So... yeah. I'm gonna do one of these, even though it'll be ignored by 80% of the population on Lumine Hall. Oh well, I might as well try blogging.

I've been waiting for this game for a while, now. I've always wanted to try the Lunar games, but they were just too expensive. And I'm one for owning the manual and keeping my things in good condition, so just getting the disc isn't good enough for me. This is because Working Designs (God bless them) made it so that it would be something of a collector's item after release. Not too many copies were made, and a lot of swag was included. Other Working Designs localized games include Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, Albert Odyssey, Alundra, and the Arc the Lad Collection, all very good games that I'd fully recommend you all try out.

Anyways, I planned to get this game this weekend. But, as fate would have it, the game was sold out everywhere! I tried my GameStop / EB Games, Wal-Mart, Zellerz (Basically a K-Mart kind of place, except not nearly as good and no where in Canada anymore), and many other places. I couldn't find it! But, I wanted to play Lunar 1 so bad, I did the unthinkable: I digitally downloaded it. Yeah... it was only 820~ MB in size, so I said, "what the hell?" And I did it. Some good things that will come out of this include faster load times, I guess. Now I'll be able to play Grandia and Lunar on the go... thank GOD I got a PSP.

So, I loaded my Demo Completion data, and started the game.

We start off in what seems to be something like what Castlevania: Symphony of the Night did. We have this freaky guy named Elphius, and this girl named Althena. Althena is apparently a goddess, and the Elphius plans to absorb power from Althena to become the new god of the world... damn, this game got serious quick. Or something. So, Althena (who sounds suspiciously like Estelle from Tales of Vesperia, same actor?) tells Eiphel about how humanity will prevail and Eiphel essentially says "no way" and then sends her into this giant tube. Eiphel starts getting all cocky and talks about becoming a god and whatnot.

Then, suddenly, a group of heroes led by a man named Dyne pulls a Big Damn Heroes moment and comes in at the last second. Following Dyne is a sickly-looking guy named Ghaleon (who has an awesome freaking voice). Mel, a big and burly guy with an Irish accent, and Lemia, a sorceress type.

They talk a bit, much similar to those pre-final battle speeches you find in many RPGs, and then the fight begins!



DYNE:
Dyne seems to be the common hero type. His choice of weapon is the sword (like all RPG heroes apparently) and has a good, all-around stat set up. He doesn't seem to excel in anything except for speed, which he is the fastest. His skills are another story, his skill, "Dragon Wrath", deals around 1000 HP of damage to all enemies. Kick. Ass. His voice reminds me of Raven, for some reason... he can also attack four times in row with his normal attack 150x4=600 damage



GHALEON:
Ghaleon certainly isn't a physical fighter, but he isn't the weakest of the party members. He is primarily a healer, so he shouldn't be fighting. He has many healing skills and a totally cool voice, so he's pretty much the most awesome of the four, yep yep.



MEL:

Mel seems to be the bruiser of the four. He is the slowest, yet the strongest without super broken skills like Dragon Wrath. He also has an irish accent, so I assume he should also hold his liquor quite well. He seems to be the head of the pirates, as well. He reminds me of Mareg in a way, except Mareg seems to be much wiser and much less of a joker like Mel is. "Let those who war with life forfeit their own!" ~ Mareg



LEMIA:

Lemia is definitely the black mage of the party. Her best spell, Inferno, seems to be the only attack/skill to rival Dragon Wrath. Oh, did I also mention that the animations in this game look very pretty and are well done? Well, anyways, Lemia is the weakest defense-wise and HP-wise, so I made sure to heal her when necessary.

Anyways, four against one, the fight's easy.

Then, Eiphel starts going into his super mode, when he's assisted by five... things... and becomes Neo-Eiphel! Cue ass-kicking off the entire hero team, things are looking bad. But then, Dyne and his friends hear singing... it sounds like Althena! Eiphel just shrugs it off, but the team gets up! The power of song and hope prevails! So, with this, the party is fully healed and ready to take on Neo-Elphius.

The fight is also easy, even though it's 4v6. But I must say, the music is quite good! It even has Althena's singing playing during some parts of the song! Now that's cool. We defeat Neo-Eiphel, and we get 99,999 EXP that we'll never use...

Eiphel's Mask falls on the floor, and Dyne cuts through the place where Althena is held to save her. They embrace, and Dyne blushes! Our Dragonmaster, in love with our goddess? It's more likely than you think. So anyways, apparently the Black Star is going to collide with the world, and something about Vane... nothing is really elaborated here, so we continue on.

