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I told you that story so I could tell you this story. Our story is about a young man named Hiro (different Hiro!) and his annoying talking flying cat, Ruby. Our duo mostly concern themselves with desecrating ancient ruins in the name of archeology until one day they find themselves drawn to the plight of a mysterious young woman. They team up with her to find the Goddess Althena so they can halt the arrival of a "Destroyer." Along the way, they pick up a motley crew of misfits and discover that perhaps there's more going on than they think... I can't lie to ya'll; I love this game. The original Lunar will always hold a special place in my heart, but Lunar: Eternal Blue is something else. It's prettier, it's got more cutscenes, better cutscenes, more voice-acting, a more complex plot, and more varied, difficult gameplay. Much... much more difficult.  Lunar: Eternal Blue was released in Japan in December of 1994 and in America the following year. Like with the first game, Working Designs translated this one. Eternal Blue... might have been Working Designs most "loose" translation. Working Designs also did a bit of tweaking in the gameplay department. Some... unwanted tweaking... It sold well... as well as a Sega-CD game can sell. It almost sold as well as it's predecessor in Japan, but in the US it had the misfortune of coming out during the death spasms of the Sega CD. Still, it got generally good reviews, even if Working Design's Victor Ireland quibbled about some of the review complaints. Still, the game was somewhat obscure. So, along with the original, Lunar: Eternal Blue got a Saturn remake in 1998 and got an English release in... 2000. Wow, that took a while, didn't it?  Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (it gets a number now!) isn't quite the drastic rehaul that Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete is. The story remains largely the same, with some minor alterations. The number of cutscenes were actually reduced, although mostly small, incidental cutscenes were cut. No, the biggest change comes in gameplay. The remake is easier than the original (which was not true of the first game, at least for the PSX remake) and generally streamlined. To be honest, I prefer the original. The remake is still a fine game and well worth your while, but I'm not fond of some of the changes it makes. My biggest gripe is that most of the dungeons are far smaller and simpler, making many of them boring. There are also some minor story changes I don't like, but could just be the purist in me talking. There are some things I do like in the remake when compared to the original, and I'll point them out when we get there. (If you want to see an LP of this version of the game, check out Croweton's fine LP here!) And... the story stops there. Lunar 2 didn't get the plethora of remakes its older sibling did. Consequently, it's not as well known. It's certainly more expensive; used copies of either version of the sequel seem to start at 40 dollars, or at least that was true last I checked.* I've heard somewhere that XSEED was interested in making a version of Lunar: Eternal Blue, but hell if I know if that's ever going to materialize. It really depends if GameArts (you know, the people who actually owns the rights to these games) wants to make another Lunar 2 remake. Unfortunately, the Working Designs Lunar games seem to be caught in copyright hell, so that faint glimmer is the only hope we have of making this game available to new players. *I checked again. It seems like you're actually paying a minimum of about 50 dollars. That's just not fair. I love this game, and I want to show it to all of you. Minor Spoiler Disclaimer You don't have to have played the first game to play this one, but this game does continue from the first. There's going to be spoilers for the first game. Don't bother spoiler-tagging things from the first game (do spoiler-tag stuff from this game, stupid.) If you want to discover what happens for yourself, by all means, play the first Lunar! There's an iOS version out now in addition to the readily available GBA and PSP versions; there's no reason you can't play it! (Don't play the GBA version.) Although there are several changes in those versions, most of the big details are the same. There's also my LP of the original Sega-CD game. It's a pretty creaky game, but still a fun title. (And I'm certain this will confuse people down the line: when I refer to the first game, I'm talking about the original Sega-CD version and not the remakes, unless specified.) Enough of my blathering, let's get down to business, shall we? Table of Contents: The Prologue Chapter 1: Indiana Jones Would Call That Reckless Chapter 2: Hiro is Very Wise(?) Chapter 3: Lady in Red Chapter 4: A Fantastic Boat Adventure and a Boss Fight?! Chapter 5: Chapter 6: God drat it Lucia Odds and Ends #1 Chapter 7: A Very Boring Daring Rescue Chapter 8: When the Game Takes Off the Kiddy Gloves and Smacks You With Them Chapter 9: Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves Chapter 10: In The Hood Chapter 11: Coulrophobia Chapter 12: Two Boring Updates For the Price of One! Chapter 13: What Not to Wear Chapter 14: uuuugh. Chapter 15: She's so Frigid Chapter 16: In Which We Meet a Major Evolutionary Discovery and Kill It Chapter 17: Life in the Big City Ain't What it Used to Be Chapter 18: The Lostest Boys Chapter 19: In Which Jean is Impossibly Bad-rear end Chapter 20: Completely Pointless Odds and Ends #2: The Lemina Bug Chapter 21: How Many Ways Can We Say the Word 'Fat?' Odds and Ends #3: We're Spending Our Vacation At the Library Chapter 22: And They Seemed So Trustworthy Chapter 23: Questionable Dating History Chapter 24: Pentagulia Chapter 25: The Adventures of the Masked Man, Volume 1 Chapter 26: Blowing This Popsicle Stand Chapter 27: You Know Nothing Of Leo! Odds and Ends #4: Dicking Around on the Destiny Chapter 28: The White Dragon Cave Chapter 29: Coming to Terms Chapter 30: Get a Body Bag Chapter 31: The Blue Dragon Cave Chapter 32: A Blast from the Past Chapter 33: What's Old is New Again Chapter 34: 'Til the Fat Man Sings Chapter 35: Black Dragon Cave Odds and Ends #5: The Lionhead Chapter 36: Protein Shake Chapter 37: For Lovers Only Chapter 38: Red Dragon Cave Odds and Ends #6: The Dragon Nest Chapter 39: Prelude to Major poo poo Going Down Chapter 40: We're Gonna Need a New Fan Chapter 41: The Confrontation Chapter 42: Pages From a Self-Help Booklet Chapter 43: Smashing Faces and Buttons Chapter 44: The God of Darkness Chapter 45: Saying Our Goodbyes Chapter 46: Here We Go Again Odds And Ends 7: NPC Harder, Part One, Part Two Chapter 47: I Am Getting Plenty Sick of This drat Dungeon Theme Chapter 48: Start Together Other stuff Prism gives us a run-down on Magic Experience Prism explains the Lemina Bug in more detail, Part 1, Part 2 Jenner tells us about the Japan-only Lunar tie-in stuff I made this, because I love you. 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Feb 28, 2013 00:04
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The Prologue Let's get started. Here's the song that plays over the save screen.  "She called the new world Lunar. "Time and circumstance soon forced Althena to populate Lunar with people from the Blue Star. And, just as on the Blue Star, life was held in a delicate balance. "Through times of peace, war, chaos, and battle, the Blue Star loomed large as the only constant in the new world. "Thousands of years passed, burying the origin and purpose of the Blue Star in the sands of time. "Eventually, the inhabitants of Lunar forgot why the Blue Star was there, or how it came to be... ...until a girl awakened that could join the two worlds... or tear them apart forever." Instead of a hilariously cheesy intro (I know, I'm sad too) we get a bit of backstory. In the beginning of the PSX version, this little bit of exposition is voiced. But not in the original, so you'll have to provide your own. Maybe you can do a funny voice!  The second we start the game, we're treated to a little cutscene.     And right off the bat we're presented with a pretty unfamiliar location. Unless I just missed the ladies in crystals living in arctic palaces in the first game. Those are easy to overlook.  Naked ladies no less! Oh dear.  I hope there aren't any children reading! Otherwise they might see her completely featureless nudity. You think she's cold? It looks cold out there. She doesn't seem to mind, though. Maybe her crystal has central heating?  Or perhaps, she's deep in slumber.       Yeah, that'd wake me up too.    So, uh, silly question. How do you get out of a floating crystal?   Oh. Of course.    