- The beloved original story has been expanded and fleshed out with new cut-scenes and story sequences, revealing more about the four heroes and answering some of the questions left unresolved in the original.
- Limited Edition bonus items include: a soundtrack CD and a set of 13 exclusive “bromide” collector cards highlighting the girls of Lunar.
- Widely acclaimed as one of the best RPGs of all time, the classic, original Lunar is back to be experienced by a new generation of gamers.
- Classic RPG play, enhanced with improved graphics and sound, that has players leveling and upgrading gear as you progress through a story peppered with cutscenes.
- The Arts Gauge battle system allows players to unleash devastating attacks or heal party members has been implemented to add another dimension to the battle system.
Product Description
This Limited Edition version of Lunar: Silver Star Harmony contains a soundtrack CD and a set of 13 exclusive “bromide” collector cards highlighting the girls of Lunar! While seemingly placid on the surface, the world of Lunar is slowly descending into chaos, as the Goddess Althena, the creator and guardian of the world, has disappeared and the valiant efforts of the legendary Dragonmaster Dyne and his faithful companions fade into obscurity. With Althena go… More >>
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony Limited Edition
Lunar has seen many different versions on various platforms over the years, but in my opinion this new version for the PSP localized by XSEED is the best and my definite favorite. I’ll do my best to explain why!
STORY: Lunar has a somewhat clichéd epic love story backed by one of the most memorable and lovable cast of characters in RPG gaming. You start out as a young boy named Alex, who along with his adopted sister Luna, best friend Ramus, and “flying cat” companion Nall, go out to fulfill his dreams of going on an adventure and becoming a Dragonmaster like his childhood hero Dyne. The “world” of Lunar itself is expertly crafted (although the history and backstory is better explained in the sequel “Eternal Blue”) and it’s just incredibly fun to explore. The story captivated me when I was much younger and it still manages to do so after many years and many different versions. It’s a very fun, adventurous, suspenseful, and incredibly humorous storyline that always does a great job of presenting and pacing itself.
GRAPHICS: Simply put, gorgeous. The game looks beautiful on the PSP. All the backgrounds are wonderfully hand drawn, and the character sprites have been greatly upgraded from their original forms. There are many anime style cutscenes throughout the game that all look great, and the entire main cast have different character portraits that show up when speaking, and they are all very well done and show a great range of emotion. Battle animations are also impressive and very unique showing each character’s personality through their movement. This is not a simple upgrade, the graphics have been completely overhauled and the care and polish Game Arts put into this title is evident from the get go.
MUSIC/SOUND: For the music, original Lunar composer Noriyuki Iwadare has returned to re-orchestrate the entire soundtrack for the game. And in short, it sounds fantastic. The songs and themes all sounded great years ago, and they have most definitely stood the test of time and absolutely shine in their newer versions. The music is catchy, fun, epic, and just very fitting for the overall feel of the game. Also for fans of the series, vocalist Jennifer Stigile has returned to sing the updated versions of the opening theme and the boat song, and she just sounds absolutely lovely as always.
As for the voice acting, it’s definitely different from what fans are used to and not perfect in all aspects, but the new cast members do a great job. Alex comes across perfectly as an adventurous youth, Nall still sounds cute but actually comes across as male and not a 3 year-old girl/chipmunk (FINALLY!), Luna has much more spunk and personality than before which I enjoyed, Ramus sounds as he should (like a fat best friend), Mia has a wonderfully subdued voice that fits her very well, Jessica is a little more valley girl than I expected but it fits her as well, Kyle’s voice also fits his personality and his drunk speak is absolutely hilarious, and Nash sounds, well, like Nash (conceited and annoying). As for Ghaleon (aka the most important voice EVER to rabid fans that can only be voice by John Truitt but wasn’t this time around), I enjoyed his performance most of all. I thought he was incredibly mysterious and powerful, and he commanded every line and just breathed the character and personality of Ghaleon perfectly. Oh, and Mel is a pirate.
GAMEPLAY: Classic RPG style gameplay here. You find monsters roaming on the field (no random battles), and upon touching them you engage in a turn-based battle system that incorporates enemy-to-character distance (Range) into the mix. You have your healers, magic users, and heavy hitters, and fight through well designed monsters and excellent boss battles accordingly. One thing brought over for the battle system from the GBA remake “Lunar Legend” is the Arts Gauge, which can best be described as an overdrive/limit break/super special move that can be used in your magic menu after filling a yellow bar. These moves do significantly decrease the level of difficulty the original games had, and while some will find that welcome, others will most definitely not. The dungeons have all been restructured and redesigned, and many are much shorter and streamlined while having a very high monster encounter rate. Also brought over from “Lunar Legend” was the way of moving around the world, so instead of walking from place to place on the world map (as done in previous games), it’s now more straightforward having you just scroll through and click whatever town or area you’re headed to next.
EXTRAS: For those buying the Limited/Special Edition of Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, XSEED has included 13 female Bromide cards that have character descriptions on the back, as well as the re-orchestrated soundtrack in a very shiny and beautiful “Premium Edition” box. While not as extravagant as Working Designs previous PS1 releases, I’m really thankful XSEED provided us with the option of a special edition release as the extras included are very well done.
Game Arts also decided to add in an extra “Prologue” scene at the beginning of the game featuring the Four Heroes in an epic battle never seen before by Lunar fans, and it’s a lot of fun to see Dyne, Mel, Lemia, and Ghaleon in their younger forms. However as someone who has always been enamored at the idea of a possible “Lunar 3″ with a focus on these specific characters in their early adventures, I was dissapointed to see their backstory still not better developed and explained as the scene only lasted a good 20 minutes.
