Midori One Day One Page 90!

Something a little self-indulgent for the last day of Lufia Week! Basically I like to think that after the events of Fortress of Doom Jerin continued to visit Artea on the regular... it's implied she doesn't know much about her elven heritage (she states she can't read Elvish very well) and has a connection to Artea through the bow, so why not further? And he can teach her his unique magic from Rise the Sinistrals!

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Alright, 2023 is almost over, but still ✨Happy 30th Anniversary✨ to the Lufia series! 🎂🎈

This was the original unfinished drawing. Next time I do a big group picture I'll pick a more simple coloring style than that😅 So I made a quick alternate colored version using the paint bucket for now, I just want this out before the year is over since 2023 is the 30th anniversary of the Lufia series

Comparison

In the original version I was going for a traditional media feeling.

Lufia Update: The monsters are getting really tough, so I was hoping for the fourth party member soon. Everything seemed to point at the half elf girl Jerin. However, we still had to go through three or four dungeons until we finally could get her! She was a ransom for monsters and it was an oddysey to rescue her... at least we could beat the boss monster and the other girls of her village don't have to be afraid of kidnapping anymore. But still, now that she is in my team, I plan to go back and look for treasures in the other dungeons that I missed.

The rule says that Good Doggos get loving owners.  Kitties too.  Because you know how I am about the cuddly ones...

(writing spoilers under the cut as while the game is now out in Europe, my peeps here might not have seen the leaks)

This is talk for saying that ALL THREE doggos have gotten a Trainer.  Rutee gets a Dachsbun because, c’mon, she can have some help baking break for the orphans in the Dragonkinverse as she has the same ‘mons there.  Lufia has Houndstone as she is the incarnation of a Death Goddess and could definitely deal with the line’s life draining issue due to the residual energies before they were split apart.  And Jerin just randomly was given a Mabosstiff.  Whose Dex entry about its loyalty is just...ohgod good boi Dark Types!

Also...as the starters were given to the Crystaland peeps, Sprigatito ended up with Phoebe.  There is that herb in Aquaria after all...

Since you're in the mood: Top 5 Lufia Characters Playable or otherwise 8D

heck yeah!!

Actually... I knew immediately who the Top Three were, but it took a little longer to narrow down numbers four and five. BUT. Here they are!

(using game sprites because they’re adorable)

5. The Hero/Maxim’s Descendant

Like many RPG heroes of this era, this poor kid was never given an official name (though it’s very common for people to name him either Max or Jeros). He was given a lot of personality - generous, perceptive, and generally the peacekeeper of the group (and he even specializes in healing magic - all a little unusual for your sword-swinging RPG hero). He’s surprisingly sweet and mild for a Hero of this stage in gaming... and look what a cute lil bean he is!

4. Selan

The Hero is always specifically identified as Maxim’s descendant and they share magic types and preferred weapon... but not enough attention is paid to him also being Selan’s. These two share a similar perceptive nature, too (though Selan does tend to be more assertive than The Hero). Selan’s fierce, no-nonsense personality and Magic Knight character slot always make me eager to get to her!

3. Artea

Artea was interesting playing a small role in the first game, so it’s a lot of fun to really get to know him in the second! As his younger self Arty comes across as a relatively young character trying to prove himself - he’s more brash and contentious than we usually see in Fantasy Elves, especially in the nineties, and it’s fun to watch! And as his older self his melancholic personality contrasts with the glimpse in the prologue to really show the effects of events on him. 

2. Jerin

Jerin’s a cute, fun character - and her joining the party is a fun sequence of events too. She’s a great, energetic foil to the other characters, and her efforts to please and prove herself as a full member of the party are really endearing.

1. Dekar

Because you gotta love a complete doofus with a patient, insightful personality. Dekar’s an interesting case; when characters point out he’s not the sharpest ax in the armory they’re absolutely not wrong, but he’s got a heavy dose of emotional intelligence to go with it that allows him to deal with Tia and Alex with surprising ease. (Plus his reasoning that it doesn’t matter if he falls into traps because he’s strong enough to get back out is spot on and makes for some of the funniest moments in the game.) I love Dekar.

Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (Estpolis) was out today in 1993. The hero, Aguro, Jerin, and Lufia fight the resurrected Sinistrals.

Adventure Groves - Game Reviews

Lufia and The Fortress of Doom (SNES)

Story – On the surface this game seems like every other JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game) of the time period of the mid-90s.  However, the story is different, easy to follow and unique to the point that it effortlessly sets up to another game in the series.  The Story follows our hero as he tries to save his community and ultimately the world from Four evil Sinistrals that were banished by his ancestor Maxim.  He is joined along the journey by his childhood friend Lufia and eventually Aguro and Jerin, all eager to stop the Sinistrals.  They battle across the planet meeting new helpful villages looking for help to defeat the evil.  Eventually seeking magical power and deadly weapons, our team finds themselves in many fetch quests and endless dungeon battles.  A few plot twist, untimely deaths, and character flashbacks, the story progresses well.

Game Play – Similar to the RPGs of its era the characters attack, cast spells, use items, and escape like any other.  Leveling isn’t difficult and spells are earned at interval levels increasing in power level.  Weapon and armor upgrades can be found throughout the dungeons or naturally bought in the next town.  Spells and items are not intuitive to their function and value and the inbox reference list, internet, or trial and error are necessary.  Dungeon battles can be tedious and will require constant healing to make any safe progress.  Boss battles can be tricky but they offer more of a challenge, making the player think about the proper use of each character.  

 Pros – If you are looking for an easy to follow, natural progression RPG that explains quests locations this is a good game to play.  Difficult and frustrating at times it has a somewhat death forgiveness that doesn’t collapse progress.  The quantity of items is amusing and the locations and vehicles mix up the movement. Enjoyable to level and navigate.  

 Cons – Suffering from early RPG problems, the attack and spell targeting system can get frustrating, lacking no “Auto to next target” mechanic, leaving characters attacking and casting spells on air.  Though leveling is easy the hit points (HP) don’t seem to advance as well as the magic points (MP) causing a need to constantly heal the party after each battle. The dungeons can have puzzles, but they are over shadowed by the constant battles.  

Ranking – Scale of 1-10

The score is based on comparison to other games on that system, other games in that genera, and my own opinion on how it played.  

Graphics – 8

Premise – 7

Game Play – 6

Originality – 5

Difficulty – 7

Overall – 6.6

Midori One Day One Page 86!

Jerin! My other favorite character! She's so cute and fun, and I've mentioned before that she's the reason half-elf is my character race of choice in TTRPG <3

(Though it's sort of funny that the hero wanted her to stay in Belgen to be 'safe'. Yeah bro I'm sure she feels SUPER safe in the town that literally just tried to sacrifice her. C'mon now.)

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Midori One Day One Page 280!

My brother bought me BG3 for my birthday so we can campaign together. Gonna be playing a half elf, so I decided to draw the character that made half elf my favorite race - Jerin from Lufia & The Fortress Of Doom!

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Inktober 26 - A gift from the legendary archer.

Are you sure it’s okay for me to have this?”

“I can’t help you by keeping it....”

Inktober 10, 11, and 12!

Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy are obviously dear to my heart, but my actual favorite RPG series is Lufia/Estpolis! So here’s my favorite characters from each of the three main games - Jerin from Fortress of Doom, Dekar from Rise of the Sinistrals, and Melphis from The Legend Returns!

Should You Fight The Cast Of Lufia

Because I find ‘should you fight this character’ lists funny and I’m relatively sure THESE characters haven’t been done yet.

So: Should you fight the playable characters of the SNES Lufia Games?

Maxim: Honestly? As long as you’re not an evil god, go ahead. He’ll almost certainly be on the defensive, so as long as you can take him out before his friends show up you’re probably good. Fight Maxim but watch your back.

