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Cutting down a game that's over rated.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: July 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought this hoping for some quality of the PSX versions (except portable), but I'm sadly disappointed, the story line has been cut down, game length is shorter, (very) bad translation, and much easier to beat (for example):

-Your characters are completely healed whenever you start from any save, even if they were all near death.-

To get to the point, this game is HIGHLY overrated, and will bore anyone who's capable of reading 'Curious George'. Don't even bother with it, the only reason I gave it a 2 is because the music is still rather catchy. I apologize for the simplified rating I've given it, basically a stay away warning, but I don't have all eternity on my hands ^_^.

Fair enough

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: July 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Golden Sun it is not. Don't let people trick you into thinking that this game is on par with the greatest RPG out there for GBA. Golden Sun is a brilliant duo of games that succeed because of the involved, creative magic system. Comparing Lunar Legend to Golden Sun is like comparing The Mummy to Indiana Jones.

Which is not to say that Lunar Legend isn't a solid game on its own. Quite the contrary, actually.

First off, I'm not familiar with the series prior to this game; I had never played or even heard of any of these games--so this is my introduction to the world. Second, my playing this came on the heels of severe dissapointment in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (which, if you liked that game, I might not be the best person to consult regarding good GBA games). KH had all but turned me off to real-time combat outside anything that bore the name Baldur's Gate, and I found this game a refreshing return to turn-based combat.

I appreciate how creative and original the game attempts to be at combat; for instance, I like the unusual aspect that some characters, as they progress, will be able to attack 2 and sometimes even 3 times a turn. You're also given the option of Auto--meaning you can sit back and watch the fight and turns continue back and forth of their own accord--or tactics, in which you can pre-set what you want each character to do and then select the option; a nice idea, but never really used.

Each character is also given an "art gage" that increases each time they successfully attack a monster; when the gage is full, they can release a more powerful spell, some of which get to be pretty interesting. And combat is made all the more engaging by the fact that it looks like a 3-D plane--you are the offset viewer and watch as your characters literally move back and forth across the plane to attack. Some of the spells take advantage of this nicely, as well. And you can change the formation of characters, to put weaker ones in the back and thereby decrease the chances of them being attacked.

I also appreciated the fact that treasure chests more often than not actually held something of use; unlike Sword of Mana, where a variety of treasure chests are sprinkled across the world and rarely hold anything more worthwhile than healing herbs, there are actually some pretty interesting weapons and equipment that can oftentimes produce advantageous results. It's not always successful, but at least they tried.

Unfortunately, there isn't anything that gets much more interesting than the "art gages"--and each person that can do it only has one available. Combat is a snap to learn, but gets old fairly early on. And it is never hard--not even the boss battles, which I would have hoped would take at least a little more strategic thinking to beat. The game is short--maybe 20 hours playing time at most--but by the end, I was growing so bored with the monotony of monster battles with literally every few steps that I take, I was trudging along and driving myself to reach the end.

I also didn't appreciate the sexist aspect; the game includes a number of competent female characters, but there are often references being made about the men needing to protect those females--who had the most unfortunate habit of being taken captive. I realize this is a system where the majority of players are undoubtedly male and care little, but it still grated on my nerves.

The game is as linear as can be imagained, which isn't all that unsual for the handheld RPGs. I, personally, didn't find the story all that engaging, but I will freely admit that I am one who prefers the gameplay to the story;I don't care who's dying and who's evil and who's winning--if the dungeons are fun, I'm hooked.

I wish I hadn't approached the game with the expectation of it being as good as Golden Sun; and I really wish the game had something more to it than the linear storyline and the repetitive combat. When Dragon Warrior first came to the original NES, it suffered from the same flaw, but that was one of the first RPGs to be a video game, and such a flaw was excusable; with this game, by now, I wish they would have learned to move past that.

A decent RPG, especially for the RPG starved GBA

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: July 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

There isn't anything particularly amazing about Lunar ... the graphics are amazing, but the story is just alright, the battle system is pretty much standard fare. And yet despite all the medicority of all the individual parts Lunar still manages to be a fun playing experience.

The gameplay pretty much follows a linear path ... you talk to people in town, they direct you to the next dungeon, you fight a lot of random battles, you make it to a boss, you beat him, you go back to the town to get praise and directions to the next town in distress. Pretty standard fare. There aren't any side-quests, no real item custimization (other than the normal weapon and armor sellers), and you can't even customize your party (people come and go at various points in the story).

