It still amazes me just how different Lufia 1 and 2 are. The sequel fixes every complaint I'd had with the original. PS. Loved your illustrations in this episode, nice personal touch there. ;)
Two of the best things about Lufia.... one, indeed, the sound as you mentioned. And two, the challenge. Bosses make you THINK about what you're doing and you need to plan ahead or you will die horribly. And the Battle System? It doesn't "Randomly" give you the opportunity to input attacks, and there's nothing "Random" about when your character carries it out. Ever notice that there's a "Weight" stat in each character's stats? I would hazard a guess that this stat affects how long it takes you to get a turn (wouldn't be surprised if this is also combined with the agility stat too). When you input a command, I would hazard a guess that each command has a set time that it takes until your character executes that command. Think of Final Fantasy 10, only without the handy little thing on the side displaying who goes when. I think Lufia is probably one of the first games to ever use a system like this, only it doesn't TELL you with a fancy gauge or graphic. Shadow Hearts 2 and 3 used similar "Turn Priority" systems as it's called in those games. As for the fetch-questy nature of the storyline, well obviously, you'd pick out the most egregious part of the game and talk like it is like how the whole game is (it isn't). As someone else in the comments have mentioned, the 7 pieces of Alumine part is the only part like this, other than perhaps the bridge repair (also mentioned below). Most of the rest of the game is pretty straight-forward, you arrive at a town, you help whoever is there with a problem, you move on to the next town. It flows better than you make it sound. And I'd rather have something like this, than a linear game like todays' JRPGs.... where you just go from town to town, no backtracking, no side-paths, no variance whatsoever. Once you got "done" with a town, you never need to see it again, yadda yadda. Not to mention, today's JRPGs are so easy that you nearly fall asleep while playing it because nothing poses a threat to you except for (insert overpowered optional boss here that is so far off the beaten path, that it sometimes takes grinding or blind luck to stumble upon it without the use of a strategy guide).
This is my favorite game of all time. I just bought a NES/SNES game console and start playing it now. I also bought Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy I, and The Secret of Mana. It’s going to be fun reliving my childhood.
I got this game after playing a lot of RPGs, in a bundle with Breath of Fire 1 and 2, in a time when these kind of games were hard to find in my town. Yeah, the first thing that got me was the battle mechanics, It was weird at first but after a while i started to love it. While in others RPGs you mash the same button to attack, here you need to plan every turn and get to know your party very well. Thing is, this game get a bad rep these days because you just have options everywhere, you dont need to dig and go miles away to find a good RPG. Try this one with an open mind and im sure you will be surprised.
I am struck by the similarities between the character Lufia and Luna from Lunar: SSS. Both are magical blue-haired girls with mysterious pasts whose names both begin with "Lu" and are both key to the plot.
This is a pretty spot on review. While I did manage to beat the game when I was a kid, it took me forever because I kept getting so bored with it due to the tedium and seeming to just go on forever. I sat down the summer before my senior year of high school and powered my way through it, but because I had been dragging it out and avoiding it for so long, all I remember is I liked the graphic style, the music was good, and it had a Final Fantasy 1 style combat system (you attack nothing if enemy is killed before a characters turn comes up).
Even today this game gives me a run for it when I play. This is a die-hard grinder rpg where doing the work pays off major by the end. And the story, even though it can be a bit wordy, is poignant. Love this.
Lufia & The Fortress of Doom was the first RPG I'd ever played. A story driven adventure game involving narrative, interpersonal relationships, awesome music, tragedy, recovery, and growth was all entirely new to me... AND IT WAS MIND SHATTERING. It instantly made RPGs my favorite game genre for the rest of my life. I will never forget this game and I will always treasure it.
I remember playing this one as a kid and getting frustrated with the battle system. Not being able to fully control my actions was annoying. But even still, this is a game that I want to go back and revisit now that I'm in a better mindset to play it. Can't get enough of them RPG's all around. ;) Good review!
I actually played this before Lufia 2 came out back in the day. I liked it, and when I read in magazines that a sequel was coming out, I had it pre-ordered. The sequel (or technically prequel) as you could probably imagine, exceeded all expectations. Nowadays? I still like Lufia 1 for the dialogue and story. But the gameplay did not age that well. Still though, I think it's underrated.
I've always been passively interested in Lufia. Everyone raves about the sequel but no one talks about the first game. Well, I see why now, thanks for the great review Derek!
This review makes me sad. Lufia is one of my favorite games. Honestly one of the best I've played. There are only two instances I can think of where you have to back track or do extra quests to get the reward. The aluminum hunt, which you mention in the video, and the bridge sequence, where you need to watch them build the bridge. All the other quests go along with the story. They either shed light onto something that helps you get to the Sinistrals, or helps you learn how to defeat them. Also... I've played many RPGs, as I'm sure you have as well. You always have to grind and do extra quest. Doesn't make the game bad... Good video nonetheless. Don't agree with the review... But good vid.
Lufia 2 is one of my 10 favourite games and I'm planning to play it again as soon as finish Lunar series. Do you think I should play Lufia 1 first, or can I play it after Lufia 2 ?
