Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals - Nintendo DS

As my review title states, I can't put this game down! I have played Lufia and the Fortress of Doom (got near the end of it but never beat it) and it was a fun game. Before I got into RPG's Fortress of Doom was one of the first I had ever played and I was awful at it. Later after I had played about 100 RPG and action games (Final Fantasy games, .hack, Secret of Mana/Evermore, Prince of Persia, Dragon Quests, Kingdom Hearts, God of War etc. etc. too many to put here) I finally tried Fortress again and got really into it and only stopped when the dungeons became overwhelmingly confusing, I should probably play it again now that I've picked this up just to be thorough.I've had it a couple days now and can imagine the biggest reason people are cautious about buying the game is because it's not turn based like the classic Rise of the Sinistrals is (or any other Lufia). This is true but that doesn't make it boring or less of a game. Hack and Slash RPGs like this are just as fun as sitting there assigning commands and then watching them get carried out. There are still puzzles like the original to confuse you until you finally just get it, and although there is a +5 level up option if you die I would never use it, it's just there for people who aren't good at action RPG's and want to play for storyline. Some of the ways you gain access to abilities is pretty silly (The doctor just randomly invents things like escape from dungeon button, and double jumping for your team) but since this is a pretty well thought out series I still wanna see what happens in this new version of the game that leads up to the beginning of Fortress of Doom.I wouldn't say the fighting stlye change has made the game better or worse. It's just been changed, and it reminds me a lot now of Secret of Mana or even Symphony of the Night, the camera while fighting is overhead like a Zelda or Diablo game. The gameplay animation looks similar to the redone Final Fantasy IV on the DS, and the character portraits all look really good in the menu screens etc. The voice acting is sparse, and is goofy at times (sometimes it's funny, other times it's cheezy and I facepalm myself), but the battles are enjoyable and some of the boss fights are just as Epic as any boss fight I've ever done. (I've only played this one for a couple days too now so keep that in mind)So Rise of the Sinistrals is turn based and Curse of the Sinistrals is action based, and some people may prefer one over the other. I consider them both just as fun after playing this game.Like I said, you won't want to put this one down if you are a fan of the series, it grows on you like it's older brother(s). It seems like a long enough game so far I think I've put 8 or 9 hours in and I'm at level 13-14, anyone used to Final Fantasy or Lufia can use this as a comparison for a somewhat long game.I think the one thing to take away from my review would be this... while I'm typing this I want to go play it now, and I'm going to, now. So try it out, and Enjoy!

One of the few quality 3D Action-Adventure RPGs on the Nintendo DS, this game is a sort-of remake of Lufia II for the story, but you will be hoping around and fighting monsters in a 3D action environment. You have a small variety of heroes at your disposal, each with their own abilities, that will get you through levels and bring a certain level of tactics to the field.The game does get a tad "grindy", meaning that you will have to fight monsters over and over to get stronger, but they added an option for people who don't like to do this, enabling you on death to revive from a checkpoint but from a higher level than before so you can keep playing. But it's purely optional, so if you DO like to level grind, then you still have that option.Wholly recommended by me.

I liked this game but...I wanted to LOVE it. I have been a fan of the Lufia series since they first hit our shores back in 1993. I still have my original Lufia and Lufia 2 for the SNES in their original boxes, maps and all! (I have the gameboy color title too) Now, don't get me wrong, there are so many things that this game does right, but it could have been so much more. First I'll get the bad out of the way. My biggest gripe?...WTF is up with Maxim???? He looked WAY cooler in the original! His slicked back hair older look set him apart from other JRPG heroes. NOW he looks like your typical 17 year old Japanese teenage spiky haired protaganist who saves the world, but is home before dinner. And a leather jacket? Why??? Oh well, at least the other characters look cool. My other problem with the game is the lack of a world map. It just makes the game go by way too fast, and it just feels like something is missing. I mean, I'm a single dad working 12 hour shifts a day and I beat the game in a week! That's too easy! That's another thing, the game is too short! The original took me at least a month to beat!(Granted I wasn't as good at games back then, but STILL...!) And last but not least...(SPOILERS!!!!!)(SPOILERS!!!!!!) I liked how Selan died before Maxim had to stop Doom Island in the original. It made it much more dramatic and sad that Maxim had to save the world alone and then die alone. I dunno, it just feels like something was lost in this new version. But on to the plus sides of the game...I LOVE the new combat system! It's a personal thing, I know. I have always preferred real-time combat over turn based. So that's just me. I also think that for once, the English voice acting is decent.(Rare!!) Although I am a bit of a purist and would have preferred the Japanese voices, the English voice actors did well. I also like how Iris's character is developed more, she seems more like a real person now. And one of my favorite new features? It's great how the characters are not super deformed anymore!!!(Big head little body) That drove me nuts about a lot of the old school RPGS! Lastly, I like how you can play through again and access more levels and get a different ending(The first ending is the REAL one though!) Anyway, like I said, good game, I just wanted it to be a GREAT game. Let's hope the developers continue these remakes and fix these problems huh?

I returned this game because it could only be played in classic mode and not DS. By this I mean the stylus could not be used for the game functions. I got my DS because of the stylus ability, I have limited use of my thumbs and it make traditional play very difficult and frustrating!!! Other reviews said things like "updated for the DS" or remade... but, it wasn't really. When is Nintendo, Amazon, Gamestop,etc. going the start providing information about the play modes for the DS? All I want to know is if the game can be played "Classic", "DS", or both. What is the problem there; simple enough???