Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Retrospective Review

PlayStation Top 10

After the announcement of the PlayStation Classic I decided to look back at my personal Top 10 PlayStation games to see if they hold up. Each gets a minimum of 3 hours of game play before I compare how I remember the game and how it plays now.

The rest of my Top 10 games are:

• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Motoracer
• Grandia
• Crash Warped
• Resident Evil
• Quake 2
• Metal Gear Solid
• Final Fantasy VII
• Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete – Then (1999)

After Final Fantasy VII I was hooked into JRPGs, but the library on the PlayStation at that time was sparse. I turned back to the SNES for my next JRPG and dove into Chrono Trigger. What an incredible game. I finished Chrono Trigger in 1998, just in time for the release of a demo of Final Fantasy VIII. I was so excited to try the next Final Fantasy, and when the demo was done I felt hollow. It looked amazing, but the characters and battle system did not appeal to me at all. After Chrono Trigger, FFVIII was a massive step down. Having lost my excitement for that game, I found myself drawn toward ads and previews for a new JRPG with a classic 2D look.

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is a remake of a Sega CD classic that failed to achieve mass popularity in North America. Working Designs took advantage of the popularity boost FFVII gave the genre, and translated the PlayStation version of the game. Previews talked about its strengths being the charming characters, the simple but engaging good versus evil plot, and best of all no random battles. The beautiful anime cut scenes were certainly a large draw too. I had to have the game.

Released as a collector’s edition, Lunar came packed with a hardcover manual, making of documentary and soundtrack CD. The price was $90 Canadian, at a time most games cost $60. Lunar released in May 1998, and I didn’t get it until Christmas. What a spectacular gift that year. I blasted through the game. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Alex, Luna, Nall, Jessica, Kyle, Nash and Mia are a wonderful group of adventurers for saving a fantasy world.

Much like Chrono Trigger, Lunar has simple but well designed 2D character sprites and environments. Enemies appear on the maps, allowing you to try and dodge them if you wish to avoid an encounter, or rush them if you want to fight and level up. Being an older RPG, originally released in 1992, it does follow old school design and require some level grinding to progress. Thankfully, the battle and leveling system is more robust than FFVII. Each character has unique magic attacks and stats, forcing you to learn their strengths and weaknesses to succeed.

I absolutely adore Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. I’ve played it in the last five years, so technically I don’t have to play it again based on the criteria of my reviews. I could reflect on what those experiences where like, the way my thoughts changed on the game, but I’m going to start it again. Maybe I won’t complete a full play through, because my list isn’t complete and it’s a 25 hour long game, but who knows. Spoiler alert, it’s really that good.

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete – Now (2018)

Three hours of Lunar brings back so many memories, good and bad. Let’s start with the bad parts. It’s good to acknowledge the flaws in something you love. Lunar does have one glaring flaw, and it’s the inventory system. Antiquated beyond belief, it’s equally frustrating as Resident Evil’s inventory system. Each character holds 6 items in their inventory, with an additional 6 items equipped at any given point. Nall, the white baby dragon, holds an additional 100+ items. Nall means you can always have items with you, but that you’ll be slowly swapping them around between characters a lot. At no point will this inventory system be something you enjoy. It’s frustrating at the start of the game, and remains so until the end. If I could change one thing about the game it is how this works.

My first hour replaying Lunar was spent grinding through the White Dragon cave. I mentioned this game is a retro-jrpg, and the grind is real. I entered the cave, beat three enemies and my party was on the verge of death. Retreating back to Burg, their home town, I healed at the Goddess Statue and set back out to try again. Goddess Statues are amazing. Free healing spots that completely restore your characters stats to full. I did this back and forth three time.  During the last run, I had managed to purchase all weapon and armor upgrades in Burg and returned with fully loaded level 9 characters. I dominated the White Dragon cave. That’s old-school JRPG game play.

If you’re looking for a quick and breezy game play experience, you won’t find it in Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. The battle system requires you to plan your attacks carefully when matched against equally leveled enemies. Range for each character is limited, and wasting a turn walking across the screen without landing a blow can be the difference between victory and game over. Thankfully, Lunar does provide help to the players. If a character dies in battle, but the others win, the dead characters are revived by Nall to 1 HP. It’s not much, but it means you don’t need to resurrect them with an Angel Tear. Considering the inventory systems problems this is a big help.

Beyond the battle system, the first hours of Lunar perfectly capture the feelings you’ll have throughout the game. Alex and Luna are a fun couple to explore the world with. Alex’s friend Ramus is greedy, but good-hearted. He kicks off your adventure because he wants to be filthy stinking rich, but he’s also got Alex’s back and wants what is best for him. I love the character dynamics in the game. Some JRPG parties feel too random. There’s no believable reason why these characters would stay together. Lunar never struggles with this. You feel their friendship, and enjoy their struggles.

Later in the game you meet Jessica, and then her ex-boyfriend Kyle. This is the best duo in any game I’ve ever played. Jessica is hot headed, but  caring. Kyle’s the typical dumb warrior stereotype, but he’s loyal and loves Jessica. It’s rare to find jrpg characters who enter a story with an established backstory that includes a complex romance. They’re an on-again, off-again pair. Their bickering keeps their story line entertaining.

I could go into the overall plot, but it’s a typical good versus evil story. The villain’s motivation is a little muddled, but his commitment and belief he’s doing the right thing is clear. His voice actor clearly loves chewing the scenery, in a great Tim Curry-esque way. In the end, true love conquers all and saves the world from destruction. Like Grandia, there’s nothing particularly original in Lunar. It doesn’t need to be original, because it nails what makes these classic stories so compelling. Sometimes you want an old story told exceedingly well.

Sadly, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is unavailable for official download on any current system. The only legal way to play this version of the game is purchasing it off eBay or another used game store. It can go for anywhere from $50-100. There is another remake for the PSP, Lunar Silver Star Harmony that was translated by Xseed. I love Xseed, but I don’t really like this remake. It doesn’t have the same fun spirit as the Working Designs translation. Play the PlayStation version if you can. It’s my second favorite game on the system.