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Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Developer(s)Game Arts / Vanguard Works
Publisher(s)
SeriesLunar
Platform(s)Sega Saturn, PlayStation
ReleaseSaturn
  • JP: July 23, 1998
PlayStation
  • JP: May 27, 1999
  • NA: December 15, 2000
Genre(s)Role-playing video game
Mode(s)Single player

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, originally released in Japan as Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (ルナ2エターナルブルー, Runa Tsū Etānaru Burū), is a role-playing video game developed by Game Arts and Vanguard Works as a remake of the Sega CD title, Lunar: Eternal Blue, which was released in 1995. It is the sequel to Game Arts' preceding remake title, Lunar: Silver Star Story, and is set in the same high fantasy universe.

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete takes place 1000 years after Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, and follows the adventures of Hiro, a young explorer, who meets Lucia, a visitor from the far-away Blue Star. Hiro involves himself in Lucia's mission to stop Zophar, an evil, all-powerful being, from destroying the world, and accompanies her in a journey across the world of Lunar. Hiro and Lucia are joined by an ever-expanding cast of supporting characters.

Is one of the most highly rated Role Playing Games PlayStation. initially released on the Sega Saturn in 1998 and was later ported to Sony's PlayStation in 1999. The PlayStation version was released in North America by Working Designs, the regional licence holder for the series, in December, 2000.

Gameplay

Lunar: Eternal Blue is a traditional role-playing video game featuring two-dimensional character sprites and backgrounds. The game is presented from a top-down perspective with players moving the characters across numerous fantasy environments to complete story-based objectives that move the plot forward, as well as interact with non-player characters to expand the script and gain various rewards.

The differences between this title and Lunar: Eternal Blue on Sega CD are numerous. The Lunar 2 remake implements many of the same gameplay revisions as are found in Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete; there are no battles on the overworld and no random encounters. Also like Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, the size of most of Lunar 2's many dungeons decreased substantially from the original game. Four dungeons were cut from the remake, and several new ones were added (the exact number varies from Saturn to PlayStation). The Magic Experience system from the original game does not appear in the remake.

The graphics are more detailed than in the original release, due to the higher resolution and broader color palette of 32-bit platforms, compared with the Sega CD. While many monsters from the Sega CD version recur, they are all redrawn, and a number of bosses look quite different. The overall number of full-motion video (FMV) cutscenes in Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete is about 35, significantly reduced from the original MegaCD/SegaCD version's 61. A number of short, scene-setting cutscenes and minor character introductions were cut from the remake. Despite this, the total amount of FMV time is longer in the remake because many scenes were extended.

Plot

Characters

The characters of Lunar 2: Eternal Blue were designed by animator and illustrator Toshiyuki Kubooka, a veteran of the Lunar series.

  • Hiro - a teenaged treasure hunter who is interested in the Lunar world's epic history.
  • Ruby - Hiro's constant companion, a talking, cat-like creature who claims to be a baby red dragon.
  • Lucia - a mysterious and soft-spoken girl from the Blue Star who is mostly naive of the world's customs
  • Ronfar - a priest-turned-gambler with healing skills
  • Lemina - money-grubbing heiress to the position of head of the world's highest magic guild
  • Jean - a traveling dancer with a hidden talent for martial arts
  • Leo - captain of Althena's guard and servant of the goddess.[5]

Story

The story takes place approximately one thousand years after the events of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. Once again, Lunar (an inhabited moon that circles a planet called The Blue Star) is endangered, this time by the return of Zophar, the God of Evil responsible for the destruction of life on the Blue Star millennia before. This causes Lucia, a being assigned the task of eventually reviving life on the Blue Star, to awaken before her time and set forth on a mission to once again eliminate Zophar's influence.

The story unfolds from the perspective of Hiro, a teenaged archaeologist who resides in the Salyan Desert with his grandparent and adolescent dragon companion Ruby (who, like Nall in the previous game, resembles a talking, winged cat). The game begins with Hiro and Ruby pilfering a Dragon's Eye jewel from one of the several ancient ruins in their region. The escapade ends with Hiro inadvertently setting off a trap that forces them to flee from the ruins and ultimately prevents their return.

On the way back to the research outpost, Hiro and Ruby are stopped by a principle member of Althena's Guards, the arrogant and boisterous White Knight Leo, who informs them that a 'Destroyer' is to appear at the ruins to the Northwest and that they should return to their homes immediately. Upon arriving at their home, the two find Leo attempting to extract information about the nearby ruins (referred to as 'The Blue Spire') from their grandfather Gwyn, an elderly archaeologist, in the hope of achieving access to the ruins' impenetrable interior. Finding Gwyn of little use, Leo departs, leaving the three of them to ponder the arrival of the so-called 'Destroyer'. When Hiro climbs to the roof to survey the status of their surroundings, he witnesses a mysterious light emanating from the Blue Spire. He informs his grandfather of the strange phenomenon, and the three of them decide to investigate the ruins for themselves.