Guy: You probably can’t beat Guy, but you probably can get at least one good shot in and it’d be satisfying. Go for it.

Selan: d o  n o t. Trust me. Don’t.

Artea: ...maybe. If you can get the jump on him, you might pull it off. A word of caution: you may be tempted to go after him post-Doom Island but A) would you really be proud of yourself picking a fight with a blind war hero and B) do you really think he wouldn’t kick your ass even harder? In conclusion: young Artea, sure. Older Artea, NOPE.

Hero: Like Maxim, you could probably take him. Unlike Maxim’s friends (who might well be distracted by picking him up and then ultimately find something better to do), Lufia will not rest until she has found you and fried you. If you have a death wish, go for it. Otherwise, it’s not worth Lufia’s wrath.

Lufia: You’re much more likely to beat her head-on than you are if you’ve previously picked on her friends, and if we’re being totally honest she could stand to be taken down a peg. Fight Lufia. (As with Artea, don’t fight her post-Doom Island - not because she can beat you, but because it’s guaranteed to get Hero riled up enough to End you.)

Aguro: Like Guy, you probably can’t take him... but it’d be satisfying anyway. Go on, deck him.

Jerin: If you can close the distance, you’ll probably be okay. But let’s be real, she’s equivalent to like ten or twelve. If you must fight a little girl, fine, but get out of dodge before her friends find out.

Tia: I mean... you could beat her, but would you really feel good about yourself? Don’t fight Tia. The guilt isn’t worth it.

Dekar: You know what, sure. Fight Dekar. There’s absolutely no scenario where you come out on top, but a brawl is the way to this man’s heart and after he flattens you there’s a very good chance he’ll pick you back up, pat you on the back, and tell you it was a good effort and there’s no shame in losing to The Strongest Man In The World. Fight Dekar. Make a friend.

Lexis: He’s feisty but he’s a nerd. You can take him. Fight Lexis - just beware of the pliers.

Bonus NPCs: 

1. Fight all four Sinistrals. Especially Gades. Godspeed.

2. Also fight Raile. Like Guy and Aguro, it’d be satisfying, and like Lexis you can definitely take him.

3. Don’t fight Roman. Lufia will find you, and also I can’t shake the feeling that something is up with that dude.

4. Don’t fight Milka unless you’re reasonably sure you can take Artea.

5. If you’re planning to fight Idura... call me. 

Ending done...and yes I missed a bunch of chests!  Dunno where...thought I was thorough (besides forgetting to visit Forfeit Island to search it out).  No, I didn’t use a Walkthrough to get everything.  And I probably just missed some crappy healing items.

My death count for party members was as follows...Max-9, Lufia-1, Aguro-11, and Jerin-4.  Aguro was just BLASTED by magic one too many times, while Max ran afoul of too many Instant Death spells later in the game.  I think Lufia’s one death was to something similar, hilariously enough considering she’s the Mistress of Death in human form!

However, despite this ending, the Lufia fun isn’t ending!  I’ve got 5 day weekend next week (due to getting a few days off for President’s Day...I love working for the Board of Education for more than just enjoying my job).  So on Friday, when I’m home looking for shit to do, I will be starting Lufia II:  Rise of the Sinistrals.  It’s a much more fun game for gameplay reasons, although I do enjoy the characters in the first game as a team more (besides Dekar...that guy just OOZES fun in every scene he’s in).

So, as I’m wracking my brain in working on this scene (Filia has just found out the truth about the Ancient Dragons from notes left behind by the former elder in the secret chapel of Laurent) I figure I want to talk about the history of my Slayers Rewrites.  Because I find it A LOT of fun to retell various RPGs with the comedic nature of Slayers...

Cut for ramblage...read if you want!

