ClaudeLv250 said:
But every game in the series is pretty much an "overhaul" when compared back in forth between each one. Outside of the storyline, recurring characters, and staple gameplay elements. Lufia was pretty basic in the gameplay department for an RPG but Lufia II really ramped it up, throwing in ingenious puzzle elements to the dungeons and modernizing, and arguably perfecting the turn based battle system. The Legend Returns for the GBC severely toned down the puzzle elements and field actions in favor of randomized dungeon layouts and countless hidden rooms with treasures, and 9-character battle parties with the formation and IP rules. Ruins of Lore for the GBA went back to the Lufia II style but made the monster breeding a much larger part of the battles and added a class system for the main characters. Basically, Lufia changes itself up every chance it gets. |
I do not disagree with most of what you say here.
Combining quality puzzle-solving with an RPG system and a very nice story was what made Lufia 2 great. Lufia 2's puzzles often had a Zelda-ish feel to them (not surprising since Link to the Past came out 4 years prior), which for those of us fond of Zelda, was great.
The Legend Returns was a good game minus the random dungeon element. The battle system was a neat idea and one of the more unique ones among RPGs of its time (and arguably even today). The dungeon design made the game tedious though. Climbing through 15 levels where one is much the same as the last was uninteresting. I much prefered the style of Lufia 2 in that regard but your mileage may vary.
Ruins of Lore was... disappointing. It just didn't feel like Lufia. To me it emphasized the wrong elements in the game. I'd rather have a Lufia action/adventure game not a Lufia meets Pokemon game.
Regardless of the individual game mechanics, the story quality if not diversity among Lufia titles was impressive. The "big picture" often didn't change too often much akin to Princess Toadstool being kidnapped on every occasion, but the various takes on the theme were well done.
You're right about Lufia constantly overhauling itself (much akin to Final Fantasy once upon a time). Still, I think the jump from SNES/hand-held to mainstream console is a bit larger. Finding the right balance between new and old can be hard in that context. How much can you change before it's no longer Lufia?
Despite that, I'd actually like to see a different take on the series such as maybe playing as a Sinistral (Erim maybe?).
And yeah, a Lufia for the Wii would rock. I'd probably buy it...
