Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - Super Nintendo

I have played both Lufia and the Fortress of Doom and Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals and let me tell you, it's the best RPG game I have played since Final Fantasy 4 and 6, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger. This game is much like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest where you get to use tools like arrow, hookshot, bomb, to get through dungeons like caves, towers, temples. However, you can't pick your characters as they can join and leave your party much like Final Fantasy 4 on SNES so sadly you can't keep your best character like Dekar.

Anyways this game is a prequel to Lufia and the Fortress of Doom and it's much more improved, your main character Maxim can run around everywhere in towns on the world map and in dungeons which is a nice feature compared to the slow walking in Final Fantasy 4, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Paladins Quest or in Lufia and the Fortress of Doom where your hero only runs in towns but walks slow on the world map and in dungeons.

It starts off with Maxim going on a journey with Tia and later on you meet Guy, Selan. You also get to meet the strongest fighter Dekar who sadly will leave your party, Also Lexus the engineer scientist who I didn't really like was thankfully replaced with Arty the elf archer. I like the spells of Maxim, Selan, and Arty especially the Firebird, Ice Valk, Thunder Dragon and Zap spells. Also, I like that you have limit break IP points that builds up every time your character gets hit and you can use special limit breaks from rings or rocks or shields or even swords like the Gades Blade which hits the enemy 8 times. Also, you can have your capsule monster join your party like Flash who you can't control what it does, but it can randomly heal your party or randomly fight the enemies. I was surprised there was some exposed bare bottoms from the Capsule Monster like Flash as Cupid and Zeppy as Fishhead which got past the Nintendo Censorship. Also, some churches in the ruined town of Gordovan features a church cross which also got past the Nintendo Censorship.

I also like that in the game once you win the game, you get to have Retry Mode which gives you 4 times the experience points and gold which makes the game less grindy. Also, the ancient cave dungeon is much harder than the final boss Dao which can be frustrating especially how grindy it is and also items are randomized especially Providence an escape item. Also, the blue treasure chests contain random weapons or armor, or shields, or rings. One of the red chests can give you 1 of the 7 Iris treasures. Also, the Jelly Juggernaut in basement 99 is an Iris treasure but sadly you don't get rewarded for it other than the 8 Iris Treasures being on display. The Casinos in this game at Forfeit Island like blackjack, slot machine, Bingo gambling games aren't really worth your time as you can just grind for 4 times gold in retry mode and buy the coins instead for prizes.

This game has some graphical glitches like in the Submarine shire and in Ancient Cave basement 99 but it's not a deal breaker as you can still continue with your game.

Anyways I enjoy the music, the random and fixed encounter battles, the sprite artwork, the best opening and the story and the dungeon puzzles which is the best part of the game. Sadly, this game does have a sad ending after you win the game which I won't spoil, you'll have to play it for yourself.

In conclusion I highly recommend this SNES RPG game Lufia Prequel, I would advise Lufia fans play this prequel SNES game first before you play the SNES sequel Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. Yes, this SNES cartridge RPG game is expensive and can be hard on people's wallets and money cards but it's worth your money and time. You can get the more affordable reproduction copy if it's too expensive. But if you want the one with the original official SNES cartridge board. I highly recommend you get this RPG game and Lufia and the Fortress of Doom to play on your SNES. This Lufia game should've been on the SNES mini which was sadly left out. Buy this SNES game it's worth it.