"An awesome game with only a few minor flaws..."

First things first, you cannot compare this game to the other Lunar games. If you compare Lunar The Silver Star and Lunar Eternal Blue to Lunar Dragon Song, Lunar DS will pale in comparison. We have cartridge media so animated cut scenes aren't possible and the epic adventures that both Lunar Silver Star and Lunar Eternal Blue had aren't possible either. This needs to be considered on it's own, away from the other Lunar games. Aside from the Goddess Althena, the four Dragons and Dragon master, this doesn't have any other things in common with the other Lunar games. The following is my view on Lunar Dragon Song as its own independent game.

Game Play
You start the game as Jian and Lucia, two workers at a sort of mail delivery service. They go around collecting items and delivering them to different people in different towns. It doesn't sound all that exciting, and it isn't. But that's not where the main focus of the game is. The game really reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, going to different towns and taking on different jobs to get money and items. What makes this game great is you must travel to each town and go through woods, or caves, or plains or some other monster infested area. You have two different choices on how to play. You can either race through an area and fight against the clock to kill every monster in the area, earn EXP and gain access to the "blue chest" that contains some nice items, or you can choose to fight and gain different items which will be useful for jobs from Gad's Express (the mail company that Jian and Lucia work for) and cards which are used in multiplayer action and can also help your party put in battle and on the map. This makes for a difficult journey that requires you to really think. There are many people to talk to all over who will give you hints and clues as what to do next. The side quests from Gad's Express are indeed worth of your time to gain money and cool items. There is so much to do in this game that after the 30 hours or so it takes to beat it, you'll be right back at the beginning to do everything all over in a different way once again. Some people said that without the ability to run while not losing Hit Points was a bad idea, I disagree. This feature makes it look all too real. One thing I did not like about the first two Lunars was how fast you moves and how disproportionate your characters were to the surroundings. This is not true in Lunar DS. The walking speed is just about what you would expect to walk at your self. With the implementation of losing hit points as you run, it gives it even more of a real feel because after a certain while, you will be unable to run any more and have to walk because your characters will be tired.

Score 10

Battle System
One of the biggest criticisms of the game well before it was even released was the fact that you could not choose what enemy to attack in battle. Personally I think that it adds to the game because the battles are relatively easy for the most part. Choosing the enemy to attack would simply make the game too easy. The battle system its self is awesome because you have the DS's touch screen to navigate the menus with ease. You can choose to either manually go about the battle or have the computer battle for you. From there you can choose either a straight up attack, magic, items or cards that you can gain from enemies. The cards greatly aid you in battle. There are two types of enemies, aerial and ground. You can't attack the aerial enemies until they move down to the ground (which happens after you kill the enemy on the ground below them). The battle animation is awesome as it is all fluidly shown. If it is going too slow, you can speed it up bu using the shoulder buttons. I personally don't think it could be any better.

Score 10

Sounds and music
I'm not big into video game music, never really have been and I don't expect to be any time soon. With that said, the music in Lunar Dragon Song totally blew me away. The music can't be truly appreciated unless listened through headphones because the DS's speakers don't do it justice. Even though it sounds awesome though the speakers, it is even better though headphones. The music is catchy and fast passed in battles and when out in the open, the sounds are exactly of the environment. In town squares you hear the chattering of many people, in caves you hear the wind blowing through and the low noises of monsters hiding. Truly Brilliant.

Score 10

Graphics
This is one of the most beautifully crafted 2D RPG's I have every laid my eyes on. Not only is everything colorful and detailed perfectly, it's as I said before, proportionate. I think one of the worst things in RPG's are when your party stands taller than all the trees and buildings. This isn't true, the trees are taller than the people. Everything is detailed nicely, especially in battle. There are more than ample colors that flood your sight with rainbow of beauty. I do have one gripe about the graphics though. There are very few sprites for non playable characters. When talking to an NPC, there will be a little picture of the character. Many of the normal towns people share sprites with those of the higher nobility of the town and that bothers me. Other than that though, everything is awesome on both screens.

Score 9

Control
There isn't too much to say about the control. The DS's touch screen makes navigating the menus very easy and very innovative. The buttons aren't over sensitive and respond well. There is a little problem. When running your thumb can become a little sore because of the small directional pad that the DS has. That is a DS hardware problem and not the games problem but it does hurt the over all score a little bit.

Score 9

Over all, Lunar Dragon song is one sweet RPG. It has many layers and multiple ways to play which will keep you coming back for more and more. One other thing that I had an issue with that doesn't really fall under any categories is how move from place to place. I love the system but I think the screens need to be switched. On the bottom screen you have the name of the place you are at and on the top is the map which you can move around. I think that the touch screen should have the map so you can touch where you want to go. I have found my self reaching my stylus up to the top screen on many occasions only to realize I was touching the wrong screen. That is just a minor thing that had t been done, would have made the game near perfect.

Pros:
1. Two different ways to play the game
2. Use the microphone to run from battles
3. Great graphics and proportions
4. Difficulty level is perfect

Cons:
1. Not many NPC sprites are used.

Final Score 9.6 rounded up = 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/05