Lunar Silver Star Story: Final Thoughts

 

So I finally put some time in this weekend and finished this game. To be honest before I picked it up this weekend I was dreading it. I knew what I had to do next in the game: I had to back track and fight a ton of unnecessary random battles. Nothing frustrates me more in an RPG. I understand having to go back to old cities, but in great games it's streamlined  so it doesn't seem like a chore. So after getting past that part oh boy was I in for a surprise. The 2nd act of the game seemed to drag and frustrated me a bit. But I'm glad I trudged through it because the final act kicked you in the face and didn't apologize! It was one of the more memorable and  unique endings to any RPG I've ever played. So here are my thoughts on the game overall.

Gameplay:

Lunar presents some interesting features in this RPG adventure. There's no unique puzzle dynamic or world exploration means however. Outside of just walking from city to city there isn't much of world map at all. You get an airship but never control it (which is annoying -_-). Stores are standard: buy weapons, items, and armor. No custom upgrades or anything. Although at the end it's pretty cool because your old friend owns a store and lets you take anything you want for free. So before your final assault you can just stockpile!

The battle system is pretty unique. It is turn based, but it's based on how close you are to your enemy. You have to be close enough for melee, Area of Effect attacks, etc. So in that aspect it's kind of unique. Also, each character has a pretty specific role in battle (meleee, caster, healer) so you don't have to worry too much about what each person is going to do each round. It's also nice midway through the game because Alex gets an ability to wipe out an entire group of monsters in one attack so random battles aren't such a nuisance. Overall the game-play is solid and enjoyable

Sound: 

The sound effects are pretty cool. There's some memorable sounds from sword slashes, spells, etc. They did a good job to match the style and graphics. Now as for the soundtrack, it's pretty great. There are quite a few memorable tunes; including the battle theme, Meribia, Luna and Alex's song, as well as the song Wind's Nocturne sung by Jenny Stigile Magallanes in the boat cut scene (from what I gather is pretty beloved in the Lunar series).

Now I did play the PSP version so I don't know how the original soundtrack sounded in comparison. They do repeat tunes quite a bit, but they match the tone of the game so it works. What I really love is near the end they remix a lot of songs. They either  make it sound more powerful/ inspiration or emotional. I especially love all the music in the finally cinema. I now know why the PS1 complete version came with the soundtrack: It's pretty good!

Graphics:

                                                        

So above you'll see a comparison of the opening scene graphics from the Sega Saturn/ PS1 version and the PSP version. I'll have to say the PSP ones are just more appealing to me and I don't know if the PS1 graphics' charm would be enough for me. Anyways, the PSP graphics were a nice upgrade and worked really well. I enjoyed how they looked and they added a lot of character to the game. What i particularly love about Game Arts games is that the text boxes have hand-drawn versions of the characters to show emotion. It adds a lot to dialog and helps you better understand the feeling the writers were trying to get across. 

Speaking of hand drawn characters, the part I might love more than anything about the graphics are the cut scenes. They aren't like most RPGs where they make it 3-D, rather there are Anime style hand-drawn animations. It's super appealing and goes well with the style of the game. I almost prefer it to almost any other CG cut scene I've scene. Something about it seems more authentic. The facial expressions are just more believable and you can get more attached to whats going on in the scene as opposed to just watching it for the sake of following the story. The graphics and cut scenes have that certain charm that I can't put my finger on, but are like nothing I've come across before either. I really enjoyed them overall.

Story: 

From top to bottom this story is solid as can be. There is a wide cast of characters that all have depth, a nice back story, and great character development. You can really connect with all of them. It moves at a nice pace but does seem predictable at times. Which is okay with me as long as it is engaging. I really enjoyed following Alex and Luna and wanted to know what would happen in the end. There is a heavy emphasis on the power of love which can be seen as cheesy but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The middle act drags a bit, but oh my God does the end of the game kick ass. 

