Lunar: Silver Star Harmony Review

SeanNOLA’s Take: For those in need of a history lesson, Lunar: The Silver Star was originally released for the Sega CD back in 1993.  It was a revolutionary game for its time, being one of the first console RPGs to incorporate anime FMVs and voice acted in-game dialogue.  That innovation alone was enough to make Lunar the first must-have title for the Sega CD, but early-adopters were surprised to find a very well-rounded title underneath the shiny veneer of new technology.  We ooh’d and aah’d as we joined Alex on his journey through colorful destinations, like the floating city of Vale and Ghaleon’s moving fortress, the Grindery.  The turn-based battle system incorporated a free-moving mechanic, where characters automatically moved around the battlefield to get closer to their target, which added a layer of depth to the combat that made each confrontation unique and engaging.

Some years later, the game was rebuilt, from the ground up, for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation.  The anime cut-scenes were redrawn to include more than 16 colors at a time, and the sprites and environments were remade at a higher resolution.  It was remade again on the Game Boy Advance as Lunar: Legends as a Cliff’s Notes version of the original story. Now, the game has been completely overhauled once again for the PSP, using digitally remastered video from the PlayStation version of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete.

Series connoisseurs will notice that Silver Star Harmony boasts beautiful hand-drawn characters and environments, in isometric perspective for the first time, that are a vast improvement from the original chunky 16-bit characters.  The dungeons are no longer made up of a series of repeated tiles; instead they are meticulously painted in fine detail, which has allows for new puzzles and encourages exploration.  Random encounters are also a thing of the past, and have instead been replaced by goons roaming freely through the dungeons that will run toward and attack you if you are spotted.  The turn-based battles remain relatively unchanged: combatants take turns attacking, and move freely about the battlefield.  However, the fights in Harmony are much faster than its predecessors, so plowing through a dungeon full of monsters doesn’t feel as much like a chore as it used to.

Lunar vets will also be pleased to know that Harmony expands the story to allow the player to take control of Dragonmaster Dyne, the mythical Dragonmaster from a bygone era, and Alex’s greatest hero.  For the first time, players will be able to witness the final battle of Dyne and the Four Heroes as the rescue the Goddess Althena, rather than simply hearing the story told through townies and yahoos that you come across during your quest.  However, this extra content feels half-hearted and shoe-horned, and is arguably least interest part of the game.