Lufia: The Ruins of Lore Introduction - GBA
0Original Air Date: October 27th, 2009
Lufia: The Ruins of Lore is the fourth game in the Lufia series and serves as a "Gaiden" or sidestory, removing or altering many of the elements that made the previous games what they were. It was developed by Atelier Double (who also developed Jungle Wars 2 for the Super Famicom) and published by Taito and Atlus. The only other "official" Lufia games after this is "Estpolis Denki DX" or "Estpolis Biography DX", which is a mobile phone game only downloadable in Japan. It consists of the "Ancient Cave" scenario from Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, featuring characters and enemies from the original game. The other is "Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals", a DS (heavy) re-imagining of Lufia II.
One big difference you'll notice right from the start comes in the form of the hero, Eldin, a young adventurer. He seldom speaks and more takes the role of a silent protagonist. All other heroes in the Lufia series held regular conversations, so you can't see too deeply into Eldin, though he appears spirited. Other differences come in the form of map abilities, combat, jobs, and the Ancient Cave. It is fairly extensive, so I won't go into detail about those here.
The game scored higher amongst major review critics than the GBC "Legend Returns", but the general consensus among regular reviewers and fans is that this is the biggest departure of the four Lufia titles and is seen with very mixed reception, scoring lower than the previous titles.