Together Retro: Lunar Silver Star

[Ivo]

I don't think this is a spoiler, as the GBA intro talks a bit about that, but anyway... Don't read this paragraph if you are unsure.
From what I get, the planet where they are actually at used to be cratered and deserted, like our moon. That doesn't mean that it's supposed to be our moon and the blue planet is Earth (our moon is too small to keep a decent atmosphere by gravity, I think - but this is a game with Magic, so "normal" physics may be a silly thing to bring on).

I just finished the GBA port, will see when I can play the PS version.

In the GBA I clocked in 18 hours and lev 46 for most of my team (one guy was some levels lower because of the plot).

The very last boss was quite hard for me, easily the toughest battle in the game for me. I probably wouldn't have cleared it without grinding a bit if Nall didn't revive the fallen dudes so much (they only last a turn at 1 HP, but they get one turn of action to heal the major damage dealer or the healer with items).

The game is fairly easy, I don't remember having trouble elsewhere other than minor trouble when my healer sits out of a battle (mentioned in this thread already I think) as I didn't have many healing items on me; also I could have had trouble (but maybe not) in the battle with one of the last bosses (third before last) - 2 of your team start already sleeping, if it was my major damage dealer or the healer it makes it trickier I'm sure.

I think the main point of the game is the presentation (FMVs, voice audio and nice music) - particularly at the time of release when it was a novelty. With the gimped GBA version I think the game is very average (and the random encounters get boring, they are too frequent and it's just a waste of time).

Ivo.

[NebachadnezzaR]

Possible spoilers:

I just read somewhere, in the library in Vane, I think, that the people supposedly used to live in what is now their moon. Could it be that their home planet became somehow impossible to live in and they had to colonize what was previously their moon?

[Ivo]

Possible spoilers:

I just read somewhere, in the library in Vane, I think, that the people supposedly used to live in what is now their moon. Could it be that their home planet became somehow impossible to live in and they had to colonize what was previously their moon?

I bet playing the sequel will clear some of these questions about their blue moon, as it is called "Eternal Blue". Also somewhere in the game there was something about "One day someone will go to the blue planet in the sky" or similar statement.

So I guess these Lunar dudes don't have that "Once in a blue moon" saying?

Ivo.

[Ivo]

As most of the game is arguably spent in (random) battles, I think it would be interesting to discuss a bit more in-depth the combat system. I will limit myself to the GBA version as that's the one I know so far.

Most of the combat is rather easy (boss battles are the main exception), so I think most people are going to spend most of the time either in "Auto" mode (all members "Attack") or in the "Tactics" mode (you can pre-set an action for each member outside of combat). This "Tactics" mode is a good idea as in other JRPGs I sometimes have everyone attack on Auto mode or just holding down the button (including caster / healer types) because it isn't worth the time manually assigning them to deal more damage with spells etc.

There is (I suppose also in other versions) a bar that charges up and allows a special skill when full - this is a nice touch, and would be a very nice touch but... a) the regular battles are easy anyway b) in boss battles, with some exceptions, the skills are underpowered or useless c) only "Attack" charges up the bar, as far as I see (using skills doesn't) - this is a bit bad for spell casters, as they have very weak "Attacks" (Nash somewhat the exception), and they turn out to have (IMO) the best charged up moves (including Luna's, and Mia's which is arguably the best to have in boss fights).

The "NOA" (number of attacks), which I've seen in other JRPGs... The good is it's better to have 2 (or more) attacks with half (1/N) the damage for the times when half (1/N) damage kills one of the beasties and the extra damage isn't wasted; the bad is, when the multiple attacks go to the same beastie, it just wastes more time in the repeated "jump in, slash, jump out" animation - which would be done faster if it was just a single, more powerful attack... Considering how often this occurs, I was getting rather annoyed with the time wasted with high NOAs (I think you can get 5, but I had several 3 / 4). The best would be to keep the character next to the monster striking all the times. Jess in particular takes a long time striking when she does critical hits with Claw weapons, multiply that by 2 (or sometimes 3)...

Ivo.

[SpaceBooger]

Possible spoilers:

I just read somewhere, in the library in Vane, I think, that the people supposedly used to live in what is now their moon. Could it be that their home planet became somehow impossible to live in and they had to colonize what was previously their moon?

That is exactly why I just logged on to racketboy... I just read all that stuff in the library too! So it looks as if all of the people lived on the "blue star" (earth like planet) and Athena magically transported them to the new world and changed it (the moon).
Thats how I take it.

[NebachadnezzaR]

Ivo, about the attack system, the random encounters seem to be exclusive to the GBA port, in the other versions the monsters are clearly visible on screen (like in Chrono Trigger, for example), and although they pursue you when you're in sight, with a little skill and sharp reflexes most battles can be avoided if you want. The special skill bar you mentioned also seems to be exclusive to the GBA, because I didn't notice anything like it in the PSX version.

Now, about the story, there's another thing bugging me. Dyne was the last Dragonmaster and he was one of the four heroes, which led me to think that all the four heroes were Dragonmasters, but now I've discovered that this is not the case, since [SPOILER] Ghaleon is considering on becoming the next Dragonmaster[SPOILER end]. So, after all, who were Dragonmasters and how many of them have existed by the time the game starts?