Dyne, Althena, Mel and Lemia exit the room, with Ghaleon staying behind. Suddenly, Eiphel's Mask starts to float and starts speaking with Ghaleon! The mask starts to tell Ghaleon his fate, but then Ghaleon just pwns the thing. Ghaleon then walks out of the room. The screen fades...

---

Then we find ourselves in a small cabin, in a village called Burg. Apparently, we went through a little backstory. Nice! And I stopped there.

This is looking good already.

Oh good, you've finally begun to blog! This reminds me, I gotta upload my blogs to the Lumine Hall website at some point...not like anybody ever goes there or anything. So far, looking nice. I will fallow this, of course. Gaming blogs are like "Let's Plays" but without the obnoxious filler! Wonderful!

So Zellers is Candian, eh? Hmm...I've heard of Zellers a lot, but never saw one around. Now I know why. Interesting.

I had no idea you could download new games to the PSP like that. I don't have a PSP, but that is interesting to hear.

OMG YES this game has Nash? His hair is too cool!

YAYYYYYYY


Lunar


I was gonna buy this next week to give me something to do until SS

Apparently, the battle with Neo-Eiphel only happened a short time ago! Unlike a lot of other games where these big, epic battles like hundreds to thousands of years in the past (the most I've seen is 15000+), the battle with Neo-Eiphel only happened around 15 years before the events that happen in-game. Neat!

So that means the four heroes are alive and well! Well... kinda. In the beginning, Alex, our protagonist, is standing on top of a hill where a monument to Dyne is located, as he is dead. Alex reflects on how much he admires Dyne, and wants to be just like him. It's good to have big dreams! Without dreams and hopes for the future, life would be pretty dull and boring, don't you think? Anyways, a flying cat-thing comes flying up the hill calling for Alex. His name is Nall, and Alex and him seem to be as thick as thieves. They talk for a bit, and then another rather pudgy guy comes waddling up the hill. His name seems to be Ramus!

Just like Alex, Ramus wants to go on an adventure. And due to some ice melting in a nearby cave, they can do just that... even if Ramus wants to go on one for less than noble reasons. Hehe.

So, with Ramus and Nall in tow, the three head down into the village of Burg. Apparently, Dragonmaster Dyne lived here as well! Isn't that special? An NPC comments on how Alex is the spitting image of Dyne... true, they look similar in some aspects. While walking through the village, Alex and co. hear some singing. It sounds like the hymn that Althena sang in the battle against Neo-Eiphel. It's probably the same, seeing as how the battle was 15 years ago!

So, the party decides to find Luna, Alex's adoptive "sister". They don't seem to be related in any other way. They find Luna in a nearby pond with her singing. I've always liked tunes like that. Here's the link to the song.



If there's any way to get me really sentimental and calm, it's through the piano and songs like these. In fact, the singing reminds me of Grandia II in a way, as Elena, a Songstress of Granas also sings. Luna just so happens to be the Songstress of Burg!

Anyways, Luna sings, but just as she stops, Alex starts playing his Ocarina! The tune is the same as Luna's song. He's a great ocarina player, Luna's a great singer! After Alex is finished playing his little tune, Luna comments on how Alex was hanging out with Ramus in a bossy tone... seems like Luna is one of those girls who like to boss others around! But she seems sweet and means well. Luna, as Alex's adoptive sister, seems to have taken on the role of "older sister" to Alex. How sweet.

Anyways, Luna finds out that Alex and Ramus are planning to go to the White Dragon Cave to go on an adventure. While this is unrelated, never doubt a women's intuition, ever! Or an INFJ's intuition... so don't bullshit us, we can see right through you.

Luna decides to go with the party, but wants to get weapons and stuff from Alex's house beforehand. Ramus decides to prepare at his house (get cheese and crackers, along with some bread rolls, of course!). When Alex and Luna arrive at their house, Alex's father gives the party a few items. A Knife, Silver Darts (I used the demo completion data, I believe they're regular darts if you didn't do so) and a Flame Ring. He also lets you take some stuff from downstairs, which yields some good items.

After so much preparation, Alex and co. head off to their first adventure!

I think it's time for a character run-down.



