A look back at: Lufia: The Ruins of Lore

 

Finally I close out an RPG franchise, well, it's not one of the more famous ones, but I highly rate Lufia 2 and there's not much else to really say about it other than its great. Every other game though? Either average to mediocre (this and The Legend Returns) or bad (first game). So it's kinda hard for me to say what I really think of The Ruins of Lore. The story is easy to forget, because there's a lot to actually do in the game away from the story you just sort of forget what you're doing at times. Bringing in a job system and making it Final Fantasy-like with regards to skill learning seems great, but then I have to battle an awful lot just to get the skills or to master the job. The magic oriented ones, specifically the bishop, seem to take 500 battles to just master. And you really want specific skills like Fury, Chance Hit, Divine Ray, Heal All, and Valor, so you'd be spending some time grinding.

Frankly though the game does feel relatively easy to compensate. Enemies tend to not have a lot of health, and that goes for the whole game. A good hit-all skill can win most battles. And even better, it's incredibly easy to surprise most enemies, since all you gotta do is attack them where they don't look. Only some fixed encounters can't be done this way, but there does exist the Tear Gas skill for those who are either tired of the encounters or doesn't want to fight any.

Not only does the game take a page from Final Fantasy, but a page from Pokemon too. Now you can actually capture monsters with "discs" which work best when they are weak, but some of these guys can't even be captured. Plus there's a few sidequests early on in the Ancient Cave, plus equipment for the monsters you catch and use in battle. Oh and speaking of, I never bothered with the Ancient Cave again. I especially don't like the idea of going in solo (although you can capture a monster to bring) as well as the possibility of losing the items you bring when you lose in there.

The game's plot is helping this priestess stop the beast, while a familiar nation invades everyone. Although of course, that nation is run under the actual bad guy who deposed of the good in it of course. I hate how Eldin is a silent protagonist, as the series has never actually had one throughout and it feels weird to see ellipses in places or other characters talking for him. I do appreciate the little tools each character uses on the field. Other than that, mostly cookie-cutter stuff, with a few homages like Dekar and the locations brightening up my mood a bit.