Game Informer Review

[Monde Luna]

I am not a fan! Dan Ryckert said, "While it may look pretty on the high-res PSP screen, the game's ultra-taditional JRPG gameplay shows its age. Moving the story along is a strictly linear process, requiring you to perfor specific (and sometimes ambiguous) objectives in effort to get the plot rolling.........While longtime Lunar frans may love the new aesthetic, its dated gameplay could trun off fans of more recent RPGs."

I know Dan speaks the truth, but this is what makes Lunar great, the game is actually about the story... Anyway he gave Lunar SSH an 8, so I guess that's not bad. =)

-if this has already been mentioned mod's feel free to delete this thread.

[whitedragon_nall]

This is the first review I heard of. Is that the whole review...or just the bad part of it? I guess the things he said could be better but an 8/10 isn't a bad score at all.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

"Ultra-traditional?" Clearly this man has never heard of Dragon Quest.

[Monde Luna]

No that was just the portion of the review that I didn't like. =) In all honesty the review wasn't that bad. Maybe I will scan it and upload it...

Well I was going to but it wont' let me. =)

[Silver Phoenix]

Never trust reviews as far as rpgs are concerned, because it always comes down to their opinion on what a game should be and not what it is. Lunar does not need to turn into an action fest full of combos and all the crap that never turns out as well as they plan. It also doesn't need an open world of go anywhere/do anything at any time. It is story driven as it should be.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Lunar does not need to turn into an action fest full of combos and all the crap that never turns out as well as they plan.

I dunno, that worked for Grandia. In fact, Grandia has one of my favorite battle systems.

And it could be argued that Lunar does have combos. That's how I've always thought of characters that get multiple attacks.

[Alunissage]

As I recall, Lunar MS has more overt combo stuff going on. Haven't played enough of it to be sure of my memory.

There was also the occasional extra attack in Legend, which was basically a critical hit indicated by the character hitting the enemy again. Man, I loved that game's battle sprites. Seeing Kyle whirling his boxing-glove-clad fist in a circle or Jessica's hood fliying off with the force of the mallet hit she'd just delivered was so fun.

[Kizyr]

Lunar does not need to turn into an action fest full of combos and all the crap that never turns out as well as they plan. It also doesn't need an open world of go anywhere/do anything at any time. It is story driven as it should be.

And sidequests! Don't forget tons of sidequests! 'Cause nothing is better in a story-driven game than a bunch of distractions from the actual story. KF

[Aaron]

Oh boy, I know I'm not that popular but I totally nailed this:

http://www.lunarthreads.com/viewtopic.p ... 940#p57940

Spoiler about what I think potential future reviews of this game will be like:
Chances are the future major reviews will read like this: "Die hard fans return to Lunar and will enjoy this game. The newer generation of gamers who haven't played this game will find themselves playing a mediocre game that appeals to a niche market, and hard pressed to play this when compared to better titles." I understand that Lunar is a niche market, but these changes further reduce the amount of potential buyers in a game. I know that when I'm looking at an RPG to buy, I skip over most of the JRPGs because the translations are so bad. If game play is bottle necked by scene's of heavily metaphorical dialogue then to me that's not enjoyable...usually.

I hope they don't compare it to the WD versions. That would be bad, considering how out classed the voice acting is when compared to the older versions.

I hope I'm not right...

[Silver Phoenix]

Lunar does not need to turn into an action fest full of combos and all the crap that never turns out as well as they plan. It also doesn't need an open world of go anywhere/do anything at any time. It is story driven as it should be.

And sidequests! Don't forget tons of sidequests! 'Cause nothing is better in a story-driven game than a bunch of distractions from the actual story. KF

You mean like in Final Fantasy XII? I spent 120 hours doing all the side quests/hunts and I was so sick of the game I just wanted to finish it. If side quests had some bearing on the story in a meaningful manner it wouldn't be so bad. Fetch quests are just another way to make the game seem longer, but not necessarily better.

Vyse said:
I dunno, that worked for Grandia. In fact, Grandia has one of my favorite battle systems.

And it could be argued that Lunar does have combos. That's how I've always thought of characters that get multiple attacks.

