X-Play Hates Lunar: SSSC

[Nz17]

Okay, I had heard the rumors of how horrible X-Play is. Yet I was still bound and determined to find at least one show of value on the newly availble-in-my-area channel of G4TechTV. Sure, Comcast killed one of my favorite channels, TechTV, by buying it and merging it with one of their own. Sure, I had seen about three to four shows already on the channel and assumed 90% of all this "new" channel's content would be disposible garbage. Sure, I had heard X-Play was horrid, with goofy, shameful hosts, and fanboy-ish opinions. But really, how bad could it be?

The show was so awful my six-year-old sister agreed that I should turn it. The hosts' "humor" was at the level of a kindergartener at best, mainly consisting of loud, screeching noises and dorky faces. The "reviews," if one were lenient enough to call them that, were mainly the two of them bitching about how some aspect or other of a perfectly fine game wasn't the Second Coming -- anything less than perfection was a personal crime against themselves, or at least that's how it seemed.

But the straw that broke the camel's back, the moment when I not only lost all faith in the show but came to hate it, was when I viewed the final segment of the program. This segment (which followed the *ahem* wonderful section entitled "Games 4 Cheap Bastards*") was called "Worst Music in a Video Game Ever."

There were a total of four different games in this lineup. Though I cannot remember what half of them were, I do remember the other half. X-Play claimed that the worse music in _all_ of gamedom came from Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure and LUNAR: Silver Star Story COMPLETE. Anger was already forming in me from the bashing of Rhapsody, which came alongside one of the hosts shout-singing along, but tears of hate and disbelief formed in my eyes as my ears beheld their opinion that LUNAR, of all games, had mind-numbingly awful music, far beyond that of any others.

The host's voiceover continued, saying how Jennifer Stigile's voice was so offensive that he wished Alex and Luna would jump off the cliff of Dyne's Momument just to end the vocals.

I shall never watch the abomination which is X-Play again. :angry:

[zmweasel]

There were a total of four different games in this lineup. Though I cannot remember what half of them were, I do remember the other half. X-Play claimed that the worse music in _all_ of gamedom came from Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure and LUNAR: Silver Star Story COMPLETE.

I can't disagree with the inclusion of Rhapsody, which we mercilessly mocked during my stint at Working Designs, but Lunar: SSSC?! Yeesh. Victor's lyrics are take-'em-or-leave-'em, but Jenny can most definitely sing her heart out.

-- Z.

[maxlords]

I can't disagree with the inclusion of Rhapsody, which we mercilessly mocked during my stint at Working Designs, but Lunar: SSSC?! Yeesh. Victor's lyrics are take-'em-or-leave-'em, but Jenny can most definitely sing her heart out.

-- Z.

Yeah....ever try to listen to the Rhapsody soundtrack? I love game soundtrackcs but that one makes me gag :) It's a neat game....but man that music.... *shiver*

As for Lunar....agreed...US lyrics sucketh, but the singing ISN'T bad.

[Sylentwulf]

Isn't X-play a techtv channel? I think I watched it once, sure it sucks, almost as bad as electric playground, sweat, and players.

IMO The only shows worth watching before or after the merger on EITHER channel are (in order):

Judgment Day
Screen Savers
Cinematech
Icons
Filter
Fresh Gear

[NE146]

Makes you wish G4 would bring back STARCADE eh :( And yeah... I don't think X-play is originally a G4 show.

[Richter]

the TTV shows are XP, TSS, Fresh Gear, Robot Wars, & Unscrewed

TSS, Icons, & Pulse are the only shows I watch

Arena is a waste of a 30min time slot

[Half Japanese]

Robot Wars is just eurotrash that TechTV picked up to fill out a weak schedule. See also: Body Hits, Future Fighting Machines, Conspiracies (which is semi-interesting from time to time) and a couple others I'm forgetting.

[kainemaxwell]

That's horrible! Lunar's soundtrack is one the most beautiful ever made! Sure the singing is a tad shrill (neve rheard the Jap SSSC Op or Luna's Boat Song so i can't compare, has anyone else heard them) but that's way over the top to diss a beautiful rpg for something like this.

