Lunar: Silver Star Story - Complete

aka: Lunar: Silver Star Story, Lunar: Silver Star Story - Complete: Fan Art Edition, Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch
Moby ID: 3903
SEGA Saturn Specs
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Description official description

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is an enhanced remake of Lunar: The Silver Star.

The remake features 32-bit graphics (as opposed to the 16-bit of the original); many of the locations and characters have been re-designed. The anime-style cutscenes from the original have turned into full-motion animated movies. Some scenes were added and/or prolonged.

While the main storyline remains the same in the remade version, changes were made to some of the quests, dialogue, and motivations of some of the characters. A few characters that play a role in the plot development were added. Some of these changes affect the gameplay as well: for example, a certain character accompanies the party during a major quest in the remake, while in the original that character remained at home.

Gameplay system also underwent significant changes. The most notable difference is the elimination of random battles; in the remake, enemies are visibly walking on the screen and can be avoided. Also, enemies no longer appear on the world map. The magic system of the game was altered to resemble the one from the original's sequel. New items have been introduced, and the properties of some others changed. The protagonist Alex's side-kick Nall has now an active role in the battles: he would revive fallen characters, restoring them to 1 HP.

Spellings

  • ルナ ザ・シルバースターストリ - Japanese spelling
  • 루나 실버스타 스토리 - Korean Hangeul spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (SEGA Saturn version)

148 People (145 developers, 3 thanks) · View all

Cast
Producer
Scenario Director
Director of Event Movie
Screen Play Director
Game Director
  • Masaaki Ando (Japan Art Media) (安藤 雅明 (日本アートメディア))
Original Story
  • STUDIO ALEX
Story
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 83 ratings with 2 reviews)

Old school needs some new classes

The Good
Lunar is a typical Japanese RPG of the kind that has always been mass-produced in its homeland because it's so easy to design: simplistic gameplay, almost no choices or variables that affect the experience, predictability, etc. This unremarkable formula, however, is really perfectly exploited by the game: some good design choices manage to squeeze the few drops of joy out of the rigid experience.

Lunar has no random battles. I don't like random battles, and I'm not sure whether there are people out there who would willingly give up the sensation of clearing out a dungeon. I enjoyed fighting my way through the dungeons in this game and then simply running around for a while, looking for possibly ignored treasure and knowing that nobody was going to attack me. Enemies are reasonably tough, and bosses can grind you into flour if you are not prepared and using every resource available from your pre-configured, but well-balanced party members.

The real strength of Lunar is in the narrative. We keep hearing about Japanese RPGs that are worth playing just for their stories, but the majority of those present badly written, convoluted, improbable tales with delusions of grandeur. Lunar, however, knows better. It is still a corny cliche, but one with a lot of heart. Every character, every line of dialogue and every event was clearly created with love. The eternal tale of good and evil, of our choices that affect the world, is told with unwavering faith and honesty that deepens our sympathy to the game the more we play.

You'll also bond with the characters you'll control more than in most other games I know. Your companions are simple people, but it's precisely this simplicity that makes them surpass, in a way, the most extravagant casts of Final Fantasy games. Japanese designers often lose their sense of proportion and cross the boundaries of good taste when creating characters. This does not happen in Lunar: its characters resemble real human beings more than schematic representatives of various human traits or grotesquely ridiculous attempts at comic relief. Those characters are depicted with warmth; we feel connected to them, and their feelings and actions are believable and understandable.

The Bad
Lunar is not good at theatrics, which have meanwhile become a staple element of the genre. Unlike Final Fantasy games with their cinematic presentation and flashy, melodramatic openings, Lunar starts slow. The deceptively upbeat atmosphere does little to foreshadow the serious events to come. The first couple of quests are thoroughly unremarkable, forcing you to lead around a geeky character that plays no significant role in the story and is thankfully removed later. Not everyone would enjoy the old-fashioned concept of a silent hero, though I must say he really grows as person during the course of the game.

The real problem of Lunar, however, is that when you strip the game of its narrative and characters, you are left with a rigid, limited Japanese RPG made according to the restrictive canons of the genre. Progression is very linear, particularly since the world map is small and there are no secrets or optional areas whatsoever. You'll be traveling from point A to point B with very little to do in between. At least there are some character bromides you can collect on the way, but that's far from being enough.

Character customization is severely reduced as well. One might argue that all older Japanese RPGs offered little customization, but that is not entirely true: the very first Final Fantasy allowed you to build a custom party. In Lunar, all you can do is fight more enemies, gain a level, and witness your character automatically learn a much-needed spell. Equipment management is degraded to marching into the next town and buying everything you can afford. You are not allowed to think outside of the box and experiment, which greatly diminishes the game's significance as an RPG. Replay value is therefore almost non-existent: there is little incentive to return to the game unless you are overcome by nostalgia and wish to experience its story once again.

The game's supposed difficulty is also a coin with two sides: the bosses are tough because you are two weak to defeat them, not because you need to figure out the right way to do that. If you don't overlevel, it will become mathematically impossible to beat some of the game's bosses. The game gives you so few choices that dumb power-leveling remains the one and only foolproof tool needed to deal with every obstacle. Also, the dungeons are just long, not complex; the omnipresent linearity reduces that potential challenge to mere tedium as well.

