On a glance, it seems like it's going to be just like Final Fantasy. But the focus is on gameplay rather than story. The puzzles are actually really good, the way the items interact with the field map is great. And they're not the "make you feel smart without actually thinking" kinds of puzzles. You actually have to use some logic, the answers aren't just inevitable results of, for example, going through all the treasure chests and using all the keys in all the appropriate key-holes.
It's almost as though the developers were being paid to make a JRPG but actually wanted to make a puzzle game or a CRPG. There's a kind of wink-wink-nod-nod element to the thinness of the JRPG parts - you can kinda "fast forward" through random battles; the newgame+ mode has a x4 experience option to effectively ignore the battles; you can mash through the text boxes extremely quickly, etc. It just seems like the developers didn't find those parts interesting and weren't really trying to hide that fact.
One of the lasting impacts I think is in the Ancient Cave, which I think is one of the only examples of procedural content generation on the SNES. It seems like it was inspired by PC dungeon crawlers. It's actually a pretty good meta game.
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After Lufia's flat debut came a new reference point. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals suddenly incorporated Zelda spices into the old formula - borrowing a few tools and puzzle designs alongside secrets and backtracking elements injecting additional purpose to dungeons. That influence is reflected in their broad range of puzzle-solving challenges that occasionally can get quite tricky and clever. Its less confining gameplay equaled its overhauled battle system as well, that contained new mechanics such as the IP meter, equipment skills, spell partitioning, capsule monsters, etc. Each of those contributing to expand combat capabilities. Although a little held back by its overly straightforward progression, repetitive areas and non-existent difficulty, a greater attention to storytelling and comedic moments at least displayed more depth in personality. Both more intricate and more charming than the debut, Lufia II rejected the notion that JRPG dungeons had to be single-use, mostly forgettable trials.
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Huge step up from the first game for sure, and the mixture of Zelda dungeons into a JRPG format is really interesting. There's the potential for some really interesting expansion there, but even as it's handled here it's still solid. The story is about as shallow as the first game, but the characters are more memorable and charming. Lots of half-baked plot threads that aren't satisfactorily followed up on like what the point of Tia was as a character if Maxim drops her at the drop of a hat, and what the whole deal with Iris was, including all her hints at Maxim being somehow removed from the flow of destiny, and the various continuity nods to the first game probably would have landed better if that game was memorable even in the slightest. The capsule monsters also feel like a total afterthought , to the point where calling this a monster-collecting game feels like a huge stretch. Still a good time though, and one of the more noteworthy non-Square JRPGs on the system.
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