[SpaceBooger]

Random battles happen in the original SEGA CD version too.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althena

About The Blue and Silver Star:

In the beginning, the human race inhabited the Blue Star, a planet similar to Earth. The Silver Star revolved in orbit around the Blue Star as a moon. While details of life on the Blue Star were lost to time, it was the coming of the Dark God Zophar, to the Blue Star that changed the fate of humanity forever. Zophar manipulated the negative emotions of humans of the Blue Star, inspiring them to fight brutal wars among each other. Feeding on the dark desires of humans, Zophar later began to twist humanity even further by turning corrupted humans into bloodthristy monsters. Humanity implored the goddess Althena for salvation. In the end, Althena defeated Zophar and sealed him away, but the battle left the Blue Star devastated and uninhabitable.

In response, Althena created a new refuge for the surviving humans on the nearby Silver Star. She used her power to turn part of the lifeless world of Lunar into a vibrant, life-filled land, a place to give humanity a new start. Unfortunately, her power was not enough to cover the entirety of Lunar, leaving a barely habitable region that resembled the Silver Star in its original landscape. This wasteland came to be known as the Frontier. Althena also created the Four Dragons (the Black Dragon, the Blue Dragon, the Red Dragon and the White Dragon) at this time in order to protect the new world.

Additionally, Althena never intended to abandon the Blue Star, and set mechanisms into motion on Lunar that would eventually restore Blue Star. She entrusted the wasted, ice-bound world itself to Lucia of the Blue Star, who would watch over it until it was once again ready for humanity. Just as Althena is the keeper of the Lunar, Lucia is the keeper of the Blue Star.

After humanity settled down on Lunar, Althena resided in the Goddess Tower, watching the progress of life.

About the Dragonmasters:

The greatest of Althena's protectors is the Dragonmaster, a mortal invested with the power of the Four Dragons of Althena. Name any Dragonmaster and you can hear a hundred different tales of their incredible adventures. Listed below are the more notable items the Dragonmaster's arsenal.

* The Sword of Althena, a sword forged by Althena's magic and the most powerful weapon in Lunar.
* The Dragon Armor (consisting of the Black Dragon Armor, the Blue Dragon Helmet, and the Red Dragon Shield), a set of armor imbued with a portion of the Dragons' power and the best protective plating ever crafted in Lunar.
* The White Dragon Wings, a magical artifact that can instantly transport the Dragonmaster to any place he once visited. This artifact is empowered by the power of the White Dragon.

The Dragonmaster also had the ability to use Dragon Magic, the highest degree of magic available to mortals and a power second only to Althena's own. Dragonmasters use this power to protect all of Lunar.

In order to become the Dragonmaster, a human must pass the four Dragon Trials, one for each dragon. These trials usually consisted of finding a Dragon's lair (the location of which is generally unknown), fighting through the lair's monsters, and finally, meeting the Dragon. Throughout these trials, the prospective Dragonmaster matures, gaining the sense of responsibility needed to wield power properly.

Here are some of the known Dragonmasters in Lunar:

* Louie, the first Dragonmaster and one of the human survivors of the Blue Star. The footprint of his very first step on Lunar could still be found somewhere...
* Leon, the Mighty Gale, who fought his foes with the blinding force of a hurricane.
* Gaull, the Iron Hand, who could fell the largest man with a single swing of his granite fists.
* Alicia and Laticia, twin sisters who proved that two are better than one.
* Natto, the Singing Swordsman, who often burst into song while decimating his enemies.
* Ignatius, an evil wizard and one-time leader of the Vile Tribe. He once attempted to enslave Althena.
* Jian, the hero of Lunar Dragon Song, who challenged and defeated the 4 Dragons themselves to steal the title of Dragonmaster from Ignatius.
* Dyne, one of the Four Heroes.
* Alex, the last Dragonmaster
The original Lunar: Eternal Blue mentions Dragonmasters 'Cyclone' Zeon and 'Iron Fist' Loka, whose names and descriptions strongly parallel Leon and Gaull, Dragonmasters named in the remakes.

[xraydash]

Who's still playing? Progress reports, please.

I just met the blue dragon on the psx version. I'm a little under eighteen hours and everyone in my party is at level 27 or 28.

Battles are a lot easier now with five members in my party and everyone having good spells and equipment. The beginning of that game is hard!. Maybe it was just Luna that sucked. Seems like things became less difficult after she was replaced by Jess (and even more so with the addition of Kyle.)

[marurun]

I'm on the ship bound overseas from SAITHE in the GBA version and I kinda trailed off and haven't gone further on the Sega CD version. I'd be playing the PSX version except... I don't like emulating it on PC and I have trouble tying up the TV too long these days.

Is there any good quality portable emulation solution for the PSX, just in general?

[SpaceBooger]

I'm on the ship bound overseas from SAITHE in the GBA version and I kinda trailed off and haven't gone further on the Sega CD version. I'd be playing the PSX version except... I don't like emulating it on PC and I have trouble tying up the TV too long these days.

Is there any good quality portable emulation solution for the PSX, just in general?

pSX is great that is what I use on my arcade cabinet.

As of a status report Ghaleon and I (Alex) are about to enter Quark's cave...