Customer Reviews

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If anyone has ever played Lunar before then this version is no different. The characters are the same, the gameplay is the same, and the story hasn't changed. So what makes this version a worth while game? Well the simple answer would be that it is Lunar.

For those new to the series, Lunar is a turn based rpg. Players control a total of five characters with their own strengths and weaknesses. Fighters for example have high defense and attack while mages have low defense and high magic. Battles takes place turn by turn and this is traditional rpg at its best.

The game takes place in the fictional world of Lunar governed by the benevolent goddess Althena. The adventure starts when young adolescent Alex decides to pursue the career of being a dragon master, a warrior who guards the goddess residing within the goddess tower.

What's great about this new remake is the over haul in the graphics, animation, and to an extent script. Players are able to play a new prologue explaining about the previous six heroes, new dialogue from npcs giving insight on the world, and a new script modified to modern times. The two songs within the game are given new lyrics, and though the most controversial part of the game, fits with the theme of the new remake. Character voices are also new with the exception of Luna. Oh and for fans out there, GHALEON's voice is much much improved. No more lipsy "Oh it's not bother" liner!

The one complaint with the game is its loading. The UMD version has a slight pause when players enter towns and houses. These pauses could get infuriating at times and distract from the overall flow of the game. Of course I am playing this game on an original PSP-1000, so the loading pause could be missing from past iterations of PSPs such as the 2000 and 3000 models with the extra memory allowing for faster loading times. What is for certain is if you decide to purchase the digital download version, the game is much better and load times is almost non existence.

This is a new version for the psp and it's a welcome improvement for both old and new audiences to the series.

I have bought every version of Lunar when it comes out because I love it so much (Sega CD/Saturn/PS1/GBA), and I bought a PSP for this game alone. The characters are very fun to play with, and you end up caring a lot about the characters.

I will say there seems to be a few seconds load time problem when you go though houses/rooms. It makes exploring the towns a bit of chore...but its not something that is a game killer (I put up with Lunar 2's terrible loading times on the Sega CD for battles...so I can put up with this).

All of the songs/voices have been changed from the PS1 version, which is disappointing. I really liked the boat song in the PS1 version, but this one is okay.

The cut-scenes are all taken from the PS1 version (the aspect ratio changes from widescreen to 4:3). Why they didn't remake them for the PSP version?

Overall the game feels WAY easier then any other version of the game. You can bypass a lot of enemies and still have no problem killing the bosses. So if you like turn based RPG's that easy to play and beat you will enjoy this game.

So with all of those downfalls I mentioned earlier why should you bother playing the game? Because the game is fantastic! Plain and simple. If you have never played a Lunar game before you are missing out on a great series. The first one is a classic and its so well loved its been remade over and over again. You should buy it now!

Firstly allow me to say that I have never played any other version of Lunar, or Lunar: Eternal Blue, this review is literally from a unbiased perspective. With that said lets begin the review.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (From here on just Lunar) Starts out by letting you play/watch the final events of Dragonmaster Dynes adventure, Dragonmasters are people who have passed the trials of 4 legendary dragons to protect the goddess Althena from danger. After this scene the game focuses on Alex, Alex is a 15 year boy who idolizes Dyne and one day dreams of becoming a Dragonmaster himself, due to Dynes death 15 years prior. Alex is soon able to start this quest to become a Dragonmaster when his best friend Ramus tells him the white dragon cave can now be explored due to some ice surrounding the cave melting, although the adventure initially starts out with them looking for a very rare dragon diamond. Before Alex and Ramus go on their adventure, Alex has to find a way to tell Luna, a girl who has been living with Alex since she was a baby that he wants to go on this adventure, eventually Luna agrees to let Alex go on the condition that she is able to come along, due to her being worried sick if she lets Ramus and Alex go alone. This ultimately sets in motion a tale of, love, friendship, and betrayal.

