LUNAR The Silver Star PCE Project

[DragonmasterDan]

You like Faxanadu?

I also like Faxanadu, but that's based on the fact that it's an 8-bit game from around 1988 and considering the time it was pretty decent. The only similar games on the US NES (or any other domestic console) at the time were Zelda 2 or Rygar, and even those aren't super similar. It's based on the context it was released.

[Arkhan]

I'm a big fan of Faxanadu, Legacy of the Wizard, and the Hydlide series.

All 3 games tend to make western gamers piss-and-moan about life.

There are a few other games like this as well. 

Legacy of the Wizard is a great game, and most whiners didn't read the manual

[DragonmasterDan]

I'm a big fan of Faxanadu, Legacy of the Wizard, and the Hydlide series.

All 3 games tend to make western gamers piss-and-moan about life.

There are a few other games like this as well. 

Legacy of the Wizard is a great game, and most whiners didn't read the manual

I like Legacy of the Wizard as well.

Hydlide on the other hand, not so great. But that's if you compare it to games like Ys and Zelda which are newer game relative to when Hydlide was actually developed. The problem with Hydlide was it didn't reach the US until after those games did, which it was instantly compared to in a negative light.

[Arkhan]

Hydlide on the other hand, not so great. But that's if you compare it to games like Ys and Zelda which are newer game relative to when Hydlide was actually developed. The problem with Hydlide was it didn't reach the US until after those games did, which it was instantly compared to in a negative light.

Hydlide 3 trumps zelda so hard

[Mathius]

I never knew there was a Hydlide 3.

[Arkhan]

I never knew there was a Hydlide 3.

Super Hydlide for Genesis is Hydlide 3

It goes:

Hydlide 1
Hydlide 2: Shine of Darkness
Hydlide 3: The Space Memories (Super Hydlide)
Virtual Hydlide
Windows Remakes of first 3

[Mathius]

Oh ok.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Arm, are you thinking of this game being Super CD?  Or is there maybe the possibility of a hybrid for Arcade card owners?  Also, if I didn't mention it before, don't forget there's an ost for the Lunar Harmony of Silver Star for PSP to choose music tracks from!  IIRC, they even use live instruments in alot of the songs, so it'd be worth checking out, I'd say it's much better in general then the PS1/Saturn version's music.

[Arm]

"Arm, are you thinking of this game being Super CD?  Or is there maybe the possibility of a hybrid for Arcade card owners?"

There are chances it's going to be a Super CD game. Maybe arcade card compatible for faster loadings, but I'm still not sure about this. We'll see.

'there's an ost for the Lunar Harmony of Silver Star for PSP to choose music tracks from!  IIRC, they even use live instruments in alot of the songs, so it'd be worth checking out, I'd say it's much better in general then the PS1/Saturn version's music."

Yeah I know, I have the soundtrack and some music rips from the game too. I had from the beginning the idea of using some of these tracks

[Arkhan]

You definitely want to do a SuperCD game.  Why wouldn't you!

[nodtveidt]

Vay was just uninteresting, when Pottle died I was relieved. Way too much time was spent leveling up, the dungeon design was boring.

The game wasn't that bad. The dungeon design was actually kind of interesting IMO... it strayed from the usual maze-like clichés of the time with more of a "realistic" outlay... most of the areas were similar to something you'd find in real life. And there wasn't a whole lot of level grinding either... only in a few areas, and usually only if you wanted to. I usually only did level buildup in the beginning (to level 6), before the Wind Elemental (to level 20), and before the Ultragoyles (to level 30 or higher in Marwick... last time I went to level 44... and I always get the best equipment in the towns past Treefall)... then sometimes at the end if I felt like it... there is a great spot in Danek for level grinding if you feel like it (if you get Sandor to 999HP, Draktyr is a breeze). But hell, I did level grinding in Lunar too so that's not even an issue... and sometimes, before the game proper even started... sell off the clothes he starts with and buy some heavy clothes, then go out on your own and kill beetles while hanging around the shrine of Althena. Sure Alex has to punch them to death at first but it really gives you a serious edge for dealing with the early challenges, like the Haunted Woods... and it goes even faster if you get a Dagger drop. And right after Alex learns to use magic, I do level grinding in the sewers until he learns his multi-attack fire spell... that gives him enough power to not only deal with the dragon but also to pass the trial of Vane. There are other grind points later in the game too (like before the Black Dragon, level grinding is a MUST, as that thing is really powerful)... I once got Alex to level 99 in Ghaleon's palace... that refresh spring inside the palace made it mad easy.

Vay trumps Phantasy Star II and III with ease. They SUCK. Hard. I don't even know how they made it out of testing with so many glitches and such terrible gameplay, especially III.

[Mathius]

Man, Old Rover! If I ever buy Vay I am going to use your post as a strategy guide! Seriously!

[nodtveidt]

Heh, I could write more about the game if need be. I recently played through it again a few weeks ago.

Now, you wanna talk about grinding... I just finished another run-thru of FF3US on the SNES. That's one of the most grind-whoring games I've ever played. I put 40 hours into it, 98% of which was spent building levels and magics.

[spenoza]

Regardless of how much JRPGs have strayed from their rather distant tabletop origins, they do have one thing in common. Everyone complains when you can't customize your abilities, and then when you can, you have to grind and fuzz and micromanage to either become effective or to NOT become a godlike power. FF6/3, 2j, and 7 were all customization whores where there was almost no difference between characters except their innate specialties which you simply could not change. For FF2j disregard that very last bit.

I've come to like, more recently, the RPGs, tabletop and JRPGs, that give you fewer things to customize. Makes it easier to engage with whatever else is going on. Lunar was always pretty good about that. The battles were strategic enough but you weren't micro-managing your character growth. I like focusing on making the best of what I have.

[nodtveidt]

Micromanaging in a game isn't a bad thing though... it's more or less closer to reality, although people usually play games to escape reality.