Max Johnson i agree about the encounter, played in on emulator and OH MY, the only thing that drives me to beat this game is lufia 2,and i think the ending kinda worth it(for a fan though)
Nick Mathias - it’s okay, I had some difficulty with this game in my wee years, I’m sure if I gave it a go again I’m certain I’ll still find Lufia 2 as the superior game
You can check the order in battle by looking at their AGL score which is agility. You can manipulate their order with equipment. Make sure you buy resurrection spells as soon as they’re available. Lufia 2 is a prequel so play that first. It’s also a very good game without the frustrating fetch quests of the first game. Lufia is a good series but there’s so many good jrpg on the SNES that it often gets overlooked. An excellent review as always. Super dereks reviews are by far the best on RUclips. Thankyou super derek
Earthbound is my favorite game of all time, and Lufia II is my second favorite game of all time... but I don't think I'll ever replay Lufia I again. Just way too tedious and uninteresting compared to the sequel/prequel. Although when I did play this as a kid, the beginning (the ending of Lufia II) was the first time a video game made me cry, so it has that going for it.
I think that's the reason I liked it so much as a kid, I loved grinding back then. Now I find it tedious. I think if you like old school you'll like it, Lufia 2 makes a lot of improvements but the bosses I find are too easy.
I just LOVE the way you tell us your little personal stories with the titles, Derek! Like this one, a teenager looking for "something similar to Earthbound"😁. It' s great. Because we all have lived similar situations... And by the way, Derek. You know how to play an RPG. You got a romantic and deep soul.
Oh man, this was a rough one to watch. Lufia 1 was the very first RPG I ever considered "my own" after sharing a handful with my brother, mostly just watching him play, I got interested in the genre and found this myslef at a rental place and later ended up owning it. It's far from the greatest RPG on the system but it has such charming visuals (little touches like the characters' cute victory animations touched my heart), a pretty great soundtrack IMO (one of my favorite random battle themes ever which makes the grinding much more bearable to me) and all the fun little charcter interactions with the speech bubble message format. I know it's ultimately more or less a Dragon Quest 2 clone from an era where most JRPGs worth their salt were going above and beyond to define themselves as more than just that, when a sea of them had come out in the preceding years, but this game had just enough 'heart' to it, I feel, that it stuck out and I've always loved it. Of course, if I'd played Earthbound first, yeah, this would probably have been a much, much harder sell... I didn't play that 'till years later and it's an absolute masterpiece lol, which takes all that 'heart and charm' Lufia has and multiplies it by about a thousandfold... but still, I love this grindy, fetch-questy little game. And of course, Lufia 2 is THE BOMB. And for what it's worth, I LOVED the ending to this game.. it's strongly bitter-sweet, and if you experienced it for the first time when you were a young kid that was EXTREMELY sentimental it would've thrown you for a loop. Though, of course, again, Earthbound's ending is literally one of the greatest of all time, so I kinda get it...
I certainly approached this game with some bias -- I think this was my 4th review ever? Some day I might give it a fairer shot. I definitely can't wait to try Lufia 2 though! :)
Awesome video as always man! I really loved the opening and i think we can all say back in the day we had similar experiences. One that comes to my mind was when for my birthday i baught a 2nd hand Snes Super Scope and like three games for it and it blew my mind!! About 10 years after that, the wii was spawned using similar tech. But beleave me as a kid of about 8 all i wanted to do on the car ride home was rip it out the box. Ahh Nostalgia is amazing, Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
I have beat this game years ago. Absolutely loved this game and wish they would remake it or release it on either 3DS or Wii virtual console. I bought Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Breath of Fire and now just waiting for this game.
I actually really enjoyed this game, but I can easily understand why you wouldn't. It reminded me of Lagoon. Basic, nothing really special, but I still had a lot of fun playing through it. And yes, I ground through the whole game. Lufia's theme, though, is still a fantastic piece of music.
Ahh Lufia... sounds like you had a very similar experience as I did. I probably paid $40 for this game used way back in '96. Back then you just picked up whatever RPG you could actually find. I did manage to beat this game shortly after I bought it but I have never managed a play through since. One thing I did really like was the sound effect when you killed an enemy, that was perfect.
I clearly loved the story more than you.. I always loved the fact that both are working togther to bring one big story. It's amazing in retrospect that the beginning section of Lufia is the end section of Lufia 2! I adore the characters, I think the graphics are amazing in both games. I just love bright fun looking games :) I also LIKE the fact that each section of town/dungeons are like an episode of a tv show, more fucused on short-term goals, it feels like there is a lot of mini stories that all combines to the bigger one. Also having interactions with the Sinistrals all over the game instead of just at them end is so much fun!!! Lufia 1&2 are in my top RPGs of all-time with Chrono, Suikoden 2, FF4-6
Hey, I usually can't stand these sorts of reviews, but you were very clear, very well spoken, and on-point throughout the entire thing. Nicely done, man. This was helpful.
Interesting. I grew up with Lufia 2 and loved it (still got my in-box copy~) but I always wondered about this one. I don't know if I'd want to play it after watching this, because the one thing that can kill a game for me is monotony. If it's endless fetch-questing, as you say, with little substance to it? That's kind of disappointing to hear, but, it was also one of their first rpgs, if not the first one, and they only grew from there. Thanks for the video review! Looking forward to new stuff!
Yeah, it's surprising how Neverland was able to come up with such a superior followup to Lufia 1. Chronologically, it's continues the story after the end of Lufia 2, which is why I think that you *might* still enjoy it if you're already a fan of the Lufia series. Lufia 1 has a surprising twist that I think fans of Lufia 2 could really enjoy, but then I've never played Lufia 2. But when I get my hands on it, I'll be sure to make a follow-up review. :)
I always put Lufia in the front line with Maxim's descendant! I know Lufia II is great but Lufia I has it's own charm, and you really fall in love with the characters and the game over all. I've played it thousands of times and I never get bored. Also, Lufia The Ruins of Lore is very addicting! I just love Eldin, he's so cute!