All kinds of loose ends are tied up, there's a few "surprises", plenty of story arcs, new music remixes, and maybe the most unique way to end the game I've ever seen. Normally RPG endings go something like this: Defeat the final boss, final cinema, credits, THE END. But with Lunar you're allowed to walk around and see how the minor characters stories are tied up. It's a welcome change to a pretty standard way to end games. I don't wanna give away too much in case you're planing on playing it but it is awesome overall. I can't help but think it has a hint of Christianity though with the Goddess becoming a human story line. 

Final Thoughts: Play It

Overall this game is good and solid. It's definitely above average, but I don't know if it can really compete with the Final Fantasies of the RPG world. It's not supposed to though. It's a charming love story with a unique way to do an RPG with its hand draw animation and fun cast of characters. I will say the ending part of the game is by far the best. The whole story wraps up so beautifully and makes the whole experience worth it. If you enjoy RPGs at all you should pick it up. I clocked in at around 27-28 hours on the game clock, but I cant be sure how much I really played because I left my PSP on over night one time haha. So you're probably looking at a little over 20 hours if you don't dilly dally around. 

As for my next game....I'm pretty much limited to the PS1 classics library on the PlayStation Network. So right now I'm thinking either Suikoden (A grand scale war-style RPG) or Wild Arms (More action-oriented with a wild west theme).  I'm leaning towards Wild Arms, but what do you think? Let me know! Thanks for taking the time to read this all and continuing to check out the blog. Later Gamers!

                                         

Preview: First Screenshots of My Game

Okay so this is the first town I've created as well as a few interiors and a nearby mountain (I think a went a little overboard). The game has no title yet but I'm working on it. Check these screens out and tell me what you think. All comments welcome. Later Gamers!

The Game's Starting Town: Breive(Working Title)

The Main Character's House

The Local Pub

The Town Church

The Town's Inn: 1st and 2nd floors

A Nearby Mountain...Obviously a bit bigger than the town haha!

RPG Maker: One of the best game concepts ever

Okay so technically it's not really a game, more like software to make a game. But none the less when I saw a preview for this game I went crazy! It was set to be released in America in 2000, while already released in Japan in 1997. Sure the graphics were nothing more than a bad SNES game, but hey it was MY bad SNES game. It was so fun just to play around with tile sets to make towns, characters, monsters, and special attacks. This franchise became so popular that it would eventually produce (to my knowledge) 5 more titles with the same name. Each one including upgrades form the previous game that included better graphics, battle system, and event editor. There was 1 on the PS1, 2 on the PS2, 2 on the PC, and apparently one for the PSP.

Now I will admit I've played and/or owned every single title with the exclusion of the PSP game. You know what the saddest thing about all of this? I never completed a single game I started! I think my problem was that my imagination was bigger than the effort I was willing to put into making these games. I did get pretty far in a few of them and wrote outlines of stories. However, I never finished them. It was either due to boredom, interest in other things, or just plain forgetting about it at some point. Although I may not have completed a game this "game" created countless hours of entertainment and great memories with friends. We still talk about small projects we started but never finished.

So with all this renewed interest in  RPGs lately I decided to give it another go. I will say that I have the basic story idea and how long I think it will last. I have a bad feeling that once again I'll get in over my head and never finish it. But here's hoping I'll do it and make a good one! I'm planing on making it with VX version for the PC. It seems to be the most crisp, least amount of lag, plus the easy ability to upload custom titles and characters. There is a cool forum I found that hosts plenty of resources if you want to add them to your game. People also post their game for you to demo and play. I've only just modeled the exterior of the starting town and the main character, so don't expect anything soon. But I will keep updates going here and let you know if and when it's finished.

Me and a friend decided to make a game for each other to play when I get home in August. I'm hoping mine will be around 5 hours, while he's saying his will be 30mins-2 hours. Who knows! Anyways I'm excited and if I can figure out how to take screen shots I'll show you some towns I make. Here is a link to the forum if you wanna know more about it and also a link to the official site if you want to try the 30 day trial and make a game of your own!:

RPG Maker VX Forum

RPG Maker VX Official Site

Until next time thanks for reading.  Later gamers!