So, I first heard about Slayers on the internet in the early 2000s.  I just happened upon a crossover MST series through searching for stuff about a game I like, and both Zel and Xellos had roles within.  There were also a few bad Slayers fics being made fun of on it so I got to somewhat meet the four mains and Xellos a bit more (Lina/Gourry/Zelgadis/Amelia are a team in every season, Xellos appears from NEXT onward, Sylphiel is in the first season and NEXT, same with Zangulus but he’s an enemy in the original, Martina is NEXT exclusive, Filia is TRY exclusive...no I have yet to watch Revolution or Evolution-R though I know a bit about them and you can blame that on laziness).  And being the internet savvy girl I was, I was looking up A LOT of stuff online to learn more about the show and the cast to see if I wanted to buy it.

Now, I get some VHS Tapes (this was an era before boxed sets and DVDs were more expensive than VHS) and see the first thirteen episodes.  That gets them through the first arc and ends with Lina, Gourry, and Amelia heading off to Sairaag in the second arc.   I didn’t have money to buy more at that point in time...so what’s a girl to do?  Simple!  Write a stupid fanfic that only requires basic knowledge of the series to do!  What I chose was to set the story after TRY, but only feature Lina and Gourry since I’d seen a lot less of Zel or Amelia to get a grasp on writing them.  I knew there was going to be something between them on the road, but never 100% get together by the end of the show.  Thus, shipping and getting married would happen!

The way I did it was write a parody...using Legend of Mana!  Basically, Lina and Gourry get sucked into Fa’Diel and have to do all the quests in LoM using the magic swords they found before being teleported.  Also, those two and their bottomless pits for stomachs worked wonders in giving them excuse to go to new towns or even new dungeons at times.  For added stupidity, all of the quest characters who joined you and all people related to their quests were character shifted to a variety of other RPGs (several Breath of Fire games due to the many demi-humans, Tales of Destiny because I needed feuding siblings, Arcana because I was self indulging my Muse, Lufia for the elf siblings by giving Jerin a twin).  It had some fun gags with food, Lina teaching her young apprentice to Fireball anything that annoyed him with every Wisdom they visited, Gourry being way too good hearted, treasure hunting with Lina...and of course Lina finding a curse lifting charm but losing it before she can give it to Zelgadis after getting home because Xellos is an ass!  It definitely is not half as good as the later attempt at novelizing LoM with Touhou, but it was hella fun to write!

Sometime later, after watching all of Slayers and having a grasp of all characters, I wrote a parody of Grandia with the cast.  This started my joke of having an “introduction” that is Teefa bantering with Sky and the cast with a cast list describing each role and then saying who is playing it.  With the cast lists, she usually had to post them in a rush after SOMEONE (usually Xellos) caused trouble and she had to intervene (like the time he got Lina riled up enough that she burned down the trees near the atelier, brought her lamp to life to terrorize everyone...or outright started a war with Filia).

My excuse for using Grandia was actually due to the second game!  Millennia had reminded me of an unholy cross between Lina, Naga, and Xellos, but the characters didn’t work for a parody using that one.  It had the hilarity of having TWO Nagas running around because only she and Eris made sense to be the Three Witches and Naga did get cloned TEN times (not counting the one with opposite personality).  Also, Amelia re-named Puffy to Justice because...Amelia!  This was also the first time I made Zelgadis from a race of people with Chimeric powers like his, due to the sheer number of demi-human races in Grandia (don’t ask why he played Rapp...but character importance, relations, and themes are more important than personalities since I can change anything).  It also was the advent of the “anti-magic collars,” as I had to keep finding reasons for Lina to get kidnapped as she played Feena (the first time, Amelia was taken instead as bait...second time, “that time of the month” but since the show didn’t abuse it I couldn’t...third, a special device Mazoku use to seal a more dangerous sorcerer they need kept alive).  It also started the tradition of Phibrizzo just offing Gaav like in canon (Valgaav wouldn’t betray his master upon hearing his true motives like Mullen did, thus Phibrizzo causes him to make a truce with Gourry and the others).  The fic also had the most uncreative name in “The Many Adventures of Gourry Gabriev,” (MAGG for short), and was so long I put each disk of the game in its own folder!

