Lufia and The Fortress of Doom



100 years ago a band of heroes set off to the evil Sinistrals, a group of four gods who planned to rule over the world from the floating Island of Doom. With the power of the Dual Blade in hand Maxim and his three companions Selan, Guy, and Artea were able to defeat the Sinistrals. Their victory came at the cost of Maxim and Selan's lives, but victory it was. The world is at peace once more, but one man stands on the lookout for the Sinistrals who vowed that they would one day return. Though everyone else was convinced it would never happen the Sinistrals did in fact return and our young hero sets off with a mysterious girl named Lufia on a quest to once more seal away the gods.

This is Lufia and The Fortress of Doom or Estopolis Denki for the SNES. Published by Taito before it closed its doors in America and developed by Neverland Lufia is a rather simple turn-based JRPG. The first in the Lufia series it would introduce the series setting, the Sinistrals, and the Dual Blade. Gameplay wise it was your typical JRPG. You had a party of four characters with preset roles. Some such as Lufia could use magic while others bashed baddies on the head with large and deadly weapons like swords and axes. The series brought little if anything new in the gameplay department. The plot and characters were also quite simple. The game did however have a nice soundtrack and attractive visuals. It was a decent enough game and would lead to the far improved prequel Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals.

This game provides examples of...

 * All in A Row
 * Amnesiac Dissonance
 * Artifact Title: The girl Lufia would go on to name the series in America and Europe.
 * A Taste of Power: You start the game off playing as the legendary heroes off to fight against the Sinistrals at level 80 and a good stock of potions.
 * Badass Grandpa: Guy, now over 100 and is "still kicking".
 * Badass Normal: Aguro is properly equipped.
 * Bittersweet Ending: It's really the series trademark.
 * Bonus Dungeon: The Ancient Cave which makes an appearance in every game.
 * Character Exaggeration: Of the legendary heroes who don't speak nearly as formal in the second game.
 * Cult Classic
 * Degraded Boss
 * Forced Level Grinding: This game is very hard, incredibly hard, unless you grind at least enough to buy all of the equipment in the current town you're near.
 * Follow the Leader: It bears similarities to the first Lunar game.
 * Guide Dang It: It is possible to visit a town that wasn't meant to be visited yet as soon as you get your boat, merely by sailing in a different direction than what they tell you to. Doing this gives you access to equipment miles better than what you are normally supposed to be using at the time. The equipment is expensive, but with enough grinding, it is easily do-able.
 * Also, it is possible with lots of Level Grinding to reach the bottom floor of the Ancient Cave before going any further in the storyline. Doing this is a Game Breaker, obviously.
 * Hidden Elf Village
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: In the first fight with Gades, Hero hits him several times for minor damage, then Gades smacks down Hero with one blow.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:.
 * Though it's implied.
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: You can rob a sword from  grave. That means something.
 * Lost Forever: Averted with items you sells There's a shop a certain town that sells everything you've sold.
 * Nintendo Hard
 * Noble Demon:
 * Physical God: Four them in fact!
 * Tear Jerker: If one plays this after the second game anyway...
 * Together in Death: Maxim and Selan in the beginning.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: The titular Lufia.