Hm,. I think you were expecting too much from an earlier SNES RPG like Lufia, especially right after playing the likes of Earthbound. Lufia offers up great 16-bit music, graphics, cool legendary weapons, and huge boss sprites which are satisfying to kill. The story did have touching moments and the music does stick with you, making it nostalgic for me. In other words, had you played it earlier in the SNES lifespan, you may have been more forgiving.
SuperDerek, you are a great reviewer! I had a question for you: Do you own all your SNES games on cartridge or do you also use ROMS? If cartridge's, where did you buy all your SNES games? Thanks man.
Thanks bud! Everything I review, I play on official hardware. Some PS1 games I played on PS3 for the HDMI output, but I own all of the games I play and review. :)
It's a great game! Beat the game when I was 14 or 15, and it was just awesome. Yes, it's hard, like FFII or Pstar II... but for me, those were good times...
I played both this game, Lufia II, and the one on the game boy. In my mind, Lufia II is the best of the series. It has better combat, a more interesting story, and zelda-like puzzles in the dungeons. It is so much better than the first game.
I love the soundtrack of this game as much as the sequel. All of these older games with random monster encounters are tedious anyway so you might as well use the fast forward function of your emulator. Most of us as we grow older really don't have time to spend 50hrs grinding random encounters anyway.
This game was also released in europe. i know because as a child i finished both part 1 and 2, always living in the netherlands. Just never got to finish the endless dungeon once :(.
Square needs to do something with this is already, since they've been Taitos mother company for AGES NOW it seems. 😁 2 was my favorite. Just started playing ruins of lore here recently, never had a GBA back in the day when it came out. And I'm surprised that it took you so long to finish such a master piece.
ElReyVision You mean Lufia and the curse of the Sinistrals? My advice, pass. I'm currently playing it and it's a bare bones of an RPG. The characters are all tropes, as in you get your romantically oblivious main generic hero, the jealous childhood and childish girl with insistent attitude, a hammer wielding meathead who isn't too bright, the uptight military woman with tragic backstory, the side character out of touch priestess, an eccentric side character genius, and the only fun one so far is the kinda ditzy powerhouse male that likes being good at everything. I don't have all the characters yet but I feel like I'm over halfway through the game already and the ditz is the most fun while the first girl you meet is the most annoying. The villains are generic and flat with the two options of 'I'm evil because I'm destroying the world' and 'I'm a powerful, insane, and evil wizard' they're bland as anything. Then there are the two Team Rocket clone thieves, only somehow more obnoxious. Gameplay wise, the controls don't have the sensitivity they should and getting characters to perform an action can feel clunky during combat, I've been experiencing issues where the graphics slow down and one instance where the sound glitched out of sync between the two speakers. The story is very simplified, predictable, and you're basically going from one event to the next in rapid succession because you already start with fast travel, so you're not even walking the world and stopping in small towns for items or to rest at an inn because the game doesn't have inns. The puzzles are...okay, they're not head scratchers by any means but they can be fun now and then. There isn't any real world building going on, like some things are explained but not to any real depth, i.e. one of the towns you visit gets destroyed twice and after beating the big bad again and returning to that same town, with basically no pause in between story wise, the town is completely restored. Um, wot? I have to assume it's some kind of magitech at work because that is never explained except that the obscenely rich guy hires builders from all over to fix things, there is no sense of time progression whatsoever. The combat system is not turn based, which is a plus, but it has this annoying overkill mechanic where you beat up the monster after it's already down to get some extra swag, including soul stones which you trade for special items, but many times characters have been too slow to hit the stupid things before they disappear, stuck in a combo move after knocking the body out of reach, or you're fighting on tiny platforms that result in the monster getting knocked off. On top of that it's easy for characters to be knocked on their asses resulting in Skyrim levels of wait time as they get up and get hit continuously, this is especially true if you're attempting a charge attack which are slow at powering up. Music is good and the kind of rpg music you remember and there are probably many familiar tunes from the series you've heard before. So, yeah, sorry for the long reply but you won't be missing anything if you pass this title by.
Yea, I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone unless they REALLY loved the story in Lufia 2. Ironically, I recommend playing Lufia 2 before Lufia 1, since Lufia 2 is a prequel. It will also get you more invested in the characters, and believe me, you'll need that added character context as motivation for some of Lufia 1's long-winded quests.
I loved Lucia, and enjoyed it, although I never got to finishing it 😅 because I was playing my gamecube and ps1 most of the time instead 😅🤣😂 I would love for them to bring them to the Nintendo switch...
I really loved this game!, I understand your point about it though. But this game for has many things that i miss about rpg's, specially getting stuck with a curse weapon, that luck sword sure brings back some fun memories.
for some reason emulators dont seem to work for me on IMac. Wish it did cause i thought this game was excellent and so wish i was able to play part 2 as well
See I hardly remember Lufia 1. I played it when it first came out so I was decently young. I don't remember hating it. I DO remember thinking it was cool playing the descendant of the legendary hero. But after all the reviews I've seen bashing it for reasons that I would greatly dislike it now, I can't see how I enjoyed it. Lufia 2 was masterful though and it does stick in my memory.
so recently I beat Fortress of Doom, pretty good RPG to be honest but the problem is how stiff it felt, really if it had the same mechanics as the second game which is far supperior it would be a classic on the level of its sequel prequel
I'm at the Alumuni quest currently, cave after cave after cave. I just with the game would end already. There is hardly any inkling of a story at all and random encounter rates are just to much at times.