And yet, somehow Lunar manages to still be a solid game to play. While it won't leave you awed at its greatness (like FF Tactics Advance) it still won't leave you feeling cheated either. It's not the greatest RPG out there for the GBA, but it has some intangibles that do make it a quality play.

Fun but too easy

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I thouroughly enjoyed the first 10 hours of the game. The game is very reminiscent of the Final fantasy Series. The skills are interesting and so are the characters. The story is original and involving, it draws you in. The only gripes I have about this game is that it was too easy and some of the dungeons are so "mazey" that they are annoying. I don't like spending 2 hours in a dungeon becuase a map is needed to properly navigate it. My short term memory is not that good. The battles posed no challenge for me, none. Not even one boss battle, therefore, I never finished the game because I was dissapointed. If you don't mind an easy game, then pick this up. If you want a game that challenges you in the battles then stay away from this one.

Legendary RPG that could be better, but still above average

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 27
Date: November 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Anyone remember the Sega CD? I do (I still have mine) and one of the best games for that Genesis add-on was Working Designs' Lunar: Silver Star. Eventually it would make its way onto the PS1, and it has now arrived on the GBA with varying results. Lunar Legend is a re-telling of sorts of the original game with varying differences; such as characters showing up in different places, cities being designed different, and parts of the plot and storyline have been changed. The full motion anime cut scenes and full orchestral score obviously couldn't make the cut onto cartridge format (the anime cut scenes have been replaced by anime cels which pop up now and then), but the overall graphics of different towns and character designs are much improved over the original. Battles are much better as well by being faster paced, better animated, and more character detail than ever before. New options have been added such as the Arts Gauge and a new card collection, and menus are easier to navigate through than before, except the shop interface can be a pain now and then. All in all, if you missed out on the Lunar phenomenon that older gamers beared witness to years ago, Lunar Legend is a good pickup. Then again, if the original Lunar was a beloved game of yours, this GBA conversion won't add anything since it's missing most of it's original charm (and the overall epic feel), but nonetheless this game is still a more than solid pick up.

great game but not so challenging

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: April 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

this game is pretty easy to beat(especially the last boss),and the characters talk way to much,but it has a good storyline.
*challenging 8/10
*long hours of gameplay(compared to the other games that I have played on the gba)7/10
*graphics 10/10(the characters are soooooooooo cute I just want to hug them to death)
*storyline 8/10

good game but a bit too easy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I really enjoyed playing this game but I have to say it was a little too easy. It took me about 17 hours to beat it without any difficulty at all! This is coming for someone who isn't too good at RPGs and immensely struggles completing a Final Fantasy game. Most players won't have any difficulty progressing through the game and you've beaten it before you know it. Some of the nice aspects of this game is that it has a nice plot and good graphics for the GBA. I'd recommend this game for people who are just starting out with RPGs and could pick up this game to gain some confidence in playing this genre. It retails a little lower than an average GBA game so if you're a little low on cash and need an RPG to play, then you might want to consider getting this. However, I feel a lot of the better RPG players might get bored with the simplistic battle system and the ridiculously easy bosses.

Jury duty saver

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I got this game to try to entertain me while serving on jury duty. I was suprised at how much fun it is and that it has a great plot. For only $20 new most places, this is a game everyone should own!

No "The Silver Star" or "Silver Star Story", but still fantastic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Big fans who played the original versions of Lunar 1 before this will probably not be pleased with this GBA installment, but it is a great way for newbies to the series to be introduced to the story and world of Lunar. I started out with this game, and loved it immediately. I beat it within a week. The battles are somewhat bland (I never did like the Final Fantasy battle system, and Legend's battle system reminded me of it), but the rest of the game was great. The cute sprites are a big improvement from the earlier versions; however, I wish that, instead of using anime-cels to portray what are supposed to be cutscenes, they had played it out with sprites.

Either way, Lunar Legend is fun, and it is worth it to get.

First RPG Game I Played-

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: November 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Besides Poke'mon (which isn't a /rea/ rpg thing --) This was the first RPG I played. I had gotten it Christmas, when I was 9. It took me /3/ years to beat. I put it down after I couldn't beat the final boss. It's incredbly fun to play though, great grahics and awsome characters. (Go Nall!)

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