For shame! :angry:

[Brian_Provinciano]

I've always hated X-Play since it started! It's an absolute lousy show, the worst! I was talking to the people at TechTV in early 2003, and they were telling me about how Extended Play was becoming X-Play, a better, edgier show that will be awesome and more entertaining. I waiting for it's first episode, and when it aired, I was very, very disappointed to say the least. I had lost one of my few video game shows! Before G4 merged with TechTV, all I got were Electric Playground/Reviews on the Run and X-Play-- but all I watched was Electric Playground/Reviews on the Run. I may be crazy about video games, but I'm not going to watch X-Play-- I just can't stand it!

Extended Play, with the original female host and Sessler was fine--not nearly as good as Electric Playground, but still alright. Then the female left and it was just Sessler. Wasn't a very good show when it was just Sessler, but still watchable-- but then, when Morgan Webb game along-- ugh-- can someone say "Man Voice", "Not funny", "Man shoulders", "Can't review games", ... I know loads of you here are obsessed with her, but maybe you guys just need to get out more or something. Seriously, in the world, she's about a 2/10 in my books. Sarah Lane-- now there's a hot geek.

The main thing I find is that X-Play mainly focuses on negatives and tries to highlight them with unwitty comments that don't even entirely make sense. People really need to learn the definition of "irony" before they use it on TV. Electric Playground/Reviews on the Run/Judgement Day with TT and VL on the other hand are excellent shows. They go all over, meet developers, are very very good at interviewing, asking the questions, telling the whole story. The combination of the two make for really good reviews. They also seem to focus more on the good points about something than the negative, even when there are many negatives, which makes the shows much more pleasant to watch. As for X-Play's "SOLID 3..... out of 5"s... ratings of 1-5? How lazy is that? TT and VL have 1.0-10.0, which is basically 1-100. As well, they highlight the points in their Hits & Misses chart. They're fantastic!

As for G4(TechTV) now-- I haven't seen a video game show I didn't like--excluding X-Play. On another note though, that Robot Wars show really bothers me-- I would frankly rather them play X-Play two more times a day than that hour long bore fest. Which also reminds me-- since they merged with G4, they have so many video game shows, why do they even bother making/airing X-Play anymore? Hopefully they will cancel it very soon as a result of the moving TechTV to LA and such.

Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb to me, do not seem like real video game critics---honestly, in my eyes, they seem more like very bad, struggling actors who are only on X-Play because they want to "make it" in the film industry.

[lendelin]

Last week I switched from cable to satellite, and the new provider offers TechTV.

I watched a bit 3 or 4 shows, among them a nomination award show with videogame journalists from established mags.

I can't say this for all game shows of this channel, but from what I saw so far they are more than disappointing!

Can't these guys talk in an intelligent manner about something great like videogames? "Kicks ass," "badass, "cool," you can do this and that in a game, blah, blah, weird music and screaming in the background, dumb to childish humor I wouldn't have laughed at when I was twelve years old; do they really think gamers are half-witted idiots, suffer from short attention-span, and don't wanna think about one of the most creative branches of the entertainment industry today?

There are so many great topics you could cover for games in general (hardware technology, gameplay, game development, economic changes of the industry, the history of games, etc.) to reviewing specific games; there are so many hidden revolutions going on right now, and they think it's appropriate for the viewers to deliver blah-blah and dumb splashy-flashy effects? Talking about the underestimation of your audience...

When did it become fashionable and "cool" to act like a half-wit with a moderate intelligent potential? I must have missed this transition phase.

As in the case of "Knight Rider" where the car was more intelligent than the driver, thank godness videogames are more intelligent and interesting than the shows which cover it.

[Half Japanese]

When did it become fashionable and "cool" to act like a half-wit with a moderate intelligent potential? I must have missed this transition phase.

I'm fairly certain this started before you or I were even born.

[Crush Crawfish]

ARRRGH! I hate that show, and yet I still watch it for some reason. I'm still pissed about their Mega Man X7 and Mega Man Network Transmission reviews!!!! ZERO DOES NOT HAVE BOOBS DAMMIT!!!!!!! :angry:

Anyway, Lunar has great music. What also annoyed me is when they had a feature on good music in games, showing only games with lame licensed soundtracks and games with no notable music whatsoever (Metal gear solid 2 and Phantasy star online). Whatever....at least they gave R-type final a good review....

