Lunar/Star Ocean

[Kisa]

Hey has anyone ever played the Lunar games (Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue) or Star Ocean: The Second Story? I think they are the most awesome games! Minus the major magic influences in these games (what game doesn't) and the nudity in L2 (Lucia) they are great! Check em' out!

[Fsiphskilm]

I LOVE STAR OCEAN..

[MasterDias]

Haven't played either of the Lunar games. I might check them out sometime.

I really like Star Ocean:The Second Story. All the characters have unique personalities. The music was great. The private actions and invention system were a nice touch. My screenname, MasterDias, was named after the character Dias Flac. I highly recommend it.
I also am looking forward to Star Ocean:Til' the Ends of Time...

[Michael]

I'd love to get the Lunar series, but they're like $60. There isn't direct nudity is there?

[Fsiphskilm]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Gypsy]

Hey, Belldandy ... I just accidentally wiped out one of your posts ..

I'm really sorry! I had too many windows going at once and I missed a window and hit the wrong buttons. I'll fix your post count ... but I can't get your last post back. I'm very sorry!

Back to my original intent of posting here ...

I loved Lunar Silver Star Story Complete. I've never been so sad to beat a game. I own both Lunar 1 and Lunar Eternal Blue 9Lunar 2). Yeah, there is some nudity in Lunar 2 (Lucia has this thing for tossing her clothes off for most of her cinema scences). It wasn't detailed in certain areas - but she went with the whole lunar theme and gave, shall we say, a "full moon" a couple times. It's nothing too horrible, but it deserves the teen warning. However, some of the npc's dialogue in the first one (Lunar SSSC) shocked me more than Lucia's streakin' in the snow.

I loved all the characters in the Lunar SSSC, but I think Alex and Luna were my favorites. Their story was just so innocent and sweet. Jessica was also very cool. It has the epic adventure feel to it, and it was a refreshing change from FF and FF rip-off games.

Although the story was very recycled in Lunar 2, and the characters were ... just not striking any chords with me, I still liked it. Maybe part of the reason was because it was an actual sequel to the first game, rather than a totally different world with the same title.

The battle system was pretty simple, and a tad redundant, but the character interaction was great. I like any game from Working Designs and/or Game Arts (Grandia & the Lunar series). My favorite style is when you have small avatars of the speaking character that either talk and/or change to fit the emotion of the dialogue.

Hey BelldandyMewMew (I gotta give you a nickname ..) when you played Lunar SSSC, were you waiting for a certain .. part to happen that never did? (Trying not to spoil anything! )

[Kisa]

Hey, Belldandy ... I just accidentally wiped out one of your posts ..

I'm really sorry! I had too many windows going at once and I missed a window and hit the wrong buttons. I'll fix your post count ... but I can't get your last post back. I'm very sorry!

Back to my original intent of posting here ...

I loved Lunar Silver Star Story Complete. I've never been so sad to beat a game. I own both Lunar 1 and Lunar Eternal Blue 9Lunar 2). Yeah, there is some nudity in Lunar 2 (Lucia has this thing for tossing her clothes off for most of her cinema scences). It wasn't detailed in certain areas - but she went with the whole lunar theme and gave, shall we say, a "full moon" a couple times. It's nothing too horrible, but it deserves the teen warning. However, some of the npc's dialogue in the first one (Lunar SSSC) shocked me more than Lucia's streakin' in the snow.

I loved all the characters in the Lunar SSSC, but I think Alex and Luna were my favorites. Their story was just so innocent and sweet. Jessica was also very cool. It has the epic adventure feel to it, and it was a refreshing change from FF and FF rip-off games.

Although the story was very recycled in Lunar 2, and the characters were ... just not striking any chords with me, I still liked it. Maybe part of the reason was because it was an actual sequel to the first game, rather than a totally different world with the same title.

The battle system was pretty simple, and a tad redundant, but the character interaction was great. I like any game from Working Designs and/or Game Arts (Grandia & the Lunar series). My favorite style is when you have small avatars of the speaking character that either talk and/or change to fit the emotion of the dialogue.

Hey BelldandyMewMew (I gotta give you a nickname ..) when you played Lunar SSSC, were you waiting for a certain .. part to happen that never did? (Trying not to spoil anything! )

Uh Oh! Oh well . . . all is forgiven!
You can call me Mew or Bell if ya want! (you said you needed a nickname for me . . .man should've made my name shorter . . .)
I'm not sure what you are referring to in LSSSC, I played it about 2 years ago and am about to replay it again but I can't think of what you're talking about . . . PM me and tell if you don't want to spoil for anyone!

