Gamertell Review: Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for PSP

Title: Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
Price: $39.99
System(s): PSP
Release Date: March 2, 2010
Publisher (Developer): XSEED (Game Arts)
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes and Use of Alcohol, Lunar: Silver Star Story cut scenes included and remastered, turn-based battle and there are new events and story segments.
Pros: New translation and voice acting, Luna’s Song is rewritten/retranslated, new graphics look great, in battle characters sometimes won’t attack/act due to position
Cons: Added opening scene/battle segment spoils all of Lunar’s major plot twists, all animated cutscenes aren’t widescreen, Quark’s dialogue in the beginning is slightly changed, weird black bars appear on the left and right sides of the screens whenever you talk to someone.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways, 80/100, B-, * * * out of 5

The original Lunar story is a bit of a legend among gamers. It’s a timeless adventure which resonated with fans back when it was first released on the Sega CD in 1993, and has continuted to delight and engage players with each remake and port. Since 1993, it’s been remastered and rereleased a number of times – on the Sega Saturn as Lunar: Silver Star Story, then as a PlayStation and Sega Saturn game known as Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, then as Lunar Legend for the Game Boy Advance and finally now, in 2010, as Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for the PSP.

The PSP adaptation promises to be the most complete yet, utilizing the original Sega Saturn and PlayStation versions of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete as a base, while enhancing the cutscenes and graphics, and adding in a new translation and new story segments.

A boy who would be a Dragonmaster and the start of a new legend.

For as long as he can remember, Alex has loved hearing the stories of Dragonmaster Dyne and his three companions, who helped save the goddess Althena and the world from evil, and wanted to be just like Dyne. And why not? After all, Dyne was from Burg too.

The story begins innocently enough. Alex’s friend Ramus has heard that the White Dragon, which lives in a cave nearby, has woken up and wants to journey there to get a dragon diamond. Alex, Luna, his adopted sister, and their unusual animal companion Nall all join Ramus in exploring the cave. There, the White Dragon Quark tells Alex to undertake the Dragon Trial of retrieving the Dragon Ring and return to him. After easily completing this task, Quark tells Alex to start on the journey of becoming a Dragonmaster, and to visit the other dragons.

The next day, Alex, Luna, Nall and Ramus set out once again, in search of their destinies. Alex hopes to become a Dragonmaster, Ramus wants to become a successful merchant, Nall wants to be an adventurer and Luna simply wants to journey alongside Alex. But things aren’t always what they seem, and Luna doesn’t seem to be her normal self.

Would have been a perfect adaptation – if the game wasn’t spoiled in the first 10 minutes.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony ruins the game for players. More specifically, the first 10 minutes or so, which is an entirely new segment added in to act as a tutorial and I guess give players background. Originally, all adaptations of Lunar begin with Alex at the grave of Dragonmaster Dyne in Burg. Not anymore. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony begins at the original four heroes final battle to save Althena. Sounds like an interesting idea, hypothetically, but it’s an utter failure in practice as it spoils practically every plot twist in the game.

Don’t believe me? Let’s go through it. I’ll try to be as vague as possible, but vagueness doesn’t quite matter since you’ll know right away after you start the PSP port:

• You see Althena right away. This coupled with a main character’s dream that shortly follows after totally gives away one character’s backstory.
• No more wondering what happened to Dyne. You see and hear him too, so when you see man-who-could-be-Dyne there’s no surprise revelation later.
• You know who the main villain is right away. No surprise revelation when you discover that he’s been the bad guy all along.

So all three things that were probably Lunar‘s biggest twists are blatantly thrown out there. Nice.

Once you’ve recovered from the first 10 minutes of the game (sigh), you’ll find yourself experiencing what could be the best incarnation of the original Lunar. Even though the animated cutscenes’ presentation is a bit jarring, considering the rest of the game is presented in widescreen, everything else is practically perfect. The graphics are crisp, bright and clear. The voice acting is splendid. Even the audio sounds better, not to mention Luna’s Song has a fresh translation and been rerecorded. The entire script has even received a fresh translation, which is wonderful aside from the fact that they dance around what “dragon diamonds” really are. The game already has a “Teen” rating – I think we can handle Quark says they’re his shit instead of twice starting to say, “sh…,” then changing the subject.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony makes Lunar fresh again.

Simply put, Lunar is a classic game and each incarnation of it is appreciated by RPG fans for what it offers. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony isn’t absolutely perfect, but it is an admirable portable remake that is worth picking up. All of the enhancements nearly make it look and feel like a whole new game.

If it weren’t for the new introductory segment, I’d probably consider the PSP adaptation to be the best yet. However, that brief expository sequence and tutorial very nearly ruins the whole story, and that offense is quite difficult to overlook and unforgivable. If Lunar: Silver Star Harmony is going to be your first encounter with Lunar, I recommend you have a friend or family member play through the first 10-15 minutes of the game for you.

Site [Lunar: Silver Star Harmony]