I really dislike how they removed about 50% of the original's game content. Some of the revamped scenes were pretty stupid.
Dekar's "death" especially. Plus, they removed the "my love is my sword" scene, which pissed me off.
And I really hate how there was only 10 or so locations. What I loved about the original was that there was plenty of different dungeons, each with their own "vibe". When I hear the tower music, I would go "oh snap, this is going to be a long one." Or the dungeon music "CRAP, instant-death enemies.
"
With this...I don't know. The puzzles were really just platforming. With Lufia 2, the puzzles WERE the gameplay. The entire time you're playing Lufia, you're solving puzzles. Each room will have a puzzle, and they're moderately easy. Then you'll go and find yourself a ridiculously difficult puzzle which acts like a boss, sort of. Not only that, the puzzles were REALLY clever and tricky, unlike with Estpolis, its just picking up an item at point A and carrying it to point B.
The sinistrals...were a turn off. To be honest, I like their designs better in the original. They looked like a gigantic, majestic force and they had a sort of a super-powerful aura about them. With this...they just looked like zombies.
And what I loved about fighting Gades the second time in the original, was that it three of the strongest MEN were going to fight against the strongest MAN in an all out MANLY WAR. That was definitely my favorite moment in Lufia II.
And they really didn't focus a whole lot on Guy or Tia's unbreakable love for Maxim. Well, maybe they did, but they did a poor job at it. I didn't felt my heart sinking at all at the end when Tia was crying. Maybe because they didn't use the same music cue as they did in the original. AND WHERE IS HILDA!? I particularly liked Guy's affection for his sister, fleshed him out a bit more.
Also, weapons were...not fun. In the original, there was LOADS of weapons, and LOADS of spells. With this, there's like 1 set of weapons for each town. And there are only 5 towns...wtf?
And the ancient cave...was surprisingly fun. However, it doesn't have the same vibe as Lufia II's dungeon. For starters, there is that limited amount of weapons and armor. The rooms...are identical. Not cool. And its EXTREMELY EASY with Dekar. In fact, I think they made Dekar's character JUST to tackle the Ancient Cave.
AND WHERE ARE MY TOWER OF TRUTH, MERMAIDS, DRAGON MOUNTAIN, CAPSULES, ETC!!?!!?!??
They did, however, made Artea's backstory better. Though I thought it was stupid dragging the elf chick around every city...Oh, and did I mention, almost all of the scenes are incredibly cheesy?
Especially when the crew snuck behind Indura and rescued Jeros...
Yea. Estpolis is no where near the greatness of Lufia II in content, and in story.
It is fun though, and if you're new the series, you might want to pick this up. However, if you're looking for a great remake of the original series, you're sure out of luck.
I understand that Estpolis: The Lands Cursed by the Gods (stupid name, too) is a re-imagining, not a remake. But the scenes that they attempted to "re-imagine" were a lot worst than those in the original.
Iris' identity was revealed WAY to early. I thought how they kept her a mysterious throughout the game was really cool. It made me want to know much more about her and kept it interesting. Now, they made her some random bum that travels with the group. Sure, it may strengthen the bond between Iris and co, but it sacrificed that cool, mystique nature of hers.
Dekars comeback was just stupid. Period.
I mean...letting us know he's alive? THEN having him save Maxim's ass? That's just...stupid.
In the original, we were left knowing little about what happened to Dekar, and presumed that basically died. But when he returned right before the final confrontation of the Sinistrals...oh baby did I jump in pure epicness. That was an extra level of badass that the remake just didn't follow up on. Plus "I forgot how to miss" was a classic line.
I guess maybe I'm just really disappointed that they didn't stay true to the original series as much as they could have. They are two different games, but the scenes portrayed in the original had so much more impact and meaning than in the remake, that it's hard to just accept how they essentially "stupified" the series.
But it does have its good points. Combat is fun, though a bit too easy, characters are pretty cliche but colorful, and I enjoyed seeing more personality out of the characters through their character portraits.