Uh. Okay, now she's naked and floating in the middle of a vast, empty room. What is she going to do now?   Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense.  As we end that enigmatic scene, the credits play.   Many of you may not particularly care to sit through the credits, but I include them for two reasons. One, the music is quite nice. And two, there's an interesting little story being told with the ancient-looking murals here.    None of this is readily familiar to us, as this doesn't resemble anything we know from the first game.   However, we can guess the gist of the story.     It'll have more context, though, as we progress.  And now we return to our mysterious naked lady.      Wait, she's just gonna go outside buck-rear end naked? Not even a pair of gloves or a shawl or something? I know people are sometimes a mite forgetful when you're shaking off early-morning grogginess, but this is ludicrous.  We shift scenes to the outside.    For a while, she just stares at the bleak, barren wasteland in front of her.     : This is not the time for my awakening. Oh NOW you notice that it's cold.  : Something's gone terribly wrong.   : Oh no! Lunar! The scene ends as the player inevitably asks a million questions. But don't worry; those will be answered with time.* For now, we shift our gaze elsewhere. *Well, most of them. Camel Pimp fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jun 2, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2013 00:05
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Chapter 1: Indiana Jones Would Call That Reckless Well, all that was kinda confusing. So let's switch scenes.       : Did you say something, Ruby?  : Oh, great. Don't tell me you're hearing voices now! : But...: Hurry up and get the Dragon's Eye! The time's almost run out on the trap!: Trap?! What trap?!  : Woooah! This trap!: Uuuah! Why didn't you tell me about that earlier?!: I did but you were too wrapped up in getting jewel to listen!: Oh, yeah, the jewel. Hold on, I've almost got it. : Hurry Hiro! : There! I got it!: What's that rumbling?: Oh no! The exit's closing! : Let's get out of here! : Aaaah! : Hiiiroooo!Well, the blue guy is dead. Hope you weren't too attached to him or his smashing cape.  : Oh Hiro! Hiro! You don't die on me. You just can't die!: ...I'm okay, Ruby. It's just a few bruises.: Okay, that's it! No more exploring for us; I've had it! We always end up getting in some kind of-: Shh! Listen!: What?! : Aaah!: Come on Ruby! Let's get out of here!The flame monsters chase our heroes around, which isn't all that interesting to look at in still-frame. If you wanna see it, you can watch the video.  I could take this time to try and explain the situation and better introduce you to these two, but Hiro does that for me. : Well, looks like you've caught us in another messy situation! Oh, by the way, if you haven't figured it out, my name is Hiro, and the flying cat is named Ruby. She says she's actually a baby Red Dragon, but I don't know if I quite believe her. She doesn't care though. We've been friends for what seems like forever!If you've played the PSX version and watched the video, you may have noticed that Hiro sounds different. Yes, that is a different voice actor! In the Sega-CD version he's voiced by Mark Zempel, but in the PSX version he's voiced by Chad Letts. By the way, Working Designs didn't change anyone else in the cast, not in this game nor in the original (well, what voice actors the original Lunar 1 had). Yes, the kid they got to shout the two voiced lines Alex got? They got him back in the PSX version. But they re-cast Hiro. Huh. Although I should mention that while Hiro was the only one re-cast, many of the voice actors re-dubbed their characters. Oh and Hiro still hasn't shut the gently caress up. : My grandfather Gwyn is an archeologist who taught us how to explore ancient ruins like this. Well, not exactly like this, ha ha. Grandpa'd have a coronary if he saw me in this kind of danger! But, you get the idea. I think it's so cool that these dungeons and ruins that time forgot can be found and explored by someone like me! This world is full of wonderful legends. The Blue Star - from which our ancestors supposedly came. Tales of Dragons and heroic Dragonmasters! A magic city that flew in the sky! And the Goddess of love and beauty - Althena. All those places and legends have to be true. I believe them more every step I take in places like this. The world I live in today is the result of things that happened long ago. Someday I'll gather enough information from ruins like these to prove that and maybe even get to see the Goddess Althena!Christ boy. That's like.... 500 millions times more dialogue than Alex got in the first game. That's possibly more dialogue than Alex get over in any other version of Lunar 1 - combined! : Hey Hiro! Bust a move! I think we lost 'em!Thankfully Ruby brings an end to this monologue and we end this little bit.  : Whoa!   Oh now you're going quiet? : But, we scored a big reward this time, and that makes it all worthwhile! Oop! We'd better be getting back to Grandpa's house before he worries...And now we finally get control. First off, let's take a closer look at our chatty new leads.  Looks pretty much the same, but the AI function is gone. Which is too bad, as AI actually works in this game, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Also, Hiro is dirt poor. Even Alex had some money to start with. Unlike Alex, he at least starts with skills.  The magic system has been drastically overhauled from the original. For one, instead of a confusing list we have a big bright GUI. And we finally have loving hint text! Hurray for knowing what the spells do before you use them! I'll go into the magic system in depth a bit later, but for now Hiro has two skills. One is his Boomerang spell; it's a single-target Wind spell, nothing special. The ability below it is Poe Sword (which has nothing to do with the author - I think) which costs one more MP and does a bit more damage, but it's still a single target attack spell. Yes, Hiro starts with two abilities that do the same thing but with a minor cost/effectiveness difference. There actually is a reason for this, but it's a bit complicated and I'll explain it later.  Hiro also had the common sense to come prepared with some basic equipment, herbs, and even an MP restoring item called a Starlight! The item management has also been rehauled from the first game. Now characters have weapon slots distinct from their personal inventory. This means that I don't have to unequip my helmet to carry another herb into battle.  Like the first game, our flying companion also gets their own inventory. However Ruby gets a much larger inventory in this game. While Nall could only carry 30 some odd items, Ruby can carry twice or maybe three times that. This is changed in the remake. While the Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete has an inventory system similar to this one, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete has an entirely different system. In the PSX version of Lunar 2, items do stack and you use one inventory. However, you're only allowed to carry twenty of any item. This is actually somewhat more restrictive, as you're given a fair amount of inventory space in this version. But at least you don't have to shuffle so many inventories.  Here's our level 1 hero. A couple of changes from the original. Now magic power is wisdom, and actually appears on the stat screen. Luck now exists, the "range" replaces "# of moves." Also, the stat screen tells us how our equipment impacts our stats; the numbers on the right are our stats after equipment. You may notice Hiro gets an extra attack. That's from his Dagger.  Like in the original, Ruby is more our... party accountant than an actual member. Not only does she have the big inventory, but she also saves our game. Ruby also gets a few new commands in the menu. Again, I'll explain "magic" and "tactic" later, when they're more relevant. "System" is just saving and loading the game.  What's this? More cutscene? : Wha- what's that noise? : Whoa, Hiro, getta load of that! : It's incredible, but what the heck is it? It looks like a ship, but it moves without wind or sails!  : Hey you! Yes, you over there! What are you doing in this area?: Who the heck does this joker think he is?! We might as well ask you the same thing mister!: I wasn't talking to your cat, I was talking to you boy!: Heellooo? Time for your eye exam! I am not a cat!: Knock it off Ruby! You're going to get us in trouble! My name is Hiro, and this is Ruby. Identify yourself!You know, it occurs to me as I'm transcribing this dialogue that I can recall a large amount of this by memory, or I'm only off by a word or two. ...I'm kinda sad now.   : Certainly. I am White Knight Leo, leader of Althena's Guard. And this is the Dragonship Destiny. Now then - listen up. You kids need to evacuate this area. A confrontation is going to take place. I don't want any civilians caught up in the middle of this thing. Return to your home immediately. Move it!Geez, what a bossy betty! And we're totally not civilians! We've got, like, a knife and some herbs. : Helmsman, set a new course! Destination: The Blue Spire. : Hah! That guy seemed a little full of himself if you ask me! But he did say he was the leader of Althena's Guard... *gasp* I wonder if that's the same Althena you told me about?Do- do you know any other Althenas? : Oh well, no telling now; he's gone. And good riddance. Anyway, we better get back home before Grandpa comes looking for us!All right then; time to finally get out onto the world map! Get used to this song if you ever play yourself  Home is just a short trip, just go south, west, then up. Like in the original, you do fight encounters on the world map. This is not true in the remakes. In the remake they add a small dungeon area on the way home; that's where you meet Leo. Here in the original, though, I just get into two fights.  Also get used to this. Again, this menu has been overhauled a bit from the first game. But it's pretty straightforward. CMND is Command, and it just lets you input commands. Tact is Tactics, and we'll talk about that once there's more than one party member. AI... actually does what you think it does. In the first game, the AI command was basically the attack command under another name. But in Lunar 2 onward, it actually puts your party under command of the AI. It's actually more useful in the first game. There's no reason to ever select the AI command unless you have just stopped giving a poo poo, at which point I'd say just press reset you idiot. You may also notice that each of those Sand Sharks (and the game provides the name for me without making me press a command first!) is doing something different. Yes, this was the game that introduced tells! The Sand Shark buried in the sand will dive at us.  Like so. And the Shark that is resting above the sand will shoot rings at us.  That does a fair bit more damage, by the way. Make sure you kill those guys first. These guys are nothing special. Hiro can take them out in two hits, and weaken another with his third hit.  And Ruby will finish off our weakened foe for us. No, you can't command Ruby, however if an enemy has around four HP or less, she'll finish them off for you. This is actually really, really nice right now, although as you can imagine the usefulness of that drops off fast. It's certainly better than restoring four HP to a weakened ally like Nall did. (But nowhere near as good as randomly reviving allies like Nall did in the remake...)  I swear Hiro looks like he's punching himself in the face. I hope I don't need to explain what EXP is, and S is just silver (or, ya know, money.) M, however, is Magic Experience. Let's take another look at Ruby's commands, specifically "Magic."  The reason Hiro has both the Boomerang and Poe Sword skill? Boomerang is technically magic*. Wind magic, specifically. In order to get more Wind Spells and better versions of Wind spells, you have to spend Magic Experience to level it up. Hiro's Poe Sword, on the hand, belongs to a different class of skills. They belong to the Blade skillset, and he will gain more Blade skills as he levels. It's a bit of a cumbersome system. Each magic class requires a lot of Magic Experience to get noticeable results, and certain characters don't get much use out of it. For example, I usually never bother putting anything into Hiro's Wind spells, as his blade skills are infinitely superior. I'll try to use them a bit more in this play-through, but they're still probably not going to see much use. This is completely removed from the remake. All characters' spells level up as the character does. Although it does share some similarities with the old system - it'll be easier to explain a little later down the road. While I do understand why it was removed, I kind of wish they kept it and instead revised the system so it's a bit more forgiving and less cumbersome. Oh well. *Sokka must be thrilled In any case, it's a short jaunt. Hiro didn't even gain a single level. I might have used an herb.  And there is home sweet home. Although I think we might have a visitor. Let's say hi!  Oh! Uh... hi guys. Wow, this seems a bit awkward.  Oh. Guess we... shouldn't be here.  : You'd better leave before Lord Leo returns from Gwyn's house!: Hiro? What is Lord Leo doing at Grandpa's house? He'd better find out!...interesting. I thought he was going to the Blue Spire. Making a social call first? Oh, and he won't actually force us to leave. We can mill around as much as we want.  : It is equipped with a mighty White Dragon cannon at its bow.Sweet. Althena really knows how to get just the right present, doesn't she?  : I saw her once, and I'll never forget it... That milky skin, the curve of her hips,... those smooth supple br... ...uh, never mind!It seems like Working Designs was still doing that "ellipses + comma" thing. That really annoys me for some reason. Is it just me? I'm mostly going to edit it out anyway, but JUST SO YOU KNOW Well, they won't throw you off, but they won't let you see any of the fun stuff, so there's no point in hanging around. Let's go see what's going on.  It's an odd little house that Hiro and his grandpa live in. But it's got some swanky tunes.  And they have a statue of Althena. These are also new. In the first game, you restored HP/MP through stone markers or circles you found on the world map. Or you'd go to a shrine of Althena. In Lunar 2 and in most Lunar games since, you only have statues of Althena. They restore HP and MP. They're usually found in towns, although sometimes you'll see them in dungeons. After a bit of a refresher, we head inside.  Sure enough, Leo is here.   : You can't possibly expect that I know all its secrets! Besides, what interest could you possibly have in the spire?: Blue Stars, secret riddles, pah! What an easy life you lead, archaeologist! My work is much more serious than that. A destroyer is coming to our world. And the Blue Spire is the point at which it will originate! Goddess Althena has given direct orders to eradicate the Destroyer. : The Goddess Althena? A devil at the tower of blue? Bah! Nonsense...Wait, are you "bah"ing the Goddess? My, how times have changed. : Regardless of whether you believe me or not, I need your help. We attempted to enter the tower, but it was sealed with some kind of magic. We must find a way to enter the Blue Spire. And, since you are the "expert" on it, you and you alone can provide the answers I seek.The conversation ends here, and now we gain control again.  : Lord Leo is the top crusader for Goddess Althena. He is one of her Four Heroes. The Destroyer doesn't stand a chance!You know, Althena establishing some formal way of keeping peace makes some degree of sense. I mean, how often are you going to run across abnormally persistent farm kids when the world is threatened? More often than I think, apparently, but still. Just wish her chosen crusader wasn't a big pile of dicks.  : Ah, yes... welcome back, kids! We have guests today! This is Lord Leo, chief of Althena's Guard. He wants to know about the Blue Spire.: Yes, and as I was about to explain, I don't have time for a history lesson. All I want to know is one simple thing... how does one enter the tower? The entrance has apparently been sealed for generations.: Ah, yes, well... that is... that's the million silver question, isn't it? I'm not exactly sure, but it seems to me that if one were to take the... : I don't have the time to act on hunches, old man! If you don't know the way in, I'll just have to destroy the whole spire with the Destiny's dragon cannon!...dude, take a chill pill! Didja really think this guy just happened to know the way into a sealed tower that no one has entered for generations, and then chose not to enter it? A guy, let me remind you, that explores old places for a living. C'mon. : Hiro, have you been off at the Dragon Ruins again? I've told you time and again to stay away from that place! It's plumb full of monsters and very dangerous if you're unsure of what you're doing.: ...uhm, Hiro, let's not tell him about the jewel we found, okay? I think he'd pop a cork if he knew what we actually did at the ruins...Run around and monologue for fifty hours? Well, I'd be a bit put out by that too. Well, guess we gotta talk to captain douchebag. Let's go.   