Going through EBC now; my thoughts on it so far
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:05 am
I'm currently at Serak Palace, and I think it's about time I get my thoughts on the game so far written somewhere. I'm starting off with the main characters, since they're basically the most interesting part of the game.
Hiro: I feel he's probably the weakest out of the characters. I like how he actually talks a bit compared to Alex, but it doesn't feel like he does enough compared to the other characters. He does get some lines, but it's not as much as Ronfar, Ruby, and Lemina get. I do like what's shown of his personality (good-meaning guy that never gives up), but it seems that he has few chances to shine while you're saving the dragons. All the stuff he does to protect Lucia may seem dumb at first, but the guy saw her get warped into purple cloud-land and saw her get cursed by an evil voice; you have be a giant jerk not to help her as much as you can after that.
Lucia: She's really a sweetie. At first, her dialogue wasn't that interesting, but after getting her new clothes, she started becoming adorable. Her moments in Zultan and Taben's Peak, along with her dialogue in Zabak after beating Borgan, are very dawww-worthy. She's quiet and reserved, but she's not afraid to get things done and won't let people get away with saying wrong things about Althena and the Blue Star. She's not a doormat, which is pretty refreshing in something so anime-inspired as the Lunar series.
I like how she's basically driven the plot; nothing would've happened if it wasn't for her sheer determination to do the right thing. No matter how bad things get, she never gives up. Kidnapped by Ghaleon and the fake Althena? Eh, no biggie, Hiro will fix it. Dragons are sealed? Let's save 'em! She's got a bit of the "never give up" personality Alex has. She's perfect with Hiro.
She's kinda like a goddess that's growing a heart mixed with the sheer determination of of a freight train.
Ronfar: Oh my god I love him. His dialogue is hilarious. He plays off with Ruby and, to a lesser extend, Jean, well. One thing I really like is how he's had a tragic backstory, but he doesn't really angst over it. He's serious when it comes time to deal with Mauri, but doesn't angst over her every moment. I'd say he's my favorite character so far.
Jean: I feel she's underutilized as a character. She plays off well with Ronfar, but she doesn't really talk enough with him after you finish the Taben's Peak portion of the game. It's cute how she loves giving kids pep-talks because of her bad experiences as a child. I do love how her solution to the Shadow Dragon Cult is "beat the hell out of them". No magic, no reasoning, no Lucia shenanigans; just fist to face over and over until they learn their lesson.
Also, I like fighter Jean more than dancer Jean from a gameplay and look perspective. Fighter Jean looks like someone you don't want to mess with.
Lemina: I love her dialogue as well. Her gimmick would've been annoying, but she has so much spunk and sass that she's really enjoyable. She tries to be an excellent salewoman, but she tries way too hard, which is understandable considering the situation she's in. Trying to cheer her up after Borgan kidnapped her mom was sweet, even though she totally called Hiro out on BSing.
I like how, even after stopping Neo-Vane and allowing Borgan to help rebuild Vane, she still makes fat jokes about him. Girl still does not like him at all, and can you blame her?
Ruby: She's funny, cute, and interacts with the team a bit more than Nall did. She doesn't zing the crazies of Lunar as much as Nall does, but she makes up for it with her banter with Ronfar and Lemina. Her toasting Ronfar never gets old.
Leo: Leo rules. I wasn't too keen on him at the start, but damn he's grown on me. He's basically living the dream of being a literal white knight; complete with hokey speeches and trying to save the world. He's goofy, but doesn't seem to be really aware of it, which makes him even better. Mystere is awesome and is pretty much peak Leo, which is awesome.
Since I haven't completed the game yet, I can't talk about every part of the game's plot. However, I did like Pentugilia and how the game is handling the meet the dragons portion of the game. Find out that Althena was fake wasn't as much as a "oh -Dragon Diamond-!" moment as Ghaleon's reveal in SSSC, but it I feel the reveal in EBC was overall better because it had Mystere's cheesy antics, Lucia taking crap from no one, Leo's crisis of faith, and how it involved all of the characters instead of just one character sitting around and doing nothing while every bad thing happened. Hiro actually fought Ghaleon instead of standing around and getting blown away in one hit, like with what happend to Alex.
I also feel that meeting the dragons is handled a bit better than it was in SSSC. There doesn't seem to be any filter, like everything you had to do to get to the Red Dragon in TSS and SSSC. I also like how the quests you need to do to reach each dragon involve a specific character instead of being just about Hiro and Lucia, so that they have personal reasons for saving the dragons instead of tagging along because the main bad guy is a jerk that wants to take over the world and kidnapped their friend's girlfriend.
