The Nineties gave us among the most celebrated Japanese RPGs of all time, and though the Lunar video games are sometimes missed compared to their contemporaries, they nonetheless embody every 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.
By way of 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.
Totally animated cutscenes — full with that traditional 90s anime fashion — all the time helped Lunar resonate on a story stage. They continue to be a pleasure to behold in the present day, however the remaster’s use of AI upscaling does take the sting off when you discover it. Most gamers in all probability will not even catch on, however there are occasions when the AI does the everyday AI factor, creating odd linework or patterns that are not purported to be there.
And this leads right into a broader dialog in regards to the Lunar video games deserving a greater return. Certainly, different points of this assortment really feel a bit half-arsed. For instance, now you can double and even triple the pace of turn-based fight, which is nice for the reason that first Lunar specifically is usually a sluggish, grindy sport.
Nevertheless, 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 get together nonetheless looks like a chore. At this level, why not simply embrace extras like an non-obligatory expertise booster? The draw of those outdated titles is not to relive their inherent tedium — it is to absorb the ambiance of a style’s bygone period.
Given what number of issue spikes these video games have — as in, you haven’t any actual selection however to grind some ranges to even stand an opportunity towards particular bosses — it is onerous to not really feel as if rather more might have been executed to enhance the general circulate.
It is a disgrace, as a result of as alluded, it is Lunar’s story and characters that reel you in. If you’re not mindlessly battering the identical monsters in the identical dungeon time and again, these are very well paced RPGs that funnel you throughout a reasonably memorable fantasy world.
And to be trustworthy, the battle system is fairly fundamental anyway. It is your normal turn-based affair that does little to excite right here in 2025 — though the spritework continues to be immaculate. Establishing your get together’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 mentioned all of that, there’s nothing fairly just like the gradual satisfaction of seeing your get together’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 already know 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 inform, the dialogue is generally unchanged on this assortment, regardless of the fully rerecorded voicework (which, we’re completely satisfied to report, is stable all through).
We perceive why JRPG purists might need wished a extra… correct translation for this revival, however there isn’t any doubt that the outdated script helps set up a real 90s anime aesthetic. The localisation workforce had enjoyable with this one, and that lighthearted, typically jokey tone bleeds into Lunar’s total identification.
Conclusion
The Lunar video games embody every thing that is nostalgic about 90s JRPGs, from the enjoyable characters and vibrant fantasy worlds, to the wonderful spritework and catchy music. 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 sequence’ most tedious points. 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.