Hah i remember the games you got with it were pretty cool and i had a Yoshi Game... Yoshi's Adventure or island i really don't remember the name but they were just generic on rails shooters. Their was one that was kind of like Time Crisis that was pretty cool too hah. For me its nostalgic however i imagine the reality is it sucks. Don't ruin it for me or ill cry! :P
Enjoyed Lufia 2 much more than the first one but the problem was Lufia 1 has a MAJOR spoiler for Lufia 2 right at the very beginning of the game.. My advice, skip Lufia 1 and just play 2.
I'm keeping my eyes out for a copy of Lufia II, especially now that you say it's tied with Terrangima for your favorite. That's gotta be one of the best compliments you can give a game. :)
It certainly doesn't look as good as terranigma but the music and the story and just the general feel of the game is equal. At least it is to me. And that ending...... it still gets me to this day.
Loved Lufia, I couldn't pass on this game the RPGs that came out on the Super Nintendo were far and few between game releases Considering I was waiting for another Dragon Quest game that never came out on the Super NES
I've always wanted to play this series but never picked it up. It's tough to justify the current prices for the SNES games. Also, for those who are not aware, Neverland annoint recently that it is bankrupt and will be closing its doors.
Yeah, I heard about that... It's really too bad because I really did enjoy the Rune Factory series. I was hoping to make a short video talking about it but haven't made the time just yet. The prices of these games are pretty outrageous, but for what it's worth I've heard a LOT of really good things about the Gameboy Color game, which is considerably cheaper, though I can't vouch for it myself. :)
Six months or so I tried to played this and felt it was quite bloated as well. I was enjoying the game at the start and never really disliked it either but got bored and just stopped playing after 15 hours or so. I was still thinking I might go back to it but this review does not instill much confidence that it's worth the effort. lol
Interesting, I really loved the first game and was frustrated and bored with the second back in the day :) This one is actually still a favorite. To each their own I guess. I beat it back when ^^
There are TONS of great games I haven't covered yet, but each of those games are on the horizon! Except for Crusaders of Centy, which I might need to take out a bank loan to afford! :-P
Well said. This was the first JRPG I ever finished and it killed interest in the whole genre for me. The game feels like meaningless grinding between rare scraps of dialog, in the end I just wanted it to be over.
ElBribri I've tried Chrono Trigger and a few FFs, they just don't really grab me. I do like old-school MS-DOS CRPGs and have finished several, so I guess I like the idea and story and graphics of JRPGs but not really the gameplay.
but why, Chrono Trigger is a good choice for peoplenot used to it since it allows several cominations during figths, battle system isnt that bad, think of it as tactical....C'mon we all love RPGs
ElBribri I actually loved the part of CT which I have played, but I get to the Guru of Time and just lose interest. I've done this several times. I don't mean to disparage the games, indeed I find may aspects of JRPGs captivating, they just don't hold my interest as strongly as some other games do. I've put Earthbound next in my To Play list so I'll give JRPGs a go again :)
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It still amazes me just how different Lufia 1 and 2 are. The sequel fixes every complaint I'd had with the original. PS. Loved your illustrations in this episode, nice personal touch there. ;)
Thanks Daria! I've got the ol' art skills on standby if I ever really need to get conceptual again in another review, like I did in Rogue Galaxy. xD
@@SuperDerek 2 quick questions, do I keep the secret map. I just started and am thinking it might be useful at some point. Also, how about the crown.
Once you beat it, does it have the replay option where you get 4 times the experience and gold as it had this option in Lufia II?
its not sequel, its prequel.
NERD ALERT!
I remember my sister saying, "It feels like all I do in this game is run errands for people!" 😂
It's not Final Fantasy, but it's still a game and a series well worth experiencing.
I highly recommend the GBC entry. I played through that game maybe 5 times; it's pretty damn good.
Two of the best things about Lufia.... one, indeed, the sound as you mentioned. And two, the challenge. Bosses make you THINK about what you're doing and you need to plan ahead or you will die horribly. And the Battle System? It doesn't "Randomly" give you the opportunity to input attacks, and there's nothing "Random" about when your character carries it out. Ever notice that there's a "Weight" stat in each character's stats? I would hazard a guess that this stat affects how long it takes you to get a turn (wouldn't be surprised if this is also combined with the agility stat too). When you input a command, I would hazard a guess that each command has a set time that it takes until your character executes that command. Think of Final Fantasy 10, only without the handy little thing on the side displaying who goes when. I think Lufia is probably one of the first games to ever use a system like this, only it doesn't TELL you with a fancy gauge or graphic. Shadow Hearts 2 and 3 used similar "Turn Priority" systems as it's called in those games.
As for the fetch-questy nature of the storyline, well obviously, you'd pick out the most egregious part of the game and talk like it is like how the whole game is (it isn't). As someone else in the comments have mentioned, the 7 pieces of Alumine part is the only part like this, other than perhaps the bridge repair (also mentioned below). Most of the rest of the game is pretty straight-forward, you arrive at a town, you help whoever is there with a problem, you move on to the next town. It flows better than you make it sound.
And I'd rather have something like this, than a linear game like todays' JRPGs.... where you just go from town to town, no backtracking, no side-paths, no variance whatsoever. Once you got "done" with a town, you never need to see it again, yadda yadda. Not to mention, today's JRPGs are so easy that you nearly fall asleep while playing it because nothing poses a threat to you except for (insert overpowered optional boss here that is so far off the beaten path, that it sometimes takes grinding or blind luck to stumble upon it without the use of a strategy guide).
