Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete Review
Those with a tolerance or desire for older games and the nostalgia inherent in them will definitely want to give Lunar 2 a shot.
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue is the second in the Lunar series of RPGs, and it's also the second of Working Designs' repackaging of the two classic games. Both Lunar games premiered on the Sega CD and then were remade in the mid-'90s for the Japanese Saturn. Working Designs owes a lot of its fan base to the Lunar games, and so it took to porting these Saturn remakes to the PlayStation for an American release. After a lot of ballyhoo and a lot of delays, Lunar: Silver Star Story came out in 1998, wrapped in the extravagant packaging and production that Working Designs is known for. After similar delay, the company has finally given us Eternal Blue, and it's every bit as lavishly produced as its predecessor.
Some RPG sequels are that in name only - they construct an entirely new world and entirely new characters for each iteration. However, Lunar 2 picks up roughly where the original Lunar left off, in the world shaped by the events of the first game. Its hero is Hiro (pun perhaps intended), the prototypical plucky young lad who seeks nothing more than adventure and discovery. Ruby, the sarcastic flying cat, is his constant companion. Yes, the pair is awfully similar to Lunar's Alex and Nall. Lunar 2's requisite mysterious female comes in the form of Lucia, a blue-haired enigma whom Hiro discovers at the top of an ancient tower near his house. Lucia has come on behalf of the goddess Althena to save the world from the evil Zophar, a god of destruction. Althena's elite guard, however, has a different idea: they claim that Lucia is actually a destroyer bent on ravaging the planet. Hiro, smitten with Lucia's beauty, naturally decides to help her escape the guard and accompany her on a journey to find Althena's human representation. Hiro and Lucia will encounter the usual assortment of do-gooders and rogues in their quest, not to mention quite a few connections to the cast of the original Lunar. If you're a fan of the first game, get ready for some storyline surprises.
Eternal Blue is the spitting image of Silver Star Story, and both games are no-frills RPGs in the classic sense. Magic spells, equipment menus, experience points - they're all here. Lunar 2's combat is also typically menu driven and turn based, though it gains an extra element of strategy from its emphasis on the placement of characters on the battlefield. Unlike some recent RPGs, in which characters all perform the same battle functions, Lunar 2's characters are very distinctive - some are clear-cut as magic users, others specialize in fighting, and a few can do both effectively. Both of the Lunar remakes vary from their Sega CD originals in fairly minor ways. You'll experience no random enemy encounters while moving your party around the overworld. In dungeons, the monsters are visible, and they can often be avoided with a little strategy. Purists may gripe, but for anyone tired of random battles in RPGs, this change is welcome.
When critiquing a Working Designs game, it's impossible to overlook the significant changes that the company makes to most of its domestic releases. Lunar 2's translation is unusually divergent from the original source, which is par for the course for Working Designs; consequently, it's far livelier than most English RPG texts. Lunar 2's characters are made endearing by their words, and though many would criticize the company for taking such brazen creative liberty, the textual changes are truly effective in the end. Unfortunately, the game's voice acting is effective only in turning stomachs. Though some of Eternal Blue's spoken dialogue is of passable quality, most of it is markedly amateurish, and most accomplishes nothing so much as reminding you that you're playing a video game. Finally, Working Designs has tweaked the difficulty of Lunar 2 quite a bit, though it would be more appropriate to say that Working Designs has unduly raised the game's difficulty. As RPGs go, it's a very difficult game, one that you may find yourself shutting off in frustration. Few RPGs have the audacity to kill you off after the third battle. To the game's credit, though, you'll keep coming back a few minutes later for another stab at that seemingly impossible boss. Just make good use of the game's "save anywhere" feature, and you'll be set.
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete Quick Links
Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices
- GameSpot Scoregood
Player Reviews
-
Another classic by Game arts, creators of Grandia, another classic. I couldn't stomach a 8.5, really! Continue »
-
Lunar 2 has one of the best stories of any RPG, and combined with its atmosphere, makes this a must buy. Continue »
Critic Scores
- PSX Extreme 8 / 10
- IGN 8 / 10
- Gaming Age A-
- RPGamer 9 / 10
- Electric Playground 7 / 10
- Games Are Fun 10 / 10
- Absolute PlayStation 91 / 100
- Game Vortex 95 / 100
*The links above will take you to other Web sites and are provided for your reference. GameSpot does not produce or endorse the content on these sites.
- Working Designs
- Game Arts
- Role-Playing
- Release: Dec 15, 2000 »
- ESRB: Teen
Games you may like…
-
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
(PS) -
Thousand Arms
(PS) -
Dragon Warrior VII
(PS) -
Guardian's Crusade
(PS) -
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
(SAT)
Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.
See More Similar Games