ALEX:

He seems to idolize Dragonmaster Dyne, just like in Grandia how Justin idolized his father for his adventures in Elencia. He seems to be a friendly guy, yet he doesn't seem to talk much. Nall seems to do all the talking for him. Only in cutscenes does Alex talk. In battle, Alex is a force of nature. His weapon of choice is a sword. His stats are high in all areas. He has high HP, high attack, speed, defense... the works! And his skills are quite useful. Also, when Alex reaches level 9, he can attack twice in a row! Nice!



NALL:

This guy seems to be Alex's best friend. Sarcastic, loud-mouthed and rude, Nall is pretty much awesome. He does all the speaking for Alex, and the responses to all the NPC's in the game come from mostly Nall. Nall doesn't seem to know what he is, apparently. Most people think of him as a flying cat. Nall is upbeat, and also revives fallen party members at the end of battle, and cures all status ailments at the end of battle, too! No, Luna! You're getting your experience today!



RAMUS:

Ramus is overweight, lazy, and wants to get rich FAST. Typically, RPGs tend to paint these types of characters in a bad light (well, you shouldn't be lazy, and greedy, but...) but Lunar seems to break this cliche. Ramus is fighting alongside the other party members as well! He isn't evil, either! An example of so many evil fat guys is Fire Emblem 9 and 10. In that game, anyone who is overweight seem to be complete monsters. One of the monarchs of Begnion, for example, tried to do... unmentionable things to a Heron princess, if memory serves. Where'd the cliche of fat guys being jolly go? Anyways, Ramus is the HP tank, but leveling up only raises his HP, so I'm guessing he leaves the party soon, which is a shame. But, with no MP and no rising stats, he'd get useless, fast.



LUNA:

Luna is bossy, yet sweet, kind, and generous. Why can't there be more girls like her...? Well, that's not to say the selection of guys is top-notch either. Bah. ANYWAYS... Luna acts as an older sister to Alex. Whenever Alex seems to get into any mischief (especially with Nall and Ramus) Luna threatens Alex with no dinner for a week... come on, don't do that! The worst thing you could do to any (normal) guy is deprive him of food! This is the truth! Luna also seems to be the jealous type, too. There's a girl in Burg that hits on Alex regularly and Luna gets all jealous whenever Alex talks to her! Hehe. Luna is a renowned singer, too. In the nearby village of Saith, she is also well known. Her voice seems to have magical properties, too...

So the four set off into the White Dragon Cave. What adventures and secrets lie within...?

An enjoyable read! Never bullshit the INFJ! Or women...them too!

Luna! I thought I recognized her from somewhere then it hit me! Shii's song! "Wind's Nocturne" (or "Shii's song). Luna is the girl in the video! I usually watched the cat one, though. Cats rock. But so do girls!



I love this song! This is the game this thing is from? Wow! I've been listening to this song since I was 13 years old, and here I am reading a blog of it's origins! I love how little things in life connect like that. I had no idea this song was from a game!

Wishing of a dream that seems far off
Hoping it will come today
Into the starlit night
Foolish dreamers turn their gaze
Waiting on a shooting star!
But...what if the star will not to come?
Will their dreams fade to nothing!
When the horizon darkens most
We all need to believe there is hope!
Is an angel watching closely over me?
Can there be a guiding light ive yet to see?
I know, my heart should guide me but
There's a hole within my soul!
What will fill this emptiness inside of me?
Am I to be satisfied without, knowing
I wish then, for a chance to say
that all I need (desperately) <- I always get a little chill here >.<
is my star to come!

I can sing it by heart!

Shii's Song, for old times' sake.


WTF @ boy cat's mouth? That always bothered me. But this song always used to cheer me up when I was feeling down and alone (a lot) in seventh grade. Now I gotta play this game.

Trying to download the PSX version of this game...soooo slow. But a nice blog update! It's nice to read posts on here with some meat.

Awesome! I just got my copy of Silver Star Harmony in the mail afew days ago, but have yet to play it since in some freakish stroke of luck, I won a copy of Silver Star Story Complete for PSone of eBay for $20 in Mint Condition! (Well, it's missing the outer box and the map/manual, but the case, artwork, both game discs, Making of SSSC CD, and Soundtrack CD are all in Mint.) And I've decided to play through SSSC before I start SSH.

These blogs are beginning to peak my interest, perhaps I'll do one on Fragile when it comes out next week...

Hell, if I had a decent video camera, I'd do a video playthrough of it and post it on Youtube. (Definitely an investment I should make in the near future...)