[Neil Koch]

The only reason I watch XPlay for is Morgan Webb's boobies. The attempts at humor are pathetic.

Electric Playground seems pretty decent but I'm a bit suspect since the hosts almost always give games good scores.

The worst shows on G4TechTV is Arena and especially g4TV.com. Arena (as pointed out before) is a waste of space and the hosts on G4TV.com (while it is an interesting idea) are extremely annoying as all they do is yell over each other.

[Brian_Provinciano]

The only reason I watch XPlay for is Morgan Webb's boobies. The attempts at humor are pathetic.

First off, I diskile Morgan Webb because she's ignorant and annoying, not because of her looks. However, you need to grow up and realize large breasts don't make a chick hot--a man with boobs is still a man (know what I mean?). Regardless, the gravitational pull on them is a little too strong for my tastes.


The worst shows on G4TechTV is Arena and especially g4TV.com. Arena (as pointed out before) is a waste of space and the hosts on G4TV.com (while it is an interesting idea) are extremely annoying as all they do is yell over each other.

I'm not a fan of "Arena" or "Sweat" on G4TTV myself, but I'm sure there are lots of people out there who like them a lot-- look at how many people play online games, and how many people play Madden and Tony Hawk. They need to have a variety of shows for it to make money.



Now more about Morgan...why she is an ignorant fool who shouldn't be on the air:

"This game is called Life Force 2--don't know why it's called '2', since there's no Life Force 1" -- first off Morgan, there IS a Life Force 1--it's for the NES. Second, even if you didn't know that, wouldn't it make sense for there to be a game before it if they called it "2"? Third, and more importantly, if you didn't know that, why not just google it rather than making yourself looks like a moron? I think Morgan thinks the Playstation 1 is an "old school-vintange-retro" system, and has never heard of even an SNES, haha.

"This game is 'wakeboarding'. I've never even heard of this sport" -- first, I'm pretty sure most people know of wakeboarding. Second, you're in the SF Bay Area! There's tons of wind there, and water. We're up in the Vancouver Canada area and people do lots of wakeboarding.

TechTV was a great station, but I'm glad they merged with G4. They clearly didn't know how to cast in the game critic/host department.

lendelin: I completely agree with you. I'd like to see more shows about the development, history and such, but it's still good to have a few wacky shows on there (BUT NOT X-PLAY!, heh). I really like the show "Icons", it's great! I'd like to see more shows like that.

[NE146]

Do you guys remember the old ZDTV/Tech tv videogame show (I forget the name). There was no Morgan Webb. It was just Adam Sessler. And back then it was a much more straight forward approach to reviewing games?

Which is why I was suprised when I tuned in later to the show.. now called X-play, finding out they had a female host. But now.. the attempts at humor and silliness has gone way up! And of course the addition of various skits, etc. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.. but it's obviously a pretty big departure from the way Adam used to review and how the show was structured.

[ManekiNeko]

It was Extended Play, NE1. I caught a few episodes last summer and thought it was pretty cool. Too bad they had to lobotomize it for the sake of TechTV's dumber viewers.

Actually, X-Play doesn't bother me as much since TechTV merged with G4. Morgan Webb doesn't seem so bad after you've listened to the obnoxious rants of that horny munchkin Tommy Tallarico. If he were any shorter than he already is, Smurfette would have to file for a restraining order.

JR

[Hovoc]

Not a fan of g4, never was.

I didnt care for the merger/takeover/whatever.

Only shows from either stations I like are FFM, Tech of(if it even still airs), icons, and eye drops.....which i havent seen lately :(

[ubersaurus]

X-Play hates Lunar: SSSC? God, they just get better and better in my eyes.

My only beef is they tend to rate shootemups poorly, but they did love R-type Final.

[aaron_157]

It was Extended Play, NE1. I caught a few episodes last summer and thought it was pretty cool. Too bad they had to lobotomize it for the sake of TechTV's dumber viewers.