This is my favorite game of all time. I just bought a NES/SNES game console and start playing it now. I also bought Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy I, and The Secret of Mana. It’s going to be fun reliving my childhood.
I got this game after playing a lot of RPGs, in a bundle with Breath of Fire 1 and 2, in a time when these kind of games were hard to find in my town. Yeah, the first thing that got me was the battle mechanics, It was weird at first but after a while i started to love it. While in others RPGs you mash the same button to attack, here you need to plan every turn and get to know your party very well.
Thing is, this game get a bad rep these days because you just have options everywhere, you dont need to dig and go miles away to find a good RPG. Try this one with an open mind and im sure you will be surprised.
I am struck by the similarities between the character Lufia and Luna from Lunar: SSS. Both are magical blue-haired girls with mysterious pasts whose names both begin with "Lu" and are both key to the plot.
This game is a throwback to the DQ series. I remember renting this game and loving it so much I kept rerenting and finishing it again and again.
This is a pretty spot on review. While I did manage to beat the game when I was a kid, it took me forever because I kept getting so bored with it due to the tedium and seeming to just go on forever. I sat down the summer before my senior year of high school and powered my way through it, but because I had been dragging it out and avoiding it for so long, all I remember is I liked the graphic style, the music was good, and it had a Final Fantasy 1 style combat system (you attack nothing if enemy is killed before a characters turn comes up).
Even today this game gives me a run for it when I play. This is a die-hard grinder rpg where doing the work pays off major by the end. And the story, even though it can be a bit wordy, is poignant. Love this.
The second game starts out tough but gets easier and easier as you play. I assume it’s the same here
I love Lufia and the Fortress of Doom.
Lufia & The Fortress of Doom was the first RPG I'd ever played. A story driven adventure game involving narrative, interpersonal relationships, awesome music, tragedy, recovery, and growth was all entirely new to me... AND IT WAS MIND SHATTERING. It instantly made RPGs my favorite game genre for the rest of my life.
I will never forget this game and I will always treasure it.
I remember playing this one as a kid and getting frustrated with the battle system. Not being able to fully control my actions was annoying. But even still, this is a game that I want to go back and revisit now that I'm in a better mindset to play it. Can't get enough of them RPG's all around. ;) Good review!
I actually played this before Lufia 2 came out back in the day. I liked it, and when I read in magazines that a sequel was coming out, I had it pre-ordered. The sequel (or technically prequel) as you could probably imagine, exceeded all expectations.
Nowadays? I still like Lufia 1 for the dialogue and story. But the gameplay did not age that well. Still though, I think it's underrated.
I've always been passively interested in Lufia. Everyone raves about the sequel but no one talks about the first game. Well, I see why now, thanks for the great review Derek!
I found this game to be endearing. Both the characters and the world they live in were charming. The encounter rate was over the top though.
This review makes me sad. Lufia is one of my favorite games. Honestly one of the best I've played.
There are only two instances I can think of where you have to back track or do extra quests to get the reward. The aluminum hunt, which you mention in the video, and the bridge sequence, where you need to watch them build the bridge. All the other quests go along with the story. They either shed light onto something that helps you get to the Sinistrals, or helps you learn how to defeat them.
Also... I've played many RPGs, as I'm sure you have as well. You always have to grind and do extra quest. Doesn't make the game bad...
Good video nonetheless. Don't agree with the review... But good vid.
Lufia 2 is one of my 10 favourite games and I'm planning to play it again as soon as finish Lunar series. Do you think I should play Lufia 1 first, or can I play it after Lufia 2 ?
Max Johnson i agree about the encounter, played in on emulator and OH MY, the only thing that drives me to beat this game is lufia 2,and i think the ending kinda worth it(for a fan though)
Nick Mathias I'm with you I loved this game. Everything he says about it is right but as a kid I don't see anything wrong with it
Nick Mathias - it’s okay, I had some difficulty with this game in my wee years, I’m sure if I gave it a go again I’m certain I’ll still find Lufia 2 as the superior game
Chaser - I agree with you Chaser
You can check the order in battle by looking at their AGL score which is agility. You can manipulate their order with equipment. Make sure you buy resurrection spells as soon as they’re available. Lufia 2 is a prequel so play that first. It’s also a very good game without the frustrating fetch quests of the first game. Lufia is a good series but there’s so many good jrpg on the SNES that it often gets overlooked. An excellent review as always. Super dereks reviews are by far the best on RUclips. Thankyou super derek
Earthbound is my favorite game of all time, and Lufia II is my second favorite game of all time... but I don't think I'll ever replay Lufia I again. Just way too tedious and uninteresting compared to the sequel/prequel.
Although when I did play this as a kid, the beginning (the ending of Lufia II) was the first time a video game made me cry, so it has that going for it.
QD - I agree with you
Yeah the ending to Lufia 2 was pretty tough for me. I’m hoping the prequel is a little happier
I think that's the reason I liked it so much as a kid, I loved grinding back then. Now I find it tedious. I think if you like old school you'll like it, Lufia 2 makes a lot of improvements but the bosses I find are too easy.
the music in Lufia atfod still stucks in my head....and plus, it was my first ever rpg I ever played, so it holds a special place in my heart.
One of the best intros I've ever seen.
I just LOVE the way you tell us your little personal stories with the titles, Derek! Like this one, a teenager looking for "something similar to Earthbound"😁. It' s great. Because we all have lived similar situations...
And by the way, Derek. You know how to play an RPG. You got a romantic and deep soul.
