The Nineteen Nineties gave us among the most celebrated Japanese RPGs of all time, and though the Lunar video games are sometimes ignored compared to their contemporaries, they nonetheless embody every little thing magical about that period.
The Lunar Remastered Assortment is a welcome revival, then. It bundles Lunar: The Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Everlasting Blue into one handy package deal, providing increased decision visuals, some (comparatively minor) high quality of life enhancements, and an all-new English dub.
When it comes to storytelling and characterisation, each video games nonetheless maintain up. Granted, the overarching plotlines aren’t something particular — chosen heroes, almighty dragons, a rising evil — however there’s an plain attraction to the adventures themselves.
Absolutely animated cutscenes — full with that basic 90s anime fashion — at all times helped Lunar resonate on a story degree. They continue to be a pleasure to behold immediately, however the remaster’s use of AI upscaling does take the sting off when you discover it. Most gamers most likely will not even catch on, however there are occasions when the AI does the standard AI factor, creating odd linework or patterns that are not imagined to be there.
And this leads right into a broader dialog concerning the Lunar video games deserving a higher return. Certainly, different facets of this assortment really feel a bit half-arsed. For instance, now you can double and even triple the velocity of turn-based fight, which is nice because the first Lunar specifically is usually a sluggish, grindy recreation.
Nonetheless, as a result of fight encounters aren’t random, and you may solely grind for ranges in set dungeons, the method of beefing up your occasion nonetheless seems like a chore. At this level, why not simply embody extras like an non-compulsory expertise booster? The draw of those outdated titles is not to relive their inherent tedium — it is to take in the ambiance of a style’s bygone period.
Given what number of problem spikes these video games have — as in, you don’t have any actual alternative however to grind some ranges to even stand an opportunity in opposition to particular bosses — it is laborious to not really feel as if rather more may have been executed to enhance the general stream.
It is a disgrace, as a result of as alluded, it is Lunar’s story and characters that reel you in. While you’re not mindlessly battering the identical monsters in the identical dungeon over and over, these are rather well paced RPGs that funnel you throughout a reasonably memorable fantasy world.
And to be sincere, the battle system is fairly fundamental anyway. It is your commonplace turn-based affair that does little to excite right here in 2025 — though the spritework continues to be immaculate. Establishing your occasion’s formation is about as in-depth because it will get, and in each video games, it is not till afterward that fight calls for strategic nuance past therapeutic when your HP is low.
Having stated all of that, there’s nothing fairly just like the gradual satisfaction of seeing your occasion’s stats creep increased. Perhaps that is the nostalgia speaking, however there is a straightforwardness to the stereotypical 90s JRPG that nearly feels refreshing this present day.
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 are able to inform, the dialogue is principally unchanged on this assortment, regardless of the fully rerecorded voicework (which, we’re joyful to report, is stable all through).
We perceive why JRPG purists may need wished a extra… correct translation for this revival, however there is no doubt that the outdated script helps set up a real 90s anime aesthetic. The localisation crew had enjoyable with this one, and that lighthearted, typically jokey tone bleeds into Lunar’s total identification.
Conclusion
The Lunar video games embody every little thing that is nostalgic about 90s JRPGs, from the enjoyable characters and vibrant fantasy worlds, to the fantastic spritework and catchy music. That stated, Lunar’s underlying grind could make it tough to abdomen right here in 2025 — particularly when the Lunar Remastered Assortment would not do sufficient to mitigate the collection’ most tedious facets. It is nice to expertise these video games once more — a completely deserved revival — but it surely’s an actual disgrace that the gathering is not flush with extra useful options.