Hey Ruby! Not cool! Immature gay jokes are MY turf, got it? : Was I talking to you? Anyway, as I was saying, I know a good man when I see one. Why don't you quit this old archaeology thing and come to work in Althena's Guard?: Why would Hiro want to trade freedom for servitude? He won't work for you!: You are starting to get on my nerves, little one. Didn't you ever learn to speak only when spoken to? Hiro, it's an open offer, just keep it in mind.And think, this could be your boss! Exciting! Eh, I've had worse. : Oh, for your safety, you should stay away from the Blue Spire. A big battle's coming. I can feel it... And with that he finally decides to gently caress off.  Couldn't put it better myself. : I can't believe that the Goddess has come to us again as a human... and is giving orders directly to Lord Leo... very strange, it's not s'posed to.. and this... this... destroyer thing... something's up, m'boy, that's for certain. And I don't like the smell of it! Not one bit.... no, not one...Could you rephrase that? I don't speak ellipses.  Or just leave. Whatever.  : Something's happening at the... the... ...hurry lad!  : Looks like it goes into the heavens, toward the Blue Star...It's just sparkling. Probably a trick of the light, like swamp gas reflecting off a weather balloon or something.  Okay that's probably not swamp gas.    : And I've never in all my years seen anything quite like this. I wonder if a destroyer has come to our world, as Leo has been saying... If that's true, then we're all going to be in a mess of trouble.: Then, I'd better go to the Blue Spire and see just what's happened.: What?! Have you been taken with a fit of insanity? If that's is destroyer in that tower, he'll make short work of you!Nah, we got a dagger, man. It's cool. : But Grandfather, we have to know so we can warn Leo!: Ah... yes... I suppose you do have a point there...I suppose our horribly flayed corpses would be a pretty good warning sign. : Well, then, go get my weapons in the basement, and I'll get the things we'll need from the house. I'm not letting you go in that place by yourself, that's for certain... : Hiro, are you sure that going to the Blue Spire is such a good idea? I mean... what if there is a destroyer there now?: ...Ah, don't sweat it! What's the worst that can happen? Other than... ya know, the obvious. Next time we're gonna make the trek and maybe even meet this "destroyer!" And not die horribly (probably)! Camel Pimp fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Jun 2, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2013 00:21
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quote:Instead of a hilariously cheesy intro (I know, I'm sad too) we get a bit of backstory. I hope you're not suggesting the first game's original intro is anything less than incredible, young lady. 
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Feb 28, 2013 00:26
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Choco1980 posted:I hope you're not suggesting the first game's original intro is anything less than incredible, young lady. Far, faaaaar from it.
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Feb 28, 2013 00:28
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So wait... the *remake* cut out scenes from the original? Are we talking like heavy "Black Dragon Went Apeshit" alterations or minor things omitted for content? Also...is the "Second Disc" segment here as it was in the Complete version?
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Feb 28, 2013 00:50
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TKMobile posted:So wait... the *remake* cut out scenes from the original? Are we talking like heavy "Black Dragon Went Apeshit" alterations or minor things omitted for content? Very, very small scenes. And the same stuff happens, it's just done in-game rather than in anime cutscene. There are plot alterations, though. But nothing that big. Do you mean the Epilogue? Yes, that's in this version, with some differences.
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Feb 28, 2013 00:53
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Yeah, that. ...Still, this is gonna be very interesting then. For years, all I knew of the original Sega CD EB was the black ad you posted and a single screen shot of some of WD's whackiness. Went in EBC utterly blind unlike the original Lunar for CD when I went in blind and... got stuck in the sewer dungeon because I didn't talk to the right NPC to trigger Alex learning magic.
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Feb 28, 2013 01:14
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Oh man, I loved the LP of the original Silver Star (which I never got to play) and this is looking like it's going to be just as good.  By the way, the link to Croweton's LP in the OP is broken.
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Feb 28, 2013 01:24
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When I was growing up in the 90's, I ended up being a Sega kid rather than a Nintendo one, so I ended up with a Sega-CD. The Lunar games were the first real JRPGs that I was able to follow, and I absolutely loved their charm. The animated sequences and voice acting really helped sell the games, especially since that sort of thing was never done at the time. I'll be following both this and the remake LP. This game is still one of my absolute favorites of all time, despite its flaws.
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Feb 28, 2013 01:30
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The race is on! Seriously, though, it's neat to see difference popping up already, even if they are pretty small. Space Lady doesn't fly in the Remake, for example. Also, Ruby is cross-eyed and Leo is somehow even more smug?! I didn't think that was possible. Nice to see the grunt that wants to bone god is still hanging around.
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Feb 28, 2013 01:41
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Capskye posted:When I was growing up in the 90's, I ended up being a Sega kid rather than a Nintendo one, so I ended up with a Sega-CD. The Lunar games were the first real JRPGs that I was able to follow, and I absolutely loved their charm. The animated sequences and voice acting really helped sell the games, especially since that sort of thing was never done at the time. I'll be following both this and the remake LP. This game is still one of my absolute favorites of all time, despite its flaws. I actually was a Nintendo kid. I'm certain I've told this story before, but it's a new thread I'll tell it again; I didn't own a Sega CD, but my aunt did. And as I remember she only had one game for it; Lunar: The Silver Star. My sister and I fell in love with it, and eventually my aunt gave us the Sega-CD and the game! That was totally awesome of her, but considering that Lunar was the only game she had for it, she may not have really wanted the system anyway. So, some years passed. I knew that there was going to be a Lunar 2, I owned the guidebook and Ireland said there was going to be, but I didn't know when it was going to come out. One day at a EB games, I saw it: Lunar: Eternal Blue. I was thrilled. I loved Lunar 1, yes, but I was tired of it by then and this new game looks so awesome and oh my God I must have it- They didn't have it in stock. So I walked away empty-handed, rather crest-fallen. I was ticked off, but I went along my normal business. Until one day, my mother shows up with something. It was Lunar: Eternal Blue. I didn't know how she got a hold of it, but I didn't care. It turns out that she knew a lady from work that lived in Hawaii. Through this lady, my mom ordered a copy of Lunar 2. I have no idea how much it costs and I'm kind of afraid to ask. So what I'm trying to say with this is... thanks mom. Camel Pimp fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Feb 28, 2013 02:11
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Camel Pimp posted:If you've played the PSX version and watched the video, you may have noticed that Hiro sounds different. Yes, that is a different voice actor! In the Sega-CD version he's voiced by Mark Zempel, but in the PSX version he's voiced by Chad Letts. By the way, Working Designs didn't change anyone else in the cast, not in this game nor in the original (well, what voice actors the original Lunar 1 had). Yes, the kid they got to shout the two voiced lines Alex got? They got him back in the PSX version. But they re-cast Hiro. Huh. No idea to this day why they recast Hiro there was rumor over drama or something but nothing concrete. They guy who voiced Alex was named Ashley Angel. He later joined a band called O-Town and apparently he is a douche-bag now. Crowetron posted:The race is on! Leo (  ) is BEYOND oversmug in the original EB. Also, who doesn't want to bone the goddess?