[Kisa]

There is also a anime for Star Ocean, it is called Star Ocean EX. . . I wish they would bring it over here!!!!!! Anyone seen it?
(hee hee Ashton is the best!)
Also there is a third Lunar game - Magic School. I wanna play it soooo bad!

[MasterDias]

[quote="BelldandyMewMew"]There is also a anime for Star Ocean, it is called Star Ocean EX. . . I wish they would bring it over here!!!!!! Anyone seen it?
(hee hee Ashton is the best!) ]

Hmmmmmm. I downloaded the anime opening to EX awhile back. Haven't seen any of the actual show though. I believe it was canceled after only one season so the anime only covers the first disk of the game, when the party is on Expel. So that means no Chisato or Noel...

[Kisa]

I have seen it on eBay and all and it is two disks . . . also Tamahome owns it and says that there are two discs! Hmmmmm . . . I hope they finished it, I'll ask Tamahome . . .

[Fsiphskilm]

There is also a anime

[Solid Ronin]

Ive been wanting to play these games for about 3 years tell me whats bad about them

[Debitt]

Star Ocean: The Second Story is t3h l337 *owns the game, the anime, AND the manga*. Yep, I loves it muchleys, especially ASHTON ANCHORS! >D

There's a heavy magic influence in the SO games, and in SO2, Claude (the main character) is supposedly the savior (the "Light Warrior") for the planet of Expel. There are...uhm, I believe 10 Wise Men (I don't remember what they translated this to in the English version of the game) and the word "Apocalypse" is the password to open a gate in one dungeon, both which have absolutely no ties to anything biblical. Mild cursing, no nudity. Yep. Just as long as you're not bothered by the magical savior stuff, this is a good game.

[Solid Ronin]

ok thanks alot now its finding the game new lol

[Debitt]

I got my copy from Walmart.com, believe it or not.

[Rocketshipper]

I've never played Star Ocea, one of my friends keep bugging to play it though. I actully bought and read the stratigy guide to figure out if I would want to play it and I decided it sounded REALLY complicated and I didn;t have enough free time to spend on such a long game (the guide is huge!)

Lunar is THE Greatest game of...ALL TIME!!!! I love it. The characters were all awesome, the battle system was simple and fun, the graphics were good (relitivly), the anime sequences rocked, and the music owned. Lunar 2 wasn;t as good as the first because the story and villian were kind of weak and the characters weren't as loveable as the first. lol, I actully used to think that they should have given the Lunar games M ratings. Some of the NPC dialogue (and character dialogue too, on ocasion) is really racey.

Jean: Everyone, cover your valuables, and Rhonfar, get your hands out of your pants!

LOL, But that's the Working Designs Trademark. Have you read the Lunar players guides!? They're full of racey jokes.

[Vyse]

You know, I used to love the Lunar games, but then... I just got really annoyed by the pentagrams, I mean sure a lot of games have magic, but pentagrams are actually used in occult pratices, so I ended up selling the game.

[Godly Paladin]

Are you guys talking about the Sega CD Lunar games?

[Rocketshipper]

I've only played the Playstation remakes

[Chichiri]

I LOVE STAR OCEAN...It's my favorite 2D /in a 3D world RPG, while they do talk A LOT, it's the most christian innoscent RPG i've ever seen. I can't wait for Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time. (rocking back and forth in my chair awaiting release)

Star Ocean 2 is definitely not that innocent -- the Japanese version at least. Enix toned down the game greatly when released in the US... and the localization is underpar overall. I believe people call Ashton gay a lot in SO2. It's been quite a while. But that is one thing that I do remember.

Oh yeah. And lunar kicks butt. I loved Silver Star Story and liked Eternal blue a lot. My only problem with EB is that some of the bosses are **** tough. When I played SSSC, i was completely hooked. Love it.

[Nate]

I believe people call Ashton gay a lot in SO2. It's been quite a while. But that is one thing that I do remember.

He isn't, though. In fact, unless you work at it through Private Actions, Ashton and Precis end up together in the end. So he's not gay.

My major qualm with Star Ocean 2...the voices made my EARS BLEED. Ugh. However, that problem seems to have been SOMEWHAT rectified in SO3. The voices are all pretty good, except Farleen's...were they smoking CRACK when they gave her that voice?! It was nice to hear some familiar voices in the cast too. Katsuhiko Jinnai from El-Hazard was Norton! But he didn't do the Jinnai laugh...

Lunar...man, those are some good games. I haven't played the original Sega CD versions, just the Playstation ones. But they're awesome. I've also never played Lunar Legends, since it was a cheap GBA knockoff of the first game, so...*shrugs*

Another Lunar game would be nice...but given Working Designs' track record, we wouldn't see it here for about five years anyway.

