Lunar Legend

"Not the PSX version, but still a worthy little RPG for the GBA"

I have been a huge Lunar fan ever since I got the Sega CD version waaay back when. Even though I had both Lunar 1 & 2 on Sega CD, I got both Lunar special box sets when they came out for the PSX, and they are the only RPGs I played & enjoyed more than twice apiece (that's actually 4x per title)! I am typically not the kind of person to replay RPGs after I beat them, but the Lunar stories are just so engaging, and the characters...well you become very attached to them. So of course when it came out for the GBA I was ready to play it again, and also anxious to see what changes had ocurred since it was not put out by Working Designs this time, but Ubi Soft. Before even playing I knew that the story was somewhat altered & the battle system was different somehow. And of course, the anime cut scenes were not going to be there, but there are some nice stills that pop up during the story that still give it the ol' Lunar ''feel.''

GRAPHICS
First of all the look of the game. It's beautiful. The graphics are detailed & clear, colorful and animated. It is just a beautiful little GBA game. Of course it is ''old school'' 2D, with superdeformed-type overhead/side view, which is fine with me. It is, afterall, an older game. Like I mentioned previously, the story is segmented with some cool anime stills relevant to the story that pop up at relevant moments. Where it lacks in anime, it makes up for with the character sprites, who are much more animated during battles. The larger character sprites, like the dragons, have been animated a bit as well to make up for the missing anime, and very nicely. Overall the look of the game is impressive, vibrant, and a real effort was made to make up for the anime loss.

STORYLINE & CHARACTERS
If you have played Lunar SSS previously either on Sega CD or the PSX you will notice almost immediately some storyline differences between those games & this one. It is still the same game but some plotpoints have been either altered or removed. Characters do not act or respond the same way and react a little differently sometimes, and where, when & why you meet up with them may be slightly altered. If you have never played Lunar SSS before this stuff is not going to affect your gameplay in any way. Other than perhaps make you want to play the PSX version just to see the differences. However, all the characters are still there, their mission is basically the same, and their personalities are unchanged. Yes, in a sense it is the same old RPG formula: boy leaves home in search of adventure, runs into evil trying to destroy the world along the way. But, it does it in such a way that it it unique and memorable. A lot of RPGs suffer lack of character depth, and this is Lunar's strong point. The characters' plight is absorbing, and although I'm not a big fan of love stories, this one sucked even ME in! I would say that storyline & characters are Lunar's strongest points.

The story is very linear, and always has been, thus if you like to backtrack you will only be able to achieve this minimally, and getting lost or off-track is virtually impossible. The game keeps you almost always guided in the right direction, and while I personally prefer an RPG that allows much more freer, non-linear wanderings, for some reason Lunar doesn't really bother me. I think because the characters & story are so engaging and enjoyable, you really actually don't even mind.

MUSIC & SOUND
The music is basically a simplified version of the original stuff from disk, which is an amazing feat, and when Luna sings it actually really sounds like a human singing, which is impressive for a little GBA. However, in its complexity, it loses clarity, and I have to admit it all sounds a little fuzzy, or distorted. The music is not crystal clear and it almost seems as if there's a little reverb or something going on. Of course without the anime scenes, the characters' voice bits are gone, and I wouldn't have expected them on the GBA version anyhow. If you play the game with the sound turned down about halfway, it seems decent, but on full blast it just doesn't sound right. At any rate, it's some of the best musical clips for a GBA game, just too bad they are a tad fuzzy.

GAMEPLAY
A lot of people are complaining about the battle system, and that really did not bother me at all. Gone is the old style & it has been replaced by a traditional turn-based style of battle. Since turn-based is actually what I prefer, I was not put off by it much at all. You can put it on AUTO and just sit back and watch the battle if it's not a particularly challenging battle, or you can do it manually if you need to heal & cast spells; however, you hardly need to. This is what I would say is the game's weakest point. The battles are EASY. Never once did I ever really feel in peril or need to escape. Leveling up is practically if not totally unnecessary! You stay conveniently leveled ahead of the random monsters you encounter & nearly never need to cast spells. I resent not being challenged in this manner. There is a happy medium between a game being too challenging & not challenging enough, and it seems few RPGs manage to hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately Lunar falls on the easy end of this gauge & you will not be concerned much about random monster encounters. The fortunate thing is that the story & characters make up for it and allow you to somewhat overlook the lack of challenge.

Unlike the Sega CD/PSX versions of the game, in Lunar Legend you collect monster cards which you acquire simply by bumping into new monsters in your travels. What I am thinking is that perhaps they used these to replace the ''bromides'' which were rather risque in the original versions. New players will not even notice this difference but players familiar with having collected the bromides may feel some disappointment (being female, I myself wasn't too concerned with the bromides, except for the one ALL MALE one that was available...hee hee).

FINAL WORD
One of the things that makes Working Designs one of my favorite companies for importing & translating games is because 1) the pick such winners for titles and 2) they do such a humorous translation and add life, depth, color & hilarity into every RPG they work on. Unfortunately Ubi doesn't come close & really failed in the humor department. Most of all, Nall has lost his sarcastic edge, which is a real loss. I am not holding this against the game TOO much, since like I said, without anime scenes & voice acting it's already a different game, however I do miss the wordplay & puns, and a lot of the sexual tension is absent. But, since it's for Nintendo, maybe they were told to tone it down some anyhow? I'm almost sure that's why the bromides are gone.

At any rate, I am holding some points against this little RPG because I have played all the other Lunar games on both the Sega CD & Genesis formats & I believe my taste has been swayed because of it. I understand, of course, that being on a handheld some things will suffer for it and I'm not holding that against the game. First time players will probably balk & wonder at the ''oldies'' complaining about so many things being different, and therefore I have to be fair judging the game as it stands on its own. I give it a 8/10 which is well above average. It's an above average game that thoroughly deserves being played 100% through, and hopefully it will spark new players into picking up a copy of the PSX version of Lunar SSS. The main points I hold against it is that the music suffers a bit & the battle challenges are too easy. However, the story & characters are well worth overlooking these things, and anyone who enjoyed Golden Sun &/or Breath of Fire 1 & 2 will have a blast with Lunar Legend. =0)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/03, Updated 05/09/03