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Feb 28, 2013 03:52
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I was deciding on whether to get the (EBC) game that day when the employees told me they forgot to make it half-off. It was a quick sale.
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Feb 28, 2013 04:22
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I'm surprised to see how well this looks like it's aged. It's not fancy, but it's certainly not painful to look at, which is sadly the case with a lot of other Sega CD games. Also, I have to say that the title chosen for this thread is fantastic.
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Feb 28, 2013 16:01
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I like how neither Hiro nor Gwyn assume Leo will be charging to investigate the giant column of light that shot down from the sky. Maybe he was below decks in his giant steamship at the time?
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Mar 1, 2013 07:15
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Glazius posted:I like how neither Hiro nor Gwyn assume Leo will be charging to investigate the giant column of light that shot down from the sky. They know that Leo never goes anywhere without his theme music, so they figure they can get a head start while Leo charges his iPod. Edit: dis astranagant posted:Who outside of the party at large in this series goes anywhere without his theme song? Well, Leo's is the best song, and thus the most important
Crowetron fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 07:20
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Who outside of the party at large in this series goes anywhere without his theme song?
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Mar 1, 2013 07:23
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He gets two of them, at that (in the PSX version anyway -- I do sincerely hope it's also in this one), and the circumstances behind the second one are one of the most shining moments in JRPG history. So, as JRPGs are all about the character leitmotifs, it stands to reason that Leo is the greatest JRPG character of all time.
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Mar 1, 2013 08:12
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Nah, the best song is for a character I can't talk about for a good while. An even smugger bastard that this version doesn't foreshadow in a silly way like the psx version.
dis astranagant fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 08:46
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Mazed posted:He gets two of them, at that (in the PSX version anyway -- I do sincerely hope it's also in this one), and the circumstances behind the second one are one of the most shining moments in JRPG history. So, as JRPGs are all about the character leitmotifs, it stands to reason that Leo is the greatest JRPG character of all time. That character and Leo are entirely separate characters. Come to think of it, what is your spoiler policy for this thread, Camel? Most people have been respectful, should we keep it at about this level or tone it back or what? dis astranagant posted:Nah, the best song is for a character I can't talk about for a good while. An even smugger bastard that this version doesn't foreshadow in a silly way like the psx version. Oh man, when Leo and that other character have their Smug Off it is one of the greatest things ever. Cannot waaaaiiitttt. CamelPimp, you know how you posted how you remembered almost all the lines for this game? That's how it was for me reading this. Found myself reciting the games' whole script almost verbatim from memory. Such a good game. Jenner fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Mar 2, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 21:38
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Jenner posted:
Spoiler the first game as much as you want, keep any discussion of this game in spoiler tags. Try not to get too carried away with discussion of what the gently caress Lucia is But don't spoiler that first bit. With the Clark Kent and all that. That. That needs to be a surprise. Camel Pimp fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 21:46
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Chapter 2: Hiro is Very Wise(?) : ...it's got to be... around here... somewhere... ah! Hiro... go down into the basement and get some weapons while I look for the jewel... and don't dally! We've got to get over to the Blue Spire immediately!Don't get all bossy on me! It wasn't even your idea to go there in the first place! And of course, dally is the first thing we'll be doing. Gwyn has a tons of books lying around. Let's read them!  "Dragon Tower Ruins Star Dragon Tower Goddess Tower And... the Blue Spire." Gosh, these sound like they might be future dungeons! And I'm not sure why the Blue Spire gets the ellipses. Maybe Gwyn's ellipsitis might be acting up again. But that's boring. Let's go downstairs.  More books! And a treasure chest, but we're already armed, so this chest is not as exciting as the one Alex's dad had in the first game.  "This book I will dedicate to the discovery of the secrets of the ruins. Gwyn" Wouldn't it be weird if that book was actually a bodice ripper or something? The rest, however, are definitely exposition-dumps. Get your exposition pants on!  "Once Lunar was a barren world, unable to support life. The Blue Star was a place of death and decay, so Althena turned to Lunar. She blessed it with her power, and it became a place of beauty and wonder. Pleased with her work, she brought people to this land from the Blue Star."  "The Blue Spire in the north part of the Salyan Desert in an ancient mystery. The entrance was sealed tight with powerful magic, and no one has seen the interior of the tower for hundreds of years. It is rumored that the spire links Lunar to the Blue Star..." The Blue Star is mentioned in the first game, but only vaguely. There was no backstory for the planet Lunar itself. I suppose one could call this a retcon, but none of this really changes the plot of Lunar 1. The geography, on the other hand... I'm not actually referring to the Blue Spire, and how it wasn't in the first game. I can just assume the world of Lunar is bigger than the game showed us and I didn't see everything. However, the Salyan desert, which is where the sequel starts, is new. Most of the geography is completely changed from the first game, and most places from the first game are just gone. But not all. There are some familiar places.  "The city of Vane once floated above the clouds. But, Magic Emperor Ghaleon used his evil power to blast it from the heavens." Vane was a flying city in a JRPG. Really, it was only inevitable. In Lunar 1, Vane was a glittering (if eliteist) metroplois ruled by a mage upper-class. Have to wonder how it fared in the intervening years. And since we're catching new readers up to speed...  "There are four Dragons of Althena. They are white, red, black, and blue. The power of Althena and the Dragons is what protects this world from evil. These are the only true dragons in the world..."  A Dragonmaster is Althena's strongest protector. Since Althena's last rebirth, the world has been without a Dragonmaster. The last Dragonmaster was called Alex."  "Every few hundreds years, the Goddess of beauty and love, Althena, returns to us. At that time, she leads the people into a place of peace and absolute harmony." Uh, no, that didn't happen. She was reborn as a human in the first game, yes, but there wasn't a period of peace and harmony following her. For from it. Well, maybe that was a fluke. She seems to have reborn again and maybe there's lotsa harmony now? No. No there is not.  "Once in a very long time, it is said that a shape-shifting Dragon comes to be. The Dragon can change form at will. And, it's power is beyond belief." This isn't part of the catch-up; this is new. I mean, Nall flew around in adorable pint-size, and I guess could transform into big size (but he didn't in the original Lunar 1) but that doesn't seem to be the same thing this book is describing. Odd. Enough book-learning. Let's get to the stabbing.   We don't even get a brown potato sack this time. Just a lovely old knife.  Not that lovely, mind. We do lose an extra attack, but our attack power more than doubles so it's a fair trade-off. Let's go see if Gwyn manages to find what he was looking for in his stacks of cluttered mess.  : If we put this jewel in the eye of the dragon at the entrance, it should open! Here, put this in your bag, Hiro. My, that looks... familiar doesn't it? : Be sure to equip the weapon you took from the chest. It's no use to us in your bag, m'boy.I always feel offended when games do that. I know it's to instruct the dumb kids playing, but I think even as a dumb kid I knew to equip my drat items. Then again, I suppose if Final Fantasy 1 can fool adults, maybe the advice is needed. : Okay, let's get moving. The Blue Spire's to the north, after we cross the bridge.Alright, new party member! Let's check him out!  It's kinda sad that Hiro's grandpa is innately stronger than he is, but Gwyn is level 3 to Hiro's level 1.  