The Nineties gave us among the most celebrated Japanese RPGs of all time, and though the Lunar video games are sometimes neglected compared to their contemporaries, they nonetheless embody every part 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 bundle, providing greater 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 simple appeal to the adventures themselves.
Absolutely animated cutscenes — full with that traditional 90s anime type — all the time helped Lunar resonate on a story stage. They continue to be a pleasure to behold right this moment, 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 presupposed to be there.
And this leads right into a broader dialog in regards to the Lunar video games deserving a higher return. Certainly, different points 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 could be a gradual, grindy recreation.
Nonetheless, as a result of fight encounters aren’t random, and you’ll solely grind for ranges in set dungeons, the method of beefing up your celebration nonetheless seems like a chore. At this level, why not simply embody extras like an elective expertise booster? The draw of those previous 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 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 exhausting to not really feel as if rather more may have been achieved to enhance the general circulation.
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 again and again, 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 customary turn-based affair that does little to excite right here in 2025 — though the spritework continues to be immaculate. Organising your celebration’s formation is about as in-depth because it will get, and in each video games, it is not till in a while 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 celebration’s stats creep greater. Possibly that is the nostalgia speaking, however there is a straightforwardness to the stereotypical 90s JRPG that just about feels refreshing nowadays.
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 are able to inform, the dialogue is largely unchanged on this assortment, regardless of the utterly rerecorded voicework (which, we’re glad to report, is strong 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 previous script helps set up a real 90s anime aesthetic. The localisation workforce had enjoyable with this one, and that lighthearted, usually jokey tone bleeds into Lunar’s total identification.
Conclusion
The Lunar video games embody every part that is nostalgic about 90s JRPGs, from the enjoyable characters and vibrant fantasy worlds, to the wonderful 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 sequence’ most tedious points. It is nice to expertise these video games once more — a completely deserved revival — however it’s an actual disgrace that the gathering is not flush with extra useful options.
