Recent-ish Lunar fan!
Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:37 pm
Hi there Lunar-Net!
So good to find such an active and lovely forum of like-minded folks, and the parent site has been a blast to trawl through! I discovered Lunar just about two years ago now while searching for a fun and engaging JRPG, and I admit- my expectations weren't remotely prepared for the joy I was soon to experience.
There's just something about Lunar that is tough to describe; some combination of the time-period, the art, the music, and the characters(coupled with Working Design's fantastic localization) that really comes together and forms an incredible experience. I'd played(and fallen off) a few JRPGs by this point in my late 20's, but never truly fell in love with any- not Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, or any other. Lunar stuck with me, right from that gorgeous opening, even playing on an Ipod Touch, it struck a chord and kept on ringing. Just a dozen hours in, and I was on Ebay finding the best price I could for Eternal Blue on Playstation!
It's been a tough few years for the world, and myself to be honest- but Lunar's sheer optimism and hope in the face of impossible odds really helped keep my spirits up. There's a real sense of character in the world, each town feels lived-in, each house somewhere a person could actually spend their days: and each desolate ruin a reminder of something far older. I loved each and every character(with the possible exception of Nash); From Alex to Zophar, Ronfar to Jean.
Each of them feel authentic, and more often than not their dialogue made me chuckle or even genuinely get a little misty-eyed; that is a tough balancing act, and Lunar handles it with aplomb. Sure, there are some 90's era jokes that might not fly so well these days, but Working Designs utterly nailed the humor and seriousness when either was needed; whether it's Nall's sarcasm, Ronfar's charm, or Lemina's money-grubbing ways.
In particular, I feel like WD took the opportunity to say something important when they could; about finding faith again, not hiding away in a bottle, or even just basic manners- and I appreciate those small touches where you can feel the writers' heart put into something they're passionate about.
The story is presented well, with great cutscenes and a saturday-morning cartoon vibe that I really enjoyed. The mystery of Lunar, of Althena's role, and many more things were quite well done!
And the mechanics! Great Althena, these battles can be amazing. Fights do get boring after awhile: but I love the wealth of options to choose from, the spell-effects are awesome, and the QOL changes are so welcome. It's great to never have to worry about a downed party-member not getting EXP, and I always cheer when Nall revives someone or Ruby lands the killing blow. I love how the game tells you how effective an attack will be, and even ensures no swings miss if your intended target dies beforehand!
And the music in these games is just legendary; from rousing anthems to ballads and everything in between- it's like GameArts distilled pure 90's anime into a few soundtracks and let it loose! The voice-acting can be a little rough at times, but for it's time, it's genuinely quite solid! I especially liked Luna from SSSC, and Leo from EB- and of course, Jenny Stigil's singing talents are still fantastic to this day.
Anyway, I've gushed enough; these titles are lovely, made me very happy for the past year and change, and I hope they get a full re-release on Modern systems soon! They deserve it more than most anything I can think of.
Thanks for reading! Wish you all the best.
So good to find such an active and lovely forum of like-minded folks, and the parent site has been a blast to trawl through! I discovered Lunar just about two years ago now while searching for a fun and engaging JRPG, and I admit- my expectations weren't remotely prepared for the joy I was soon to experience.
There's just something about Lunar that is tough to describe; some combination of the time-period, the art, the music, and the characters(coupled with Working Design's fantastic localization) that really comes together and forms an incredible experience. I'd played(and fallen off) a few JRPGs by this point in my late 20's, but never truly fell in love with any- not Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, or any other. Lunar stuck with me, right from that gorgeous opening, even playing on an Ipod Touch, it struck a chord and kept on ringing. Just a dozen hours in, and I was on Ebay finding the best price I could for Eternal Blue on Playstation!
It's been a tough few years for the world, and myself to be honest- but Lunar's sheer optimism and hope in the face of impossible odds really helped keep my spirits up. There's a real sense of character in the world, each town feels lived-in, each house somewhere a person could actually spend their days: and each desolate ruin a reminder of something far older. I loved each and every character(with the possible exception of Nash); From Alex to Zophar, Ronfar to Jean.
Each of them feel authentic, and more often than not their dialogue made me chuckle or even genuinely get a little misty-eyed; that is a tough balancing act, and Lunar handles it with aplomb. Sure, there are some 90's era jokes that might not fly so well these days, but Working Designs utterly nailed the humor and seriousness when either was needed; whether it's Nall's sarcasm, Ronfar's charm, or Lemina's money-grubbing ways.
In particular, I feel like WD took the opportunity to say something important when they could; about finding faith again, not hiding away in a bottle, or even just basic manners- and I appreciate those small touches where you can feel the writers' heart put into something they're passionate about.
The story is presented well, with great cutscenes and a saturday-morning cartoon vibe that I really enjoyed. The mystery of Lunar, of Althena's role, and many more things were quite well done!
And the mechanics! Great Althena, these battles can be amazing. Fights do get boring after awhile: but I love the wealth of options to choose from, the spell-effects are awesome, and the QOL changes are so welcome. It's great to never have to worry about a downed party-member not getting EXP, and I always cheer when Nall revives someone or Ruby lands the killing blow. I love how the game tells you how effective an attack will be, and even ensures no swings miss if your intended target dies beforehand!
And the music in these games is just legendary; from rousing anthems to ballads and everything in between- it's like GameArts distilled pure 90's anime into a few soundtracks and let it loose! The voice-acting can be a little rough at times, but for it's time, it's genuinely quite solid! I especially liked Luna from SSSC, and Leo from EB- and of course, Jenny Stigil's singing talents are still fantastic to this day.
Anyway, I've gushed enough; these titles are lovely, made me very happy for the past year and change, and I hope they get a full re-release on Modern systems soon! They deserve it more than most anything I can think of.
Thanks for reading! Wish you all the best.