The Nineteen Nineties gave us one of the maximum celebrated Eastern RPGs of all time, and even though the Lunar video games are frequently overpassed compared to their contemporaries, they nonetheless surround the whole lot magical about that technology.
The Lunar Remastered Assortment is a welcome revival, then. It bundles Lunar: The Silver Superstar Tale and Lunar 2: Everlasting Blue into one handy bundle, providing upper solution visuals, some (rather minor) high quality of lifestyles enhancements, and an all-new English dub.
With regards to storytelling and characterisation, each video games nonetheless hang up. Granted, the overarching plotlines don’t seem to be the rest particular — selected heroes, almighty dragons, a rising evil — however there is an simple allure to the adventures themselves.
Totally animated cutscenes — entire with that vintage 90s anime taste — all the time helped Lunar resonate on a story stage. They continue to be a excitement to behold these days, however the remaster’s use of AI upscaling does take the threshold off while you realize it. Maximum gamers most certainly may not even catch on, however there are occasions when the AI does the standard AI factor, growing peculiar linework or patterns that don’t seem to be meant to be there.
And this leads right into a broader dialog concerning the Lunar video games deserving a higher go back. Certainly, different facets of this assortment really feel a little half-arsed. As an example, you’ll be able to now double and even triple the velocity of turn-based battle, which is excellent for the reason that first Lunar particularly generally is a gradual, grindy recreation.
Then again, as a result of battle encounters don’t seem to be random, and you’ll be able to best grind for ranges in set dungeons, the method of beefing up your birthday celebration nonetheless appears like a chore. At this level, why no longer simply come with extras like an not obligatory revel in booster? The draw of those outdated titles is not to relive their inherent tedium — it is to take in the ambience of a style’s bygone technology.
Given what number of issue spikes those video games have — as in, you don’t have any actual selection however to grind some ranges to even stand an opportunity towards particular bosses — it is laborious to not really feel as despite the fact that a lot more may have been finished to toughen the whole drift.
It is a disgrace, as a result of as alluded, it is Lunar’s tale and characters that reel you in. If you find yourself no longer mindlessly battering the similar monsters in the similar dungeon time and again, those are truly smartly paced RPGs that funnel you throughout a reasonably memorable myth global.
And to be truthful, the combat gadget is beautiful elementary anyway. It is your usual turn-based affair that does little to excite right here in 2025 — even though the spritework remains to be immaculate. Putting in place your birthday celebration’s formation is ready as in-depth because it will get, and in each video games, it is not till in a while that battle calls for strategic nuance past therapeutic when your HP is low.
Having mentioned all of that, there is not anything moderately just like the slow pride of seeing your birthday celebration’s stats creep upper. Perhaps that is the nostalgia speaking, however there is a straightforwardness to the stereotypical 90s JRPG that virtually feels refreshing at the present time.
You understand what else is nostalgic? Lunar’s English localisation — a script so 90s that it even manages to reference cultural occasions of the time. From what we will be able to inform, the discussion is most commonly unchanged on this assortment, regardless of the utterly rerecorded voicework (which, we are satisfied to file, is forged all over).
We perceive why JRPG purists may have sought after a extra… correct translation for this revival, however there is not any doubt that the outdated script is helping identify a real 90s anime aesthetic. The localisation workforce had a good time with this one, and that lighthearted, frequently jokey tone bleeds into Lunar’s general identification.
Conclusion
The Lunar video games embrace the whole lot that is nostalgic about 90s JRPGs, from the joys characters and vibrant myth worlds, to the wonderful spritework and catchy song. That mentioned, Lunar’s underlying grind could make it tough to abdomen right here in 2025 — particularly when the Lunar Remastered Assortment does not do sufficient to mitigate the collection’ maximum tedious facets. It is nice to revel in those video games once more — a completely deserved revival — however it is a actual disgrace that the gathering is not flush with extra useful options.