First thing you need to do in order to survive Lufia 1 ,Play Lufia 2 and finish it. :D
Oh man, this was a rough one to watch. Lufia 1 was the very first RPG I ever considered "my own" after sharing a handful with my brother, mostly just watching him play, I got interested in the genre and found this myslef at a rental place and later ended up owning it. It's far from the greatest RPG on the system but it has such charming visuals (little touches like the characters' cute victory animations touched my heart), a pretty great soundtrack IMO (one of my favorite random battle themes ever which makes the grinding much more bearable to me) and all the fun little charcter interactions with the speech bubble message format. I know it's ultimately more or less a Dragon Quest 2 clone from an era where most JRPGs worth their salt were going above and beyond to define themselves as more than just that, when a sea of them had come out in the preceding years, but this game had just enough 'heart' to it, I feel, that it stuck out and I've always loved it.
Of course, if I'd played Earthbound first, yeah, this would probably have been a much, much harder sell... I didn't play that 'till years later and it's an absolute masterpiece lol, which takes all that 'heart and charm' Lufia has and multiplies it by about a thousandfold... but still, I love this grindy, fetch-questy little game. And of course, Lufia 2 is THE BOMB. And for what it's worth, I LOVED the ending to this game.. it's strongly bitter-sweet, and if you experienced it for the first time when you were a young kid that was EXTREMELY sentimental it would've thrown you for a loop. Though, of course, again, Earthbound's ending is literally one of the greatest of all time, so I kinda get it...
I certainly approached this game with some bias -- I think this was my 4th review ever? Some day I might give it a fairer shot. I definitely can't wait to try Lufia 2 though! :)
Awesome video as always man! I really loved the opening and i think we can all say back in the day we had similar experiences. One that comes to my mind was when for my birthday i baught a 2nd hand Snes Super Scope and like three games for it and it blew my mind!!
About 10 years after that, the wii was spawned using similar tech. But beleave me as a kid of about 8 all i wanted to do on the car ride home was rip it out the box. Ahh Nostalgia is amazing, Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
That ending song... reminds me a bit of the old NES Kid Icarus Game.
I have this game and Lufia II for 7 years....still haven't finished either of them. But i love em!
I have beat this game years ago. Absolutely loved this game and wish they would remake it or release it on either 3DS or Wii virtual console. I bought Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Breath of Fire and now just waiting for this game.
I actually really enjoyed this game, but I can easily understand why you wouldn't. It reminded me of Lagoon. Basic, nothing really special, but I still had a lot of fun playing through it. And yes, I ground through the whole game.
Lufia's theme, though, is still a fantastic piece of music.
hey man it would be great if you could review the sequel: Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals :) it is my fav. game!
nice channel btw
Its prequel not sequel
Ahh Lufia... sounds like you had a very similar experience as I did. I probably paid $40 for this game used way back in '96. Back then you just picked up whatever RPG you could actually find. I did manage to beat this game shortly after I bought it but I have never managed a play through since.
One thing I did really like was the sound effect when you killed an enemy, that was perfect.
I clearly loved the story more than you.. I always loved the fact that both are working togther to bring one big story. It's amazing in retrospect that the beginning section of Lufia is the end section of Lufia 2! I adore the characters, I think the graphics are amazing in both games. I just love bright fun looking games :) I also LIKE the fact that each section of town/dungeons are like an episode of a tv show, more fucused on short-term goals, it feels like there is a lot of mini stories that all combines to the bigger one. Also having interactions with the Sinistrals all over the game instead of just at them end is so much fun!!! Lufia 1&2 are in my top RPGs of all-time with Chrono, Suikoden 2, FF4-6
Was also released PAL Austrailia
I thought this was a good game! 8/10!
I like the fact that you edited the gameplay on your TV
Hey, I usually can't stand these sorts of reviews, but you were very clear, very well spoken, and on-point throughout the entire thing. Nicely done, man. This was helpful.
Wow, that's a heck of a complement, thanks! :)
Interesting. I grew up with Lufia 2 and loved it (still got my in-box copy~) but I always wondered about this one. I don't know if I'd want to play it after watching this, because the one thing that can kill a game for me is monotony. If it's endless fetch-questing, as you say, with little substance to it? That's kind of disappointing to hear, but, it was also one of their first rpgs, if not the first one, and they only grew from there.
Thanks for the video review! Looking forward to new stuff!
Yeah, it's surprising how Neverland was able to come up with such a superior followup to Lufia 1. Chronologically, it's continues the story after the end of Lufia 2, which is why I think that you *might* still enjoy it if you're already a fan of the Lufia series. Lufia 1 has a surprising twist that I think fans of Lufia 2 could really enjoy, but then I've never played Lufia 2. But when I get my hands on it, I'll be sure to make a follow-up review. :)
I always put Lufia in the front line with Maxim's descendant!
I know Lufia II is great but Lufia I has it's own charm, and you really fall in love with the characters and the game over all.
I've played it thousands of times and I never get bored.
Also, Lufia The Ruins of Lore is very addicting! I just love Eldin, he's so cute!
That intro got me really nostalgic. I had the exact same experience with Final Fantasy XII.
Love Lufia and the Fortress of Doom! and great video Derek! ^>^ (Matt)
Hm,. I think you were expecting too much from an earlier SNES RPG like Lufia, especially right after playing the likes of Earthbound. Lufia offers up great 16-bit music, graphics, cool legendary weapons, and huge boss sprites which are satisfying to kill. The story did have touching moments and the music does stick with you, making it nostalgic for me. In other words, had you played it earlier in the SNES lifespan, you may have been more forgiving.
I agree
Where did you find that art in your thumbnail?