Gwyn is actually a healer. He comes with Heal Litany, as displayed above, Calm Litany, and the Adorable Sleeping Ruby Spell! Or Herbal Breeze, rather. Calm Litany is 7 MP and restores HP for the whole party, and Herbal Breeze costs 5 MP and is a single target sleep spell. The latter will not see any use. With Gwyn, anyway.  Gwyn comes with a Staff and a Cloth Tunic, neither of which we can remove. I'm thinking he may not stay with us to the end game. You also can't pour any magic experience into his spells. Also, now that we have a second party member, let's finally look at Ruby's "Tactic" command.  So what do these somewhat elusively named functions do? Let's look at memory first.   Memory lets you remember what happi- I mean it lets you pre-set a specific chain of commands for the party. Do you know the "Macro" command in Phantasy Star 4? More or less the same thing, although you can't set up combination attacks in this game.  And "Order" lets you position your characters on the battlefield. Unlike the first game, which makes you place your characters in a pre-set line-up, there's a bit more freedom to position characters here. You can place them anywhere you want on this square as long as the characters are not directly on top of one another. As a general rule, fighters up front and mages in back or the middle. Oh! And more one thing before we leave.   I leveled up Hiro's Wind magic! Which does nothing, for now. However, each subsequent level of magic is going to require more and more MExp to reach. It takes 10 more MExp to reach Wind level 3 than it did to reach level 2. These numbers will only climb. Oh, they will climb. With all this boring business taken care of, let's get to the killin'.  : We need to see what's going on around here. Head that way... across the bridge and to the north.Gwyn thankfully gives us a bit of direction, although which way the bridge actually is remains as a mystery. (It's to the west.)  And here it is. Like Gwyn said, after you cross you just keep going up.  It might look like there's something up those narrow passages, but there isn't. Just keep going north, between those two mountains.  And we're already there. Nothing to it. By a large a simple journey, although we did run across a new enemy.  I didn't run across many Sand Cyclops (although they're more mud than sand, really) on my way. They take two hits instead of just one, so that's how you know that they mean business.   And they can freeze you. Those dicks! Thankfully it wears off quickly.  At least we get a level-up out of the battle. Unlike Lunar 1, Lunar 2 gives you a rundown of how your stats increase on level-up. Nice, but not really necessary. For now, Hiro mostly gains 1 or 2 points per stat, with the exception of MP, where he gets a much appreciated 6 MP, and-  Wait, wisdom. Really? Uh, okay.  Regardless, we're at our destination.  That's not a welcoming sight. Why is there one missing?  : Hmmm... now if we put the jewel in the eye here, the door should...  : ... ....hmmm, that's strange. The door should have become visible... Very, very... strange.You are a poo poo archeologist. Unless this is supposed to be a pirate dragon, I'm pretty sure it has two eyes. There should be a pirate dragon in these games.   You get no points if you all ready had deduced how to solve this puzzle, by the way.  : I didn't know you found another Dragon's Eye jewel, Hiro. What else haven't you told your grandpa, hmmm?Quick, Hiro! He's on to you! Hide your stash! : Oh well, no time for that. Let's get inside while the door beckons... So we're now in the first dungeon in the game. We're actually not yet in the Blue Spire; we're more or less in the basement.  There's a bit of a puzzle on the first floor, although I'm being generous with the definition of "puzzle." Basically there are a bunch of blockades, and we have to find the switches to open the gates.  Like so. Just step on them and there ya go. If you find a gate, search for a switch. That's the long and short of it. It's pretty easy, and you are not going to get lost.  Although there's some treasure on the far right you might wanna grab. It's not much, but every adventurer has to build their fortunes somewhere. So let's talk enemies instead.  Slimes are back!  And they still have that adorable animation! They're much like they were in the original; weak fodder. Although there is one thing to note.  Because the luck stat now exists, critical hits now exist! Unfortunately, enemies can also crit hit you, but that's life.  Brainpicker? That's an odd name. And what is that thing doi-  Oh ew! Hey, stop that! Gross... That doesn't do too much damage, but it followed that up with another attack, so when the Brainpickers are presenting like horrible bonobos, take 'em out. Both Boomerang and Poe Sword will do the trick, but can also just attack 'em and save your MP.  Now these are interesting. If you take out the red guy...  Then the rest follow. And you want take the red one quickly, with your Poe Sword, because he's a hardy bastard.  And he'll bitchslap your rear end half-way across the room. Don't gently caress with these guys.  I'd also like to mention that unlike the first game, running now has a chance of failure. I've actually save-stated, and then each time I'd try to run from battle and it would always fail on the first turn. It makes me kind of wonder how the game was programmed. Anywho, Hiro gets another level-up along the way, although his stat gains aren't anything spe-  Wait, again? I guess they really wanted Hiro to get some Wisdom.  Anyway, past the first few doors, we come across a bridge and some more locked gates.  And they actually change the battle background to reflect the change of scenery! I've played these games for too long; I'm actually kind of impressed by that. Anywho, same deal. Walk around and find the buttons.  There's an Herb! We start off with a decent supply of them anyway, but if you're running low on MP for heal spells, this is appreciated. Although the game still has its kiddie gloves on, so that's not too much of an issue.  Oh! And Gwyn gain a... level. Well, Gwyn is a temporary character; it follows that he's not going to get good stat gains. After we press the switches, we head into the next room.  These time, there's a bunch of floating platforms that we have to cross, but they're not aligned correctly. There are also four little rooms in the corners.  In these tiny rooms, there's a sun symbol on the floor and a floating globe. Touch the globe and...  Whaddya know. The platform with a sun symbol moved into place. So that's this room summed up. Oddly, you actually don't have to move that star platform. You can, its room is in the south-eastern corner, but you can still cross with the platform slightly askew. Nothing else to say about this part of the dungeon. Hiro gains another lev-  Seriously Hiro. Did you mess up your character sheet or something? Anyway! After crossing that little gap...  Uh. So that's where the missing statue went. I have a baaad feeling about this...  No wait, it's cool. Nevermind!  So we're past the first part, but we're not done yet. This was just the basement. We've still a bit to go.   When I first played this a kid, as soon as I saw the tower I said, "I am not climbing that." We are climbing that.  The creators did show some mercy on you, and thankfully put in a statue of Althena. This seems like a good time to drop a save and-  Wait. Waaaiiit a second. Something's off...  "Cost?" Wait, I have to pay magic experience to save? Oh yes, I had forgotten to mention one of Lunar 2's more infamous features. So, in Lunar 1, you could just save anywhere, doesn't matter. Quite unusual for a game of its time. Hell, in all the other Lunar games you can save anywhere. So why did this game decide to make you pay? Well, the Japanese version didn't. This was added in the English version. I have the guidebook for this game, and in it Victor Ireland tries to weakly defend adding this in, saving that most other RPGs only let you save at inns, or on the world map. I presume that later he jumped off a climb because the other RPGs were doing it too. Magic experience is already kind of tight in the game, and this doesn't help. It's particularly bad early on. By the way, the cost for saving does go up throughout the game. At the end, yes, you do generally get enough magic experience per fight that it's not a big problem, but still. Although you know what doesn't carry a magic experience cost? Save states. So screw you mid-nineties Victor Ireland.  Enough bitterness. Next time: The Blue Spire! Camel Pimp fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Feb 15, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2013 22:26
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quote:"Every few hundreds years, the Goddess of beauty and love, Althena, returns to us. At that time, she leads the people into a place of peace and absolute harmony." Well, most people assume the afterlife is a place of peace and harmony if you've been good so yes, technically she did lead her people to such a place... Also, I said this in the other EB thread and I'm going to point it out here as well: You are the world's premier expert on this ancient building. You've devoted your life to studying it. You live like, next door to the drat place. You keep (what you assume to be the only) key in your pocket. And all your long life you've never once attempted to set foot inside. Gwyn, you suck at archaeology.
