Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete

"Best Remake ever!!!"

LUNAR2: ETERNAL BLUE COMPLETE

Okay before I say anything let me state that Lunar 2 is by far my favorite RPG and quite possible my favorite game ever, and I’ve been playing games since the early days of Atari and Nintendo, well with that said On with the review.

Graphics: 8/10.
The graphics in this game are really a mixed bag. Sure the in game graphics seem a really dated, especially when compared to some of the newer PS one games, but remember this is a port and enhanced version of a old Sega CD game. But they still look colorful and compared to the original they look great.
Were the graphics really shine however are the Anime style FMV scenes, these look fantastic and even by today’s standards are great, and with over an hour of them your in for quite a treat.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is pretty good. I thought the voice acting was good enough especially the guy cast in the role of Ghaleon. (Whose name I forgot at this moment.) Hearing the voices every 5 seconds in battle can sometimes be annoying but you can switch battle comments of in the options menu, so that’s a nice improvement from Lunar: SSSC.
I also liked the music a lot; it was always appropriate for what was happening at the time, and the game with a free soundtrack. (Free = Good)
There’s no singing in this one either except in the end credit songs, while it wasn’t a bad thing in last game I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Control: 10/10

It’s and RPG. You use the d-pad or analog stick to move around and one button to confirm and one to cancel, That’s it no complicated combo strings or complex button combinations. Not much else to say.

Game play: 10/10

This is one of the games strongest points. There’s no complicated menu’s to navigate and it’s easy to get into. Every character has there own abilities and the party feels remarkably well balanced, you got a healer, a dark magic user and a few fighters and that’s all you need. As you level up you get new spells and abilities so unlike a lot of RPGs I played leveling up has an actual point (Final Fantasy 8 I’m looking at you.)And is totally import during some boss fights.
Battle is simple and easy to figure out but can often prove difficult to master. You have only 4 commands Fight, Magic, Run and Defend and believe me that’s all you need.
It may not seem it early on but there is a lot of strategy involved and a lot of bosses can be really challenging.
So basically game play is what it should be simple and fun.

Story: 10/10

Ok I know your thinking story shouldn’t really be a factor, especially in many different game genres (action, racing, sports etc.) but this is a RPG so the story is very important, and I mean very important. It’s a simple story really evil god type thing going to destroy world and you have to stop him, but the characterization is just so great that it doesn’t matter.
As I just said the characters are the games strongest point. All of them show a great deal of emotion and depth. They all have their own motives and reasons for doing what they do, and you can see as they change as the story progresses. (My favorite character MYSTERE!!! you’ll get when you play the game.) You’ll actually end up caring about what happens to them and feel were they were coming from.
Despite it’s fairy tail simplicity there are some major twists and quite a few surprises, it won’t rival the likes of say Xenogears or The Lord of the Rings trilogy but not every story has to be complex.
I’d also like to take this time to say that Lunar 2 as well as most other Working Design’s titles has one of the best translations ever. The script and dialogue are both fantastic and jokes are hilarious. Not one piece of dialogue feels forced or out of place and always remains within character.
Extras 10/10:

What extras you say. Yes extras, this game comes with a lot of free crap. For starters you get a free soundtrack CD as I said before. There’s also a making of CD witch was really interesting to watch.
Also the game came with these little pop-up character portrait thingies, they were kind of cool. Lastly it came with this full sized replica of the pendant worn by the character Lucia. If like to collect these things it’s great.

Overall 9/10

It’s by no means perfect, but c’mon what game is. It does however have everything a great RPG needs, and in a lot of categories goes above and beyond what is considered average. It’s a fantastic RPG that will leave with plenty of fond moments and experiences and a great lasting impression.
It’s a game no RPG fan should be without.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/01/04