The Bottom Line
The appealing characters and the sincerely told, emotional story make Lunar an excellent choice for those who value these (in my opinion, cosmetic) elements in their games. However, no amount of cheesy-sweet dialogues and dramatic anime can change the fact that Lunar suffers from all three curses that keep plaguing Japanese RPGs, being linear, simplistic, and formulaic.

PlayStation · by Unicorn Lynx (181780) · 2016

The Legend Begins....

The Good
The 32-Bit remake of the original Sega CD title, Lunar: Silver Star Story. As one of the best games available for the Sega CD, Game Arts has the task of remaking the game in such a way as not to piss off the fans of the original version while earning new fans. They succeed making this remake even better than the original, with better visuals, FMVS and more voice overs.

In Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, as in the original, you assume the role of Alex a young man with dreams of becoming a great Dragonmaster, like his hero Dyne. Dragonmaster’s are charged with the task of protecting the Goddess Althena. Along with his friends Luna, Ramus, and Nall, Alex’s quest will make him the greatest of all the Dragonmasters, including Dyne. He also will make new friends and become a man, and realize his true feelings for Luna. There are some plot changes to Lunar:SSC, such as Luna going with Alex to Meribia, instead of staying behind. The lighthouse dungeon has also been removed.

The story in Lunar, is still basically the same, as well as still one of the best to ever grace an RPG or video game for that matter. The characters are still all memorable, and there are no party members that feel useless, something that happens a little to often in RPGS. And due to Working Designs unique translation even simple and inevitable things like talking to NPCS is fun and often funny. Furthermore the plot never gets tedious,(Even on your umpteenth play through.) as some lesser RPGS are often guilty of.

The Graphics are much improved over the Sega CD version. The game is more colorful and vibrant, and the already impressive FMVS are even better. The sprites look great. The spells all have a cool animation as well as the special moves. The world map screens look particularly good, they really convey the beauty of the world of Lunar.

The Music is still awesome. Some tracks were lost, but for every one lost two seemed to have been gained. If anything the score is even better this time. And thanks to the soundtrack disk we can enjoy the new score and some of the old tracks that did not make this game. The sound effects and voice overs are all up to par as well. The voice overs like the music is even better this time around.

There are many gameplay changes as well. Instead of the random encounters of the Sega CD version, you can now see the enemies before you engage them, this helps make the dungeons less tedious, all RPGS nowadays should adopt this system, it is about time we end that random battle crap. The world map screens are now free of attacks so now you can take your time traveling, and not worry about getting killed on the way to the next town.

The Bad
All is not perfect in Lunar. The Game is too short, about 20-25 hours. And for some reason, many of the spells were removed from the game. This is probably most evident with Alex, he went from having 25 spells to 10 or so.

The Bottom Line
Many may have bought the Playstation for Resident Evil or Final Fantasy VII, but I know those games are overrated and bought a PS for Lunar. Fans of RPGS need look no further than this.

PlayStation · by MasterMegid (723) · 2006

Trivia

Development

In the US, the game was originally to be released for the Saturn, but recognizing the rapid decline of the platform's market in the United States, Working Designs reluctantly cancels the Saturn version and transfers the project to the Sony PlayStation. The title is also changed to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, as the PlayStation version contains exclusive features not found in the Sega CD or Saturn versions of Lunar.

Media art

Working Designs released four different sets of game CDs each with different art on the CDs and one set with fan art submitted to Working Designs by a frequent contributor. You can see them all at the Working Designs online museum.

Extras

The game was released as Collector's Edition with a hardbound instruction manual, a cotton cloth map, and four CDs: two game CDs, one soundtrack CD, and one 'Making of Lunar' CD.

References

If you visit the library in Vane, take a close look at the bookshelves. One of the books is an erotic novel. When Alex attempts to read it, Nall interferes and makes a comment about this book being out of place in the library.

Release

On December 31, 1999, US publisher Working Designs pulls off a revolutionary marketing move by voluntarily ceasing shipments of the game, thereby turning the game into an instant collector's item. The advertising campaign announcing the decision stirs up controversy with its light-hearted mockery of game collectors who spend their time and money on the eBay auction web site, but the ads also spur a renewed interest in Lunar.

Version differences

There are some differences between this PlayStation remake and the original Lunar: The Silver Star (beside the obvious change in graphics and added animé movies). Certain characters join your party or leave it at different times. Several scenes were added, such as Luna's impressive "singing scene" on the ship. During the final battle, the boss mutated into a demon in the original game, but this was thought to be too cliché and removed from this PlayStation release.

Voice acting

Ashley Angel, voice of Alex, also voiced Alex in the original Sega CD release of Lunar: The Silver Star in North America.

Korean songs

While the 2000 South Korean Windows version features Korean voice acting, the songs weren't dubbed. Instead, it features the same English songs as the 1999 English PlayStation release.

Information also contributed by DarkBubble, Sciere, Stillman, Unicorn Lynx and Ms. Tea

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Rogee.

iPhone, iPad added by firefang9212. SEGA Saturn added by Unicorn Lynx. tvOS, Windows added by Ms. Tea.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Entorphane, Sciere, Ms. Tea, DreinIX, Patrick Bregger, firefang9212.

Game added April 23, 2001. Last modified January 4, 2024.