Lunar Knights

"Konami sure loves vampires, doesn't it?"

Well, well, well, what have we here? Another game about killing vampires from Konami? Novel idea. At any rate, Lunar Knights is the fourth entry in a series and the first to appear on the Nintendo DS. Have I played any of the previous entries? Nope. Did that ruin the experience for me? Not at all.

STORY

The story that erupts into what is probably one of the most anti-humanity games I've ever played starts off with learning about vampires who have figured out how to harness a device called the paraSOL, something that will enable them to eclipse the world and plunge it into night while at the same time, helping them overcome their weakness to the sunlight.

Naturally, you play as the guy who's trying to stop them. You start off as Lucian, a mysterious figure whose real identity remains a mystery. He's out for revenge against the vampires, but he's not alone. Teaming up with him is Aaron, a young, over-excited boy who is trying to take after his father. Together, they make a pair of complete opposites in both personality and elements (Did I forget to mention that Lucian gets his power from darkness and Aaron from light?) who realize they have the same goals. (for completely different reasons)

Lunar Knights doesn't exactly deliver a thrilling story, but you're probably not buying this game because you want an epic adventure. It has its moments of interest, but, for the most part, it's slow and parts of it are uninteresting. It manages to become better during the last few hours, but even then it's not extremely shocking. Still, there IS a story there and it's all right. I've seen worse; let me just put it that way.

GAMEPLAY

Lunar Knights has two modes of gameplay; the first is when you're making your way through a dungeon on foot. The dungeons in this game are somewhat linear and involve some basic puzzle solving that shouldn't take a lot of brain power to finish. (Which is a very good thing if you're more of a casual gamer)

There are several enemies you'll have to battle, but luckily, Lunar Knights takes place in real time, so you can just go up to whatever enemy you want and hack (or shoot) away. Bosses play out in almost the same matter. A small bit of strategy might be needed to know how to attack them, but most of their patterns are easy to see and react to.

For that part of the gameplay, all that's needed is to go through a dungeon, maybe solve a few simple puzzles, and get to the end where you'll fight a boss. You'd probably expect to just repeat the process with the next dungeon, right? Well, that's part of it, but before you can do that, you'll usually have to play a mini-game that uses the second mode of gameplay: a space shooter.

In the space shooter portion of the game, you use the stylus to guide your spaceship through hordes of enemies that want to blast you out of the sky. To defeat enemies, you simply have to click on their spaceship and a laser locked onto the ship will fire and blow the enemy away. (unless it's one of the stronger enemies that takes more than one hit to blow up) Like with dungeons, you'll fight a boss at the end, which usually isn't too difficult, either.

Something to enhance the gameplay is the ability to control the climate. As you progress through the game, you'll unlock different climates. You'll then have the ability to visit Professor Sheridan who can change the weather outside to match the climate you've unlocked, and doing so can help you acquire hidden items. For instance, plants that are normally wilted could be made strong enough to walk over if you change the climate to make it more humid. While it doesn't change the gameplay a heck of a lot, it's a nice addition. (and seriously, who doesn't want to tweak the weather a little bit here and there, huh?)

GRAPHICS

The graphics in Lunar Knights aren't anything too incredible, but they get the job done. The dungeons look dark and brooding, and most of the character models are nicely colored and it's fairly easy to see some of the differences and details on some of the characters. Some of the enemy designs are a tad repetitive, though, and there really aren't any giant barriers that are broken for the DS's hardware. (although the 3D feel in the space shooter minigame is a nice touch)

Most cutscenes are told by having a character portrait pop up on screen with a dialogue bubbles narrating what is being said. The drawings and sprites don't look too bad, but as I've said, they don't really push the DS to its limits.

SOUND

There is typical music in this game, as well as small bits of voice acting. Very few lines in this game are voiced; in fact, the lines that are voiced aren't even spoken entirely, because only the first few words (or syllables) are spoken. That's not to say there aren't any fully voiced lines, though; characters in shops or pubs say fully spoken phrases such as, "Welcome" or "What can I do for you?". And the game's main catchphrase, "May the Sun be with you" (I can already hear George Lucas calling his lawyers) is always completely said.

Voice acting aside, the music in this game makes up most of the sound. The music usually sounds decent. While some of it sounds a little out of place (like what plays during the space shooter mini-game), it usually fits the mood, from the abandoned train station to the final dungeon where there are three or four remixes of the same organ tune.

LENGTH

What Lunar Knights really is is a short adventure. You shouldn't have any trouble at all finishing it in under fifteen hours, and the lack of real difficulty doesn't do much to help this. Basically, you could finish this in well under a week if you wanted to. Not that it's a bad thing that the game is short, but if you buy Lunar Knights thinking it will last you a good long time, you're sorely mistaken.

REPLAYABILTY

Not much to say here, either. Aside from simply wanting to go back and play through it again, Lunar Knights doesn't offer much reason to play the game a second. No impressive sidequests are anywhere to be seen or no alternate endings. One playthrough is really all you need to get a full experience.

PROS

+ Graphics are nice
+ Music is bearable
+ Gameplay is fun when it comes down to it

CONS

- Story doesn't get remotely interesting until the end
- Boss and enemy patterns are predictable and easy
- Short with hardly any replay value

CLOSING NOTES

Lunar Knights is probably a game I'd recommend more to a casual gamer. The short length, simple gameplay, lack of replay value and story would probably disappoint a more hardcore gamer looking for a memorable experience.

But despite the previously mentioned problems, I seriously enjoyed playing Lunar Knights. No, it wasn't the most fun or engaging game I've played for the DS, but it was a nice time filler that didn't either exceed or fall below on most of my expectations. In fact, because of how simple and short the game is, I could easily recommend it to anyone who has a DS and wants a game to play for it. (as long as you're not expecting something mind blowing)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/25/07

Game Release: Lunar Knights (US, 02/06/07)