Enter A World Of Blue-Haired Girls, Flying Cats, and Horrendous Inventory Systems
Written: May 06 '09
Product Rating:
Pros: Memorable characters, great translation, solid soundtrack, great battle system.
Cons: Annoying inventory system, might be too old-school for some.
The Bottom Line:
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is a great RPG, particularly for those planning a trip down memory lane or looking for a "lighter alternative" to games like Final Fantasy VII.
marty1982's Full Review: Lunar Silver Star Story: Collectors Edition for Pl...
Nostalgia can be a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it. While we all like to reminisce about the "good ole' days", sometimes we can be easily misled into thinking what we grew up with was better than it actually was. And of course, as the wheel of time continues to spin, the "new-school stuff" we currently frown upon will be considered "old-school nostalgia" to future generations.
Yet, one decade ago, Game Arts and Working Designs decided to blur the old school with the new school. The long-awaited US version of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (a remake of the classic Sega-CD RPG Lunar: The Silver Star) was finally released in the late-Spring of 1999. Featuring entirely two-dimensional graphics, anime-style cutscenes, and a classically shallow-yet-enduring plot; the game attempted to bring old-school RPG's into a generation that was hooked on "new classics" like Final Fantasy VII and Saga Frontier. So, did they succeed? Was the game worth its two year development span? Read on.
The Story
In Lunar, you assume the role of Alex, an aspiring dragonmaster and close friend of blue-haired songstress Luna and "flying cat" Nall. Alex leads a pretty normal village life, until one day his friend Ramus insists that he explores the local White Dragon's Cave to find a long-lost artifact. Little do Alex and his friends know of the adventure that awaits them after exploring this cave.
In typical RPG fashion, you'll make many new friends and enemies along the way, get tangled up in some pretty heroic feats, and of course endure the sting of failure a couple times. Without giving away too much of the plot, the main focus is on Alex's quest to become the new Dragonmaster. Which soon unfolds into a plot involving corruption and world domination. The characters Alex meets along the way include Nash (a pompous-yet-extremely-sensitive mage), Kyle (a beer-guzzling wannabe "tough guy"), and Jessica (Kyle's feisty gal pal). None of the game's characters are too deep or emotion-inducing, but Lunar has a generally cheerful (and funny) cast of heroes/heroins. And you're sure to get a kick out of things like Jessica's constant banter with Kyle or Nash's consistently-unsuccessful attempts at impressing people. If you're looking for a plot with the depth and drama of a game like Final Fantasy III/VI, then look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a lighter (though no less plot-heavy) RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously, then Lunar should certainly fit the bill.
Gameplay
Lunar's battle system is unique, to say the least. Unlike most RPG's (which typically use a somewhat-cumbersome text menu system), the game uses an intuitive visual GUI for its battles. Choose the "Fight" icon and you'll fight melee style, choose the "Magic" icon and you'll cast a spell, choose the "Running Boots" icon if you wish to run from battle, etc. It's a very user-friendly system, and one that I really wish more RPG's would use. Also, for those who grow tired of fighting enemy after enemy, Lunar offers a handy "AI" feature that allows the computer to take total control of your characters in battle. Unfortunately, it has the very large flaw of commanding your characters to perform the most powerful attacks they have available. Which means that, for example, Alex may perform a 15 MP-priced Cut Slash on an enemy with only one hit point left (where a typical melee attack would've easily sufficed). So my advice would be to use the AI option only after you've seriously grown tired of fighting the monsters in a specific area.
Unfortunately, while I love Lunar's battle system, the same can't be said for the game's inventory system. Like the battle system, Lunar uses an icon-based interface for its inventory system. Unfortunately, the interface is set up so that, for a character to use an item in battle, you must allocate it to him. To make matters worse, your character is only allowed up to five or six items at a time, and in battle cannot exchange any items with other characters. This becomes very frustrating particularly during boss fights, where you will need all the items you can get. There's nothing worse than being so close to defeating a boss, only to get your butt kicked simply because you ran out of items in your "battle inventory."
Outside of battle, Lunar's a very straightforward RPG. Puzzle solving is minimal, the dungeons are quite linear in design, and of course, you do the standard "RPG stuff": talking to people, buying items, etc. The American translation of Lunar is surprisingly well done. While there are one or two awkward snippets of dialog in the game, I found most of it to be well written and quite humorous in places. Certainly better than the generally stilted and awkward dialog of games like Xenogears.
Graphics
Even in 1999, if you were looking for a state-of-the-art graphical showcase in the vein of Final Fantasy VII, Lunar certainly would not have fit the bill. The game's graphics are old-school to the core: bitmapped characters and environments, super-deformed character sprites, somewhat awkward looking spells. Final Fantasy III for the Super NES had more sophisticated graphics. And yet, the graphics in Lunar still shine due to their tremendous personality and charm. The characters are lovingly designed, their animations are quite funny, and the environments are bright and colorful. In addition to the in-game graphics, various anime cutscenes are scattered throughout the game. While not quite up to par with those of Xenogears, the cutscenes in Lunar are well drawn and a definite joy to watch.
Sound
After hearing so much about the music in Lunar, the actual soundtrack was somewhat disappointing. With a few exceptions (such as the opening cinema), it's all MIDI. And the sample quality is only a step above what you'd hear in a later Super NES game. Fortunately, the actual songs are well-composed and quite catchy in places. In fact, the only song I would deem questionable is the battle theme, which unfortunately is also probably the song you will hear most often when playing through the game. Why did so many RPG music composers during the Playstation years have such a hard time coming up with good battle themes?
The voice acting, while sparse, is surprisingly good considering that it was done mostly by unknown actors and actresses (remember, this is a couple years before big budget Hollywood talent became standard in video games). Although, as many have previously pointed out, Nall's helium-tainted voice leaves a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, the sound effects are standard RPG fare. Appropriate but nothing to shout about.
Extras
While "Extra Features" are taken for granted now in this age of DVD's, they were a lot less common in the late-90's. The collector's edition of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, in addition to the two CD's the game is on, comes with two additional disks: One being the game's soundtrack (playable on any CD player) and the other being a cute "Making Of" documentary, chronicling the game's development and localization. While neither of these are necessary to enjoy the game, they're nice bonuses for the hardcore completist.
Overall
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is a great RPG for those who wish to relive the "glory days" of RPG's (ie. before they became socially acceptable :)). The game does a splendid job of mixing old-school graphics and RPG mechanics with modern production values, and despite its cumbersome inventory system, it's one of the best-playing RPG's available on Sony's little gray wonder.
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