Review scoopings 4/5 · Apr 9, 2025
Not As Spectacular As I Expected/Imagined As A Kid, But I Was Still Addicted!
Preliminary: I am very excited for this, I always had an interest in the Lunar series because I had an old magazine that had a part of a walkthrough for the Blue one that came out later. I think it was like a serialized walkthrough which made it even more interesting and I used to act out what I imagined …
Preliminary: I am very excited for this, I always had an interest in the Lunar series because I had an old magazine that had a part of a walkthrough for the Blue one that came out later. I think it was like a serialized walkthrough which made it even more interesting and I used to act out what I imagined the plotline might be based on the bosses and tips and whatnot, while hanging out at my dad's when I'd visit him. One of my few distinct memories from childhood (I for some reason don't remember much from my childhood)
Anyway, this is the first of the series. And I've been craving a JRPG, tho graphic adventures seem to be my main love of the early 90s so far. It's too bad this was localized by Working Designs, who changed gameplay to make it harder and changed the dialog quite a bit. There is no redone fan translation, but at least someone tweaked a lot of it back to the Japanese original's so I will be using the "un-worked" version, as it is called. It would be nice to play some of the official re-releases for PS1 and whatnot but that would totally break the chronology project heh.
Early Game
Wow, a CD game. It sounds like the plot doesn't really reach new territory, but I'm assuming/hoping the Look and Sound do. And I grew up in the gaming era of CDs, so this will be nostalgic for me.
Omg I can't with this dramatic intro video and music. Whoa wait this might have been teh game I read the walkthrough for? Maybe it was one of the re-releases
Omg I love it and the music for the beginning, I hope the Play holds up without too much tedious status ailments 
Ok I'm going to try to stop typing and just enjoy the game, but this beginning town tune reminds me of KH town music like Traverse Town. I think 91/92 keep doing this to me, because I was born in 90 and thus the games I grew up into had their foundation in games like Monkey Island II and this. With all that positive being said, I sure hope the plot becomes more. As cute as it is so far (with me conscious of the tweaks that Working Designs made), there isn't much to hold on to, which is something I look for in JRPGs.
The movement is very fluid with lots of QoL touches like when you reach a corner. It's one of the first games to get me to explore the edges of maps (tho that was required of JRPGs earlier, I only did it for the treasure or whatever the guide told me to do, not just to see me hiding a bit behind a tree :-p) I like that I have been able to know what to do so far because NPCs actually say meaningful things and towns are approachable. I like how fast you move (FINALLY).
I feel like I'm watching an anime 
It's cute/interesting how the baby dragon thing with you is how you save/load. And yessss to free healing/Inns right there on the world map. Love that. Also yesss to AI for petty fights. And you basically program that AI
With those positives stated, I will mention I'm not impressed with the lack of some QoL things like scrolling up to get to the bottom of a menu, and showing stat changes from equipment changes. And it's quite a chore to check a character's level when it should just be visible.
Yeah, as beautiful as this is (and the battle backgrounds and the world map music etc etc), the plotline really is quite dull so far. And reeks of "manhood" "heroes" "woman as weak magician only" etc. so far Hopefully it gets different, considering this came out after FF4.. And I don't like that most the characters aren't likable (Ramus...) and lots of sexist comments/moments throughout and you keep losing party members (which si common for this era of JRPGs but still).
But I am definitely having that RPG hook. Even if the initial excitement has worn down and the Look and Sound can only carry ti so far
Yesss the Meribia town song. I need to put this down and play runescape but I'm fully hooked for sure.
Beautiful
Some of the dungeon music is definitely that gimmicky dungeony sound I often mention, so I would mute it in those ones after I heard the song enough times heh (that island cave, for instance)
I wish this were a fan translation so I could know if the weird way every femme character so far has spoken to Alex etc is so... well, weird.