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Mar 1, 2013 23:09
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So, for the stat gains you're seeing on level-up here, is it just completely randomized? Can this wind up totally gimping your party, hilarious as it'd be to see, say, tons of strength growth for like the mage you get later? Or can it actually be useful, somehow?Camel Pimp posted:The geography, on the other hand... I'm not actually referring to the Blue Spire, and how it wasn't in the first game. I can just assume the world of Lunar is bigger than the game showed us and I didn't see everything. However, the Salyan desert, which is where the sequel starts, is new. Most of the geography is completely changed from the first game, and most places from the first game are just gone. But not all. There are some familiar places. I remember this bugging me a lot when I first played. A thousand years passed since Silver Star, and while technology and even fashion sensibilities haven't changed much, the world itself is totally rearranged. If it were a different region, that'd be one thing, but given the conspicuous presence of some very familiar cities and dungeons, it doesn't seem to be. If you want to handwave it, I guess you could say that since the entire world is a magically-terraformed moon, as a result of it's fantastical origination it's prone to occasional shifts.
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Mar 1, 2013 23:16
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I'm pretty sure stat gains for each character are the same every game. I know they are in the psx version.
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Mar 1, 2013 23:18
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That is an amazing save mechanic.
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Mar 1, 2013 23:20
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I could watch Hiro and Gwyn fail to run away all day
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Mar 2, 2013 02:38
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Crowetron posted:I could watch Hiro and Gwyn fail to run away all day It's like they're desperately trying to search for the bathroom, but all they find are mummies.
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Mar 2, 2013 05:38
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Gwyn at least is trying. The eyes on the brainpickers are even more obvious. It looks like it is flying sideways with eyes on both sides of its mouth. The world map is what annoys me about the game. You have all these mountains arranged to look like a natural barrier to some future transportation you will get and totally blue ball you, much like the much maligned world of Wild Arms:ACF and getting cockblocked for ~6 upgrades. Maybe this world is much larger since certain new places would never have been available to reach last game. Scalding Coffee fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Mar 2, 2013 |
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Mar 2, 2013 07:44
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That is a whole ton of wisdom. Is Hiro gaining an equivalent amount of strength, or whatever influences attack power?
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Mar 2, 2013 21:33
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Glazius posted:That is a whole ton of wisdom. Is Hiro gaining an equivalent amount of strength, or whatever influences attack power? No. No he is not. I think perhaps Hiro gains so much wisdom as so to give you a reason to use his Wind magic... but you really shouldn't. His Poe Sword, which I'm pretty sure runs on his strength and not wisdom, will always be better. Always.
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Mar 2, 2013 23:04
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Hiro has no other gear affecting his wisdom do it's always going to be about the middle of the party. There's really only one party member with any business doing actual spellcasting.
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Mar 3, 2013 02:51
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Chapter 3: Lady in Red Welcome, everyone, to the Blue Spire!   It's quite pretty! It also has a pretty theme! There's a door to the left, but it leads nowhere, so we head to the right.  Despite its fearsome appearance, the Blue Spire is really straightforward and quick to run through. If you recall Althena's Tower from the first game, with five smaller rooms connected to a larger center room, it's much the same. There are some dead-ends, but by and large it's easy to navigate.  But don't think it'll be a cake-walk, as they added the first hard enemy in the game. The Crystal Knight is the only new enemy in the tower, but it's a doozy. When their little shoulder crystals start blinking really fast (it's a rather subtle tell), they unleash the pain.  It's a lot of pain. Their other, less scary attack is a dive attack, but if it the Crystal Knights decide to gang up on one of your guys, they can knock you out.  Like so! Unlike the first game, a knocked out character does not get removed the fight. If I had an item that could resurect, I could get Gwyn back up. But I don't, not yet, so this can be a bad situation. Fortunately, like the first game, characters get resurrected after battle, and all of their status ailments cured.  I'd like to mention that if only one of your guys gets away, the game will still not count it as a party-wipe. Unlike Lunar 1, this information will be useful to us. Other than those fuckers, there's not much more to say about the tower.  There's an herb hidden away in the dead end on the fourth floor, and there's another one on the fifth floor.  There's also a not-insubstantial amount of money on the same floor.  After that, we come into this narrow passage-way. The music's been replaced by wind noises.  After Lunar 1's succession of brown caves, this is an absolute treat for the eyes.  I'd also be remiss in failing to mention that the battle background changes here, too. Also, we must be high up or the Blue Star is preparing to slam into Lunar.  : The ancient writing speak of a secret way to the top floor somewhere in here. We must search this room thoroughly to find it.All right! Let's get cracking!   So it's all up to us, then? Okay.  Fortunately, it turns out ancient secrets are really obvious. Hey, Gwyn we found it!  ...nevermind. Let's just go.   And then suddenly... : Wha- what's happening? Where? Hiirooooo! : I... I... think this must be the secret room grandpa was talking about! I hope that Destroyer Leo's looking for isn't lurking around here... Hiro ain't liking the odds either. Either way, there isn't an exit. So... might as well have a look around.  : Look at that. It's just floating there! Do you think....? : *Gasp* Woooow!   Oh honey, Hiro ain't gonna save you from what's coming from the other side. He can barely kill mucus.   Waaait a sec... there's a familiar (naked) sight.  Well, no longer naked.   : Hi- Hiro...Hiro, I hate to break it to you, but you may have to change your cape when this is over.     So... uh... you gonna kill us now or what?  : It- it looks like a girl!  I believe Hiro has now noticed that as well...   : My name is Lucia. I have come from the Blue Star on an urgent mission. Your world is in grave danger! I must see Althena immediately! Take me to her!Uh. Yeah, I'll... get right on that. Man, this is the one time were it really would have been helpful if she was some farmgirl we knew...  : She looks like she could be some sort of goddess or something! What are we going to do, Hiro?  : Ruby to Hiro! Hello!: She's the.. most beautiful girl I've ever seen!Oh dear... I don't think our protagonist is thinking with the correct head any more.  : What are you babbling about? She's not even human! Snap out of it!: Ow! Knock it off Ruby!Thankfully, our pink flying friend is around to remind our hero to keep it in his pants.  : Hey! Where you going?: I have come to this world to seek Althena. My search begins. No, she means the burger joint "Althena's." There is only one Althena; why is this so confusing to people! : I don't know if I can help you, but I'm willing to try!: Who are you?: Oh... sorry, I'm Hiro. And, uh, that's Ruby.: In the flesh...: If you are residents of this world, you must help me find the Goddess Althena. It's urgent that I find her. The fate of your world hangs in the balance. And then she warps us out. Wait... what would have happened if Lucia here hadn't come around? I suppose Hiro and Ruby would have just starved to death. Man, the people who build this tower are dicks.  : You had me beside myself with worry, young man! I've been looking all over for you! Where in tarnation did you go?That's a good question. I'm not really sure. : Oh dear! Who's this you've found?: Her name is Lucia. We found her in a room with a big crystal jewel! And guess what, Grandpa Gwyn! She's from the Blue Star!: By Althena herself! A girl has traveled to us from the Blue Star?!: ...: Hiro, we've got to get out of here. If Leo find her, we're in big trouble, and so is she. We'll talk later... let's go!Wait, why are we in trouble? Because we're here and Leo didn't really want us here? Well tough titties, buddy, we do what we want! Or that this chick might be that destroyer thingie... although I'm thinking that a soft-voiced pretty anime chick is not going to turn out to be the destroyer of worlds. Just a hunch. For now, let's just focus on getting out of here. Our mysterious new friend joins us for now.  Although for some odd reason we can't select her at all in the menu. Can't even check her stats or equipment. Yet she appears below on our line-up. And look at that HP! And look at that... lack of MP. It's not zero; it just plain doesn't exist! This just keeps getting weirder...  Let's take her for a test drive, then.  Huh. I can't control her.   Holy fuckballs. While I still believe she's unlikely to be the destroyer, it's starting to seem more possible. So as you might expect there's not much challenge as you descend. As a matter of fact, this is a pretty good time to grind a little bit. Sadly, your experience now gets split three ways, even though Lucia doesn't seem to need it, but still it couldn't hurt to get a level or two. I elect just to get through the dungeon. Like Lunar 1, I'm going to try and get through this game without (much) grinding. In Lunar 1 you only needed to grind in one or two spots, otherwise you were fine with just running through. Hell, I was still over-powered by the end! I'm not going to have as easy a time with it in Lunar 2.  Oh! And we can now get pre-emptive attacks, which didn't happen in Lunar 1. Nice. Lucia celebrates with an over-powered spell called Soul Rush.   It just flat-out teleports the enemy away. And I still get experience for the battle! Sweet. So as far as I know, the game will not stop you from power-grinding. I haven't tested it, although I'm not sure how many levels I could reasonably gained before the whole thing became far too much of a hassle. EDIT: So, I found out the game DOES stop you from power-leveling with Lucia! You have to reach level 7, which is still a fair lot of grinding. This is what happens:    If only she could seal off the random encounters in other places. Thanks to Mercury_Storm for informing me of this! Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled LP.  Lucia has a lot of spells; I don't think I managed to get her to use all that she had. This is Spark Cannon; it does a lot of damage to one target. I'd rather she'd use her other over-powered spells, but let's not look a gift horse in the month. So we make our way down the spire.  Suddenly, Lucia just stops in her tracks.  : Hiro, I don't think she's human... her magic is too strong.No. Really? : Perhaps she is a destroyer as Lord Leo said. But, why would she come here? Hrmph! Fiddle m'boy... it makes no sense... no sense at all...Speaking of no sense!  : Look! What's happening to Lucia?!  : Is this Althena's world? I- I do not sense the aura of her magic power. But then... perhaps the evil hides it from my sight. : 'least not like any other I've known. But, I can't believe she's a destroyer.In order to progress, we have to talk to Gwyn while Lucia's just floating there. Kinda odd, but okay... : Lucia says she came from the Blue Star. But, did she say why?: She came here to meet the Goddess Althena!: Goddess Althena? You mean, the one that the cultists serve?No, I mean the Goddess Althena who works at- wait, "cultists?" : I can't believe that it could be the same one. : I must find out where she is...And now Lucia's decided to join us on the ground. If she can basically fly, why bother walking is my question...  Oh this can't be good.  : Mwhahaha! : Who is it? Who's there?: Oh no... it can't be!: My my... sweet princess of the Blue Star. Welcome.: It is... it's Zophar.Zophar? Who's Zo-  Oh god acid flashbacks! : Mwhahaha! Yes, sweet Lucia. It's been a long time my dear. I'm crushed that you haven't stayed in touch. But I'm very patient. I know that you'll come to my way of thinking, eventually.: I will never submit to you! What have you done with Althena?!: Althena? Ho ho ho! Sweet Lucia... why don't you ask her yourself? Oh dear, I've forgotten, you don't know where she is! What a pity.: Zophar, I will not allow you to corrupt this world. Dragon power, shine forth! Fill me with the strength of ages! Empower me to overcome the destroyer in our midst!Oh sweet! She's gonna lay the smack-down on that faceless motherfucker! Get 'em Lucia!  That... does not look like rear end-kickery. : Hmm hmm. Lucia... that was... quite unimpressive...: Oh no! What happened?: I'm afraid I had to seal away the power of the four Dragons. You see, very soon, you will be all that stands between me and total domination! : Aaaaah! : Tell me darling... was it good for you? Now that I've stripped you of your power, you are nothing more than a helpless bug, waiting to be crushed.: I... I... can't... Too... strong...: Save that precious breath, child. You'll need it to find Althena. Your little needle in my haystack... Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! : Zopher... you can't... : Please!: It's no dream, Ruby. These are strange goings-on... strange indeed. Hmm, yes, it seems that this Zophar fellow has cursed her very soul. If we don't break the spell, she'll most certainly die.: Ungh... I have to... Althena... before... ungh...: Young lady, save your strength. You can tell us all about it later.: But... time is... I must... only Althena can... Zophar... ungh...: Come, Hiro. We've got to get her back to the house. Maybe one of my books will give us a clue about how to break this curse...Oh dear. Tell me, how bad is this curse?  Oh it's bad. It's pretty bad.  : Hiro, I'm scared. This is too big for us. We don't belong in this struggle. If only we hadn't taken that Dragon Eye jewel from the ruins...This... has been one hell of a day. How could it get worse?  Oh. That. That's how it could get worse. Camel Pimp fucked around with this message at 07:37 on Feb 15, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2013 04:40
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Apparently, Gwyn's an atheist in this version? Kinda odd in a world where God literally shows up every once and a while.
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Mar 4, 2013 05:09
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Well, apparently Althena's last incarnation was about a thousand years ago, which is more than long enough for people to doubt a thing actually existing without hard evidence.
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Mar 4, 2013 05:16
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Also, it's possible that Gwyn is more incredulous of the worshiper of Althena. I mean, he did call them a cult.
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Mar 4, 2013 05:32
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The game scared me for a bit when it switched around end game monsters to the starting dungeon.
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Mar 4, 2013 07:12
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The "cult" thing is, I think, a specific difference between the Sega CD and Playstation versions. The script for the remake doesn't refer to Althena's followers that way. It's a pretty significant thing, though. Here, we get the impression that a lot of the world actually does see Althena-worship as this really weird, possibly even shady thing, which not only paints a much different picture of the setting, but handily demonstrates the passage of time since Silver Star (something they could have stood to do much more of), where everyone saw her existence as a given. I have to wonder now if the Japanese script in the remake had similar differences, or if that was changed by the localizers.
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Mar 4, 2013 17:11
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What I'm wondering, though this is kinda tangential, is if Hiro's a straight up orphan or was there backstory to him and his parents? (and sorry if I keep asking spoilery things...) I can't recall for the life of me if he ever mentions a mom or dad or if anything happened to them or what have you...
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Mar 5, 2013 01:44
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