How Is Your SNES Gaming Going?

[MrPopo]

I don't remember that section. After I got past the duel boss I don't recall having any other problems.

But still, it's amazing how amazing Lufia 2 is compared to the original.

[Tanooki]

Both the first Lufia and Breath of Fire have primitive problems to the point they're fairly unenjoyable unless you still live for plodding through 8bit outdated designs in RPGs. I'd suggest playing the remake on DS of Lufia where it's converted to another style and sticking to Lufia 2 on SNES. Breath of Fire 2 is just solid, in both cases the developers learned from their mistakes.

EVO is a must, but I can't see paying the going rate since it does have one stupid quirk with the game where you take a lot of cheap hits, but then if you eat enough meat to get EVO points, every time you evolve or de-evolve a side effect is full life so you basically must cheap your way through boss fights to win. The story, the changing epochs, terrains, creatures and music keep that one fresh. I got that one along with Wild Guns for $50 each shipped in Dec 2012 right before the prices got obscene on both thankfully.

Another early but somewhat less crusty RPG for the SNES would be Arcana. It comes off like a third person dungeon crawler, and visually it is, but the play style is a normal SNES RPG and not a rogue like everything is a turn based junk. It's actually pretty fun and for the period it has some great audio/visuals to back it up -- plus it's a cheap pick up.

[MrPopo]

Both the first Lufia and Breath of Fire have primitive problems to the point they're fairly unenjoyable unless you still live for plodding through 8bit outdated designs in RPGs. I'd suggest playing the remake on DS of Lufia where it's converted to another style and sticking to Lufia 2 on SNES. Breath of Fire 2 is just solid, in both cases the developers learned from their mistakes.

The DS remake of Lufia is a remake of Lufia 2. Since Lufia 2 is a prequel they started with that one for a constant story (plus, it was the best received one).

I didn't think Breath of Fire was too bad; it required a bit of grinding (especially when Gobi's part came up) but you had auto retargeting and health bars after the first kill to give you an idea of how to divvy up your attacks. The overworld abilities mechanic was pretty cool for the time, and the fusions overcame the problem of having a bunch of party members you never use.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Lufia 1 & 2 and Breath of Fire 1 & 2 both own hard.

[Sarge]

Lufia II is definitely one of my favorites. I enjoyed the first game, though, even with its insane encounter rate and 8-bit sensibilities.

Arcana is one of the few first-person RPGs I've actually beaten. I'd definitely say it's worth a look. I remember snagging it in our local Kroger, of all places. That's also got my copies of both Suikoden and Tales of Destiny, strangely enough.

Breath of Fire definitely follows the 8-bit blueprint, but it's not that bad. I quite enjoyed it, although I'd say the sequel is superior in everything but translation... but there's a re-translation out there, so if you're playing for the first time, play that!

[SNESdrunk]

Both the first Lufia and Breath of Fire have primitive problems to the point they're fairly unenjoyable unless you still live for plodding through 8bit outdated designs in RPGs. I'd suggest playing the remake on DS of Lufia where it's converted to another style and sticking to Lufia 2 on SNES. Breath of Fire 2 is just solid, in both cases the developers learned from their mistakes.

I thought Breath of Fire 2 was wayyyy more annoying than BoF1 in that regard. I'd much rather play the first Breath of Fire. But I know I'm in the minority there.

[SNESdrunk]

I don't remember that section. After I got past the duel boss I don't recall having any other problems.

Fixing the bridge in Lufia 1 is infuriating. A classic example of artificially lengthening the game.

"To progress to the next area, fix that bridge. You gotta go find these guys in this faraway village so they can do it."

*does it*

"Hey, clear out all the monsters here first."

*does it*

"Okay, we sorta fixed the bridge, but can you go all the way to the other side of the dungeon and fight all these other monsters so you can look at it from another angle?"

aaaarrrrghghghghgh

[Xeogred]

I'm not sure why I never beat Lufia 2. I think maybe I hit a bit of a grind or wanted to grind. It was a crazy cool mix of everything though, Zelda, Pokemon, it had it all lol.

[Ack]

Both the first Lufia and Breath of Fire have primitive problems to the point they're fairly unenjoyable unless you still live for plodding through 8bit outdated designs in RPGs. I'd suggest playing the remake on DS of Lufia where it's converted to another style and sticking to Lufia 2 on SNES. Breath of Fire 2 is just solid, in both cases the developers learned from their mistakes.

I thought Breath of Fire 2 was wayyyy more annoying than BoF1 in that regard. I'd much rather play the first Breath of Fire. But I know I'm in the minority there.

I'm in agreement here. The encounter rate in BOF2 frustrated me far more than in BOF, as did the special abilities and the like. And with the fusions in the first game, I was able to utilize far more of the cast, as opposed to BOF2, where I pretty much just forgot certain characters as quickly as I could.

To echo those who have been talking about it, Arcana is a wonderful game, and totally worth tracking down. It's a great mixture of East meets West for an RPG design: the dungeon progression of a Western-style dungeon crawl, with Japanese character and monster designs and an easy to learn system. It also suffers from a hideous encounter rate at times, but the game feels well-paced and enjoyable over all.

Ya'll need to play more 7th Saga. Don't let Bone and I be the only ones who have beaten it.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm still shocked by how good The 7th Saga is. Despite its simple appearances it's a pretty "deep" and atmospheric game. It has this strange melancholic air to it that you don't see in other JPRGs. I dunno, it's hard to explain. Just play the damn thing. Seems like the developer folded after a small handful of games which is a damn shame.