Lunar: Silver Star Story
Reviewed by CB007
Graphics
Whether or not you enjoy Lunar's graphics depends mostly on
what kind of gamer you are. If you prefer realistic
graphics, like those found in FF8, you may be a bit
dissapointed by what you find here. If, however, you prefer
Old-Style RPG Graphics, you will probably find these to be
excellent. The detail in towns and dungeons is remarkable.
Everything is crystal clear, and very bright and colorful.
Like Chrono Trigger, you are able to see your enemies moving
around in the dungeons before you do battle with them. This
is also done in a way that makes the game look nicer, overall.
Overworld graphics are also very similar to those found in
Chrono Trigger. The characters are very small, and there
really isn't much too see. But since you won't be travelling
on the overworld much, anyway, this can easily be forgiven.
Graphics in battles are pretty good, too. There aren't that
many spells, but the effects for most of them are pretty
good. Characters themselves are fairly small, and don't have
a very high level of detail. However, the enemies,
particularly the bosses, really look very good. However, as
in many other RPGs, the game recycles the same enemies quite
often, and just changes the color. For example, in one
Dungeon there are Red Slimes, and in another Blue Slimes.
Different strengths, but they look about identical.
Game Play
During the game, you can have up to 5 Party Members.
Depending on what's happening with the story, you will
sometimes have less. Each character has their own advantages
and disadvantages. For example, Nash has powerful black
magic, but his Defense and Physical Attacks are weaker than
several of the other characters. Some Party Members are
mainly used for attacks, and some are mainly used for magic.
There aren't an extremely large number of spells available,
but most of what you have is pretty useful. There are
several different healing spells, as well as many different
types of black magic. The Physical Attackers use some magic
too, though. Special Sword attacks require MP, as well as
summoning the dragons to attack or cure your party. There is
an Auto-Battle feature, but it isn't very useful.
The game is fairly linear, which can be good or bad
depending on how you look at it. You can warp to the towns
you've visited before, but there aren't really any side
quests to go on. There really isn't much need for an
overworld at all because of this.
I wouldn't call the game difficult, but it isn't one of the
easiest ones I've played. This mostly depends on how much
leveling up you decide to do. If you fight most of the
enemies in each dungeon, you should be fine. My time to
complete the game was about 20-21 hours. This will vary
slightly depending on what kind of a player you are, whether
you like to take time to level up, etc.
Story
This is where Lunar truly shines. The story, in my opinion,
is one of the best to be found in an RPG. It is extremely
well translated. The game takes place in a Fantasy World
with Dragons and Magic, like most other RPG's . What sets
this one apart is how well written everything is. The game
is full of humor, is serious at times, and almost never gets
boring. You are constantly at the state where you can't wait
to find out what's going to happen next. You can talk to
most towns people twice, and hear two different comments
from them. Usually, one of your characters will say
something back, making it like a mini-dialogue. The
remarkable thing is that when you come back after doing a
dungeon, the same people will say different things. It's
simply a remarkable story, and nothing I say here can do it
justice. It simply must be seen first hand.
Music
Lunar has a great musical score. There are different themes
for most of the characters and areas in the game. I wouldn't
say that it's as good as the music in FF6, but it certainly
ranks up there as some of the best. WIth the included
soundtrack CD, you can listen to much of the music in the
game, as well as some songs that were only in the Sega CD Version.
Final Thoughts
Truly one of the best games I have ever played. I found it
to be even more enjoyable the second time through than the
first. The work put into remaking this game is
extraordinary. Besides the game, which is excellent on it's
own, you also get a hardbound 100+ page book, a soundtrack
CD, a 'Making Of Lunar' video CD, and a cloth map. If you
are a fan of Old-Style RPG's, you owe it to yourself to at
least try this game.
Overall: 10 out of 10
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