Actually, X-Play doesn't bother me as much since TechTV merged with G4. Morgan Webb doesn't seem so bad after you've listened to the obnoxious rants of that horny munchkin Tommy Tallarico. If he were any shorter than he already is, Smurfette would have to file for a restraining order.

JR

before it was extended play it was gamespot tv, and before it was gamespot tv they had another title with it but I dont recall the name. Adam was there for both of em though.

[-hellvin-]

One of these days I'm going to have to watch xplay. Never seen it, but from what I hear it sounds like I'm not missing much ;D.

As for Lunar, I have played the sega cd version and don't know how it differs from the psx version but it is indeed one of the most abyssmal games I have ever played. Never really payed attention to the music though...

[Aussie2B]

Regardless, the gravitational pull on them is a little too strong for my tastes.

Breasts that large can't be any higher up. Maybe you need to stop thinking porno stars with huge fake tits that stick straight out like missiles and WonderBra models are "real" women. ;) If you want breasts that are higher and perkier, then look for a woman with smaller breasts. Or maybe a 13-year-old girl would be more up your alley. :P

I have strong shoulders and a deep voice too, I guess that makes me "manly" too. *rolls eyes* I'd rather be "manly" than look and sound like a mouse. I never thought I'd be standing up for Morgan Webb's appearance, but these complaints are ridiculous. o_O My main beef with her is her huge, boney body and her butt-ugly face. O_o

Getting back to the original topic...

One word: Lyton

Noriyuki Iwadare is indeed a good composer and Lunar does have some very nice songs, but Lyton's song IS one of the worst songs I have ever heard in a video game, including the "fixed" version. To make matters worse, the Sega CD soundtrack was infinitely better. Screw the in-game music and sound test, I'd rather listen to that bonus CD containing several tracks from the Sega CD version.

As for the vocal songs... ick, ick, ICK. I'll admit that I liked them when I was a teenager and I sang along with them, but take into consideration that I also sang along with just about every song on MTV, including crap by the Backstreet Boys and such. The Lunar vocal songs (and voice acting, for that matter) are on par with that drivel. Cheesy, pseudo-emotion-filled tripe, that's all it is. From what I've heard, the Japanese version is no better, though.

[Daria]

I can't disagree with the inclusion of Rhapsody, which we mercilessly mocked during my stint at Working Designs, but Lunar: SSSC?! Yeesh. Victor's lyrics are take-'em-or-leave-'em, but Jenny can most definitely sing her heart out.

-- Z.

Yeah....ever try to listen to the Rhapsody soundtrack? I love game soundtrackcs but that one makes me gag :) It's a neat game....but man that music.... *shiver*

I do... occasionally... and wilingly... >.>

I can fully understand why anyone would hate Rhapsody's soundtrack. The lyrics are corny, some of the voices are grating, but I dunno... it completely fits the style of the game.

But saying Lunar SSSC outright sucks is blasphemy.

Although I do find it funny they voted the only two soundtracks I listen to as being the 2 worst. :P

[zmweasel]

As for Lunar, I have played the sega cd version and don't know how it differs from the psx version but it is indeed one of the most abyssmal games I have ever played. Never really payed attention to the music though...

Wow. Care to elaborate on what you hated about Lunar: The Silver Star? Do you dislike RPGs as a whole?

-- Z.

[ubersaurus]

As for Lunar, I have played the sega cd version and don't know how it differs from the psx version but it is indeed one of the most abyssmal games I have ever played. Never really payed attention to the music though...

Wow. Care to elaborate on what you hated about Lunar: The Silver Star? Do you dislike RPGs as a whole?

-- Z.

The pacing was shoddy, at least in the PS1 version. It's like this-you get somewhere, but your level is too low to survive there, even if you fought every possible random battle on the way there. You have to go BACK and fight more battles, and since battles and leveling take forever in that game, it just gets very boring. Terrible Voice Acting and song lyrics aside, the game just wasn't very fun for me. I really wanted to like it-I tried to play through it, but it just couldn't catch my interest well at all.

[ManekiNeko]

Having played the Playstation version of Lunar: Silver Star Story, I must say that I wasn't especially impressed with the game. It's a step behind other RPGs on the system visually, and I'm not just talking about the Final Fantasy series, with its polygonal characters and rendered backgrounds. Personally, I didn't think it was even as appealing as Konami's Suikoden games. The characters, although brightly colored, were tiny and lifeless. They look more like they belong in a Happy Meal than an RPG.

