Lufia: The Legend Returns takes place 100 years after Lufia and the Fortress of Doom... but does it live up to the series?
I'll begin with the rant. RPGs are famous for great storylines, great characters, and great dungeons... Lufia: The Legend Returns is missing one of these things. Great dungeons. The game presents you with a series of randomly generated dungeons. Instead of having to look around designed buildings solving hard puzzles, you are running around corridors and square rooms avoiding monsters, and trying to find some stairs on every level. The dungeons will bore you after a short while.
Luckily, the dungeons are the only thing I don't like about Lufia: The Legend Returns. Everything else is great: everything else lives up to the Lufia series - including the story. The story starts off simply enough, but develops into something powerful, with a shocking plot twist at the end. Pure Lufia.
The battle system is very unique - never has arranging battle positions been so important. Characters at the front of the 3x3 grid do more damage, but receive more - people at the bottom do less damage, but receive less. Only one person from each column can attack each turn.
The world map is full of surprises. Yes, there are random battles, but there are also four huge continents and several secret islands. Once you get suitable transport, you can go anywhere you want.
Graphics: 9.5 / 10
Your party is thrown into a bright, colourful world, typical of the Lufia series.
Sound: 9.5 / 10
Like all the other Lufia games, the music is superb. You'll never forget some of the tunes in it.
Gameplay: 8.0 / 10
Hmmm... an excellent battle system... but random dungeons aren't too clever. However, if you're a fan of the Ancient Cave, you'll find plenty of fun in the dungeons.
Lifespan: 8.0 / 10
The main story is quite long, involving plenty of training, dungeons, interacting, and searching. After all that, go back for some more action in the Ancient Cave.
OVERALL: 9.0 / 10
This game has such a brilliant story... it would almost be perfect were it not for those dungeons. Personally, I preferred the human-crafted dungeons in Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals to the randomly generated ones in this game. The dungeons spoilt what would've been a near-perfect gaming experience for me.
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