Your thoughts so far on Lunar DS

danth · Post by **danth** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 6:41 pm

Okay, obviously we haven't seen much yet, but what do you think of the new game at this early stage?

I totally agree with something Kishi said in another thread:

My only disappointment is the apparent lack of a movement system in the battlefield. To me, that was one of the gameplay mechanics that really distinguished the series.

I think the movement of characters in the battlefield added a whole new element of strategy. I loved to see those little guys run around and fight! I really hate to see the old battle ground go, as it was a hallmark of Lunar games.

Another thing that I'm not crazy about is the isometric view. I never really liked that in any game, but I guess it's used because it feels more 3d. I think it's just awkward. If you look at the scans posted in the the other thread, the old birds-eye-view rooms look really cute and detailed, but the new isometric-view rooms look plain and boring, like the isometric viewpoint really stilted the imaginations of the artists.

My final issue is with the pen-touchpad traveling. That's super lame, and the only reason they did it was to justify the Nintendo DS's stupid features. Actually walking through and exploring huge towns and villages made old RPGs so fun and immersive. I remember how overwhelmingy huge Meribia seemed to me back in the day. Walking around that town really sucked me into the world of Lunar. But now we'll have to touch the place we want to go to and watch as our character walks there in a straight line -- just so the pen and touchpad aren't sitting there unused. I thought technology was supposed to make life better.

On to the good stuff: The game has some of the Lunar "feel" showing through. The character designs still have those cool zig-zag patterns, and we have our beastmen. One of the screenshots shows a gray statue that looks like it came right out of the old Lunar games. The graphics look great, too.

What do you guys think?

Etherest · Post by **Etherest** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 2:43 am

I think it looks great...the battle system could be more Lunar-ish, but I'm glad it's being made by the original Lunar staff.

Mog Dragonheart · Post by **Mog Dragonheart** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 3:54 am

The biggest turn-offs for me on RPGs started with Grandia on the DC when they put that stupid map traveling thing instead of letting me roam the lands outside of cities and then they go and implement it into Suikoden 3 which made me turn off the damn game...

but I dont get it? You can't explore the towns now??

MiaOne · Post by **MiaOne** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 3:56 am

It's not even out yet. So I don't feel right in judging it right now.

Though the artwork is beautiful from what we've seen of the scans.

DevNall · Post by **DevNall** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 9:57 am

Personally, I can't wait. I just saw the new Mario Brothers video and it looks really awesome. With this and a few other titles, it seems like everything I want to play is on the DS (well, will be -- none of them have been released yet).

danth · Post by **danth** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:27 pm

MiaOne wrote:It's not even out yet. So I don't feel right in judging it right now.

You can't judge it yet, but you've got to have some early thoughts. I like to speculate and share what we're excited or worried about based off of limited knowledge.

Dark_Fairy · Post by **Dark_Fairy** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:40 pm

I can't really judge it myself either until I actually play it, but so far I think it's going to be good. I really don't care about how the battles are on it even though running around was fun, I'm just happy it's an actual NEW Lunar game and not another remake. (We needed a new Lunar!)

MiaOne · Post by **MiaOne** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:31 pm

danth wrote:
You can't judge it yet, but you've got to have some early thoughts. I like to speculate and share what we're excited or worried about based off of limited knowledge.

How can you not be excited???? It's a freakin' new Lunar game!!!!

Post by **Alunissage** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:51 pm

I'm excited by the prospect of having a new Lunar game, but that reaction is not unmixed. First, I don't think it's a great idea to speculate too much as it may lead to disappointment if you start expecting something different from what you get (e.g, all the talk about whether Lucia is related to EB's Lucia, which is not at all as certain as some people are treating it). Second, I'm a bit apprehensive of what the story may do to the backstory we've already worked out. Later games rewrite history of the earlier ones all the time, it's just that there's been so much time since the last one that certain things have gotten fairly settled. Of course, with the multiple versions of the games it'd be impossible to match them all anyway. At any rate, I don't mind looking at screenshots and art and a degree of speculation, but only up to a point.

danth · Post by **danth** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:26 am

BTW, does anyone else think the DS is going to tank like the Sega-CD did?

Post by **Rune Lai** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 4:41 am

Nah... the sales are strong and it has a lot of third party support, which the Sega CD didn't have. And you didn't see the DS section at E3. It was double if not triple the size of the PSP, and most of those were third party support. I think it'll face some stiff competition, and it may be we'll wind up with a two handheld market, but tanking? It would take some kind of miracle in Sony's favor for that to happen.

ilovemyguitar · Post by **ilovemyguitar** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:01 am

I've definately been rooting for the PSP in favor of the DS. I love the way the PSP is going with having full-length movies on it, and it working as an MP3 player. Also, I really think that touch screen thing the DS has is just a silly gimmick.

But then, I tend to think that most of what Nintendo does with their consoles is pretty gimmicky, but they continue to dominate the market, so I guess that shows how much I know. Thank god I decided to wait and see which one I decide to buy.

