Lunar 2: Eternal Blue - Complete

The Good
After Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete, the sequel, Lunar: Eternal Blue was inevitable. And as the game was already out on the Sega Saturn, it was only a matter of time until it arrived in America. Is the sequel better than the original? Well no. But it is a worthy entry into the series, and shows that you do not need a big budget to make a great game.

In Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete, you assume the role of Hiro, a young man whom loves to explore ancient ruins and dreams of the past and adventures. His companion, Ruby will be familiar to anyone who played anyone who has played a Lunar game. When the Blue Tower opens, Hiro will get his chance to go on a grand adventure. Things get more interesting as Hiro meets Lucia, and is immediately smitten with her. And an old enemy of Lunar threatens to destroy it. Cthulhu…I mean Zophar. As one would expect Lunar 2, is filled with memorable moments and unforgettable characters. While the story is not as good as the original it is still well written and packs quite a few surprises.

The game is much longer than the original. While Lunar SSC, was about 25 hours, Lunar 2, will easily take 45-50. I mean when the demo for the game is the first 8 hours you know it will be a long game, If Lunar: SSC had and 8 hour demo that would be 1/3 of the game.

The Graphics are excellent in Lunar 2. No choppy Playstation 3D here. It’s all 2D and with 2D that looks like this who needs 3D? The character sprites never don’t match like in the original game. And on the world map the party is represented by only Hiro, and his sprite is large. The spells are all impressive, as one would expect, as are the special moves.

The Sound and Music is excellent as well. As we have come to expect from the Lunar series. The voice acting is good, and lends more personality to the characters. The music is very good and always fit’s the scene. And with this collectors edition you get a complete soundtrack, unlike Lunar: SSC which just had a sampler.

The Gameplay is very much like the original. You do not get attacked on the world map. And in dungeons you can see the monsters before they attack. The battle are turn based, with attacks, magic, and special moves. And as the characters gain levels they gain extra attacks per round which is very useful. In addition you can equip items which allow you party members to gain more spells and abilities. Which is an interesting addition. There are also side quests, however most are not available until after you complete the game and play the additional content. Bromides also return, there are now male ones as well. Fear not however as they are not as revealing as those of the females.

The Bad
No Lunar 3? When the game zooms in on a party member as they do a special move it tends to get all pixelated.

The Bottom Line
RPG fans cannot go wrong with the Lunar series. It is one of my all time favorite franchises, and that says a lot because I have played a lot of RPGS.