Beatemups sent me here, nice review! Just subbed
no Lufia II review? :
Not yet! Just picked up a copy not long ago, it's definitely on my list. :)
Came for the Game Quest, but stayed for the awesome review.
I remember playing and finishing this game in the early 90's. It was a great game imo.
Ive finished Lufia 2 and I’m tempted to play Lufia but the fetch quests do sound annoying. I’d be interested in you’re opinion as whether I should
Thanks a ton dude, it means a lot ! :) I've still gotta get a Super Scope, what are the best games for it that you've played?
a bit disappointing. lufia underwhelmed me in a lot of ways.
SuperDerek, you are a great reviewer! I had a question for you: Do you own all your SNES games on cartridge or do you also use ROMS? If cartridge's, where did you buy all your SNES games?
Thanks man.
Thanks bud! Everything I review, I play on official hardware. Some PS1 games I played on PS3 for the HDMI output, but I own all of the games I play and review. :)
It's a great game! Beat the game when I was 14 or 15, and it was just awesome. Yes, it's hard, like FFII or Pstar II... but for me, those were good times...
i knew it! there is an overlay on the TV. looks convincing but why not have the game running?
Hey thanks Sushi King! Wood is definitely one awesome dude! Thanks for subscribing, I'll try not to let you down! :)
Another job well done Derek.
Beatemups brought me here. I really need to start playing some snes rpgs. I haven't played a really rpg since final fantasy 8 lol.
I played both this game, Lufia II, and the one on the game boy. In my mind, Lufia II is the best of the series. It has better combat, a more interesting story, and zelda-like puzzles in the dungeons. It is so much better than the first game.
Music here is something serious...
Remains in your mind forever
I love the soundtrack of this game as much as the sequel.
All of these older games with random monster encounters are tedious anyway so you might as well use the fast forward function of your emulator. Most of us as we grow older really don't have time to spend 50hrs grinding random encounters anyway.
Beatemups sent me here haha, good video haha!!
Yeah, the guys over at BeatEmUps are great! Thanks for subbing, I'll try not to let you down! :D
I loved this game as a kid. I actually beat 1 and 2 way back in the day.
This game was also released in europe. i know because as a child i finished both part 1 and 2, always living in the netherlands. Just never got to finish the endless dungeon once :(.
Square needs to do something with this is already, since they've been Taitos mother company for AGES NOW it seems. 😁
2 was my favorite. Just started playing ruins of lore here recently, never had a GBA back in the day when it came out. And I'm surprised that it took you so long to finish such a master piece.
Damn, your spoiler free explanation is so freaking accurate.
I always wanted to try lufia. I remember there being a GBA title. Would you recommend it?
ElReyVision
You mean Lufia and the curse of the Sinistrals? My advice, pass. I'm currently playing it and it's a bare bones of an RPG. The characters are all tropes, as in you get your romantically oblivious main generic hero, the jealous childhood and childish girl with insistent attitude, a hammer wielding meathead who isn't too bright, the uptight military woman with tragic backstory, the side character out of touch priestess, an eccentric side character genius, and the only fun one so far is the kinda ditzy powerhouse male that likes being good at everything. I don't have all the characters yet but I feel like I'm over halfway through the game already and the ditz is the most fun while the first girl you meet is the most annoying. The villains are generic and flat with the two options of 'I'm evil because I'm destroying the world' and 'I'm a powerful, insane, and evil wizard' they're bland as anything. Then there are the two Team Rocket clone thieves, only somehow more obnoxious.
Gameplay wise, the controls don't have the sensitivity they should and getting characters to perform an action can feel clunky during combat, I've been experiencing issues where the graphics slow down and one instance where the sound glitched out of sync between the two speakers. The story is very simplified, predictable, and you're basically going from one event to the next in rapid succession because you already start with fast travel, so you're not even walking the world and stopping in small towns for items or to rest at an inn because the game doesn't have inns. The puzzles are...okay, they're not head scratchers by any means but they can be fun now and then. There isn't any real world building going on, like some things are explained but not to any real depth, i.e. one of the towns you visit gets destroyed twice and after beating the big bad again and returning to that same town, with basically no pause in between story wise, the town is completely restored. Um, wot? I have to assume it's some kind of magitech at work because that is never explained except that the obscenely rich guy hires builders from all over to fix things, there is no sense of time progression whatsoever. The combat system is not turn based, which is a plus, but it has this annoying overkill mechanic where you beat up the monster after it's already down to get some extra swag, including soul stones which you trade for special items, but many times characters have been too slow to hit the stupid things before they disappear, stuck in a combo move after knocking the body out of reach, or you're fighting on tiny platforms that result in the monster getting knocked off. On top of that it's easy for characters to be knocked on their asses resulting in Skyrim levels of wait time as they get up and get hit continuously, this is especially true if you're attempting a charge attack which are slow at powering up. Music is good and the kind of rpg music you remember and there are probably many familiar tunes from the series you've heard before.
So, yeah, sorry for the long reply but you won't be missing anything if you pass this title by.
I had issues with completing it too, but it was worth it to me. Mostly because I finally finished it.
Yea, I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone unless they REALLY loved the story in Lufia 2. Ironically, I recommend playing Lufia 2 before Lufia 1, since Lufia 2 is a prequel. It will also get you more invested in the characters, and believe me, you'll need that added character context as motivation for some of Lufia 1's long-winded quests.
