at the right time.  The fire monster does not want the fire fruit… weird.  Note: Pokémon Red and Blue (Gameboy 1996) Monster Rancher (Playstation 1997).

VII.  New Game Plus – The new game minus

Ancient Dungeon

New Game +

While this game predates Chrono Trigger by about a month, there is a fantastic feature that adds to your replay value.  There is the Ancient Dungeon which can be accessed midgame for tons of high-end loot, and also appears as a “mini”game after you complete the story.  Most people recognize New Game+ from Chrono Trigger, where the story resets, but you keep your weapons and levels.  Lufia II does the opposite.  The game gives you your four characters, 10 potions, and level 1.  That’s it.  You get thrown into a 99 floor randomly generated dungeon labyrinth with about 5 treasure chests and 8 monsters per level.  The chests contain all of the weapons, armor, items, and spells the game decides it is going to give you.  You cannot go upstairs.  Did I mention there are 99 floors?  This is no simple task.  It’s the rudiments of an RPG, a debug room fit for casual play, an all-nighter for the hardcorest of them all.  This game needs to come to next gen and have a leaderboard with clear times on it.

Needless to say, the game is huge.  But, the game is balanced, and not even buggy.  There are about six known bugs, but you aren’t going to overflow the memory with huge amounts of gold and experience (Sega Genesis RPGs).  The game is not overwhelming, not too engaging to where people are going to give up months of their life.  This would have been the ideal 40 dollar purchase on a shelf, or a sweet 3 dollar weekend rental to happen upon.  So what should I be looking for from a modern game if this game was such a huge hit for me two decades in a row?  This seems to be the ideal mixture of all of the best games on the market, with some individual advancement and a story that actually blends it all together.  There is an NPC in the casino (on Forfeit Island of all names) that is the ideal client for the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline, telling the player that he’s going to sell his boat so he can gamble some more.  The game was real… for a fantasy.  It’s almost a satire of other RPGs, trying to make up for their shortcomings across the years.  Games of this time, and all games after this used different graphic engines, and became more complex looking, but very limited to the player.  Shadows, shaders, collisions, and colors all improved vastly over the years and maybe we’ll be blessed again with a game once we hit the peak of profits on the current hardwares….