Here’s something I thought I’d never see. In the most recent issue of Famitsu, game developer Taito announced that they’d be making a new Lufia game (the title picture says Estpolis because that’s what the series is called in Japan). Keep in mind that while most news sites will tell you that Square Enix is making a new Lufia game, that’s because they own Taito. Thus, the possibility is that there won’t even be a Square Enix logo on the game if it comes stateside. No specific platform has been announced as of yet.
This is a pretty unexpected move, in any case. For one, it has been nearly eight years since the last game was released. Furthermore, after the success of Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, the series has seen two games canceled far into development, and two other installments that failed to replicate the second installment’s glory. The series has seen hard times, but things might be looking up for the newest iteration.
According to Famitsu, the new game, titled Estpolis: The Lands Cursed By the Gods, will be handled by the ‘original’ Lufia development team, Neverland. Even this, however, is a bit misleading, because Neverland actually made three out of the four Lufia games, so it’s not as if they strayed from the series for a long time.
Still, peoples’ reception of the Lufia games has been inconsistent, so there’s no way to say if this is good or bad tidings for the series. Only time will tell if this game will win our hearts, but we only have to wait a little longer for news; more info about the game will be revealed in next week’s Famitsu, so stay tuned for more info!
Sources: Joystiq, Lufia World
Cool, I loved Rise of the Sinistrals (Ancient Cave!). My bet is that it’s going to be on the DS.
Wow, I think I just shit my pants a little. I discovered Lufia and Lufia II through some undisclosed manners, but they are definitely two rare gems that need to be played. But the others not so much. I wonder where this will ultimately fall under?
It’s very hard to say for sure; like I mentioned in the news post, the fact that they got ‘the original team’ on the job is not useful in determining how the game will wind up, because ‘the original’ team worked on the first three games and they were all completely different.
I haven’t liked any of them but Lufia 2 very much. I guess the original Lufia wasn’t terrible, but I def think it’s one of those games that people look at with rose-colored glasses.