That's really just the tip of the story in Lunar, the story told here is an enjoyable one and I found myself liking each and every character introduced, the story never does stray and it does not blur the initial purpose of the game, it just keeps getting more and more interesting the further you get in Lunar. The graphics in Lunar have been completely redone, if you look at some screen shots/videos from the first Lunar, to the Saturn and the Playstation remake, you will see that everything has been updated, this was not just a quick port, and it shows here, towns/sprites are all hand drawn and very detailed. From my understanding the combat has not changed at all in this version of Lunar, and that's a good thing. Lunar mixes up the traditional turn based combat by actually making you make sure your character has enough distance to attack a foe and vice versa, if you are on the other side of the screen from an enemy your 3 hit attack my dwindle down to a 1 hitter, although this does not apply to most special attacks/magic. Music in Lunar is really good, I found myself humming most tunes and I still have a few of the voiced songs stuck in my head XD. Loading time on my PSP-1000 is really good, there is a 2 second loading interval when your going into just about anything (except the menu) but I was un-bothered by it. When your going into different towns or a long cut-scene is coming up you will get hit with a loading screen but it is not overly long (its about 10-15 seconds.)

Lunar does have quite a few anime cut-scenes (done in a really nice style I might add), and most of them are well over a minute long (there are around 20 or so if I recall correctly, although you do have to do certain things to get the ones that are unrelated to the main story). One thing I found strange with Lunar would be that when you first start playing you are treated to a healthy number of cut-scenes near the beginning, within the first 4 hours of gameplay I had at least seen 7 anime cut scenes most of them being generous in length, then Lunar tripped up and you only got a few bones thrown to you once in a while in terms of some anime. Near the end of the game however Lunar rewards you with at least 5 cut scenes all being well over 3 minutes long, I think in total there is around 30 minutes of anime to be seen here, I'm not complaining, I just wish there would have been more cut scenes in the middle portion of the game. It should be noted however that the cut-scenes are all in their original 4:3 presentation, they do not take advantage of the PSP's wide screen, however I do believe that this was done so that all the cut scenes could be added in, due to the video files taking up less space (and you can also compress the videos more without noticing). The voice acting in Lunar is spot on with the exception of Nall who is spotty at best, although I have read/heard that Nall's voice has always been spotty and that this Nall is an improvement!

The thing I really enjoyed about Lunar was that it was not too hard, but it did kind of border on easy, I read that the difficulty was actually lowered from the PS remake, and that the characters got somewhat overpowered with the addition of special abilities (especially Mia's ice wall she casts on the party which make them invincible for 3 turns, even on the final boss!) If I wanted a hard, level grinding RPG I would play my home consoles, but for the PSP the difficulty was perfect for me. Overall this is a must have in your PSP collection.

When I had first heard that Lunar: Silver Star Story was being remade again in the form of a PSP video game, I was so excited to finally be able to experience the story that I have heard and read from so many people of being one of the best RPG stories ever told in a video game. While I have not completed the game to date, I have put in over 10 hours and have enjoyed every minute of it thus far.

Lunar Silver Star Harmony is a great looking game on the PSP. The work that went into redoing all the sprites and animations is a marvel to look at even after 10 hours. Each of the characters is expressed very well through drawn portraits while text dialog will accompany the portrait. Shock, surprise, anger, doubt can all be clearly seen in the faces of the characters which allows the player to relate to the characters.

While not as detailed as the portraits, character sprites, animations, and world environments are well done by their own right. There is enough eye candy to look at as you go through the game, but much can be missed without a second thought. It's not a bad thing, mind you, but if you do have an eye for detail there are several things over the course of playing here and there that you can notice and enjoy.

Regarding actual gameplay, there really isn't all that much to tell. To be honest, this is a very basic game in terms of controls. You use the analog nub to move with the right shoulder button to sprint. X is also used to talk to other characters that can reveal important information regarding the plot or remind the player of where to go or what to do.

Battle is also straightforward thanks to a turn based system. Since it is an RPG, stats are important for all the characters as stats determine how effective they are in battle. For example, a high agility stat allows the character to make his/her move quicker than other characters. The player issues commands to all party members in the battle, and the battle will commence with each character's move. Here is where the quality of animation is really seen and makes battles a joy to not only play through but to watch. My only complaint is that battles seem too easy. It's almost where you could put the game on auto-pilot and it wouldn't make a difference.

The music in lunar is a great standout among other RPGs I have played. I have already found several tunes that have quickly become my favorites. While not all are hits, the tracks add their own character to locations and events in the game.

