Lunar's future?

[Aaron]

Well, all is quiet. I wish we had some sort of news out of Japan telling us if we should abandon all hope or not.

I think that we will see another Lunar game spring out of nowhere. But I doubt a Lunar 3. A lot of the talent that made Lunar special is gone. So, I think I might be just about done with Lunar.

I hope that Lunar SSH set the framework for a remake of EB on PSP. Otherwise I wasted money on a system AGAIN. If they improved a lot of the mechanics for a EB remake I think that the bad dialogue could be overlooked.

So back on topic what do you think will happen with Lunar?

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Abandon all hope. My pessimism is loudly yelling that they'll try to do a generic Lunar action-RPG spin-off if they do anything at all.

My considerably more quiet optimism is mumbling something about an Eternal Blue remake.

I doubt we'll ever see an honest-to-Althena Lunar 3, but if we do, I don't have high hopes for it. After all, we eventually got Grandia III, and it wasn't exactly great. Or even good.

[Lyriel]

This is hard to say...

Personally, I would love the next step to be a PSP remake of Eternal Blue, which will then lead into a PS3/Xbox360 Lunar 3 (or at least a *proper* prequel, =spoiler= set during the Blue Star's "Apocalypse" =end spoiler=).

Realistically, however, an EB remake is unlikely. Despite the apparent success of SSH outside of Japan, the game's failure within Japan is a huge deterrent for Game Arts, I fear. I so hope I'm wrong, though.

In the very wild wishful thinking vein, I'd love to see a Lunar MMO set a few dozen to a few hundred years after Eternal Blue... but, as long as World of Warcraft is dominant, there's no way it'd break through.

[Nobiyuki77]

As much as I hate to say it... so long as they kept the main 3 people on board (Shigema, Kubooka, Iwadare), I'd rather GameArts sold the IP to someone who's gonna use it right. Last I spoke with Vic on the subject he said hardly anyone from the old GameArts is still there anymore, due to the Gungho buyout.

I think in the hands of say, Level 5, it could really flourish again.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

As much as I hate to say it... so long as they kept the main 3 people on board (Shigema, Kubooka, Iwadare), I'd rather GameArts sold the IP to someone who's gonna use it right. Last I spoke with Vic on the subject he said hardly anyone from the old GameArts is still there anymore, due to the Gungho buyout.

I think in the hands of say, Level 5, it could really flourish again.

Whoa, now there's a thought. Level 5 could do a world of good with Lunar if they had the main three on staff. I mean, they did it with Dragon Quest. They might be the only company I'd trust to handle GameArts IP, actually.

And let's be honest, the Level 5 staff isn't exactly brimming with great writers. The inclusion of Shigema on a project, even a non-Lunar one, would be awesome.

[Shiva Indis]

It would be more difficult to make an EB remake hold up visually than was the case for this most recent game. (Yep, lookin' at you, -Dragon Diamond- cutscenes...)

I'd rather GameArts sold the IP to someone who's gonna use it right.

If I had a genie I'd wish for that. Gungho makes some money off of it, and the games stop getting farmed out to 3rd-rate developers. Everyone wins.

[AnimeJei]

I've recently got back into drawing LUNAR stuff and working on a LUNAR 3 story just for fun, here is some of the concept work though in very early stages, I really hope they will make something eventually.

http://AnimeJei.deviantart.com/art/Godd ... -177339276
http://AnimeJei.deviantart.com/art/Drag ... -175743615
http://AnimeJei.deviantart.com/art/Dark ... -176402647

[Angelalex242]

And I thought Lunar's future was Hiro dying of old age so poor Lucia has to hook up with some guy named Alex. (Hey, it worked for Luna...)

[LuNaRtIc]

I'm hoping for an EB port or remake to the PSP, as most fans are I think.
At this point in time, I believe if a third Lunar were to be made, it would stray too far from the original ideas of the first two and would just be a disappointment to us dedicated, hardcore fans. I'd love a Lunar 3, but I don't know if it could be pulled off successfully.
At any rate though, I'm actually happy with remakes. So if nothing else, keep the remakes coming. :p

[LunarRaptor]

I also vote for Eternal Blue Harmony or whatever they call it. We really don't need a Lunar 3. I'd love to see just EB and maybe Walkiing School brougth to the new generation of gamers, though.

[chiiruchan]

I want EB for PSP as well. Lunar 3 for PSP sounds fun after that. O_O I still would love a PS3 remake but that probably will never happen....

[Silver Phoenix]

Lunar 3 needs to be on a console so it can be large and epic.

[ghaleon12]

I'd love to see Lunar on a home console. Just a random idea, it's too bad they didn't plan something for the 3DS since it'd probably get more attention there than just about anywhere. I wonder if you could do the 2D Lunar graphics in 3D...cel shaded maybe. Could be the "first" 3D RPG...not that that would ever happen but I enjoy my fantasies, lol.

[Silver Phoenix]

No, just no. We never need to see Lunar again on a Nintendo handheld.

[Final Night]

I think we will see an EB remake at some point on PSP. I recently stumbled across this article: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/03/19/lu ... -of-lunar/

I sent an e-mail and from what I'm hearing about others who have XSeed is very positive and mentions "nudging GameArts along" in some of their e-mails. Sounds positive, but obviously it's impossible to know for sure.

[Shiva Indis]

Probably the most positive thing I've heard lately. I've noticed a bit of an uptick lately in mentions of the series from Shigema and other such staffers on Twitter (not necessarily an indication of anything, but I find it interesting).

I'm pretty convinced that the game made its money back not long after the US release, and thus has been modestly profitable. Sales keep trickling in, and soon they'll trickle in from Europe too. On the other hand, Lunar 2 may pose a bit more of a challenge development-wise.

No, just no. We never need to see Lunar again on a Nintendo handheld.

But the bright color palette, the upbeat atmosphere, and the straightforwardness of the concept make it seem like a Nintendo shoe-in...

[Aaron]

I think we will see an EB remake at some point on PSP. I recently stumbled across this article: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/03/19/lu ... -of-lunar/

I sent an e-mail and from what I'm hearing about others who have XSeed is very positive and mentions "nudging GameArts along" in some of their e-mails. Sounds positive, but obviously it's impossible to know for sure.

They think Xseed is the best "partner" out there. Ha-ha.

Thats really unfortunate.

[Imperial Knight]

The cynic in me says more Silver Star remakes.

[LunarRaptor]

Um, why? SS only has one more remake than EB and that's only because Lunar Legend was not well received.

[Alunissage]

Um, why? SS only has one more remake than EB and that's only because Lunar Legend was not well received.

There have certainly been several more releases of Lunar 1 than Lunar 2, though.

Lunar 1:
1) MegaCD
2) Saturn
3) Saturn MPEG
4) PlayStation
5) PC
6) GBA
7) PSP

Lunar 2:
1) MegaCD
2) Saturn
3) PlayStation