Last night, while browsing the Japanese PSN store, I came across and downloaded the recently released demo of the re-re-make of Lunar: The Silver Star Story. I say re-re-make, because this game has already been re-made once, as it's original release was on the Mega CD (that's Sega Cd to us Americans). The re-make was for the Sega Saturn and PSX (Yes, Sega Saturn and PSX, Working Designs only brought this to the Psx for the American release as the Saturn was well past dead here). Techinically, there were two other releases for this game, the MPEG version, and the GBA version, as well. However, the MPEG version simply allowed for higher-quality playback of the in-game anime movies, and the GBA version was simply a scaled-down portable version.
The original U.S. release for Sega CD, by Working Designs
Tired of this history lesson? Yeah, so am I. Basically, what you need to know is this: Lunar the Silver Star is a much-beloved JRPG from Game Arts (the people who brought you Grandia), and this new remake for PSP includes a new isometric view (much like the Tales series by Namco), and hand-drawn high-res sprites, as well as a new prolouge mode. And so, without much more ado, here are my impressions of the demo of LHoSS for PSP.
When the game is started, you are taken to the intro, which is the same anime intro as the remake for SS/PSX. Unfortunantly, being as this is the exact same anime clip as the remake, and the PSP is wide screen, we are treated to a non-widescreen format. I had hoped this wouldn't be the case for all of the anime scenes, but unfortuanly, as they are ripped straight from the remake, it was.
After the anime intro ends, I can start the game, and my first glimpse of the newly drawn sprites are to be had. Having been a fan of the original game and the remake, I was blown away of how beautiful the game now looks. I could see so many details on Alex's clothes, Nall's wings flapping, the cliffside, and then the town itself. And yes, this is all presented in a widescreen, isometric view. I took some time to explore my parents house, the town itself, and my friend Ramus' house. Nothing looks as I remember, which is to say, everything is ten time more beautiful. There is, however, one minor problem I am having at this point, and that's the minor load times. Every door I go into (every house, every upstairs, room, etc) I have approx. a 2 second load time. Get a tad annoying after awhile. Anyway, I need to go find Luna, whom is in the forest before I can get to any other part of the game. So, upon walking into the forest, I am again treated to a pan and scan anime sequence, which is ripped from the remake. Once back to the widescreen game, I go to my parents house, where they give me a knife and some armor, and then it's off the meet my friend Ramus, so that I can actually get to see battle mode. But first, I equip my armor and knife, and spend the rest of the money the game has given me in the shop (it IS a demo, after all, why save it?). This leads me to view some menu screens. The menu is very streamlined, much easier to figure out than the prior versions of Lunar, and it's really very visually appealing as well. The little picture buttons on top make it easy to find where to equip armor, find stats, and view/use items.
Next, I leave town and choose my location. I choose the white dragon cave, and away we go. Overall, the main world map is, well, honestly, I can barely remember the main world map from the remake or the original, so, it's hard to comment on changes save for that it's widescreen. Anyways, I after a small story sequence, in which Ramus breaks a crystal blocking our path I get into my first battle. Now, this, the battles themselves are what I've been waiting for.
I choose manual, (the option for auto-attack is still there, however) and view the screen. Aside from the amazing hand-drawn sprites, (honestly, you can actually see Ramus' terrified expression as he attacks the monster with his knife!) and wide-screen view, it's essentially the same battle system. Well, for the most part anyway. The screen has been cleaned up a bit, with "Tales of " like character portraits at the bottom of the screen, and simple, yet visually appealing buttons for attack, magic, item, and defend. The magic attacks were simply amazing to me, as I was used the the very simple-looking attacks in the original and remake. In this version, however, the screen goes dark and the character casting the spell goes into a pretty, but not overtly annoying or long, animation. Each character (sans Ramus) also has a gauge in yellow, below their MP, which, when filled, unleashes a devastating attack on the enemy. The animation here is very cool, with the character's portrait coming up on screen before the animation. See below (I took this image off of the official Japanese site for the game)
There isn't much more to do in to demo at this point. You meet the white dragon (Quark), another anime scence is shown, and you must go finish the request of the dragon (get the ring) in order to receive the diamond you can for, at which point the demo ends.
All in all, I really enjoyed this demo, and am looking forward to playing an English version of this game soon (the full version in Japan was released on 11/12, so we're still a ways off of a U.S. release) from Xseed.
So, I don't know if any of you are Lunar fans, but being as I am, I am really excited for this release, and hope that, if Xseed cannot leave a Japanese Voice over option intact, that they can find some people who can do as good of a job as the original U.S. dub. I also look foward to seeing the how the translation works out. (WD was known for adding a bit too much humor, but the GBA release, which was closer to the original text, was just kind of, well, blah.) Aside from a few minor issues (that are very minor, mind you), if the full game is anything like this demo, XSeed can count on my pre-order. Here's hoping for a swift U.S. release!
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