Lufia: The Legend Returns – Review

Intro: As the Game Boy Color was my first hanheld system, I have a deep love for the little machine which gave us new pokemon games, excellent LOZ (legend of zelda) classics, and many other great games. One place that the GBC was definitely not weak in was rpgs. Besides Pokemon, there were such titles as Dragon Warrior 1+2, Dragon Warrior 3, Magi Nation, Zelda: oracle of ages and seasons, and Crystalis, to name a few. Lufia: The Legend Returns is yet another rpg in the long list, yet it seperates itself from the crowd in several definitive ways. This game is the quintessence of handheld excellence in a-questing gameplay, and is just plain fun.

Graphics: 7/10- Well, after praising this games excellence, i decided to first get the bad stuff out of the way. Graphics-wise, this game isn't bad;while the graphics may seem a little blurry at times, the enemies are well-detailed, the towns look just like any other rpg town, the overworld looks like what you expect from any rpg basically ....it is the repitition in dungeons and battle screens which bother me. Because of the unique dungeon system in this game (detailed further in Gameplay section), you end up seeing the same dungeon graphics, over, and over, and over again in the dungeon. With the exception of the first and last room in the dungeon, all the other chambers are bland and uninteresting. However, they get the job done, so I can complain to much. Also, the battle graphics are rather lacking. Because this is a turn-based RPG, your characters are always at the bottom of the screen, trapped in little boxes which show their health, magic, etc. They don't leave these sterile looking boxes when they attack, but rather just strike from inside their little grid lines. Also, the character attacks themselves are rather bland and uninteresting for the most part, until you get some of the most powerful magics. Once again, however, the graphics may not be pretty in this area, but they get the job done. Besides, its not graphics that should make or break a game, and by and large, the graphics are pretty nice (though sometimes they feel a little more blurry than your average GBC game.

Sound: 9/10- There's not a whole lot bad to say about the music and sound affects in this game. They don't deter from the gameplay at all and some of the tunes can be kind of catchy, especially if you play this game for long periods of time. The sound affects and music sound very beepy, but that's just a trademark of the GBC era, so you should be able to forgive the bleeping choruses. The battle sound affects effectively give an idea of the power of an attack (critical or not), and for the most part sound pretty "realistic". The enemies' basic attacks usually consist of rather annoying a repetitive sound affects, but the farther you get in the game, the less you have to worry about it (enemies' strategies get more complex). All in all, music and sound help accentuate the mood of the game, despite the technology hinderence.

Story: 10/10- This game has an excellent story, perhaps the best in any portable rpg of the nineties. The game revolves around a young man named Wain, who lives in a small town where not much ever happens. One day however, a girl named Seena, a seer from the north, comes to his town, searching for help. Apparently, she has forseen that the Sinistrals (an evil group of gods who had caused plenty of trouble in previous Lufias) had been resurrected. Soon after Seena convinces Wain of the plight at hand, one of the sinistrals, Gades, attacks the home town, leaving a house in rubble. Wain and Seena go to the tower where Gades is residing, attempting to show him what for, but they are brushed aside. This begins a long quest which spans 4 continents. The simple breakdown is that Wain and party are trying to destroy the sinistrals, but the story gets much more complicated. People die, plot twists occur, and side quests appear. Throughout his journey, Wain will gather a group of over 10 warriors to fight at his side (large for a GBC game), each of which has a reason for joining, as well as a story which you might be able to piece together. Yes, a couple of the characters aren't that deep, but many of them feel real. A true epic, even if the gameplay stunk, any rpg fan would love the game's story.

Gameplay: 9/10- Lufia has several interesting gameplay conventions. One of these is the random dungeon layout. Every dungeon you enter changes each time you enter it again, making each dungeon all that more difficult. It provides excellent replay value, but doesn't lend itself to puzzling dungeons. It can get boring because all you have to do is run through a level; you don't have to worry about solving puzzles. Another interesting gameplay mechanic is that of the ancient scrolls. Ancient Scrolls are items that you can find in dungeons and towns which will teach your characters new moves. To learn these moves, your character must have enough of a certain color/colors attribute. There are four color attributes, and each character is naturally of one of the colors. So, how do you teach characters new moves if it takes 20 blue and 20 green, and your character has only one natural attribute, say yellow. You're characters share attribute points horizontally and vertically, in a 3x3 grid. This grid is used in battle, and also in looking at your different characters. So, if the guy below you has 20 blue, and the guy to the right of you has 20 green, then you end up with attributes in blue, green, and yellow (your original attribute). If it sounds complicated, its not as bad as it may seem. However, it does provide for a lot of tinkering and customizibility. These ancient texts do not use magic (magic attacks do this), but rather infuriarating points, or IP. These point build up as you get hurt, and after you have enough points, you can unleash your attack. Its kind of like limit breaks in FFVII, except you get a lot more choices, and many ancient texts take only one hit to have enough point to use. Other than these new gameplay mechanics, the game plays just like any other rpg you know. You can have a maximum of 9 people in a battle at a time, only 3 of which can attack per turn (one per column). [There is an exception to this about a 25 percent or so through the game, in which you get a character which you cannot direcltly control, but who will sometimes attack for you.] You walk around an overworld map, leveling up by fighting enemies. You eventually get a boat, and then a flying ship......pretty much your tried-and-true RPG formula, which works just about perfectly. The only downers would be the lack of puzzles in dungeons, as well as the complexity of the Ancient Scrolls system (although hardcore gamers would enjoy it).

Replay Value: 9/10- As far as play value goes for this game, its great for an rpg, especially a GBC rpg. 30+ hours of gameplay on your first playthrough will make you think that there's nothing left, but don't be fooled. There are a few side quests, one of which will unlock a secret character, as well as a mini "game" (different from mini-game). This mini game, basically a huge dungeon which when you enter it, you are reverted back to level 1, is great for replay value. (after leaving the dungeon, you return to your previous level) Unfortunatly, there isn't a whole lot to incite you to play the whole game over again. Still, its a great game that you can still play after you've beaten it.

Bottom Line: 9/10- Definitely one of the best GBC games I've ever had the privelige of playing. While there are some minor issues with the game (boring dungeon graphics, lack of puzzling gameplay, etc.) on the whole, this game is excellent adventure-fare worthy of just about anyones time. Its only about 10 bucks used, so pick it up sometime if you run accross it.