Monday, October 13, 2014

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals #2 - Yestermorrow

Today on Lufia II, I take a relatively in-depth look at Alunze Kingdom, as our heroes join forces with a fearsome Spooge Elemental to take on a puzzle-filled dungeon. I say in-depth because I'll be covering this game in a more thorough nature than the sum-ups I did of the first game.



 I like how both characters turn to face the person you're talking to. Usually in these games everyone just faces straight forward like zombies while the lead interacts with people.

Also...no, we're just friends. That's right, Tia is TRAPPED IN THE FRIENDZONE!

I stumble upon some oddly-named woods. The hell is a Foomy?

 ...this is. He/she/it is a capsule monster. Why are they called that? Are they kept in capsules? Hell if I know. This gives me an extra party member on the battlefield, though I can't see them while walking around or on the menu. That must be when they're in their pokeballs capsules. Also, can't control them by issuing commands. So basically, it's like adding an Umaro to the end of the group.

 Foomy is a rarely-seen Spooge Elemental. What? It doesn't specify what the hell he's supposed to be.

I immediately go out into the world and get into brawls with insects. Foomy does moderate amounts of damage; more than Tia, less than Maxim.

My only real clues as to what to do next come from people talking about some Abel guy. Who is Abel, and why does everyone care so much about what he's doing? Seems like every other person in this town wants to tell me what they heard Abel is doing today. Bunch of gossip-whores.

The King is about to do a ceremony to show off his shiny new crown when some guards come in and reveal the crown to be... A PHONY. They take it away to start the investigation of what happened to the real crown.

 ...but wait! Those aren't guards at all! They're...

 ...Berty and his goon. Long before Berty was known the world over as Sheamus' nickname for Alberto Del Rio, it was a Lufia II thing.

 Berty then proceeds to walk out of the room with the crown...the REAL crown, as it turns out...while no one in the room does anything to stop him.

The people here continue to do nothing, howling about how someone needs to get the crown back while stuffing their faces with cheetoes.

 "I think they were black!"

"I think they were Middle-Eastern!"

Man, not only are the people of this kingdom wildly incompetent, they're also racists.

The bandits slipped past another guard without a fight, as he was sleeping. Yep.

In the basement I find one of the usable-while-walking items of the game. This lets you blow up (certain) walls, making this game even MORE like a Zelda.

Block puzzle time! This one is much easier than it looks, and requires lining up all of the colors in rows of three or more.

 I neatly finish up this room, and it's on to...

...the bandits! Give it up, ya brigands!

After the bad guys flush themselves down the sewer (There's something wrong with the people in this kingdom, in general) our heroes retrieve the crown and return it without incident. I try to leave the castle to go pawn it somewhere and become an outlaw, but this isn't open-world and I can't go Renegade. That said, a choice IS on the way...

...as I get to decide what I want for a reward. If you say you want money, you get...

 ...the largest cash reward, a semi-whopping 2K.

Ask for the Princess and you get glared at by Tia while the King says this. Oddly, the princess has nothing to say.

Ohhh myyy.

I think I just figured out why Alunze doesn't seem to have a queen.

More people going on about this Abel guy. This time it seems he actually did something, as he made off with a key that these shrine-folk need. So he's a controversial, rambunctious scamp?

Tia explains female nether-regions to Maxim. Why are they all complicated, anyway?

 The sexually-frustrated Tia is NEVER going to have kids with Maxim at this rate. Go on, Tia, keep being a Nice Guy. See where it gets you! Or you could man up, grab Maxim by the lapel, and...

Indeed.

After saving Abel (who turns out to be a nondescript little kid... no idea why people were acting like tabloids about him earlier) from another cave, our heroes find the boss who has the key.

Quick Man Regal Goblin puts up a solid fight, but my levels are above-normal at this point so I'm never in much danger of losing. The Beta Female was sadly offed late in the cave and I didn't want to use my one Miracle on her. I'm just... I'm just not that into you, Tia.

At this point I've amassed a full equipment screen worth of items with IP abilities. They're basically limit break moves. They use a certain amount of IP, which you get more of when you take damage. Some of these are very useful, like doing 50% more damage that turn. Gotta say, this is probably the coolest implementation of limit breaks that I've seen.

That's another quest done. I skimmed over that last cave, but it was the longest dungeon yet. Just a massive puzzle-fest, with puzzles that actually interweaved with other puzzles by opening passages in other parts of the dungeon. It was quite an involved expedition, reminded me of some of the dungeons in Elder Scrolls Arena. It showed me that I better have some time set aside every time I have to tackle a dungeon in this game.

Women in this game! Always making references to their gender and the gender of men!

Old men in Japanese RPGs! Always making references to their age!

 Well-rested, our heroes venture out from the town again. Now showered and freshly masturbated, Tia can blitz enemy groups with a RAIN OF FIRE. Her spells don't do as much damage as Maxim's physical attacks, but she can target groups.

Yeah, okay kid.

Oh, that's right, it's time to introduce the third character and the second of the Four Heroes.

Guy is the Aguro of the game. He's a strong tank with zero spell ability. Time will tell if he becomes the core of my offense in this game the way Aguro did, but it's more likely that he'll split that role with the very offense-minded Maxim.

Just when Guy and Maxim are about to duel, trouble strikes! Guy freezes in mid-air in response.

Here's the bastardly Camu, a wannabe Sinistral.



Camu sics his goons on us and runs off. I don't know if this game really has "rows" like FF games do, but just in case, I need to switch Guy and Tia around ASAP.

Looks like my next goal is this local tower. Camu fled there to escape our heroes, and he thinks he's safe. Oh ho ho ho.

Next time on Lufia II: Maxim, Guy, Tia, and Foomy the Spooge Monster do battle with the nefarious Camu. Will they prevail? And will Tia finally get Maxim into her pants?

Also, Maxim finds himself face-to-douchebag with Gades, Sinistral of Destruction. Next time, on Lufia II!


Other Lufia II Posts

Other Lufia Series Games

2 comments:

  1. Hey now, those thieves had bombs! ...man, chasing them was one of the worst parts of Lufia DS.

    While asking for the King is hilarious, the actual largest cash reward comes from asking for nothing. I can't remember which between Princess or King gives you less though. I think one is 1000 and the other is 500.

    Quick Man, LOL

    Lufia II is never going to have a proper Fight Club with all of these monster distractions.

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  2. Both characters turning toward the NPC -is- a very nice and personal touch.

    The hell is a Foomy?! I have FOND memories of Foomy!

    I greatly appreciate Berty's audacity. I'm glad we got that on tape.

    That choice was rad, especially the king's fairly-open-to-it answer. The guards were inept in an amusing way, too.

    The puzzles in the dungeons were lots of fun for me; they really added to the game.

    IP rulz too! Why didn't more games use this model? The gameplay is really a step up from the first-generation PSX titles.

    "Women in this game! Always making references to their gender and the gender of men!" Hahahaha that's a great line.
    I forgot you meet Guy by helping a family member of his. That's real sweet.

    Old people in real life always make age references when talking to young people too! At least here in Asia.

    "Now showered and-" #AnotherJerClassic

    Guy really freezes in mid-air? That's great animation.
    I remember Camu. You're right, this guy sucks! Glad you got to bust out that GIF again.

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