A clichéd plot and poor dialogue hold this game back from being even slightly appealing.
Let's be honest, the game isn't anything special. In fact, it's completely generic through and through. Almost every aspect of the game is sickeningly clichéd, from the characters to the areas you explore. There really isn't anything new on the table at all. While that isn't exactly a problem where a battle system is concerned, there's a limit to how much "stereotyped JRPG setting" I can hande.
All of your favourite overused JRPG character personalities are in this game too - the strong, kind hearted hero who wants to "protect everyone", the fat clumsy guy with the glasses, the friendly heroine who has a mysterious past and of course, the loud, self assured rival. In fact, the developers of this game wanted to include so many JRPG clichés as possible that they even decided to include an annoying and supposedly "cute" cat which has a strange ability to fly. You'll pretty much start off with these four characters, while the cat just tags along, sometimes aiding you in battle.
Ok, so we've established the characters suck. What about the plot? Chances are you know what I'm going to say. Yes... it's not much better. Filled with dragons, goddesses and legendary heroes, Lunar Legend tries nothing new. The game obviously tries to take itself seriously during some moments, but fails miserably thanks to it's terrible dialogue and cringe-worthy idea of "comedy".
I think I speak for the vast majority when I say the best RPG plots are the ones that don't try to take themselves too seriously. Kingdom Hearts (not the second one, that tried to hard), Chrono Trigger and Paper Mario are among many that bring my point across. Poorly translated JRPGs are horrible to read, especially when they try to become deep.
Here's a great example of a video game quote gone wrong. As one of my first memories in the game, it really doesn't help my overall impression. Take a look:
"They call them Dragon Diamonds, but they are my turd."
An obvious shot at a comedic moment, this is just the start of Lunar Legend's worries. The way it's told is completely out of character, because a "supposed" wise and ancient dragon says it. There are plenty of moments like this that just step out of character and because the game doesn't always notify who said what, you can end up with some confusing conversations.
I honestly don't think I should bother to delve into the game's poor plot, because it isn't worth the time to be honest. Plus I've gone on about how bad the game's plot is already, so you get the idea.
Moving on from that "small" rant, the game actually has a solid, if not sometimes tedious battle system. This is your typical turn based RPG with HP, levels, magic and special attacks. One particular addition to the battle system was a guage that fills up during turns. Once the gauge is complete, you can launch a powerful attack and the gauge becomes empty. There isn't a whole lot of variety in the battles and you'll often be setting your characters to auto, so you just sit back and wait for one enemy after another to die. Sometimes the game adds up to 6 monsters in one battle, so it's even more tiring. Plus the interfaces are sometimes annoying to toggle through.
Here's another huge gripe. You can save practically anywhere. This is one problem I also had with Golden Sun and Mega Man Battle Network, because it makes the game way too easy. You have been warned.
To it's credit, the game had some decent puzzles and a couple of the area designs were something to think twice about. I personally don't think it justifies a high price tag. I'd only advise this game if you really like low par RPGs, which I'm sure not many of you do.
Do yourself a favour and get a good GBA RPG instead, like Golden Sun, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy or Pokémon.
I want my wasted time on this game back...