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Lufia: The Ruins of Lore (JP) is a role-playing game developed by Atelier Double and published by Taito in Japan in 2002 and by Atlus a year later in North America. It is the fourth title in the Lufia series of games and was released as a "gaiden", or side story, to the main series; as a result, it does not feature many elements common to the rest of the series, such as the Sinistrals and the Dual Blade.
Gameplay[]
Much like the rest of the Lufia series, The Ruins of Lore plays like a typical role-playing game, where the player must advance through several scenarios and navigate dangerous dungeons, fighting enemies along the way. Unlike typical computer RPGs, the battles are not random, and the monsters are displayed in the dungeon itself along with the characters. Combat only ensues when they come in contact with each other.
Winning battles grants the player experience points which go toward gaining levels, making the characters stronger in the process, and just like Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, several monsters (called "Disc Monsters" in this title and caught in battle in a similar manner to Pokémon) can be captured instead of slain and used to fight with the party. The monsters can be fused with Eldin, Torma or Rami for three turns in combat once a character's Installation Points ("IP") reach their maximum. These points are visible by a gauge just beneath the characters hit points and ability points, and fill up when they are hit by an enemy. In the new merged state, the player loses control of the character but gains two abilities. The first ability is invincibility: while the character is merged with a monster, the character cannot sustain damage or receive status ailments in any way. The second is a special attack (depending on which form the character is using) that may or may not do more damage than the character normally can: this same move is repeated until all three turns pass. Once three turns go by, the character and the monster split and revert to normal. The character cannot merge with its selected monster partner unless it has built up at least three hearts worth of Loyalty with that monster (Loyalty can be found on the monster's status menu; the max number of hearts is five). Loyalty is raised by simply having the monster accompany one's party and earn experience from fights, although the monster does not have to actually be an active fighter to raise its Loyalty.
Characters can also make use of different actions outside of combat. By hitting the B button, each character has a special field skill that can help the party complete puzzles or cross impassable terrain. Certain puzzles or mazes will have to be solved using these techniques at the proper times.
Plot[]
Lufia: The Ruins of Lore takes place 20 years after the events of Lufia II. After the defeat of the Sinistrals by Maxim, the world has enjoyed a season of relative peace. However, this is threatened when the Kingdom of Gratze, a growing military superpower, allies itself with a mysterious man named Ragule and declared war on its bordering nations. Their primary goal is to scour the world in search of a powerful monster known simply as "The Beast", that, once under their control, would all but insure their conquest of the world. The game is told from the perspective of a young man named Eldin, who, during this age of conflict is traveling the world in search of adventure and intrigue. On his journey, he meets a young priestess named Rubius who is searching for mystic shards and stones that will allow her to enter a fabled holy land. One of the places she needs to go to obtain one is Ragule's fortress, and once they arrive, they meet the despot and realize that if the world is ever to be at peace again, he must be stopped at any cost.
Reception[]
The game was released to overall positive reviews. It received an 8/10 score from Electronic Gaming Monthly and a 7.75/10 from Game Informer. A dissenting view came from Nintendo Power which awarded it only 3.4 out of five. On the review aggregator site Metacritic, the game has an overall score of 76/100. On the similarly themed site GameRankings, it has a slightly lower score of 71%.
Development[]
External links[]
- Lufia: The Ruins of Lore at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Lufia: The Ruins of Lore at GameFAQs
| Lufia series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | The Fortress of Doom • Rise of the Sinistrals (Curse of the Sinistrals) • The Legend Returns The Ruins of Lore |
| Related | Neverland • Taito • Square Enix |