Furthermore, I just couldn't stay interested in the game. Suikoden kept me coming back for more thanks to its wide selection of characters and more easily accessible environments. Lunar just doesn't offer an adequate incentive to keep playing. Lunar places more emphasis on its storyline than its gameplay, and if you don't really care about the characters, there really isn't much incentive to continue playing it.

JR

[zmweasel]

The pacing was shoddy, at least in the PS1 version. It's like this-you get somewhere, but your level is too low to survive there, even if you fought every possible random battle on the way there. You have to go BACK and fight more battles, and since battles and leveling take forever in that game, it just gets very boring. Terrible Voice Acting and song lyrics aside, the game just wasn't very fun for me. I really wanted to like it-I tried to play through it, but it just couldn't catch my interest well at all.

Hmmm. I don't recall the need for excessive leveling-up in Lunar: SSSC. In fact, the monster-avoidance gameplay mechanic was introduced into the PS1 version so the player could AVOID excessive combat.

There's no question that the PS1 remakes of Lunar are story-driven. If you play RPGs for the combat, SSSC and EBC aren't for you. And if you simply didn't care for the story or characters, I can only tell you that I did the best I could with the translation.

-- Z.

[ManekiNeko]

There's no question that the PS1 remakes of Lunar are story-driven. If you play RPGs for the combat, SSSC and EBC aren't for you. And if you simply didn't care for the story or characters, I can only tell you that I did the best I could with the translation.

Role-playing games are a lot like inkblots in that each individual sees them differently... often much differently. I'm a big Grandia fan myself. I personally feel that the series takes what was good about Lunar and fixes all of its shortcomings, but I've found people out there who actually love Lunar and hate Grandia with a burning passion. I guess role-playing games are just more open to interpretation than other genres of games.

[zmweasel]

Role-playing games are a lot like inkblots in that each individual sees them differently... often much differently. I'm a big Grandia fan myself. I personally feel that the series takes what was good about Lunar and fixes all of its shortcomings, but I've found people out there who actually love Lunar and hate Grandia with a burning passion. I guess role-playing games are just more open to interpretation than other genres of games.

Grandia was more combat-centric than Lunar, and the American versions of Grandia and G2 suffered from poor translations, AND the PS2 version of G2 was a wretched port, so I can understand why there are those who would love Lunar and loathe Grandia.

-- Z.

[Dreamscape]

Those idiots on X-Play said that FF8 was better than FF7. The only good shows on G4Tech TV are: Icons, The Screen Savers, Filter, and Fresh Gear.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

There's no question that the PS1 remakes of Lunar are story-driven. If you play RPGs for the combat, SSSC and EBC aren't for you. And if you simply didn't care for the story or characters, I can only tell you that I did the best I could with the translation.

Role-playing games are a lot like inkblots in that each individual sees them differently... often much differently. I'm a big Grandia fan myself. I personally feel that the series takes what was good about Lunar and fixes all of its shortcomings, but I've found people out there who actually love Lunar and hate Grandia with a burning passion. I guess role-playing games are just more open to interpretation than other genres of games.

The first grandia for saturn was my favorite rpg of all time. I agree full heartly about it taking the best parts of lunar then making it better with the battle system.

[ubersaurus]

The pacing was shoddy, at least in the PS1 version. It's like this-you get somewhere, but your level is too low to survive there, even if you fought every possible random battle on the way there. You have to go BACK and fight more battles, and since battles and leveling take forever in that game, it just gets very boring. Terrible Voice Acting and song lyrics aside, the game just wasn't very fun for me. I really wanted to like it-I tried to play through it, but it just couldn't catch my interest well at all.

Hmmm. I don't recall the need for excessive leveling-up in Lunar: SSSC. In fact, the monster-avoidance gameplay mechanic was introduced into the PS1 version so the player could AVOID excessive combat.

-- Z.

All I know is that I got to I think, the tower of althena (it's been years so I can't even remember) and I was getting killed left and right. My levels were just too low, and I didn't feel like spending the next 2 hours building them up.