To quickly sum up everything, Lunar:SSH is a great PSP game to play and to own. It certainly lives up to the Lunar brand, and I would recommend it to any customer and at the current reduced price, I think it's a winner.

First, let me say I never played the original Lunar Silver Star on PlayStation. With that out of the way, this is quite possibly the best RPG I've ever played, (tied with Brave Story.) I am an extremely picky gamer. If it's not turn based, or has a weird battle system, I won't even touch it. Might be why I hated Final Fantasy XIII, but I digress. The combat may be turn based, but offers a unique twist; range. Graphics are the normal sprites, but the graphics during battles is amazing. Sound is also top notch. Voice acting is OK, but I really don't care if it's good or bad. I would like to point out one thing, which is both a positive and a slight negative. I love that there are no random battles! The mobs are right there on the screen, so you can avoid them, but most of the time you can't. However, it somehow feels less like an RPG without them. Yes, the load times are there, but I have seen much much worse. I did however end up downloading this from PSN after renting the disc from GameFly. Oddly the load time are still there, albeit much shorter. If you are an old school RPG nerd like me, then you won't regret your purchase. The combat is a bit dated, being pure turn based, but IMO more games should be turn based. I can't stand the strange battle systems they come up with these days.

Growing up one of my favorite games on the Sega Genesis was Lunar: Silver Star Harmony. The storyline was awesome as well as the gameplay. It held a place in my heart and played it till my Genesis was retired! I played the playstation version and enjoyed it but felt it didn't hold my interest like the original. I was really impressed with the PSP version. They found the original voice artists. They had added story lines to freshen the original but kept what I loved about the game. Plus with the PSP I can take it with me. Now while the kids are watching a movie in the back seat, I can play while sitting in traffic (Don't worry, my wife is at the wheel!! LOL) Join Alex in his quest to become the next Dragonmaster. Along the way he meets interesting characters. There are cut scenes in between that don't take away from the gameplay. The new stories injected are fresh and still make me love the game. Even the battle system has been updated and I like it more than the original. All in all its a good play, great price, and the fact that I can take it anywhere is the icing on the cake. Whether you are a longtime admirer of the game or a new player, you will enjoy everything this game offers and will become a fan! So Go now and buy Lunar: Silver Star Harmony.

Great game. The graphics look wonderful and the story is engrossing but this like many games in it's genre still feels somewhat slow paced and at times the combat is way repetitive.
Plays like an old school classic RPG (reminiscent of chronotrigger and the like). If you've ever played an RPG on the SNES you'll know exactly what to expect. Despite all my criticisms, I absolutely loved this game and could not put it down!!!
Expect around 40 hrs of gameplay.

This is Great Lunar Silver Star for the PSP. If you are a fan of Lunar Silver Star, you will love this version, especially if you missed the ps1 version. But I think this is better than the ps1 version. The graphics are way improved and they've given the story a harder, more adult edge. Of course it's the same story and characters, but some of the game-play and strategies are different.

It is a fun and exciting game. I purchased this based on my love for the old style turn based RPGs or yesteryear, and the positive reviews here. The gameplay is classic, the graphics are cool and the story is compelling. Hope you enjoy this game as much as i have!

I'll confess, my views may be a bit skewed as I still prefer the Sega CD version.

I was interested in this as it expands a bit on the story at the very beginning, and the idea of seeing Lunar redone graphically sounded great. What I did not expect was the source material to be completely hacked to bits. Everything is a dungeon, selected from a map screen. There is no overworld. (I haven't yet made it to the end, but I can't imagine how they handle certain story events without the overworld.) Enemies are visible on-screen, battles take longer, and Alex has magic/skills right from the start. A lot of spells and abilities have been changed as well. It's just a very odd direction for a game that was already so great. Towns and even dungeons are shrunk way, way down. But fitting, as Alex and company move quite slowly.

I'll still see it through to the end, and the story is still intact, I'm just not seeing the point of nearly all the changes.

Still, XSeed did an amazing job localizing it for us. Nice, full color inside case insert, full color manual, great translation. These guys rock at what they do.

Four stars because the game is still very worthwhile playing if you've never played it before. But I'll never understand why the developers butchered the source material so bad.