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[Shouta]

They added 3 new characters on the official site, anyone know who they are?

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/est/


Is that something like a sphere grid?

Jimmy and Jamie. Jimmy was in the original but his partner was Tommy in that it seems. As I recall, they were minor characters. Changed it to a girl named Jamie this time and they adjusted Jessie, Guy's girl to Jessica to avoid confusion. Dude with the glasses is ever hateable asshole, Idura.

 

[Nemo]

Ah great, thank you! I actually thought Idura was pretty good as an evil middle man.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

Guy has more muscle mass, but isn't Dekar supposed to be stronger? Oh well, I still like the character design. I never beat either game. Maybe it's time I should pick those up again.

 

[Jazzem]

The character designs have grown on me somewhat Quite looking forward to this. It's just good to see another Lufia game!

 

[neo2046]

Trailer 02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rzyc3y3Rl8

 

[Nemo]

It looks cool, you just gotta shake the feeling of Lufia and pretend it's something else

 

[thestopsign]

The game looks great. I'm liking the looks of the puzzles, and it also looks very nice for a 3d DS game.

 

[Prime Blue]

You know something is off about the romanizations when they can't keep it consistent between two trailers for the same game.

...and they should have made Guy have a boyfriend, it being a "re-imagining" and all.

 

[callous]

This looks awesome.

 

[GaussTek]

Amazing! The gameplay reminds me a lot Ys

 

[B.K.]

Famitsu's reviewers gave it 7/8/7/8.

 

[jj984jj]

Famitsu's reviewers gave it 7/8/7/8.

Looks like S-E doesn't even want to buy the game a great score, super bomba confirmed.

 

[neo2046]

Famitsu's reviewers gave it 7/8/7/8.

low budget project -> no money to buy ad (not enough mag ad) at Famitsu
Famitsu: 7/8/7/8

 

[Kishgal]

Am I the only person here who's getting it? :\

 

[Mejilan]

Wow, this looks really nice. Just watched the second trailer.
I still cringe a little over the new character designs and the radical shift in gameplay (for a remake)...
But the music is fucking awesome (as expected), and the gameplay really does evoke a little bit of Ys here and there. The CGI vaguely reminds me of that used in the recent console Fire Emblems, of all things.

I have zero hope of this actually coming out here, but if it does, DAY ONE!

 

[Yoshichan]

Am I the only person here who's getting it? :\

I'm not only getting it, I'm buying a DS just for this.

 

[lucablight]

I understand that the producer of this game said turn based is old or something to that effect? Could he then explain the everlasting popularity of the Dragon quest series?

 

[Hours Left]

I understand that the producer of this game said turn based is old or something to that effect? Could he then explain the everlasting popularity of the Dragon quest series?

Something about it not being "fresh", but Action RPGs are hardly cutting edge either so I don't really get that comment.

Just trying to justify the departure I suppose...

 

[Shouta]

I understand that the producer of this game said turn based is old or something to that effect? Could he then explain the everlasting popularity of the Dragon quest series?

I think he said in the interviews that Action games are a lot more fresh to him and the team which is why they do games like that.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Fuck. Fuck it. I preordered this. What am I doing. Fuck.

 

[Kishgal]

Fuck. Fuck it. I preordered this. What am I doing. Fuck.

One of the recent Famitsu articles is what finally pushed me over the edge. The one that showed Lexis and the ancient cave and stuff, and then had two pages comparing it directly to Lufia 2.

I hope I'm not too disappointed.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Am I the only person here who's getting it? :\

I'd import if March weren't so stacked on the English side of things.

Looking forward to impressions however. I don't mind the gameplay change at all as the Ys/Zelda-ish look to it really interests me, so I'm just hoping it's fun.

 

[thetrin]

I was thinking about importing this, then I realized Infinite Space and Espgaluda 2 are hitting end of March. Sorry Lufia!

 

[Shouta]

Reviews in Famitsu seem to indicate some usability problems i.e. camera being a little difficult with angles at times, figuring out the proper route on the actual screen compared to the map, and a few things like that. Seems like the puzzles are still good and the game is fun to play on the whole.

There's an awesome spread for the game in Famitsu and it folds out into an awesome looking poster!

 

[slaughterking]

Am I the only person here who's getting it? :\

It depends on whether SE brings it over. I would definitely buy it with the lowest expectations possible and just for curiosity's sake. I want to see what they have done to daddy's Lufia. :I

 

[Nemo]

Reviews in Famitsu seem to indicate some usability problems i.e. camera being a little difficult with angles at times, figuring out the proper route on the actual screen compared to the map, and a few things like that. Seems like the puzzles are still good and the game is fun to play on the whole.

