Lunar: Eternal Blue

The Good
While Eternal Blue doesn't offer anything new and revolutionary to the RPG genre, it does provide a solid, traditional JRPG experience. Furthermore, it improves nearly every aspect of the original. No longer is the story about some childish "I wanna be a hero!"-type adventure gone wrong, but it's a tale of a world in peril, with many plot twists and revelations that keep you playing, and a cast of interesting characters that have far more depth than the rather static ones in the original.

The graphics in the game are also quite good for its time. The character/enemy sprites and locales have a decent amount of detail, and the animated cutscenes really show what the Sega CD was capable of as a console. The music in the game is good as well, and in my opinion is nearly on par with some PS1 RPG soundtracks. Finally, the localization quality of this game is top notch. With voice acting and tons of cool 90s pop culture references, the localization gives a certain liveliness and sense of humor that no other game at the time had. Working Designs really outdid themselves with this title.

The Bad
My main complaint about this game lies with the "cost" system in this game. Sure, it allows you to control the development of characters' magic directly, but the fact that saving costs something is just plain annoying, and when you're trying to save frequently to avoid being reckless, and/or are in a rush to end a playing session, the last thing you want is to have to fight more random battles to cover saving costs. Other than that, I really have no complaints about this game.

The Bottom Line
While Lunar: Eternal Blue is far from being the biggest, most popular RPG out there, it certainly delivers a satisfying experience. It is a true underrated classic, and is a treat to anyone who's into old-school 16-bit RPGs. I would highly recommend at least giving the game a passing glance. It deserves a lot of praise.