Farewell Lunar

They haven't experienced the load times yet.

Last night I decided to give up on Lunar: Silver Song Harmony for the PSP, it just wasn't that good. The load times, unavoidable battles, and endless backtracking wore me down to the point that I did not want to play anymore. The straw that broke the camel's back was my attempt to catch a pink bug in Iluk, I basically had to walk through every screen twice, since the enemies re-spawn when you leave the screen, this is incredibly annoying. I just finished dealing with this during my three pointless trips through the Meryod Woods. Here is my short review.

My History With the Game: I first encountered Lunar when I got it for my PS1 years ago. It came in a beautiful package with a hardcover hint book and was billed as one of the top games people who did not have a Sega CD had missed. I only played a few hours of it before something else drew me away. My little brother did beat it and loved it. I picked up a copy for the PSP cheap on Amazon a few years ago. That is the version that I played for this review.

Lunar has a long history of being re-released. It was originally released in 1992 for the Sega CD, saw a re-release for the Sega Saturn in 1996, another for the Sony Playstation in 1999, there was a Gameboy Advance version in 2002, and finally this PSP version in 2009.

Gameplay: There is not a lot going on here. There wasn't even all that much going by the standards of the late '90s when it was released for the PS1. Even examining the game in light of its original 1992 release date reveals a very traditional RPG. The main features that would have set it apart from other early '90s RPGs are the use of CD-ROM, the ability to avoid fights on the field, and the fact that characters move around on the battlefield. One of these features does not effect gameplay, and the other two are junk.

Even on the PSP the only features in the game that require the use of crazy, multimedia, CD-ROM technology are real voices, enhanced music, and animated cut scenes. Everything else is straight out of the standard cartridge JRPG handbook.

You can theoretically avoid battles in this game by dodging enemies in the dungeons. Unlike other games of the period there are no random battles, you can see enemies while you are walking around and try to avoid them. I say "try" because in practice it is very difficult. You are generally in very narrow corridors and the enemies move fast; this is compounded by the fact that when you come out of a fight other enemies in the area rush you and you wind up right back in a fight again. There is a painful loading delay before the battle starts, the enemies re-spawn when you leave the screen, each screen is small, and you backtrack... a lot.

Once you are in a battle, your party and the monsters line up on opposite sides of the screen for turn based combat. The difference between Lunar and its contemporaries is that the characters and monsters do not stay in these lines and run all around the battlefield. This could add an interesting tactical element into the battles, but they left that on the table during implementation. The game does not signal you in any way as to what order actions will occur in, this means that you are constantly wasting AOE attacks when the enemy moves right before you cast. The game also does not allow you to choose which enemy you attack if your target dies, this means your character will often waste their attack running across the screen. Finally, position is never really exploited. You line up your melee characters in front of your casters, but the enemies just run right past them, suffering no ill effects, to attack your mages. Character movement does not add an interesting tactical element, it just makes battles longer (something the game does not need). It does not make the battles harder, just longer. The way the game handles character movement does not add depth, just chaos. Adding movement without control is the gameplay equivalent of hiring Jeffster to play your wedding.

No enemies are in range of this AOE.

Ultimately these gameplay shortcomings, that might be otherwise be excusable in a game of this vintage, combine with the absurd amount of loading in this version to ruin the game.

Story: There isn't much to say here that you couldn't guess by looking at the cover art and title font. Alex is a young man in a farming village who dreams of a life of adventure. Luna is the young woman who grew up with him, she is like his sister, but they are starting to feel something more. Alex sets off on a journey to become a Dragonmaster. Luna gets kidnapped. He meets a sassy tomboy, a lecherous barbarian, a stuck up mage and a wallflower. The dragons are tied to the elements. Blah, blah, blah. The story didn't bother me, it is exactly what I expect from a game of this era, although I found most of the characters more annoying than the norm, it just needed to be stronger to make up for the gameplay shortcomings.

Graphics: I don't have a lot to say about these either. They have been improved for the PSP version, the sprites are a little bigger and more detailed, but there is nothing special here. It is pretty much your basic PSP upscale of a 16-bit RPG.

Sound: The soundtrack is quite good, I actually listened to the CD that came with the game for years. I suggest you listen to it:

Verdict: Skip it. There is not much here, and even that is ruined by the load times.