CONCLUSION: If you are an RPG fan that has never played a Lunar game, you owe it to yourself to pick up and play this wonderful classic in what I consider to be its definitive form. If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll have to judge for yourself whether all the upgrades done to the game are worth going through the world of Lunar again. For me there was no question and I had it pre-ordered the second it went available, and playing it feels like a brand new game and I’ve loved every moment. The difficulty is definitely decreased as I mentioned before due to the Arts Gauge, but that actually serves to bring in those maybe new or not as comfortable with RPG’s as others. For those wanting a challenge, do a play-through without using any Arts Gauge moves, it’s tough. It also deserves special mention to note that XSEED has done an incredible localization job with this title, bringing a maturity (while keeping all the various humorous aspects of the originals) and polish to the series that surpasses Working Designs efforts. Now go and enjoy the world of Lunar!
Rating: 5 / 5
When a game has been remade as many times as Lunar: The Silver Star has, you would expect the game experience to be nothing new and nothing worth picking up again. That is not the case with this rendition of the game. Silver Star Harmony tells a story already familiar to fans in a fantastic and beautiful way, with massively improved graphics, sound, and gameplay.
The towns and dungeons are all gorgeous (yes, even the dungeons), and yet they still hold the charm found in older versions of the game. Battles are exciting to watch, with every move and spell shining in magnificent glory. While the graphics may not be as polished as a Final Fantasy game, that is not Lunar’s aim; the graphics are lighthearted, colorful, and gorgeous in their own way. The cutscenes are the lovely original animations from the Playstation game, an aspect surely missed by players of the gameboy advance game.
(A note to diehard fans, however: all of the voice actors have been changed in this rendition of the game; some are better (Phacia, Alex), some are worse (Nall, Royce), but at least they keep the original ideas alive.)
The music you loved from the previous incarnations of the game are still there, but in brilliant, high definition rearrangements. The music of Lunar is a character all its own and a key aspect of the gaming experience. One should definitely play this game with headphones to witness every glorious note as intended.
Storytelling doesn’t get any better than Lunar. Each of the characters have believable personalities, making the player really connect and feel for them. The story itself is full of twists and turns, danger and betrayal, and, above all, it is all about love. It is both exciting and heartwarming.
The gameplay is similar to over RPG’s, with the player controlling the characters on a map through towns or dungeons, and with turn-based monster and boss battles. This version of the game feels much-much-much easier than the old Playstation version of the game, with little-to-no level grinding necessary. Despite that, boss battles are still interesting and the different types of spells keep the player on their toes. The “Arts Gauge,” first introduced in the Gameboy Advance game Lunar Legends, has been brought back into play, enabling players to unleash powerful new spells to help them defeat the evil Magic Emperor and his minions.
Lunar is one game series that you just cannot miss out on. It’s a shame that there has been hardly any advertising for this game, and I, as a fan of the series, can only hope that it sells well enough for XSeed to go on and recreate Lunar 2: Eternal Blue as well.
**The Limited Edition version of Silver Star Harmony comes with every gorgeous bromide from the game on collectible cards and a fantastic soundtrack cd featuring nearly every song from the game in fantastic quality. My own qualm about the cd is that it does not feature Ghaleon’s “Recollection” theme, which was present on the Silver Star Story Complete soundtrack. However, this version will be a collector’s piece for fans in any case!
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought it the day it’s released and I had hard time purchasing this game because it’s sold out in most of the stores even day 1.
If you played previous versions, you should know the storyline and gameplay, but this remake is simply fantastic!
Much more better graphics
Much more beautiful music (trust me, the music in this version is simply enjoyable)
Much more better dialogue (the dialogue in Lunar Legend is pretty awful)
The battle scene is pretty like the latest games. You don’t believe this is a remake of 14 years old game!
I give 99/100, the only quirk is Dragon Nall says “don’t give up!” when recover a character at the end of the battle.
If you played this game on older platform, this one is A MUST BUY, you’ll definitely love this remake.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a game that I previously played on PlayStation and I am enjoying revisiting the game on PSP very much. The graphics are very good and the little added parts to the storyline keep it fresh. I would recommend this to any that enjoy the Lunar series. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony Limited Edition
Rating: 5 / 5
The only Japanese RPG that does combat better is still Grandia 2. Lunar has you fight on a field like a grid. You need to create distance between you and the enemy to defend yourself or have a short enough gap between you to reach the enemy and attack before your turn is up. The best feature the remake offers is no more random battles.
There are a few issues with load times but it’s nothing compared to the ones on Sega CD. So cheer up.
Ultimately you’re not fighting Death from space, the world’s evil elements, or chaos incarnate. I like the villains being mortal and not bent on destroying the world. The remake gives you more of their motivations and back story if you like.
Alex is your typical Japanese hero; he’s brave and silent. In the original Lunar, Alex was mute saying barely a word for the course of the game BUT unlike other RPGs he was joined with a rude flying sidekick who did all the talking for him. In Lunar you got to have your cake and eat it too. Alex talks more in Harmony, which is lame. It makes Nall feel irrelevant.
The rest of the group consists of Luna and Jessica they nag you to do the right things along the way. I always knew that’s what a real adventure with your girlfriend would be like and Lunar makes that theory a reality. Kyle and Nash are very self absorbed and funny. They only help out because they’re whipped.
The story feels a bit predictable but that’s to be expected. This game has been remade three times over. The original did a great job surprising you but with each remake it becomes more over the top with each revelation and exasperates every plot point coming up. They must do this to change up the game for returning fans I think.
The music is not as great as on the Sega CD. The remake sounds more like someone made Muzak versions of what it used to be. They all have new voice actors too. It’s not that bad though.
I think the original Sega CD game is still the king but it looks awful now so go out and grab this game! They’ve done a great job for the PSP. Don’t pass up a chance to play one of the greatest Japanese RPGs ever.
Rating: 5 / 5