Despite its dated look , Lunar The Silver Star Story is a gem of a game, which no serious RPG fan should miss.
Story - The most important aspect of a good RPG, is the story, and LSSSC has a truly immersive story. The story focuses on Alex, a young man who wants nothing more then to set out on adventures to become a dragonmaster, the guardian of the goddess who rules the world. his wishes get fulfiled when offered by a friend, Ramus, to go and explore the nearby white dragon cave. Joining them is the girl Luna, Alex's childhood friend. As the three set out for the cave they will discover that destiny hold far more for Alex and his friends then they first thought. So begins a journey across the world to stop the evil threatening to destroy the world. Throughout the journey Alex will meet various characters, some of which, will join the group and help them on their journey. The main characters are truly a great cast of characters, which the player will grow to like, some of the characters are there for comic relief, some are more serious, though all provide a certain comical aspect to the game.
Overall , the story and characters in LSSSC, are some of the best of any RPG.
Gameplay - The gameplay in LSSSC is quite standard for a turn based RPG. In towns, you walk around and talk to people to get information, buy supplies and better equipment for your characters, heal, and so forth. Battles are not random, but rather, the player will see the enemies walking on the field and can choose to fight them, or attempt to run away. In battle characters take turns in attacking just like in most RPGs. Lunar keeps a more traditional method of keeping each character to his/her own specialities. Only some characters can cast offensive magic, only some can cast healing magic. The position the characters are on the screen is also important, as it determines if an enemy can attack, if an enemy is too far , your character cannot attack it using a physical attack, and the enemy cannot attack you. Thus the battle system, while not revolutionary in any way, is well done and the optional nature of the battles, mean that the game is overall more fun.
Graphics and Sound - The one great weakness of LSSSC, is the graphics. Even for the time of release the graphics are dated. Lunar , in terms of its visuals, resembles a game one would find on a Super Nintendo or Sega Mega Drive. A 2D world, populated by 2D characters. While the game is colourful, the dated graphics do hurt it to a certain degree, though nothing that could really distract the player. The sound in Lunar however, is fantastic, The voice acting is quite good and everything sounds as it should. The music in Lunar is also great, sometimes happy, sometimes tense, sometimes sad, though always good and fitting of the scene, from the opening song to the last boss battle, LSSSC is great to listen to.
PS1 Extras - The PS1 version comes with a few extras which make the game seem more complete. Included with the game is a Soundtrack CD with music from the game, as well as a making of CD. Also included is a hardcover, full colour manual which, unlike most game manuals, will actually be pretty fun to read and look through, as it is detailed with interviews, art work, and even a walkthrough for the first part of the game. Overall the extras found in the PS1 version are defenitly nice to have and compliment the game well.
In conclusion, LSSSC, is an RPG that manages to soar despite its dated nature. The story is incredible, the gameplay is fun, and the general atmosphre of the game is very well done. its only weakness are the graphics, though one should never play RPGs for the graphics. Unfortunetly, The US PS1 version of this game is quite rare and fairly expensive, though nothing to cry over. The Japanese PS1 and Sega Saturn versions are very cheap by comparison, but of course are in Japanese and so a knowledge of Japanese or a translation script is required.