Introduction

Yeah, I said I'd never do this, but you all really shouldn't trust me. And if I don't do it, some other poor schmuck will. So let's do this shit.

Lunar: Dragon Song (or Lunar Genesis in Japan and PAL regions) is not a good game. The reason why it's not a good game will be evident in the first update, but suffice it to say it's not a game I'd recommend. Even if you have zero vested interest in the Lunar series, Lunar DS is a waste of your time and money. If you are a long-time Lunar fan, well, this game is pretty much a direct slap in the face. Considering that I did LPs for the first and the second game, you may assume that I am, in fact, a huge fan of the Lunar series and I too loathe this game. You'd be right. To explain why requires a bit of a history lesson, so strap in for a brief history of Lunar.

Lunar: The Silver Star was a 1992 Sega-CD RPG made by GameArts, and later localized and released in America by Working Designs. The Sega-CD is kind of a punchline nowadays, and it's not known for good games, but the Lunar series is an exception. What set it apart was its cutscenes and voice acting, which in 1992 was very noteworthy, and the translation by Working Designs. It's been said that Working Designs made Lunar, and Lunar made Working Designs. Their pop-culture laden translations are often looked down on nowadays, but at the time video game translations just didn't have that much effort put into them. The very first Lunar game didn't age particularly well in some aspects, but it's considered a classic for a reason, and there really was nothing like it at the time.

Lunar: Eternal Blue came out two years later, and for my money, it's a superior game to the original. Many of the flaws have been ironed out, and the things that were good about the original are even better. It's not a revolutionary game, but it's a damn solid JRPG. It's one of my favorite games of all time.

When the next console generation came, GameArts decided to remake these two games for the Sega Saturn. Later those remakes were ported to the Playstation, and the PSX versions are the ones that Working Designs released in the States. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete aren't just lazily emulated ports of the Sega-CD originals; these two games were pretty much rebuilt from the ground up. Lunar SSSC, in particular, is almost an entirely different game. Some old school fans have problems with the remakes, but they're solid games that people have many fond memories of. Most people who've played these games played these remakes.

There is another game in the series that a lot of people don't know about : Lunar Walking School, released on the Game Gear in 1995 and remade as Magic School Lunar for the Saturn in 1997. These games never left Japan, and having played the fan translation of Walking School, I can see why. I had thought about LPing Walking School, but honestly it's so uninteresting that there's little point. I'm not familiar with Magic School, maybe it's a vastly superior game, but there's no fan translation for it and I can't read Japanese so I couldn't tell you.

Lunar 1 went on to get three more remakes, but apart from Walking School (which is more of a "gaiden" game anyway) the series couldn't produce a third installment. Talks of a Lunar 3 date back from 1996, but no Lunar 3 came. Fans waited and waited, and soon a decade had passed between the last release of an original Lunar title. The writing was on the wall: there won't be another Lunar game.

So when we heard that there was a new Lunar game being developed, that's exciting news. The series isn't dead! This new game may not be Lunar 3, but perhaps it'll pave the way. Right?

Right?

Wrong.

Spoiler Policy

Please don't spoil plot or gameplay mechanics, not even in spoiler tags. Lunar Dragon Song should be experienced with gobsmacked, dumbfounded horror, just like the person playing the game is experiencing it.

Other Stuff

SystemLogoff is mean

And so is Edward_Tohr

Magic Fanatic attempted to see if a level 1 run is possible. 1, 2, 3, 4

Yours truly decided to improve a certain scene.(Referencing this. Spoilers for Chapter 9.)

I also tweaked the ending a bit.

Jenner had some involvement with a fan group that did consulting on the game (Some spoilers): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9(about Negri Lab in chapter 15) & 10.

And Jenner took some pictures of the scripts and documents the fan group recieved.

The Let's Play Archive

Lunar: Dragon Song

by Camel Pimp

Introduction

Table of Contents