Next up was “Sword of Light,” aka a parody of Vandal~Hearts!  Featuring a lot of gender swapping (too many male roles vs. a show with a large cast of females and less males), having to BS a large cast (I even had to use minor characters and some non-Mazoku antagonists like Rezo and Eris as heroes to fill out roles), and Lina nuking a prison and just missing killing off several main antagonists by a few hours!  I also have fun with the fact that Eleni’s past self is also named “Leena” by making the name change just the fact that the outlying village and the main part of the country spelled the name differently.  And as the cast stayed together instead of rotated, there were a lot more comedic moments between more characters...notably when Xellos wins them a fight by purposefully antagonizing Filia in the right way!

It was not long after that when I decided that it would be cool to do Seiken Densetsu 3 (remember...worked on in 2006, no English name yet).  Why?  I’m not sure!  Might have been I was just playing it at the time.  Might have been after finding the LP archives and finally reading an LP to find out what happened after I failed to kill Zable Fahr on my own file.  I actually began it in 2006, according to some old journal entries from back then, however I know the initial idea was from my senior year in High School because I remember writing about it in a journal we had to keep for a class and write a page a day about whatever the hell we wanted.  But I don’t think I’d written either of the other two parodies at that time (due to some dated humor in my Intro for the first), so it was probably me just taking an old concept and renewing it it.  I mean...a mage, a swordsman, a cleric, a demi-human of sorts, a blonde girl associated with dragons, a sly violet haired guy.  Which cast am I talking about?  Trials of Mana?  Or Slayers TRY?  I chose to name it “Hikari no Ken Densetsu” in honor of the fact that this game was only released in Japan and most fans called it by its Japanese name.  “Hikari no Ken” is the Japanese name for Gourry’s Sword of Light, so it also fits in the way using the English name worked for the previous game!

I’m still not sure why I stopped writing at Elmekia(Valsena)...only there was reference to an interesting idea I wanted to look into.  And I never picked it back up!  Until now, when the Remake has gotten my interest in the game and its characters up to the highest level it’s ever been!  Even if I know I’ll probably go off and write a Hawkeye/Riesz shipping fic in between sessions at some point!  Especially if writing goes on long enough that I’m back to the Stupid Sexy Hawkeye run...because Fenrir Knight gives me LOADS of really dumb ideas for fanfic fodder!  Both ones I’d share and ones I’d keep to myself!

As I’ve said before, I try not to group songs by the same Artist together, or keep things in straight ABC Order going down.  And if several songs would fall into one of these two categories and are in the same section, I’d make sure that songs that don’t patternize divide them up (like the multiple Within Temptation songs I put on “Aria of Saint and Prince”).  But in this case, the order just fell into this way as I focused on different parts of Lufia’s emotional struggle (not having enough to subdivide it further...and this FST got long enough already).  Meaning, we’ve got another song by Evanescence today, “My Last Breath.”

Not the first time this song got me thinking about a ship!  Last time was Milhaust/Agarte from Tales of Rebirth...

~Hold on to me love, you know I can't stay long~ ~All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid~ ~Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms~ Dying after the Dual Blade stabs her, Lufia only wants Max to hold her in her last moments.  She’s not afraid to die, knowing she did what was right to protect the man she loved.  But simply desires him to keep her near and hear her last message.

~Holding my last breath, safe inside myself~ ~Are all my thoughts of you~ ~Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight.~ Despite her life slipping away, Lufia holds on as long as she can to be with Max just a little longer.  It might be the end, but her fading thoughts are with him until the very end.

