So this has been boggling my mind for some time. Whenever Lunar: The Silver Star Story is brought up, almost always everyone is quick the bash the psx version, and they go on and on about how much better the Sega CD original was. The most common point is that they "screwed up the story", but I fail to see how. Sure they changed the story a bit, but honestly it's no better or worse than the original. It's kinda hard to screw up a typical cliched jrpg story line. The original Lunar was rushed out of the doors in an attempt to save the Sega CD from certain doom, and it was left largely unfinished (evidenced by 2 "important" characters that are only given an introduction and seen in a single battle near the very end of the game and never again, the fact that there was no "greater" evil, a formula that most jrpgs even at that time stuck to, the extremely short length of the game, and the general lack of polish in much of the game) I think the psx version, while probably not what the original would have represented had it been given more time to finish, is a much more finished product. It's much longer, has quite a bit more attention to detail, and generally more polished.
My main issue is also the story changes, there's a few particular things that stick out in my mind. I don't want to spoil too much but it actually makes no sense why Ghaleon for example, might be interested in kidnapping other singers if (as in the Playstation remake) he already knows that Luna is who he is looking for after Quark confirms this. There's a lot of plot holes and a lot of things that weren't broke that were fixed so to speak.
While there's more character development in the remake, it's not necessarily for the better, a lot of motivations were changed for less than obvious reasons.
Also, it's much longer? Are you kidding me, the Playstation version is far shorter for quite a few reasons, there's no battles on the overworld, the dungeon size is ridiculously small so the game can be blown through in under 15 hours for someone playing the first time. The Sega CD version is at least a time and a half the size, plus there's far more to explore.
I can only imagine 3 main reasons why people prefer the original more:
1. They changed it up quite a bit. Human beings are stubborn, we like the status quo and tend to resist or are reluctant to accept change. It's understandable if the change is not in a good direction, but in the case of Lunar SSS it wasn't really in any direction, good or bad. People might resent the fact that many of the changes seemed unnecessary (and in fact many were).
They changed it up to give the back story more of a Judeo-Christian theme in a number of ways. In my mind this made the story less original and unique.
2. Nostalgia. Most of the people who played both versions of Lunar SSS have probably played the sega cd version first, and probably closer to when it first came out (i am one such person). Typically we like or value the original more for nostalgic feelings.
Again, I disagree. Having spent a lot of time on the Lunar-Net forums, many users played the Playstation (or even GBA game) only to play the original later and prefer the original.
3. The sega cd is an underdog. Psx had many rpgs, and many good ones. Lunar certainly doesn't stand out much above many of the excellent psx rpgs, and might get quickly written off. Sega cd on the other hand had a small handful of AAA titles, and even fewer rpgs altogether. Lunar for the Sega CD was a platform defining game. If you get a sega cd or when you first get one, Lunar SSS is one of the titles that is always highly recommended and usually on most peoples to buy list. Had lunar never existed for psx it probably wouldn't have had much impact. Had it never had a sega cd release, it would have been a major blow to the system. Also, many people might be biased altogether against sony and the psx.
I agree partly, people like for the gold in otherwise barren mountains. But that doesn't effect the individual version.
So what do you guys think? Also, if anyone can provide any insight to the Japan only Saturn release for comparison I am all ears. Also contrary to popular belief the gba port never existed.
Also, the Saturn version is basically the same as the Playstation version, there's also a PC port (same as well) and a Saturn MPEG version.