#43 - Lufia 2: Rise Of The Sinistrals

This one is a bit of an oddball compared to the rest of the SNES's JRPG lineup. Unlike other JRPGs, this isn't heavy on story. Unlike other JRPGs, most of the bosses may as well be enemies towards the end of the game. Unlike other JRPGs, the world is small, with one town per sector.

And yet, I can't put it down!

It's unlike a traditional JRPG at the time and what it does instead... works out pretty damn well regardless - unlike Earthbound, which just relied on humor to make itself worth a damn. Lufia 2 has some fairly light hearted dialogue that just sounds like people having real conversations (something JRPGs, even or probably even especially today, lack) spoken by characters that feel just right - they're good people, but not goody goody, nor are they angst ridden teens (keep in mind, this was before Final Fantasy 7 came out). These are characters you'll actually give a shit about. It's like Resonance Of Fate before Resonance Of Fate. Now if only it released within the same month as a main Final Fantasy game.

Lufia 2 just ends up being really addicting despite flimsy reasoning and shoehorned development. It's more about the cast and their merry adventures than about saving the world. I'm guessing the reason for that is because it's the prequel to Lufia 1, so no matter what would happen, it'll all end with us needing to play through Lufia 1 again just to finish the story, even though Lufia 1 is, at best, a mediocre game that's very *bleep*ing boring to play through. Not to mention, Lufia 2 touched up the battle system to make it actually pretty good, and the puzzles... holy shit, these are good. So yeah, not quite what you'd expect from the same era that brought you Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6, but it's still a pretty strong game.

Summary - A JRPG that defies tradition and kicks ass in its own way.
Rating - 8/10

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