When I mentioned ACTION fests and combos I'm referring to a traditional rpg that plays like an action rpg ala Tales of, Star Ocean, etc. Grandia still plays traditionally, except for maybe the 3rd game if it employs more action aspects. I haven't played it, so I don't know if the battle system became more button pressing action oriented.

[Monde Luna]

Alright here's the review:

[Lunar Eclipse]

It's actually a relatively positive review, and while I'm sure many here agree that deviating from the linearity of the storyline is in most cases simply an unwelcome distraction, there are for some odd reason plenty of people out there who like dodging a lightning bolt a hundred times to get item X to make ultimate item Y. So yeah, I think it's fair enough, especially given the numerical score.

[Kizyr]

Now that I see the review, I have to agree, it's actually rather fair and positive.

You mean like in Final Fantasy XII? I spent 120 hours doing all the side quests/hunts and I was so sick of the game I just wanted to finish it. If side quests had some bearing on the story in a meaningful manner it wouldn't be so bad. Fetch quests are just another way to make the game seem longer, but not necessarily better.

I haven't played FFXII, but that doesn't surprise me. There're a lot of games guilty of that very thing.

Bolded last sentence for emphasis. KF

[Monde Luna]

Yeah, you are right the review actually could have been a lot worse. And according to their standards Lunar does fit in nicely w/ an 8. But GI did give Chrono Trigger a 9 though so it would have been nice to see a score that was a little higher maybe an 8.5 or something. I always wonder how much of the game these reviewers play before they begin their writing. I really enjoyed Chrono Trigger but do I feel like Lunar has more to offer todays gamer, nice cutscenes, better graphics, etc.

[ShindoW]

Im not sure why but I never viewed Lunar as linear XD I guess its all the talking to NPCs and the bonus dungeons in 2 that made it feel that way for me. Its not like you have to stay on that track, you could usually go back and grind if you wanted to. I never had to grind in either Lunar SSSC or EBC game until the end and even then, Zophar gave me more problems than Ghaleon.

[Silver Phoenix]

This score is relative of pretty much all of the past Lunar scores. However, the interviewer does nothing in his review to tell consumers of what new story elements are added or how much better the reworked music is.

Lunar Eclipse, I HATE the kind of crap SquareEnix adds as minigames or fetch quests and Final Fantasy X's Lightning Plains was just retarded.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Yeah, you are right the review actually could have been a lot worse. And according to their standards Lunar does fit in nicely w/ an 8. But GI did give Chrono Trigger a 9 though so it would have been nice to see a score that was a little higher maybe an 8.5 or something.

Well, yeah, but Chrono Trigger is a godlike symbol of everything great about the 16-bit generation. Or at least that's what I'm assuming from all the fanboy (and fangirl) drool. GI would probably get bomb threats if they gave CT anything less than a 9. Lunar's just a lowly cult classic.

[Final Night]

Well, yeah, but Chrono Trigger is a godlike symbol of everything great about the 16-bit generation. Or at least that's what I'm assuming from all the fanboy (and fangirl) drool. GI would probably get bomb threats if they gave CT anything less than a 9. Lunar's just a lowly cult classic.

*gasps* Does this mean you've never played Chrono Trigger!! *stones you*

/personalfanboyism

[Monde Luna]

Well, yeah, but Chrono Trigger is a godlike symbol of everything great about the 16-bit generation. Or at least that's what I'm assuming from all the fanboy (and fangirl) drool. GI would probably get bomb threats if they gave CT anything less than a 9. Lunar's just a lowly cult classic.

Yeah, but that's my problem w/ it. SE can remake their games multiple times and it's usually regarded as a great thing. SE is praised for this all the time. Then Lunar is remade and it doesn't get bonus points for nostalgia. I think it's bogus you are paid to review and rate a game not a game and it's publishing company. Yes, Chrono Trigger sells more games, it was a great game that was popular. However Lunar is the better game it's just won't sell as much, it's score should similar to CT in my eyes.

[ShindoW]

I loved Lunar 1 worlds more than CT. I played the SNES version (compelete copy was a V-Day gift for my gf last year) and the only reason I picked up the DS vers was because it references Cross, which I would put in my top games list. Lunar definetly deserves better.