[Vyse]

Star Ocean 2 is definitely not that innocent -- the Japanese version at least. Enix toned down the game greatly when released in the US... and the localization is underpar overall. I believe people call Ashton gay a lot in SO2. It's been quite a while. But that is one thing that I do remember.

In this case, go SCEA for the editing! I love clean games.

[Chichiri]

Yeah that's true. Who would want to play a game that had the author's original intent in mind? Certainly not me either.

[Vyse]

Yeah that's true. Who would want to play a game that had the author's original intent in mind? Certainly not me either.

So you'd rather play games filled with curse words? I don't see whats the big deal, as long as the plots the same its still the author's orignal intent, and btw, how do you know the orignal version had cussing, do you know Jappense?

[Vyse]

blah double post, please delete

[Chichiri]

So you'd rather play games filled with curse words? I don't see whats the big deal, as long as the plots the same its still the author's orignal intent, and btw, how do you know the orignal version had cussing, do you know Jappense?

Yes, I do know Japanese. Enough to play a video game? Hardly. Way too many kanji for me. But that doesn't mean that I can't read or find out about edits and localization problems.

Would I rather play a game full of curse words? Yes, if that's what the original author intended. If the original author intended for a character to be a foul-mouthed tough guy, then yes I would. Swearing does not offend me one bit.

I would MUCH rather hear the original dialogue with all the foul language and all, than hear a watered down version with characters saying, "Shoot he got away! Darn!" Changing stuff like that definitely does change the authors intent. It makes the character look much more soft and wussy.

Is it okay to change things as long as the main plot stays intact you ask? No, it's not. Sure, you could keep the main plot, but if you change the characters personality through dialogue changes, then you change a part that is just as important as the main plot itself. No, it's not acceptable. If something is changed because it doesn't make sense in English (like a Japanese word pun), THAT'S fine: because Japanese word puns never translate into English well.

As for watered down games, they're going to be pretty much gone now. With games such as Manhunt, GTA: San Andreas, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, and many others, companies can see what they can get away with now. You're going to see less and less games being edited like SO2 was. The only ones that might possibly get edited are ones being released by smaller companies (because they can't afford the lawsuits from crazy soccer moms).

[Vyse]

Where did you read that Star Ocean 2 was watered down btw? I'm interested in seeing that since SCEA published both SO2 and FF7(which left many curse words intact).

[Arbre]

You've made your opinion on that pretty clear, Chichiri.

To some extent, I can see that changing the dialogue style of a character may alter people's perception of him or her somewhat. But still...

If the people who write the game text for the English releases are talented enough, they can preserve the attributes and personalities of a character even without being so blatant, can't they? You don't have to show characters doing every thing in order to have an understanding of their personalities.

Personally, I don't like to hear profanity, see nudity, know the graphic details of a violent action, etc. I assume that villains in a game who would kill people without any remorse would probably use more vulgar language in general anyway, but I don't want to see extreme examples of it. Also, for me, the more I hear and see things, the more it's in my mind. I'd rather not have that.

[Chichiri]

Where did you read that Star Ocean 2 was watered down btw? I'm interested in seeing that since SCEA published both SO2 and FF7(which left many curse words intact).

I don't have any general pages, I read this years ago. I would look up some more sources about it but my internet is slow as crap today. I'm going to go complain here in a few minutes (stupid building owners, so d**n cheap).

And okay, localization doesn't just cover curse words, it covers everything. Curse words was just an example. Change is change.

I'll post more after my night class.... if the internet is working better.

[MasterDias]

I wouldn't be that surprised that the game was toned down considering it is one of the few E-rated RPGs in the states while most wind up being rated T.

I'm not sure about any sort of homosexuality however. Ashton/Precis is usually considered canon.

I know that they did change all of the Ten Wise Men's names. Originally, they were named Zaphikel, Jophiel, Metatron, Kamael, Raphael, Zadkiel, Haniel, Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel.
That's really all I know regarding its localization.
At any rate, it wasn't quite like a localized Final Fantasy Tactics where certain plot points really made no sense with the translation.

My major qualm with Star Ocean 2...the voices made my EARS BLEED. Ugh. However, that problem seems to have been SOMEWHAT rectified in SO3. The voices are all pretty good, except Farleen's...were they smoking CRACK when they gave her that voice?! It was nice to hear some familiar voices in the cast too. Katsuhiko Jinnai from El-Hazard was Norton! But he didn't do the Jinnai laugh...

Most of the voice-acting in SO2 was pretty bad or mediocre, but some of the quotes and battle cries were pretty funny just the same.
I like SO3's voice acting just fine, with the exception of Farleen's as you said. My only other major complaint regarding the voice acting is that sometimes the music will drown out the voices, expecially some of the softer ones like Claire.