I played Lufia 2 till all Heroes in Group and all capsul monsters are at lv. 99 ^^ i loved this games as kid so prety much ^^
I remember I was 8 in 1993 and seeing this game for same, behind locked glass, for $100.
lufia 2 is way way better
I loved Lucia, and enjoyed it, although I never got to finishing it 😅 because I was playing my gamecube and ps1 most of the time instead 😅🤣😂 I would love for them to bring them to the Nintendo switch...
This game was awesome. All 5 Lufia games are.
I really ought to revisit the series sometime soon... :)
i love the second Game. We never got the first Game over here. I wish someday i will be able to get a copy.
Yeah, I know what you mean! It feels like I've been waiting 15 years for this! XD
Yo, it's time to follow this up with 2
I really loved this game!, I understand your point about it though. But this game for has many things that i miss about rpg's, specially getting stuck with a curse weapon, that luck sword sure brings back some fun memories.
i love the game so much, and the love story inside.. i couldnt find it anywhere but finally found it for the emulater
for some reason emulators dont seem to work for me on IMac. Wish it did cause i thought this game was excellent and so wish i was able to play part 2 as well
See I hardly remember Lufia 1. I played it when it first came out so I was decently young. I don't remember hating it. I DO remember thinking it was cool playing the descendant of the legendary hero. But after all the reviews I've seen bashing it for reasons that I would greatly dislike it now, I can't see how I enjoyed it. Lufia 2 was masterful though and it does stick in my memory.
Sell between 30 and 40....ah Lufia 2 those were the days
I still have my original Lufia 2 game
I tried playing Lufia once.
ONCE.
Great review ! Leftover Culture Review sent me here !
Awesome! Bruiser is one heck of a guy! :)
so recently I beat Fortress of Doom, pretty good RPG to be honest but the problem is how stiff it felt, really if it had the same mechanics as the second game which is far supperior it would be a classic on the level of its sequel prequel
I'm at the Alumuni quest currently, cave after cave after cave. I just with the game would end already. There is hardly any inkling of a story at all and random encounter rates are just to much at times.
That's exactly what killed my fun during my playthrough as well. I wish you luck!
Hah i remember the games you got with it were pretty cool and i had a Yoshi Game... Yoshi's Adventure or island i really don't remember the name but they were just generic on rails shooters. Their was one that was kind of like Time Crisis that was pretty cool too hah.
For me its nostalgic however i imagine the reality is it sucks. Don't ruin it for me or ill cry! :P
This game is basicaly a generic Dragon Quest clone for people outside of Japan. Lufia 2 however is one the greatest RPG masterpiece of all time.
Enjoyed Lufia 2 much more than the first one but the problem was Lufia 1 has a MAJOR spoiler for Lufia 2 right at the very beginning of the game.. My advice, skip Lufia 1 and just play 2.
Mate review some Tales games
We never got this game :( we just Lufia 2 as Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals. Damn i love Lufia 2.... Easily the best game for me on the SNES.
I'm keeping my eyes out for a copy of Lufia II, especially now that you say it's tied with Terrangima for your favorite. That's gotta be one of the best compliments you can give a game. :)
It certainly doesn't look as good as terranigma but the music and the story and just the general feel of the game is equal. At least it is to me. And that ending...... it still gets me to this day.
Wow! Lufia and the fortress of doom is difficult? I considered myself as stupid, yet, I found Lufia 1 to be relatively easy.
yeeeah beat em ups sent me here lol
Loved Lufia, I couldn't pass on this game the RPGs that came out on the Super Nintendo were far and few between game releases Considering I was waiting for another Dragon Quest game that never came out on the Super NES
I've always wanted to play this series but never picked it up. It's tough to justify the current prices for the SNES games.
Also, for those who are not aware, Neverland annoint recently that it is bankrupt and will be closing its doors.
Yeah, I heard about that... It's really too bad because I really did enjoy the Rune Factory series. I was hoping to make a short video talking about it but haven't made the time just yet.
The prices of these games are pretty outrageous, but for what it's worth I've heard a LOT of really good things about the Gameboy Color game, which is considerably cheaper, though I can't vouch for it myself. :)
Six months or so I tried to played this and felt it was quite bloated as well. I was enjoying the game at the start and never really disliked it either but got bored and just stopped playing after 15 hours or so. I was still thinking I might go back to it but this review does not instill much confidence that it's worth the effort. lol
Interesting, I really loved the first game and was frustrated and bored with the second back in the day :) This one is actually still a favorite. To each their own I guess. I beat it back when ^^
I can't seem to find your star ocean or secret of evermore reviews...and where's tales
of destiny?...xenogears...crusaders of centy...I'll wait.
There are TONS of great games I haven't covered yet, but each of those games are on the horizon! Except for Crusaders of Centy, which I might need to take out a bank loan to afford! :-P
I enjoyed it
Well said. This was the first JRPG I ever finished and it killed interest in the whole genre for me. The game feels like meaningless grinding between rare scraps of dialog, in the end I just wanted it to be over.
but tell us, did you try any other rpg afterwards?
ElBribri I've tried Chrono Trigger and a few FFs, they just don't really grab me. I do like old-school MS-DOS CRPGs and have finished several, so I guess I like the idea and story and graphics of JRPGs but not really the gameplay.
but why, Chrono Trigger is a good choice for peoplenot used to it since it allows several cominations during figths, battle system isnt that bad, think of it as tactical....C'mon we all love RPGs
ElBribri I actually loved the part of CT which I have played, but I get to the Guru of Time and just lose interest. I've done this several times. I don't mean to disparage the games, indeed I find may aspects of JRPGs captivating, they just don't hold my interest as strongly as some other games do. I've put Earthbound next in my To Play list so I'll give JRPGs a go again :)