There's an awesome spread for the game in Famitsu and it folds out into an awesome looking poster!

What do they say about the story?

 

[Shouta]

What do they say about the story?

Not much, aside from the acting and the like is much improved. One person said that it'll feel a little odd for big fans of the original Lufia 2.

 

[Nemo]

So anyone in Japan get this yet?

Not much, aside from the acting and the like is much improved. One person said that it'll feel a little odd for big fans of the original Lufia 2.

What I expected, though I still feel hopeful about some sort of fanservice

 

[Shouta]

I have a copy but I haven't had a chance to dig into it. I'm going to try to soon though.

 

[Nemo]

Alright! Hope you can get some impressions going

 

[lucablight]

Any impressions yet?

Also the question has to be asked. Is this better or worse than Lufia II?

 

[Kobun Heat]

Yeah, what's up with this game?

I ordered it on Play-Asia a week before it came out and they never shipped it, now it's backordered. NCSX is out of stock. Did Square Enix send it to die? Does it deserve it? Should I cancel my order? Etc.

 

[kiryogi]

Yeah, what's up with this game?

I ordered it on Play-Asia a week before it came out and they never shipped it, now it's backordered. NCSX is out of stock. Did Square Enix send it to die? Does it deserve it? Should I cancel my order? Etc.

I was wondering this myself. I was gonna look into it and everyone was sold out. I'm guessing it under shipped. I'm not seeing much on gamefaqs either as it seems SE has more copy protection going on :lol

 

[Kobun Heat]

At least one person has to buy the game before it can be copied, so

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Also the question has to be asked. Is this better or worse than Lufia II?

I'm more interested in knowing if they're even similar enough for that comparison to be worthwhile.

At least one person has to buy the game before it can be copied, so

lol

 

[mutsu]

I did see a copy at my local store in Hong Kong. It was HK$410, so I passed and got Shiren 4 instead.

So, what that proves is, they did actually ship the game

 

[Willenium]

man... i really want them to bring this stateside. i love Lufia 2. LOVE IT. it's the only jrpg i kept for the SNES after my huge game purge a while back... all those nights in middle school when it first came out, staying up til 2AM getting as far as i could in that huge dungeon, or even just playing bingo.. God i love that game ;_;

 

[Nemo]

I listened to some remade tracks on YouTube, they're alright. Not great or anything, but still passable

 

[Shouta]

My friend wanted his copy back so I picked up my own today. Came with the CD too, yay!

 

[Shouta]

To save my ass a bit of time, here's what I wrote telling duckroll about the game, (just started).

<@Shouta> I just started it but it seems pretty nice
<@Shouta> I can see what the Famitsu folks were saying about the directions being a bit confusing
<duckroll> i dunno
<duckroll> why is the LoE/WinkySoft stuff an issue for OG anyway
<duckroll> they've always had Cybuster
<@Shouta> The orientation on the upper screen and the map aren't the same just from the first area
<@Shouta> so sometimes trying to use the map to find the proper path can be confusing because the orientation isn't the same
<@Shouta> can be a little confusing
<@Shouta> Combat seems ok so far, just tutorial stuff
<@Shouta> Y is slash, B is Jump, A is combat roll, X is Wave Arts
<@Shouta> R is charge
<@Shouta> Graphics are blocky as crap but that's to be expected of the DS
<@Shouta> They used a pretty zoomed out look in the starter area to avoid making you look at the characters that much lol
<@Shouta> Scale of the tutorial boss is big, I'm hoping the boss encounters are just as good as that
<duckroll> i saw the trailers
<duckroll> bosses all look cool
<@Shouta> Music remixes sound good compositionally but you know the DS hardware
<duckroll> haha
<@Shouta> VAing seems solid enough so far,
<@Shouta> Dekar needs more hothead
<@Shouta> hopefully he'll be a bit like that when he shows up in the story
<@Shouta> Lexis is a total old man now
<@Shouta> Story-wise, games starts off a bit differently
<@Shouta> Game begins with Gades broadcasting "We're dooming you, come and bring it you heroes with awesome powers"
<@Shouta> Maxim and Lexis are together at the beginning of the game on the ship
<@Shouta> Game has game over/level system they call Level Breaking
<@Shouta> If you game over you can apparently start right before you died with an extra 5 levels
<@Shouta> can choose to do it or not I think
<@Shouta> I guess it's their way of preventing situations where you're too underpowered and to help easy-going gamers

But yeah, structure of the story at the start of the game is a little different. Biggest change is Lexis being based on Elcid and Iris actually coming with Maxim at the end of the first dungeon. Tia's also a bit more crazy about Maxim this time around, hopefully it calms down a bit... The overall story content is the same so far it seems.

