Different flavor from the original, still great!
My first exposure to Lunar 2 Eternal Blue was on the Sega CD. After loving the hell out of the original game, playing the sequel was a no brainer. Set 1000 years after Lunar: The Silver Star, the sequel introduced a whole new set of characters (based off of Dragonmaster Dyne and the Four Heroes) in a world in which Dyne and Athena are considered legends. Controlling a young boy named Hiro, the player will set out on a journey to help a mysterious girl named Lucia to find the Goddess Althena in order to stave off Zophar, an evil being who wants to destroy the world. The plot and gameplay of the original remains intact for the 2000 re-release and offers updated graphics and fully animated cutscenes.
Lunar 2 ostensibly plays very much like the first game. In the vein of "old school" JRPGs, the player guides Hiro's party across an overworld map to various hotspots such as towns and dungeons. Along the way, the party will be besieged by monster encounters that can be avoided (as they appear on the map itself) and boss fights. The re-release actually tweaks the difficulty a bit in some spots. In particular, the boss battle with Borgan was notoriously difficult in the Sega CD version. For the PlayStation game, Borgan's difficult is significantly reduced. Another notable fix was the removal of a "Pay for Saves" system that required the player to spend Magic Experience points (also used to level up character abilities). As frustrating as Borgan was to fight and the ridiculousness of the save system, the re-release of Lunar 2 was streamlined at a cost as the game isn't as challenging anymore. Still, the characters and story (of which anime fans would feel right at home) have heart and humor and are well developed. The game also features a playable epilogue that offers new dungeons and proper closure.
If old school RPGs are your thing, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete is definitely worth a look. Because it is set so far from the events of the first game (which are summarized), playing the first game isn't all that important. it's worth pointing out that the release of the game was incredible, as the retail product shipped with a whole host of goodies including a replica of Lucia's pendant and a cloth map. The game's official strategy guides were treasures as well, offering up all kinds of trivia and behind the scenes information.
0 Comments