Though I often pretend to be a Super Nintendo connoisseur, the lingering fact that I rarely complete any of its non-Squaresoft RPGs shows how meager the illusion really is. Just last night, I finally conquered Lufia & The Fortress of Doom. This is one game that I've started and stopped too many times to keep track. A new playthrough is attempted every few years, yet the instant it gets boring, everything collapses and I swear it off "forever". It's almost sad that I treat being bored as some sort of disease. Granted, this is likely the result of years spent drowning in entertainment options. Going from a handful of videotapes and one game console to dozens of streaming services and a PC that emulates many game consoles has all but irradiated the concept of boredom. If I'm bored, then there's something wrong with what I'm consuming. If I consume it regardless of how boring it is, then does this mean there's something wrong with me?
I wish there was a gentler way to say it, but Lufia 1 is pretty damn dull. The introduction is legitimately great. Starting off with a dungeon that culminates in a boss-rush is a fantastic method for teaching players how the game works. It's just that, when the adventure begins for real, and the first of nearly a thousand battles is life-or-death tussle with the hardiest mushroom, a sickly feeling begins to take root. I have to point out that my playthrough was done using Lufia 1 Restored. Some of the features of this hack include increased walking speed outside of towns and a lower encounter rate. Tempting as it may be, I didn't want to bury the review with typical RPG complaints. In its original form, this game is rather notorious for an absurd encounter rate (though it is mitigated a bit with steady Sweet Water use). Mainly, I want to get across that even if there isn't a battle every couple of steps, it's still the excessive and exhausting core of the game.
Nowadays, fast-forward renders all complaints about grinding moot, or at least it should. Lufia 1 is a special case, and that's because it lacks auto-targeting. Battles often involve multiple groups of enemies. If the last enemy in a group is defeated, then whomever attempts to attack that nonexistent group will swing at air. You've likely seen something similar happen in Final Fantasy on the NES, which goes to show just how uncommon and dated the mechanic is. Honestly, it's not really a problem, since most adversaries are defeated in 1-3 hits. The (obviously unintended) side-effect of this mechanic is that it makes fast-forwarding through battles an absolute chore. While the game does a relatively good job of keeping battles moving at a semi-brisk pace, it also takes anywhere between 10 and 30 to get a single level-up. At the same time, one can't just hold down some buttons and ignore what's happening, or else the party misses more often than they hit. Even when they're speeding by at 500 FPS or whatever, I see every last MISS! and they all drive me crazy.
The reasons as to why one would need to grind are a little all over the place. For one, there's actually not that many boss-battles. It's possible to go through several dungeons and not have to deal with anything significant. This is a unique problem, as a regular supply of bosses is needed to assess the party's strength. Some of the toughest battles occur early on, and then nothing of note happens for hours at a time. Without any real idea of what's going to happen next, the inclination to grind takes over. If the game expects to me go so long without a boss, then obviously the next one has to be really tough. Sure enough, that expectation crumbles when the next boss fails to do anything. Convinced that I must be wildly over-leveled, I hurry through the next couple of dungeons and run into something so vicious, that it leaves me scraping the hero's remnants off the ceiling. I just want a little more consistency.
Further contributing to the grind is that even when I'm actually over-leveled, it doesn't feel like it. Enemies tend to hit hard and are incapable of missing. This brutal combination can rend sufficiently armored warriors into hamburger. In order to die in one less hit, I need five additional level-ups, probably more. That's another hundred battles to sit through. Agility, which affects how long it takes for a party member to get a turn, is countered by the weight of the armor. Basically, I equip better armor to take less damage, but it increases the probability that a monster will strike first or get an additional turn, resulting in more damage. Also, some random encounters can be worse than any boss. As tough as some of these guys get, I'd rather deal with them over a group of water elementals. Getting struck with three 100+ damage spells in a row is brutal. Eventually, I had to accept that I'll be fine as long as it takes more than a single hit to kill someone in my party. Lufia 1 is extremely generous with healing options.
One abundance that I didn't mind was all of the towns and caves. There's a sort of comfiness in visiting dozens of towns and swiping whatever they keep in their dressers. Same goes for the caves and the many treasure chests that demand to be pilfered. I also appreciate that there are a large number of places to visit after acquiring the boat. Granted, that first taste of freedom is diminished somewhat by being tied to a hunt for seven rocks, but I got to do a couple of things out of order. If my memory is correct, Lufia 2 had guards posted everywhere, preventing the party from doing anything besides the next objective.
Also, the battles that really mattered were pretty exciting. Even if the strategies can be boiled down to generous castings of drain and mirror, the endgame fights got really tense. I had fun keeping the party in order while they were pummeled by devastating spells and status effects. It would've been nice if every other battle didn't feel like busywork, but I shouldn't talk. I'm somewhat of a king sitting atop his mountain of unfinished RPGs.
So yeah, Lufia 1 was dull as hell, but there's nothing wrong with it! It's exactly what it's supposed to be: purposeful, adequate, and aesthetically charming. I ask for more because I live in a world that's given me a gazillion distractions. Closing the content sluicegate and allowing myself to express boring thoughts is the only time I feel something resembling fulfillment.
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