Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals

A series of four gods that call themselves the Sinistrals have come to the world and named themselves rulers of the world. They seek to subjugate the human race and eventually destroy the world. The only thing standing against them is a group of ragtag heroes led by the red-haired monster hunter Maxim.

Sound familiar?

Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, the fifth game in the Lufia series, is a remake of the game Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals. Developed by Neverland, published by Square Enix in Japan and by Natsume in America, Curse of the Sinistrals is a very different beast from the original. Though the basics of the plot remain the same, the way in which the plot unravels is different. Characters too have been slightly altered or expanded upon personality and background wise. And boy, is the art style different. The biggest change is the gameplay however. The original was a turn-based RPG that made heavy use of puzzles in dungeons. This re-imagining of the cult classic is instead an action RPG. While the dungeons are still filled to the brim with puzzles the player now directly controls one of the six heroes in combat and can switch between them by clicking on their character portraits thanks to the Nintendo DS's touch screen. Yes, six heroes. Tia and Dekar who originally left the party for their own reasons are now permanent members of your party. Lexis has taken to being the group's transportation expert and plays no role in combat.

Obviously, Curse of the Sinistrals is very, very different from the original. Despite this it is still very much a familiar experience and it does pay quite a bit of homage to the original game and its sequel (story wise anyway). The soundtrack in particular is worth noting as it is composed of new variations on the pieces found in the first and second game.

Tropes used in Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals include:

• Action Girl: Selan once again takes on this role. Tia gets in on the act this time around too!
• Action Mom: Again Selan retakes this role.
• The Archer: Artea like the original. This time however he uses guns as his weapon of choice
• Artifact Title: There is no Lufia in this game. There was in the first game, though!
• Back Tracking: You go through Soma Temple's upper sector three times, and late in-game, you need to keep revisiting cities to achieve similar events again and again.
• Badass Normal: Guy again isn't magically adept in any form. He doesn't need to be though.
• Batman Gambit: How the alternate ending is set up in a New Game+.
• Battle Couple: Maxim and Selan.
• Bittersweet Ending: Though if one plays through the New Game+, Maxim and Selan will survive the end.
• Block Puzzle
• Boisterous Bruiser: Guy and Dekar.
• Bonus Dungeon: The Ancient Cave is back again as per tradition.
• Department of Redundancy Department: "We will create our own future, ourselves." Maxim states this to Daos after that boss fight.
• Flower From the Mountaintop: One that is a monster, another that is an actual flower they're looking for.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Deker saves Tia. The mourning lasts only a few minutes. Deker gets better though.
• Four Is Death: The Sinistrals.
• Gender Flip: Berty's partner in the original was a man named Bart; in this game, it's a woman named Betty.
• Genius Ditz: Dekar is very proficient in combat, but seemingly lacks skill in everything else.
• Global Airship: Your only form of transportation in the game. The days of map walking are gone.
• Guide Dang It: Some of the puzzles can get to be this.
• The Hero Dies: His wife goes with him too, though beating the New Game+ changes this.
• Jack of All Stats: Maxim is this for actual stats, while Dekar can use every weapon, though without the special moves their main users have.
• King of All Cosmos: Arek the Absolute.
• New Game+
• Noble Demon: Iris/Erim.
• Only Smart People May Pass: Logismos is regarded as this even within the game's story!
• Party in My Pocket: Only the character currently being controlled is actually shown.
• Physical God: Four of them.
• Puzzle Reset: The Reset spell is now a time travel device made by Lexis.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: Berty and Betty though they are more like a quirky miniboss duo.
• Randomly Drops: The Ancient Cave blue chests.
• Restart At Level One: Your party's levels drop to level one while in the Ancient Cave.
• Roguelike: The Ancient Cave.
• Running Gag: Guy's annoyed being called a Dumb Muscle, Dekar doesn't get a clue being called an idiot.
• Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Comparing Iris and Erim.
• Sequel Hook: In the ending, Lexis mentions that the Fortress of Doom landed in the ocean near the town of Arus in Westland. This is referencing its location in the original Lufia and The Fortress of Doom.
• Shout-Out: Natsume's localization team clearly noticed Lexis's resemblance to Doc Brown from Back to The Future and has Maxim referring to him as "Doc" and Lexis himself exclaiming "Great Scott!" occasionally.
• Skyward Scream: IRIIIIS!!!
• Solve the Soup Cans: Why walking across platforms while carrying a box makes a key that opens doors, we will never know.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Keep striking a dead enemy before it disappear nets you more EXP and gold, so why not?
• Token Romance: Selan and Maxim. Tia and Dekar could be considered this as well.
• Trying Not to Cry: Tia.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Tia though she starts dating Dekar this time around.
• Weapon of Choice:
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: Maxim.
  • Drop the Hammer: Guy.
  • Rings of Death: Selan.
  • The Gunslinger: Artea.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Tia and her suitcase. A suitcase that shoots boxing gloves and grappling hooks at things.
  • Dekar can be either one of those things.
• Wedding Smashers
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Artea's backstory and love for Karyn.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Iris. The Sinistral Erim's hair color was also changed to this from blue. Of course, the two are one and the same.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Selan.
  • Dekar's traded his blue spikes for more subtle spikes. Pink subtler spikes. And on the other hand, Tia goes from blue to orange.