Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
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Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals is a RPG game with puzzle elements developed by Natsume and published by Taito in 1996, for the Super Nintendo video game console.
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Basic premise
The story is centered around the hero Maxim, a swordsman from the town of Elcid who is destined to fight the Sinistrals. Throughout his journey, he meets other warriors who join his quest.
Capsule monsters
Capsule monsters are special creatures which the player may only find on specific locations of the world. Once a Capsule monster is found, the party acquires a fifth - computer controlled - member. These monsters can be fed items and equipment, and once they are satiated they evolve to a different form, up to a fourth and definitive form. Seven of them exist, and each of Capsule monster belongs to a different element and have a different set of skills. The elements are Neutral, Light, Wind, Water, Dark, Fire and Soil.
The Ancient Cave
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One of the most notable features of Lufia II is the Ancient Cave, a randomly generated dungeon comprised of 99 floors which is presented to the player as a side-quest in the town of Gruberik. Every time the player leaves the cave, it assumes a new layout.
Within the cave, the characters are downgraded to zero experience points and are stripped of all of their equipment and items. The player must then proceed through the cave's floors, collecting equipment, finding magic spells and increasing levels, with the obejctive of reaching the Ancient Cave's final floor. There are three ways of exiting the cave: by dying, by reaching its bottom or by finding and using an item exclusive to the cave, named Providence.
Within the cave lie two kinds of chest - blue and red. A red chest contains items which can only be used inside of the cave and for the duration of the playing session. In other words, as soon as the player leaves the cave, all of the items provenient from red chests disappear. On the other hand, the rare blue chest contains items unique to the Ancient Cave, which can be used outside of it and which can be brought back to the cave on subsequent journeys. Blue chests may also contain artifacts called Iris trasures, which don't have much use other than being collected and displayed in one of Gruberik's houses.
Differences between versions
The North American release of the game has a few graphical and textual glitches which were corrected in the European version. These appear, most notably, on areas of complicated access, such as the underwater caverns - which can only be accessed with the submarine vehicle - and the last floor of the Ancient Cave.