I did, however, like the Austin Powers cameo in the one cave ;)

[NE146]

I played Lunar.. shortly after it's release on the Sega CD which was right in the height of my RPG obsession (something that started at Phantasy Star 1 and ended at Final Fantasy 7). Anyway, I remember Lunar to be very vanilla. There wasn't much to it but to move around and fight monsters, advance the plot. I just remember the high point of the game being the cartoon cinemas and voice acting from the Sega CD. Other than that, maybe I was looking for more secrets? I don't know. .. but yeah the impression I got after finishing it was that it was pretty plain.

The INTRO song though. LOL Man that is the gheyest tune ever, but catchy in a way. Everytime I hear it I gotta get up and boogie in front of the tv :D

When all the land is peaceful,
and there's no further to us at last.
There comes a time for love <-- this part where her voice goes high always makes me laugh LOL
Two hearts colliding into one within

[Aussie2B]

Hmmm. I don't recall the need for excessive leveling-up in Lunar: SSSC. In fact, the monster-avoidance gameplay mechanic was introduced into the PS1 version so the player could AVOID excessive combat.

That feature was horribly implemented. Yes, the battles weren't random, but you COULDN'T run away from them. Most monsters chase you down, and they move faster than you. In other places, the area is so small and tight that there's no way you can avoid them.

I didn't have any problem with having to level up extra myself, but GOOD GOD are the battles repetitive. From the moon on, I pretty much can't stomach the game. The first 20 or so hours are great, and it would've been a nice short, simple RPG to play over the course of a weekend or something (like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest) but it keeps going and going and going... Even if the variety level stayed the same thoroughout it would get dull and repetitive, but it gets even worse than that... The battles get MORE repetitive as you go, with only a few different variations of enemy groups in an entire whole area. It's as if the developers felt the same as I did about the later parts of the game and just stop caring.

[Daria]

Having played the Playstation version of Lunar: Silver Star Story, I must say that I wasn't especially impressed with the game. It's a step behind other RPGs on the system visually, and I'm not just talking about the Final Fantasy series, with its polygonal characters and rendered backgrounds. Personally, I didn't think it was even as appealing as Konami's Suikoden games. The characters, although brightly colored, were tiny and lifeless. They look more like they belong in a Happy Meal than an RPG.

I'm sorry do you mean the sprites? Becuase you couldn't possibly be refering to character development... For a Sega CD port Lunar's characters were extremely well fleshed out. Lunar was a next gen storyline illustrated in 16bit graphics. The Storyline and cast held up extremely well compared to even most PSX RPGs that were still plagued by wooden avatars.

If you don't like the game, then that's your preference. But to say it was lifeless is an outright lie.

[SoulBlazer]

Heh! Finally someone sees the TRUTH!

FF8 WAS better then FF7! :D

(Ducks flames that are sure to be coming his way)

Anyway, back on topic -- I've enjoyed all of those series. Grandia, Lunar, Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Lufia, etc.......and I would say that Final Fantasy is my favorite series, followed by Lunar, and then Suikoden. Due to the great stories, the fun gameplay, the very good music, and the enjoyable action.

My only complaint with the Lunar games is the easy battles and the borring auto sequence. I like to control a battle, not put a controller down and go do something else for a minute and then come back when the battle is done. :roll:

[Aussie2B]

I know people like to trash the GBA version of Lunar, but from what I've seen, the sprites are infinitely better than the PSX sprites. Maybe everything else about it sucks, but that's one area where I personally was impressed how much better it is.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Heh! Finally someone sees the TRUTH!

FF8 WAS better then FF7! :D

(Ducks flames that are sure to be coming his way)

I can't insult you because i thought both 7 and 8 to be nothing but fodder. No FF will ever be able to compete with 3/6. Though with 12 in yasumi matsuno and the tactics (quest?) team i i'm actually looking forward to a new FF game after a veryyyyyy long time.

[zmweasel]

All I know is that I got to I think, the tower of althena (it's been years so I can't even remember) and I was getting killed left and right. My levels were just too low, and I didn't feel like spending the next 2 hours building them up.