Having Ghaleon on your team reminds me of when you occasionally get to have Seymour on your team in FFX :-p And I like that the plotline is developing more now. I'm going to call it mid game once I'm to the Marius Zone. And nice! Already a town-to-town teleporting device! Weee. And oooo I like that there's a music and Look change after the big bad deeds start. Good ol JRPGs :-p
Mid Game
A lot of this is reminding me of Mother in a way. Not sure how to explain it. Through and though, tho, this is feelingl ike a 4 star at most. Mayyybe a 5 star but not a favorite. Maybe cuz I had too high of hopes... Or cuz of this translation. But either way. It just lacks something. And a lot of the tedious sidequests, like regathering your party, is fun and I usually really like those and don't mind them but a) there isn't a compelling enough plot to warrant them and b) the characters and NPCs generally aren't very likable. Still, I'm absolutely unequivocally hooked so this may get a 5 star. And most the Sound and Look are excellent. And it's impressive for its time. Just wish the plot, translation, and worldview were better/more what I expected.
I usually don't like dungeon-y music but I do like the Demon's Spire tune. Considering this is a CD, tho, you'd think they wouldn't have to have jarring silence gaps between track loops.
I like that the combat actually shows different animations for the different weapons and they're entertaining to watch. Plus the post-battle info is quick and can be skipped through, all with quite good tunes for its time. No one can handle any song for as long as a JRPG grind, but this does it as well as it can for its time. And comes close to giving me that FFX vibe.
I love this fireplace and room
I'm so grateful for how status ailments like Poison work in this. It seems they jsut go away after a battle? Thank goodness, one of my least favorite parts of RPGs tbh. Honestly more and more this is creeping back up to 5 star territory, just being a classic good ol JRPG which is something I can never resist and get fully enthralled in and play intensely.
Oh goodness right after saying that I see the Spring screen >.< so unnecessary. But was nice enough. Oh, there might be a Men's version too, so I suppose I don't hate it.
Me cuz I'm fighting a flu right now :-p
End Game
Nice. The industrial as bad guy a la FF7 etc \m/ 
And nice it's definitely getting more epic/complex 
And I like this more serious tone with the piano music after you attempt to enter the portable Grinder machine tank tower thing lol. And there's been much fewer weird sexism moments, and indeed the women are proving to be the more resilient character in late game so that's good. I really like this piano track, just gonna say that again :-p
Lol a bit silly with the Laike "plot twist" here, but whatevs. Still enjoying the game and hooked to finish this up within a couple more days.
Yessss the funky music when Xenobia blocks you from the airship. Heavy.
Oh boy! I think this is the final dungeon of the game? Or close to it. I love how many new tunes are coming up in end game, tho I wish they had had more new tracks throughout the dungeons and towns, I also like when they save lots of new tracks for the ending to make it mroe exciting. Through and through this is the epitome of an early 90s JRPG. I suppose I expected a mid 90s JRPG, with full cutscenes and whatnot, instead this is just a good old early 90s JRPG and I can't deny its appeal for me :-p
I should have mentioned this earlier but it's very odd there's no drop item option? As far as I can tell?
Oooo I did like the Nall plot twist tho. The voice acting is real silly at times tho lol
As always with end game JRPGs, this actual final dungeon is so brutal. And so confusing. Thank goodness for maps/grinds to avoid wasteful wandering. And they sure like to drag out the final bursts of their games, even my ultimate favorite FFX is guilty of that.
Nice. The very veyr ending is reminiscent of FFX and KH with the Sound and Look.
Wow... What an utterly TERRIBLE and disappointingly short ending. And tacky and returning to the early game's portrayal of women.. Well, I suppose it came through with some decent screens during/after the credits but still 
Look: 8.5/10 I loved it. Tho I suppose I expected more from a CD game
Sound: 8.5/10
Play: 9/10 I can't deny that hook. Some nice QoL features too (tho still very much an early 90s JRPG)
Feel: 8/10 So much excitement for this series with nostalgia for reading a walkthrough and imagining what the game really was like, also the excitement of an early CD game, however I was a bit disappointed in quite a few aspects. The plot did develop but still. The ending left me with a sour taste.
Attachment: 8/10 Again, I really can't deny that RPG hook, I barely could set this down, so I might be rating some of these a bit lower purely due to the ending, and I surely will be playing the rest of the series, but yeah. A bit disappointing in a few features, and didn't feel like it fleshed out the CD's capabilities as much as I expected. Still, I love me some JRPGs!
Overall: 8.4/10