Hiro: I feel he's probably the weakest out of the characters. I like how he actually talks a bit compared to Alex, but it doesn't feel like he does enough compared to the other characters. He does get some lines, but it's not as much as Ronfar, Ruby, and Lemina get. I do like what's shown of his personality (good-meaning guy that never gives up), but it seems that he has few chances to shine while you're saving the dragons. All the stuff he does to protect Lucia may seem dumb at first, but the guy saw her get warped into purple cloud-land and saw her get cursed by an evil voice; you have be a giant jerk not to help her as much as you can after that.
Lucia: She's really a sweetie. At first, her dialogue wasn't that interesting, but after getting her new clothes, she started becoming adorable. Her moments in Zultan and Taben's Peak, along with her dialogue in Zabak after beating Borgan, are very dawww-worthy. She's quiet and reserved, but she's not afraid to get things done and won't let people get away with saying wrong things about Althena and the Blue Star. She's not a doormat, which is pretty refreshing in something so anime-inspired as the Lunar series.
I like how she's basically driven the plot; nothing would've happened if it wasn't for her sheer determination to do the right thing. No matter how bad things get, she never gives up. Kidnapped by Ghaleon and the fake Althena? Eh, no biggie, Hiro will fix it. Dragons are sealed? Let's save 'em! She's got a bit of the "never give up" personality Alex has. She's perfect with Hiro.
She's kinda like a goddess that's growing a heart mixed with the sheer determination of of a freight train.
Ronfar: Oh my god I love him. His dialogue is hilarious. He plays off with Ruby and, to a lesser extend, Jean, well. One thing I really like is how he's had a tragic backstory, but he doesn't really angst over it. He's serious when it comes time to deal with Mauri, but doesn't angst over her every moment. I'd say he's my favorite character so far.
Jean: I feel she's underutilized as a character. She plays off well with Ronfar, but she doesn't really talk enough with him after you finish the Taben's Peak portion of the game. It's cute how she loves giving kids pep-talks because of her bad experiences as a child. I do love how her solution to the Shadow Dragon Cult is "beat the hell out of them". No magic, no reasoning, no Lucia shenanigans; just fist to face over and over until they learn their lesson.
Also, I like fighter Jean more than dancer Jean from a gameplay and look perspective. Fighter Jean looks like someone you don't want to mess with.
Lemina: I love her dialogue as well. Her gimmick would've been annoying, but she has so much spunk and sass that she's really enjoyable. She tries to be an excellent salewoman, but she tries way too hard, which is understandable considering the situation she's in. Trying to cheer her up after Borgan kidnapped her mom was sweet, even though she totally called Hiro out on BSing.
I like how, even after stopping Neo-Vane and allowing Borgan to help rebuild Vane, she still makes fat jokes about him. Girl still does not like him at all, and can you blame her?
Ruby: She's funny, cute, and interacts with the team a bit more than Nall did. She doesn't zing the crazies of Lunar as much as Nall does, but she makes up for it with her banter with Ronfar and Lemina. Her toasting Ronfar never gets old.
Leo: Leo rules. I wasn't too keen on him at the start, but damn he's grown on me. He's basically living the dream of being a literal white knight; complete with hokey speeches and trying to save the world. He's goofy, but doesn't seem to be really aware of it, which makes him even better. Mystere is awesome and is pretty much peak Leo, which is awesome.
Since I haven't completed the game yet, I can't talk about every part of the game's plot. However, I did like Pentugilia and how the game is handling the meet the dragons portion of the game. Find out that Althena was fake wasn't as much as a "oh -Dragon Diamond-!" moment as Ghaleon's reveal in SSSC, but it I feel the reveal in EBC was overall better because it had Mystere's cheesy antics, Lucia taking crap from no one, Leo's crisis of faith, and how it involved all of the characters instead of just one character sitting around and doing nothing while every bad thing happened. Hiro actually fought Ghaleon instead of standing around and getting blown away in one hit, like with what happend to Alex.
I also feel that meeting the dragons is handled a bit better than it was in SSSC. There doesn't seem to be any filter, like everything you had to do to get to the Red Dragon in TSS and SSSC. I also like how the quests you need to do to reach each dragon involve a specific character instead of being just about Hiro and Lucia, so that they have personal reasons for saving the dragons instead of tagging along because the main bad guy is a jerk that wants to take over the world and kidnapped their friend's girlfriend.