It's definitely better.

Lufia I was a mess, but I was going to play the "sequel" even if I didn't want to. I don't know where I'm going with this, so, uh... Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals is the pre-sequel to Lufia 1. It came out two years after, which is crazy to think about because II is much more polished than I. 

The graphics no longer look like a premium NES game. There is also more variety in enemy sprites. They get pallet swapped regularly, but what can ya do? NPC sprites could also do with some filtering to make important ones pop more. There was one point I walked right by the most important non party member just because she looked like everyone else. Village elders just look like generic geriatrics. I got lost a few too many times for weird reasons. 6/10

There is more music variety, thankfully. You still hear cave and tower tracks too often because that's all you ever explore, but at least the interim lets you forget. There are even a few songs that might get stuck in your head. 10/10

The charm is more obvious this time around. The world feels just as good, but important NPCs are more abundant and active. But they deserved better. Sadly, the game drags at the end. There are just a few too many dungeons I was mashing attack through. There are a few side stories that I think could have been circumvented. So it still feels Dragon Questy. Though I gotta ask something. Why were the maps so different between gams? 5/10

Gameplay is also superior. It still lacks depth and variety, especially since nearly all dungeons are just a cave or a tower with a different color, but they try to add something with all the puzzle aspects. These puzzles are nice, but they're usually just there for the sake of being there. They rarely mean anything to the overall vibes of the dungeon. But they're still a welcome addition. Except for the ones that are way too hard and almost require a guide... The capsule mobsters are another interesting addition. You can find seven AI party members, each with their own moves and patterns. They're kinda like the dragons in Bahamut's Lagoon. I wasn't super wowed by them, but I did bother to max two of them, so it means something. 5/10

Most importantly, the story is more fun! The twists are more enjoyable, and the turns make you feel something our dads don't want us to feel. While getting the same results, L2's characters have more depth and memorability. The villains are just the same. The overall plot, though, didn't vibe with me. Maybe because I'm a Tia man? 5/10. 

Good news! There are zero negative points! Attacks automatically advance to another target. The final boss, while weak and pathetic, didn't feel as cheap. He probably was, though... And the encounter rate is manageable. This is because there are no random encounters in dungeons, but even the world map has it perfected. Shout out to Taito for this contribution to the genre! 

At the end of the day, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals garners a 32/50, which might explain this review. 

I only sorta enjoyed L2. It's a perfectly fine game, and there's nothing offensive about it. But there's also nothing I'll remember about it, outside the heart wrenching ending. Maybe I should have played this one first and hated L1 even more? It's a solid game; perfectly respectable. Maybe it's the brain dead easy difficulty or the fact that the previous game left such a bad taste in my mouth. I did want to play every night, but I did not want to write this review. So I'll finish by saying that, despite the middling score, I think Lufia II is worth playing.