Something about Lunar: SSSC that I forgot to mention in my earlier post: the bosses' stats are determined by Alex's experience level. For example, the Saline Slimer's stats are:

Hit Points = 80 x Alex's level
Attack = 2 x AL
Defense = 1 x AL
etc.

In other words, "leveling up" won't do you much good. Perhaps you weren't using the proper strategy against whatever boss was giving you trouble.

If it was non-boss monsters giving you grief, again, it's possible you weren't using proper strategy, as opposed to being underpowered.


I did, however, like the Austin Powers cameo in the one cave ;)

Nice! That's an NPC appearance most players don't catch.

-- Z.

[zmweasel]

I know people like to trash the GBA version of Lunar, but from what I've seen, the sprites are infinitely better than the PSX sprites. Maybe everything else about it sucks, but that's one area where I personally was impressed how much better it is.

Lunar Legend gets trashed because it's a heavily abbreviated PS1 version of SSSC, and the English translation isn't up to snuff. The sprites ARE quite nice, though.

-- Z.

[zmweasel]

That feature was horribly implemented. Yes, the battles weren't random, but you COULDN'T run away from them. Most monsters chase you down, and they move faster than you. In other places, the area is so small and tight that there's no way you can avoid them.

Certain areas essentially forced monster encounters (the small/tight areas you mention), but you could certainly escape from some of them. L2: EBC also introduced dashing, as I vaguely recall.


Even if the variety level stayed the same thoroughout it would get dull and repetitive, but it gets even worse than that... The battles get MORE repetitive as you go, with only a few different variations of enemy groups in an entire whole area. It's as if the developers felt the same as I did about the later parts of the game and just stop caring.

Most areas of both SSSC and EBC have four unique enemies (including palette variants), so I'm not sure what you mean by "MORE repetitive as you go."

Again, as mentioned earlier, Lunar is not a combat-driven RPG by any means. The developers chose to make the PS1 combat sequence even simpler than the SCD combat sequence, such was their desire to emphasize the story.

-- Z.

[ubersaurus]

All I know is that I got to I think, the tower of althena (it's been years so I can't even remember) and I was getting killed left and right. My levels were just too low, and I didn't feel like spending the next 2 hours building them up.

Something about Lunar: SSSC that I forgot to mention in my earlier post: the bosses' stats are determined by Alex's experience level. For example, the Saline Slimer's stats are:

Hit Points = 80 x Alex's level
Attack = 2 x AL
Defense = 1 x AL
etc.

In other words, "leveling up" won't do you much good. Perhaps you weren't using the proper strategy against whatever boss was giving you trouble.

If it was non-boss monsters giving you grief, again, it's possible you weren't using proper strategy, as opposed to being underpowered.


I did, however, like the Austin Powers cameo in the one cave ;)

Nice! That's an NPC appearance most players don't catch.

-- Z.

Could be it...maybe I'll come back to it someday, but it's not much of a priority. I'm not sure I can go back to alot of RPGs after going through KOTOR.

I'm amazed few people caught Austin Powers...my friend had a game save as close as he could to Austin just so we could go back and read the funny ass dialogue there. I still remember one of the girl characters (Luna I think) getting all indignant at him LOL you said you worked on the translation...was that anyone notable in the Japanese version?

Funny how that cameo was more memorable then the "almost porn" of the hot tub animated sequences.

[-hellvin-]

The game just sucked. There is really not much more to elaborate on. The characters did not interest me in the slightest. The combat is drool inducing. The missions are so linear and boring it drove me crazy.

The bridge is out. Go get the axe. I have the axe. This will take time to repair. You should go to the sea port and take a boat to the mainland. We need a map to drive there, go get it. Now that we have the map we need the lighthouse activated. There are monsters in the lighthouse.......

bleh....and I fought two battles in one hour of gameplay. Just ran away from every one cause it took less time. Except for the time when I had the magician guy. Then he could use one lightning wave attack so it took less time.

Perhaps the game gets better...I don't really know. Don't really care. Will just sit on the shelf with all my other sega cd games and the sequel I will never play.

