Lufia: The Legend Returns

by Natsume

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005ME7Z
• Media: Game Cartridge
• Release Date: October 10, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,054 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

After puzzling RPG fanatics on the Super NES, the Lufia series is now coming to Game Boy Color. The screen may be smaller, but the adventure is every bit as big—and challenging.

Developed and published by Natsume, Lufia: The Legend Returns is a deep RPG with a complex fighting system and traditional Good vs. Evil storyline. Controlling a young swordsman named Wain, players must travel to Doom Island to neutralize the threat of evil Sinistrals. Along the way, you'll meet plenty of other adventurers. Eventually, your party can contain nine warriors.

Organize your party carefully, because the arrangement of your party members plays a large role in the battle sequences. You can only fight with three characters at a time, but if you're attacked from the side or from behind the lead members of your party may be watching from the sidelines. The actual battles are turn-based, and filled with all the spells, weapons and special items that RPG fans love.

What really makes this game cool is its unusual mapping system. Each time you walk into a dungeon or a cave, the map randomly regenerates. You could walk through the same dungeon over and over again and never see the same map twice!

Lufia: The Legend Returns suffers slightly from lethargic walking controls, but overall Natsume's third Lufia epic is a success. The gameplay is challenging, the worlds are huge and the party setup system provides an innovative twist. If you're an RPG fan, Natsume's latest Lufia epic is one game you'll want to keep near the top of your Item Bag.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Breaks my heart..., October 17, 2001

By 

Jesse D. Watson (North Dakota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lufia: The Legend Returns (Game Cartridge)

I have been a fan of the Lufia games since the first one was released on the SNES here in America. When I heard the Game Boy Color was receiving an Estopolis game, I was immediately e-mailing Natsume. "Will you guys be releasing it in America as Lufia 3?"

It's finally here. I plug it in. All indications--pretty graphics, fun dialog, wonderful battle system, great play mechanics, good storyline, even great music, the best on the Game Boy Color--cause me to smile and giggle and thank the heavens. I'm enthused to say the least.

Then I figure it out. Every dungeon is completely random. But I keep playing. And playing. And I try so hard to like it. SO hard. The storyline is keeping me going, the combat is wonderful.

Every dungeon may be random, but they are all EXACTLY the same. Wander around hitting walls and things until you've explored the level the go to the next. 10 or so levels later, you have a boss fight and a story sequence.

Repeat.

Repeat.

My heart is absolutely broken. How can this happen? The heart of the Estopolis games has always been the wonderful dungeons, now replaced by this absolute drudgery.

Try before you buy, and make sure you have tissues to dry your tears. I am praying that the Game Boy Advance Estopolis is released here, and that the dungeons, while they will still be random, will be more sensical and have non-random segments.

This game had everything going for it, and one major flaw destroys it. Why oh why?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It breaks my heart, too, January 4, 2008

By 

LaDeanna (Smalltown, OR) - See all my reviews

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Lufia: The Legend Returns (Game Cartridge)

I've been a fan of the Lufia series ever since the first game, "Lufia and the Fortress of Doom" was first released on the Super NES in 1993. It is without a doubt one of my absolute favorite series ever, right up there with Zelda, Mana, Breath of Fire, and the early Final Fantasy titles. When I heard several years ago that they were finally planning to make a third game I was worried it might not make it to the U.S. but once I found out it was I was absolutely estatic! I could hardly wait! I bot it from a local retailer the week it came out and was filled with anticipation all the way home. As I studied the boxart and looked through the manual I thought that the game might just live up to my expectations but after a few hours of gameplay I started to feel disappointed, and the longer I played the more disappointed I got.

I really feel this game lacks the magic of the earlier titles for the Super NES. As far as the superficials go (graphics, music, etc.), they're all right, nothing especially praise worthy, but it is a Game Boy Color game after all, so I didn't let that get in the way. What disappointed me were the characters, storyline and worst of all the gameplay itself.

The storyline is loosely connected to earlier Lufia games but hardly mentions Maxim, Selan or any of the other heroes we've come to love so much in the previous games. Yes, one of them does make an appearance but his role is so incredibly limited that I felt he was wasted.

There are more playable characters in this game than any other Lufia game but they really felt underdeveloped to me. You'd get one character on your team and barely have time to learn they're backstory before another character joined, and the previous character suddenly was no longer important to the plot. This made me long for the previous games where the characters were so well developed and always played essential roles in the game's story. These characters also had very little to differentiate them between each other. They look different, and some of them have different weapons from others but that's it. Most of them can learn essentially the same skills and are just "place fillers", to fill up part of the grid in an incredibly clunky and confusing battle system that revolves around colors and columns. This is what turned me off more than anything else from the game. It just felt like such a terribly implemented idea, like a lackluster attempt at the the type of combat or skill system you'd see in a PSOne RPG. It just didn't seem to fit at all in a Lufia game, where I felt the simplicity of classic turn based system (coupled with the wide array of spells and IP to select from) had been a big part of the allure.

Capsule Monsters and IP are also completely absent from the game as are the innovative Puzzles and "Zelda-like" field items of Lufia II. Also every time you enter a dungeon (even the final dungeon) it's construced randomly this probably seemed like a good idea to the programmers, but in reality it just makes every dungeon feel the same, and worse each floor on each dungeons feels the same, since there's very little variation in terms of size or shape. The end result is that there's no real exploration in dungeons, it's just the same thing, over and over and over again.

I really wanted to love this game, I honestly did but in the end I couldn't, I could hardly even like it. I can hardly remember having been so disappointed by a sequel. However thankfully there is some good news! A few years after this they decided to make another Lufia game called Lufia: The Ruins of Lore. I was very hesitant this time, but went out and bought it anyway and was very pleasantly surprised! It plays and feels so much more like the earlier Lufia games than this game (The Legend Returns) does. I strongly recomend you check out that game instead or, if you haven't already, try Lufia II for the Super NES!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unbelievable title, December 24, 2002

By 

Brandon "brando16" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lufia: The Legend Returns (Game Cartridge)

Lufia : The Legend Returns was one of the final games to hit the GBC, and the game is simply awesome! The new twisting storyline takes place 300 years after the 1st doom island war.
Once again, Natsume impresses the world with its unique battle system. The system looks complicating, but within the first 2 hours of gameplay you'll adapt to it. 9, yes up to 9 people can fight along your side, and the IP (Item Points) and a new LP (Learning Point) system is introduced. IP are built as you take damage, and when used against monsters it is impressive! LP is used for learning Magic, as well as increasing your stamina.
The game's uniqueness is brought out again in the dungeons. Nope, there isn't a map. Each floor level changes as you pass them, and the trasures of each room are rehidden. While to some this can be annoying, it really isn't; it can be very helpful at times when you are in need of restocking your inventory.
Simply put, Lufia III outstands the world again, and beginners as well as experts are put to the ultimate test. My only advice is that you keep and refer to the instrucion manual; it'll be confusing at first ;)

--A little intro to the game--
The story begins when a cerulean haired fortune teller named Seena enters the small village of Patos. Seena meets Wain, a simply unintelligent yet strong teenager whom lives in the village. They become friends, and set off for the adventure of their lives!