Lunar 2 demo early impressions

[06.29.00] » An in-depth look at the first third of Working Designs' Lunar 2 demo disc.

   With this week's release of Vanguard Bandits, Working Designs has brought to the table more than simply a solid strategy game - they've also given gamers a demo of their next major project, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. In fact, the bonus disc included with Vanguard Bandits comprises between 4-8 hours of gameplay, making it nearly a game within itself. Of course the full product will be substantially longer, but as with last year's Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete demo, the demo is more than enough to draw gamers into the game and whet their appetites for the finished tale of Hiro and Lucia's quest to find the Goddess Althena.

   Lunar newcomers who discovered the series with Silver Star Story will be pleased to learn that Eternal Blue follows closely in the footsteps of its predecessor. Which isn't to say there hasn't been a touch of polish applied; nearly every aspect of the game is improved over Silver Star Story. The music is much improved, particularly in battle; the anime-style cinematics are more imaginatively integrated into gameplay; and best of all, characters no longer walk in place while talking. Rather, each character has a unique set of "idle animations" that adds a touch of personality and liveliness to the admittedly squashy-looking sprites - Hiro's cape billows (even indoors!), General Leo wiggles his ears, Gwyn strokes his beard. All are small touches in a dated game engine, but they exemplify the quality and care that have made the series so popular.

   And those who have played the original Sega CD incarnation of Lunar 2 will also want to make note of the changes in this remake. Perhaps the most noticable (and welcome!) change is the disappearance of Magic Experience Points and the "pay to save" system; now games can be saved anywhere with no penalty. Additionally, there have been small changes to the story, and a respectable amount of new dialogue added. Combat is less tedious, as enemies no longer attack on the world map, and can be evaded in dungeons with strategic use of the new, and limited, sprint ability. Even Ruby the flying pink "cat" is more helpful this time through, frequently attacking enemies for a small amount of damage even if they're not critically wounded. And of course the largely-static cinemas from the original version have been upgraded to hand-drawn anime.

   The opening cinema plainly states this is a "Work In Progress," and there does seem to be a bit of polish yet to be applied to the game: on-screen action can cause the music to slow down, and there are only three save slots available (which will presumably be changed to 15, or possibly 30 per card). And while the demo is unlikely to entice those who disliked the first game in the series, Lunar fans will undoubtedly eat it up. Who knows, they might even find they like the "other" game with which it's packaged as well.

   Thanks to pseudo-GIA agent Jeremy Parish for the impressions. Be sure to check out the accompanying 87 demo screenshots.