[zmweasel]

I'm amazed few people caught Austin Powers...my friend had a game save as close as he could to Austin just so we could go back and read the funny ass dialogue there. I still remember one of the girl characters (Luna I think) getting all indignant at him LOL you said you worked on the translation...was that anyone notable in the Japanese version?

As I vaguely recall, that NPC was fairly droll in the Japanese text. I took plenty of liberties with NPC dialogue, because I wanted every NPC to provide a rewarding conversation, and because Japanese humor was usually lost in translation. There was a long period after I left WD when I regretted not being more "faithful" to the Japanese text, but I'm better now.

-- Z.

[Daria]

I know people like to trash the GBA version of Lunar, but from what I've seen, the sprites are infinitely better than the PSX sprites. Maybe everything else about it sucks, but that's one area where I personally was impressed how much better it is.

I don't think anyone who's ever trashed Lunar Legend has said anything regarding the grpahics. They are pretty. But as with all genres, it takes more then some pretty graphics to make a good RPG... except I suppose if you play them all in Japanese.

As weasel already pointed out the biggest flaw with Lunar Legends is the translation. It's boring, and poorly exacuted. There's one scene for example where Nash is talking, Nall asks a a question and Luna blows up at them for arguing. O.o Because Ubisoft failed to inject any attitude into the dialouge it ceased to make any sense.

As for Hellvin's complaint about the point A to point B to unlock C quests... what did you except from a Sega CD RPG? Pretty much every tradional RPG from that era is the same. That doesn't sound like a problem with Lunar as much as the genre it's self. What causes Lunar to standout from the rest of them isn't the gameplay, or even the plot. But the way the plot is told. The storytelling. The character interaction, humour, voice overs, and music. It's a very cinematic experience from days when games just weren't made that way.

[Aussie2B]

I don't think anyone who's ever trashed Lunar Legend has said anything regarding the grpahics. They are pretty. But as with all genres, it takes more then some pretty graphics to make a good RPG... except I suppose if you play them all in Japanese.

People who play RPGs in Japanese have more sense than that. :/ Even if someone doesn't know Japanese at all, I don't know of ANYONE who plays them for graphics. The graphics can help convey the story to some extent, but Japanese RPG players are playing because they either know Japanese or want to experience a fun battle system.

[Aussie2B]

Most areas of both SSSC and EBC have four unique enemies (including palette variants), so I'm not sure what you mean by "MORE repetitive as you go."

Well, yeah, the number of enemies in each area stays pretty consistent (although I'm pretty sure that towards the end there are fairly large areas that only have 2 or 3 different enemies), but what I mean is that you get to places where you encounter only a few different enemy formations over and over and over... The early areas seemed to have a greater variety of enemy groupings.

[Daria]

I don't think anyone who's ever trashed Lunar Legend has said anything regarding the grpahics. They are pretty. But as with all genres, it takes more then some pretty graphics to make a good RPG... except I suppose if you play them all in Japanese.

People who play RPGs in Japanese have more sense than that. :/ Even if someone doesn't know Japanese at all, I don't know of ANYONE who plays them for graphics. The graphics can help convey the story to some extent, but Japanese RPG players are playing because they either know Japanese or want to experience a fun battle system.

Not to step off topic here, but aside from tactical RPGs I've never played an RPG battle system that was THAT much fun.

If they know Japanese that's a different matter. Then it's no different then me playing games in english.

[Cmosfm]

Well it looks like the gamers have spoken, X-Play sucks, and I do agree. I have to say that while watching it, and watching Morgan Webb speak to me like I'm a fucking 13 year old skater boy...I felt like I lost a lot of intelligence. Brian_Provinciano & lendelin summed my feelings up pretty well.

I know if I want news from now on, I'm sticking to magazines, at least they don't treat me like a child.

[ubersaurus]

I love X-Play. It's one of my prime sources for seeing a game in action. Considering there's numerous people on their review staff for the television reviews, I can generally expect to see a review thats at least halfway decent, more then I can say for certain, other review shows.

They were sweet when they were Extended Play, and they're still sweet, because even though the set and one of the hosts may have changed, they still do everything backstage the same way.

[Azazel]

The battle system for Emerald Dragon is pretty good. One of the few RPGs I can play more than once and not be bored of it.