Development

The Saturn version has better quality music thanks to PCM encoding. On the other hand, the PlayStation versions use sequenced audio similar to the MIDI format. All sprite transparencies in the Saturn version, including the dialogue and menu boxes, are replaced with either solid colors or dithering effects. The full-motion video cutscenes in the Saturn version use the Saturn's standard Cinepak software compression method, which, in spite of unusually clean encoding in this case, still tends to display more compression artifacts than seen in the PlayStation versions. As the PlayStation versions use a higher-fidelity M-JPEG compression for the cutscenes, the game was extended onto a third disc for the Japanese and English PlayStation releases.

The PlayStation versions include a variety of features that were added after the Saturn version was released. The PlayStation versions feature one more cutscene than the Saturn version does. In the Saturn version, the first ending was simply still screens, while it is fully animated on the PlayStation versions. A number of bromides were added, and all bromides display at a higher resolution than in the Saturn version. The Saturn version contains two new dungeons, while the PlayStation version adds an additional two, with a host of extra monsters and items to attend them.

The packaging for the PlayStation game contained poster of the cover art on one side, and a map on the other, along with a hardcover instruction booklet, paper standee's of the characters, and a large replica of Lucia's pendant. Many game-stores had promotional Ghaleon punching puppets for pre-orders. There was also to be an Alex punching puppet for the pre-order for the computer game, but was never made, therefore, the Alex punching puppet has never been made available.

Voice actors

  • Hiro (ヒーロ, Hīro)/Hiero - Hikaru Midorikawa (緑川 光) / Chad Letts
  • Ruby (ルビィ, Rubī) - Kumiko Nishihara (西原久美子) / Jennifer Stigile
  • Gwyn (グェン, Guen)- Masaharu Sato (佐藤正治) / (Uncredited)
  • Lucia (ルーシア, Rūshia) - Chisa Yokoyama (横山智佐) / Kelly Weaver
  • Ronfar (ロンファ, Ronfā) - Ryotaro Okiayu (置鮎龍太郎) / Ned Schuft
  • Jean (ジーン, Jīn) - Aya Hisakawa (久川 綾) / Jennifer Stigile
  • Lemina Ausa (レミーナ・オーサ, Remīna Ōsa) - Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) / Kathy Ostrander
  • Nall (ナル, Naru) - Rika Matsumoto (松本梨香) / Jonathan Esses
  • Zophar (ゾファー, Zofā) - Iemasa Kayumi (家弓家正) / T. Owen Smith
  • False Althena (偽アルテナ, Nise Arutena) - Shiho Niiyama (新山志保) / Katie Staeck
  • Luna (ルーナ, Luhna) - Masako Ikeda (池田昌子) / Kathryn Kirk
  • Dragonmaster Ghaleon (ドラゴンマスターガレオン, Doragonmasutā Gareon) - Rokuro Naya (納谷六郎) / John Truitt
  • White Knight Leo (白の騎士レオ, Shiro no Kishi Reo) - Shin'ichiro Ota (太田真一郎) / Ty Webb
  • Blue Master Lunn (青の拳聖ライナス, Ao no Kensei Rainasu) - Masaharu Sato (佐藤正治) / Blake Dorsey
  • Black Wizard Borgan (黒の魔道師ボーガン, Kuro no Madōshi Bōgan) - Daisuke Gouri (郷里大輔) / Dean Williams
  • Red Priestess Mauri (赤の神官マウリ, Aka no Shinkan Mauri) - Kumiko Watanabe (渡辺久美子) / Emmunah Hauser

Reception

Upon its release in 2000, the game received the same positive reviews that its predecessor received. IGN gave the game a rating of 8/10, criticizing the graphics but praising the game's fun and simplicity. They stated, "This is exactly what the PlayStation needs [...] Instead of hiding behind a cloak of seriousness, it extracts qualities from simple themes that redeem it as a charming, fun game."[1] The game currently holds an 82.79% at GameRankings.[2] Overall, the game received very favorable reviews from critics, and even greater reviews from fans, who have given the game a current rating of 8.9 on GameFAQs,[3] making it one of the highest rated RPGs on the original PlayStation.

References

  1. ^ "Lunar 2: Eternal Blue - IGN". Psx.ign.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  2. ^ "Lunar 2: Eternal Blue for PlayStation". GameRankings. 2000-12-15. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  3. ^ "Lunar 2: Eternal Blue for PlayStation". GameFAQs. 2000-12-15. Retrieved 2013-09-29.