I totally agree with something Kishi said in another thread:
My only disappointment is the apparent lack of a movement system in the battlefield. To me, that was one of the gameplay mechanics that really distinguished the series.
I think the movement of characters in the battlefield added a whole new element of strategy. I loved to see those little guys run around and fight! I really hate to see the old battle ground go, as it was a hallmark of Lunar games.
Another thing that I'm not crazy about is the isometric view. I never really liked that in any game, but I guess it's used because it feels more 3d. I think it's just awkward. If you look at the scans posted in the the other thread, the old birds-eye-view rooms look really cute and detailed, but the new isometric-view rooms look plain and boring, like the isometric viewpoint really stilted the imaginations of the artists.
My final issue is with the pen-touchpad traveling. That's super lame, and the only reason they did it was to justify the Nintendo DS's stupid features. Actually walking through and exploring huge towns and villages made old RPGs so fun and immersive. I remember how overwhelmingy huge Meribia seemed to me back in the day. Walking around that town really sucked me into the world of Lunar. But now we'll have to touch the place we want to go to and watch as our character walks there in a straight line -- just so the pen and touchpad aren't sitting there unused. I thought technology was supposed to make life better.
On to the good stuff: The game has some of the Lunar "feel" showing through. The character designs still have those cool zig-zag patterns, and we have our beastmen. One of the screenshots shows a gray statue that looks like it came right out of the old Lunar games. The graphics look great, too.
What do you guys think?
While useful, they're also more expensive, and don't help those that already have a portable movie player and MP3 player. Not to mention that I buy a portable system for playing games, and have little time to mess with other features. At least the touch screen makes for interesting gameplay, when developers account for it.