 

[Nemo]

Thanks dude. Storywise, I realize it's a retelling but the general idea is still the same right? All the towns, events (sans some changes like you said) are the same right? What about the world map? Is there even one?

 

[kiryogi]

On the spoiler side of things

Spoiler

Tia's leave is only temporary ! Take that Tia haters! Apparently Selena also lives until the very end unlike the original

 

[Shouta]

Thanks dude. Storywise, I realize it's a retelling but the general idea is still the same right? All the towns, events (sans some changes like you said) are the same right? What about the world map? Is there even one?

There are a ton of changes. A lot of smaller towns were removed and some of the events in those areas were condensed into other larger places.

Here's a list of changes off the top of my head. These are pretty big spoilers.

Spoiler

- Lexis lives in Elcid with Tia and Maxim. Considered a slightly odd person but is very famous in Parcelyte. Already is in possession of the Excerion and is constantly tweaking it. He's also significantly older than his Lufia 2 incarnation and more mad scientist looking.
- Sundletan, Camu, etc are all removed.
- Iris joins you as an NPC after your first meeting with her.
- Guy and Jessica live in Parcelyte along with Selan
- Parcelyte is a Republic with a President
- Idura is the one that kidnaps Jessica (whereas Camu kidnaps Hilda in the original) to trigger Guy joining the group.
- Jimmy and Jamie play a bigger part in the section that they are in than Jimmy and whatever he was.
- Parcelyte is destroyed twice thanks to Gades. Rich jackass from the Ruby Apple quest is the reason it can be rebuilt twice :lol
- Sequence and details of the event leading to fighting Gades prior to the time skip is a little different to add a bit to Selan/Maxim.
- Tia remains in the party after the timeskip, although she leaves much in the same way as Lufia 2, she gets over it and decides to help out when Maxim's son is kidnapped by Idura (and wtf at that name? Ralph?. I liked Jeros more).
- Gratze Kingdom is actually a town in the game.
- Leefa's flower quest is present in Gratze. Iris is the one that names the flower. Awesome move by the story planners.

That's as far as I am right now.

The developers did a goddamn fantastic job with the game so far. Dungeons are incredibly well designed and big. Considering the gameplay is entirely the action and platforming, they knocked it out of the park. Boss fights are very good and interesting when you get to ones that matter. Graphics are good (for the DS), dungeons look great, and the art design is fantastic. Combat system does the job nicely enough and they balanced it so you won't be mashing all the time. Characterization is tweaked a bit here and there as well which isn't too bad.

I think the biggest thing I like so far is that the developers are well aware of the changes they implemented and poke fun of it. An NPC comments about Dekar being awesome but goes on to say "But man that pink hair, aha." There were a few comments about Tia being an extra (particularly after the gang shows up after the timeskip). There are a couple of situations too where they show Iris and Tia not quite being the same as the rest of the party in a funny manner. A lot of the dialogue remains the same but there is some new stuff here.

Overall, I'm really impressed and I'm only 8 hours in. They definitely didn't half ass the game, that much is for sure.

 

[kiryogi]

I don't expect any less from Neverland. Everything you listed is what's expected of them. This is one of their main genres (With the other one being fantasy harvest moon.... :lol)

 

[Aru]

Too bad the game will surely not be released outside of Japan

I'm still waiting for Blood of Bahamut, Saga 2, 4WoL and Sigma Harmonics S-E !

 

[faridmon]

Too bad the game will surely not be released outside of Japan

I'm still waiting for Blood of Bahamut, Saga 2, 4WoL and Sigma Harmonics S-E !

m e too. Sigma Harmonix, i want you damn it.

 

[lucablight]

Just read this on gamefaqs. There are spoilers if you haven't played the original Lufia II.

Spoiler

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.

I'm a little disheartened after reading that. Any players current going through this have any comments on what that guy said?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Too bad the game will surely not be released outside of Japan

I'm still waiting for Blood of Bahamut, Saga 2, 4WoL and Sigma Harmonics S-E !

And the Nameless Game!

 

[Shouta]

Nostalgia tint, really big nostalgia tint.

Some of what the dude wrote is understandable to an extent, but a lot of it is "I wanted it to be this way and that"

As a huge Lufia 2 fan, this is a pretty good reimagining (though I haven't finished it yet), it isn't as good as the original just because of the different nature of the game but they kept the very essence of Lufia in it.

 

[lucablight]

I hear this game didn't sell very well in Japan. Anyone know what the reason for this could be? Is the Lufia series not very popular in Japan or is it possible that the public was turned off by the action from turn based to action rpg?

Also with the 4 warriors of light looking like it's heading over here anyone think there's a chance of this getting localised?