Post by **Sonic#** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 1:30 pm

ilovemyguitar wrote:I've definately been rooting for the PSP in favor of the DS. I love the way the PSP is going with having full-length movies on it, and it working as an MP3 player.

Also, I really think that touch screen thing the DS has is just a silly gimmick.

On another token, one could easily say that an MP3 player and movie playing capabilities are silly gimmicks for a portable gaming system.

While useful, they're also more expensive, and don't help those that already have a portable movie player and MP3 player. Not to mention that I buy a portable system for playing games, and have little time to mess with other features. At least the touch screen makes for interesting gameplay, when developers account for it.

To continue with the dissenting opinions, I'm more curious than I am disheartened about an isometric viewpoint. I have yet to see what it'll be like, and I've liked games with this kind of view before... heck, I've liked games where the main characters aren't even visible in battle. (Earthbound!)

As for the rest of the game elements... I'm interested, but rather detatched at this point. Just a vague optimism. ^_^

segaboy7 · Post by **segaboy7** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 4:57 pm

Personally I can't wait for this game. Yeah I know its kinda sucks that certain things have changed but how do we know that will be a bad thing or not untill we play it. I really am stoked and so far I think it looks amazing, I just hope it has something to do with the other games.

Khan · Post by **Khan** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 8:02 pm

I personally am excited about this game, the graphics didn't give off the best first impression but when I looked at the newer screens I was surprised at how much the graphics had been cleaned up. I can't say much about the sound, I really loved the music from Silver Star Story Complete and Eternal Blue Complete but it's always refreshing to see a new face (or in this case refreshing to hear a new note). I'm not too happy about the new battle positions but I can live with the change. Finally, anime cutscenes...people have been saying that it won't have full motoin sequences because the DS can't handle it. Well you should take another look at the Castlevania intro and the two sequences in the Metroid Demo. The graphics in the game aren't really pushing the DS's capabilities so this leaves room for cut-scenes. If any of you have played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories you can see what the GBA is capable of, and if the GBA can do that, imagine what the DS can do. Besides, in the NP interview it was stated that there will be anime cut-scenes ala Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue.

dreadsofcrass · Post by **dreadsofcrass** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 8:41 pm

i was hoping for more animated sequences but still this is one of the first RPG's for the DS and im so glad its from the Lunar series.

Lord_Ghaleon · Post by **Lord_Ghaleon** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:04 am

Im just excited that a new Lunar is comming out. I don't really care what platform it is for, though i do prefer a console and not a portable.

taoki · Post by **taoki** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:07 am

ilovemyguitar wrote:Also, I really think that touch screen thing the DS has is just a silly gimmick.

I'll bet that if the PSP had a touch screen and the DS didn't, atleast half the people that say it's a gimmick will say thats it's the best thing ever.

Back on subject, I think it will very interesting to see how it plays out. I would personally not have to literally tell them to run from a battle.

DevNall · Post by **DevNall** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:09 pm

ilovemyguitar wrote:Also, I really think that touch screen thing the DS has is just a silly gimmick.

I say wait and see how it plays out; it could very well open the door for some nifty new types of games or styles of gameplay.

Lord_Ghaleon wrote:Im just excited that a new Lunar is comming out. I don't really care what platform it is for, though i do prefer a console and not a portable.

Lunar on a big screen would be nice, but considering the market, I'm not really surprised they choose the DS.

Deltath · Post by **Deltath** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:20 am

Khan wrote:I personally am excited about this game, the graphics didn't give off the best first impression but when I looked at the newer screens I was surprised at how much the graphics had been cleaned up. I can't say much about the sound, I really loved the music from Silver Star Story Complete and Eternal Blue Complete but it's always refreshing to see a new face (or in this case refreshing to hear a new note). I'm not too happy about the new battle positions but I can live with the change. Finally, anime cutscenes...people have been saying that it won't have full motoin sequences because the DS can't handle it. Well you should take another look at the Castlevania intro and the two sequences in the Metroid Demo. The graphics in the game aren't really pushing the DS's capabilities so this leaves room for cut-scenes. If any of you have played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories you can see what the GBA is capable of, and if the GBA can do that, imagine what the DS can do. Besides, in the NP interview it was stated that there will be anime cut-scenes ala Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue.

I don't think there's much room for debate about what the DS can handle. It's obvious that it -can-. The system is more powerful than a PSX. The only real possible limitation would be the cartridge/gamecard storage capacity. We'll see how much they do as far as cutscenes are concerend, though. I know that the Nintendo Power article mentioned that it would have cutscenes similar to SSSC and EB, but that doesn't mean we'll get full motion anime cutscenes. Also, nothing was mentioned about voice acting.. and I would hardly imagine full motion anime cutscenes without voicing of some kind, but.. again, we'll see.

As far as what I think of the game.. I'm quite excited. It's LUNAR. My only real complaint is that I wish Ubisoft weren't the company publishing it.

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