I wasn't expecting much out Luxaren Allure. I had passed on playing it a few times because I saw one of the selling points was that is was a "yuri" game. So, I assumed it was just going to be all in your face about it. Or with borderline hentai-like cg images sprinkled all around. But, to my surprise, after giving this game a shot, this is not the case. Not only are the relationships in this game done extremely well, but, they are not in your face at all. It feels more like a typical good RPG love story romance, the characters just happen to be lesbians. Which I was happy to see.

The thing that surprised me the most though is just how good Luxaren Allure is. Everything from the battle system to the writing to the graphics is great. The game is extremely well polished and there is really only a few negative things I have to say about the game. This game could of come out in the SNES or PS1 days and I would of played the hell out of it. It really is the complete package IMO.

But, anyway, on to the review!!

Story

The story of this game revolves around Karuna, a talented swordswomen in the school of the unwavering blade, who has a crush on her best friend and training partner Aurelie. At the beginning of the game Karuna and Aurelie go into Darkloft Castle to find a missing boy and Aurelie winds up getting seperated from Karuna and possessed by a mysterious suit of armor. Turning her into Darkloft, pretty much evil incarnate, and she begins to lay waste upon the land.

Devasted after finding out what happened to Aurelie, Karuna winds up getting chosen as the Hero tasked to collect the 3 holy relics and to hunt down and kill Darkloft. Joined by her self appointed squire Chisa, Karuna leaves on her quest while, at the same time, secretely hoping that she can find a way to save Aurelie so they can be reunited again.

I could go on and on about the story of this game. But, I really don't want to spoil the story for any potential players.

Although, I will say that one of the things I really liked about the game's story was that while the tone of the game is lighthearted with a little bit of humor sprinkled here and there. It takes itself very seriously and has a lot of emotional moments. Also, the writing is fantastic and the characters are really charming and have great chemistry. I especially liked the Chisa and Merel relationship. It is very well done.


Yes, put it on. Nothing bad could come of this....

Gameplay

Here is the meat and potatoes of the game right here and the reason that I enjoyed playing this game so much. I noticed a lot of things I liked right off the bat while playing.

First off, there are no random encounters, so if you manage to avoid the creatures on the map you really don't have to battle at all. Enemies appear as a little spirit or flame on the map. And they chase you around when you get in a certain proximity of them or some of them follow a set path.

Secondly, status effects go away after battle. It just a personal preference of mine, but, I always hate it in RPGs when you are constantly getting poisoned or silence and you have to constantly go to the menu and heal all the multiple status effects that are inflicted on you in battle constantly.

And finally, the battle system in this game is good. I mean really good. It is an active time battle system. You have MP skills and impulse skills unique to each character. MP skills use traditional MP like most rpgs. While Impulse skills use impulse. This is usually where you will find most of your characters stronger attacks. Impulse is gained by taking damage. Though, by the end game you will have PLENTY of different possible ways to gain impulse. From accessories, skills, stances, etc.

And while I am on the topic of skills. The battle skills in this game are surprisingly unique and really well thought out. Chisa alone has skills like Pearl Breeze that restores HP to all allies equal to her current HP. A stance called Divine Drive that cuts elemental damage in half while also boosted her agility by 50% and granting her HP and MP regeneration. Which are just 2 of around 20 or so interesting skills. There are skills that require 2 people to use effectively, or Tankify that increases a characters HP and makes them a more likely target for enemy attacks. Each move has a purpose and are all are useful.

There is also a pretty good alchemy system where you can use materials gained from treasure chests and dropped from enemies to unlock unique weapons, armor, and accessories. You can tell that the creator really took their time to balance how many rare materials you can find before the end game. You seem to get just enough where you can create some great things early on, but, you have to pick and choose. You can never get all of them until the endgame.

My absolute favorite part of this game though is how impeccably balanced it is. I played on hard. And every single boss fight in this game was done extremely well. Boss battles are varied and I found myself constantly coming up with new strategies. Also, every single battle seemed to be just the right difficulty. They were hard, but not TOO hard. I never had to grind once. All it would take is a change in strategy to win.


I drink your MILKSHAKE you creepy rat king thing-a-mabob!!!!!

Graphics and Music

Everything from the tilesets, enemies, character sprites, and portraits are all custom and very well drawn. Sure, some of the enemies can look ridiculous at times. But, that is part of the fun of the game. Plus, the more and more I played of the game. The more the enemy designs grew on me. Tilesets used for the maps were very well done. Some of the levels such as the final dungeon is absolutely creepy looking. With eyes on the walls and messages written in blood.

Overall, very good graphics and even more impressive that most of these were drawn by the developer of the game. The title screen of the game is especially impressive.

As for the music, the soundtrack is AMAZING imo. I found myself rocking out to most of the battle and dungeon themes. And Darkloft's theme is very good. Kind of creepy in a way. It is perfect for the character.


There are A LOT of skills in this game and this doesn't even include impulse skills. And most are very unique.

Pros

Great Writing
Good Humor
Memorable Characters(Chisa and Merel were my favs)
Varied Bosses
Fast Paced and Strategic Battles
Love the battle quotes
Most battle skills are unique from what most RPGs have
Multiple Difficulty Levels(Try it on hard for maximum challenge)
Love the highlighted search areas to cut down on random searching
Love that statuses go away after battle
No Random Battles
The sound effect used after finishing a battle puts a smile on my face everytime I hear it
Loved the tidal zone, love festival, and riddlemonger sections
A lot of love was put into the item names and descriptions
Alchemy system where you can make custom weapons, armors, and accessories
Great Custom Artwork
Really good soundtrack with quite a few very catchy tunes
20-25 hours of gameplay
Feels like a complete RPG experience!!

Cons

Some of the dungeons may have dragged on a little too long(Road to Hotenshin, Final Dungeon)
A few times when unable to escape from a battle the enemies would continually attack me for multiple turns without anyone else getting a turn until I was killed
It ended

Overall

Luxaren Allure is a 20-25 hour long rpg epic with fantastic combat, impeccable balance, varied bosses, great writing, memorable characters, custom graphics and a good sense of humor. Obviously, I HIGHLY recommend this game. As of right now, this is my personal favorite game I have played on RPGMaker.net. And, if nothing else in this review convinces you to give this game a shot. OMG!! It's got LESBIANS!!