~I'll miss the winter, a world of fragile things~ ~Look for me in the white forest hiding in a hollow tree~ ~(come find me)~ ~I know you hear me, I can taste it in your tears~ The world is beautiful and Lufia enjoyed life a lot.  But though she’ll be gone, though she’ll miss that beauty herself, if Max only visits somewhere natural, he’ll find her, alluding to her love of flowers even if it doesn’t mention them specifically.  She can hear his words, taste the tears falling down his cheeks, and knows that Max is with her.

~Holding my last, breath safe inside myself...~

~Closing your eyes to disappear~ ~You pray your dreams will leave you here~ ~But still you wake and know the truth~ ~No one's there~ Max tries to deny the truth, thinking if he calls out hard enough he can save her.  But that’s impossible...she’ll be gone soon...

~Say goodnight, don't be afraid~ ~Calling me, calling me, as you fade to black~ Her final goodbyes are given in the form of the promise they make.  But Lufia can still hear Max calling out to her as her eyes close and the end comes.

~Holding my last breath, safe inside myself...~ The above lines are being mixed in with this chorus as it's sung.  Kind of like Max just sitting there in shock as life leaves her.

~Holding my last breath, safe inside myself...~ And this is being sung in a very reverb-y way, like an echo.  Makes me think of the words swarming in Max's head after Lufia falls when the bridge collapses, as Aguro and Jerin try to drag him away.

~Holding my last breath~

I can’t believe how perfect this song is, despite having thought of it for an equally tragic couple!  Well, more tragic since at least Max gets to be with her again a year later.  But that’s for another day...there are a plethora of depressing songs sung by one who has lost a love for Max to wade through!

Okay, I’ve finished the “NG+ Flashbacks and Thoughts” section for Lufia Maiden of Fate.  Some of the things I’m very proud of...

1.  The beginning has Danil be the one who runs in to tell of the monsters and Lufia takes care of him while Max runs to get help.  He goes right to Chatam (the new site of the attack) after nobody wants to come/Estea agrees with his frustration.  Gades attacks him after he slays some monsters on his first and only trip and Lufia runs to save him since she had a bad feeling.  Notice just how much I was able to trim down the beginning?

2.  Instead of a convoluted way of getting to Elfrea, they have to go through the Lost Forest, with its reason for being impassible being they need Jerin’s Field Ability.  Also, she saves Aguro from the boss and thus explains why he’s infatuated with her.

3.  Finding the prof!  He’s out after Artea tells you to go to him ONLY to make room for you witnessing Amon’s resurrection.  Then you save him from pirates who kidnapped him to force him to invent for them (more sensible than them kidnapping a kid for no explained reason).

4.  All you need to go underwater is a special Core Lexis had hidden in Arus.  So, one temple.  You’re still delayed by Gades and Amon a bit, but it’s less fillery and still shorter than the freaking Alumina Quest!  And it serves to foreshadow more on Lufia.

5.  You get Dual Blade at its normal time, but it is only just a bit more powerful than a Zircon Blade as Max’s feelings allowed him to use its power to protect Lufia from the forced awakening Daos brings on.

6.  Trippy dream featuring Erim’s memories when doing sleepover in Arus (this and the previous visit also establish Lufia and Flake bonding, showing why he wanted to help her in ending).  This is followed by scenes between Lufia & Flake, Max & Aguro (based on the original w/more character dev for Aguro), and Jerin and Ainea (one of the two new party members I chose...she fights in Guy’s memory).

7.  Lufia has VERY relevant memories when Daos tries to screw with her at Glasdar Tower (which has a different purpose in this game related to helping them fly).  So while she’s still taken, it’s less of her own free will since I couldn’t see her going along willingly if she remembered that Erim was kinda backstabbed by him!

8.  I strongly increased the romance quota between Max and Lufia.  This also shows some of Jerin’s distress too and Aguro’s failed attempts to comfort her by wooing her badly!

There are some other things, though I think I might discuss NG+ another day, other than “Erim again goes back in time with Dual Blade’s power since she wants to save Max and Lufia the grief.”