[jpn] TV commercial

[Guest]

Oh well, I don't always agree with game critics so I'm going to wait and play it before I judge it. I'm still looking forward to the new Lunar as much as I was before.

But it is the real Famitsu review. Current Famitsu ratings were posted today on several reputable websites including this one:

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

Also, the game comes out in less than a month in Japan. It seems perfectly reasonable that reviews are starting to show up. The site he linked to may have been a message board where someone posted the Famitsu article.

[Kizyr]

You know, I need more than someone coming by and saying "Hey, this is legit!" to believe it.

Check the site. It's a message board with text; nothing that said "hey these are the reviews from Famitsu". If I see a magazine scan, or read the reviews on a major website, then it's worth looking into. Magic Box is fine, but they give nothing more than a verification of the numbers (which aren't even sourced to Famitsu there). KF

[laus]

I got that link from here: http://forum.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=58702

neo2046 from the GAF posted it. You can also find the comments for the Castlevania and Lost in Blue review. Neo isn't known for making stuff up and/or leading you to false information, so I have no reason to believe this is false. + he's the one responsible most of the time for all those Famitsu scans. He seems to get the issue every week, so that's more reason to think it's real. If those scores & comments were false he would've noticed it since he probably got the issue.

[GhaleonOne]

It's legit Kiz. Trust me. I can give you proof later, as I'm not at home, but if you have time to translate, that would rock. It is legit Famitsuu, as I've gotten confirmation from more than one source.

[Spirit Icana]

Yeah, I'm with laus here. I'm still looking forward to this game. The one 9 in the review should keep fans here hopeful. Riviera didn't churn great review scores from a number of press releases, but I still digged the game more than a number of titles that scored much higher (Golden Sun: the Lost Age).

This will be the first Lunar game for me so maybe the game has a good chance of scoring well in my book.

[DevNall]

Well, now it definitely looks like Althena will have purple-ish hair. Check out this screen cap I picked up from the Marvelous update GhaleonOne posted on the front page:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/L ... lthena.jpg

I find this very interesting. Both Althena and "Lucia" have purple hair now, eh? Anyway, if you view the image outside of a webbrowser, there's actually a little more to that one. The full image for the curious: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/L ... lthena.jpg
(Quark looks a lot different.)

[ilovemyguitar]

It's also entirely possible that that's not Althena, actually. She could easily be something entirely new. Something akin to the EB Lucia, maybe.

[GhaleonOne]

Assuming that's Quark. To me, that looks like Althena and the dragons transforming Lunar (or possible the Blue Star right after banishing Zophar). Either way, it's possible it's a previous white dragon. That and all you can see is his wing really. It is a very cool image though.

[Kizyr]

I never said it wasn't the Famitsu reviews, just that I've (still) seen nothing actually saying "these are the reviews from Famitsu".

It'll take me like five minutes to translate that; I'll get back to you G1.

EDIT: G1 just let me in on some proof. It's a typed-up version of what appeared in the magazine itself. That's what I was waiting to hear. KF

[phyco126]

Oh? My clear impression has always been that the event in SSSC was the only time she reincarnated -- if it had been a common thing, Ghaleon wouldn't have been so strongly affected, since he'd know that it was coming.

Well, I was under the impression that the only reason that Ghaleon was affected by this was because of two things.

1. He loved her too
2. He knew that this was to be Althena's last incarnation, because she felt that humans could live a more peaceful life without her. He didn't like this idea, and felt that humans where too weak to do it themselves, so it pissed him off. That's why he took power in the first place isn't it? To make lunar what he felt it should be, with a god to lead the humans?

Greensky - Uh, the Blue Star is Earth, Lunar is the moon. Is that what you're asking?

As for the purpole hair, I can't say. In that one screen, it looks like Althena, but with just purpole hair instead of blue. That would conflict with EBC wouldn't it? In EBC, when Althena destroyed the Earth, she had blue hair. How is it that she could go from blue, to purpole, back to blue until she died? Maybe Althena has an identicle twin sister?

Edit: Also, in that screen, in the background there are two dragons, but one looks like a lizard than a dragon. Could dragon's change or evolve perhapes from outside their normal fur and scale winged selfs to something more lizard/dinasoar like?

[Lunar Eclipse]

I think the dragons look different because, well, they're different dragons. As GhaleonOne said, that looks like the creation of Lunar. I highly doubt Quark, Cyan, Amelia, or Rubeus were the originals, and we already know that Nall looks different from Quark and Ruby looks different from Amelia. I'd say it's safe to assume that they take on many forms as long as the white one looks airy, the blue looks aquatic, the red looks fiery, and the black looks, well, whatever it is that [s]he looks like. Additionally, perhaps the change in hair color will be explained somehow? I can't believe that Kubooka would do it without reason. Maybe it has something to do with the Althena - Blue Star connection. I have no idea. The only thing that really bugs me right now is the possibility of Lucia being Althena. Since I suspect that Lucia will fall in love with Jian if any of the past plots are an indication, it would bother me if it turned out that Althena fell in love with many men over the course of her existence. That seems sort of out of character since she abandoned immortality the one time that she found true love in SSS.

[Kizyr]

The review translations are the latest update. Check the frontpage for more details.

Additionally, perhaps the change in hair color will be explained somehow? I can't believe that Kubooka would do it without reason. Maybe it has something to do with the Althena - Blue Star connection. I have no idea. The only thing that really bugs me right now is the possibility of Lucia being Althena. Since I suspect that Lucia will fall in love with Jian if any of the past plots are an indication, it would bother me if it turned out that Althena fell in love with many men over the course of her existence.

The hair colour wouldn't merit an explanation. Althena's been reborn many times; I doubt changing her hair colour now and then would be a significant detail.

Wouldn't bug me too much if she fell in love multiple times. The difference with Alex is that Althena gave up her cycle of death and rebirth with him; it's likely she had no actual memory of her previous forms (much like how Althena had no memories of Luna until she reverted back at the end of TSS). KF

[Lunar Eclipse]

I just thought the hair color would be strange if that were in fact the creation of Lunar since we know that the Althena who crushed Zophar and (presumably) also made Lunar habitable had blue hair based on the EB anime sequence.

P.S.: This isn't really of consequence, but the dates of the updates are all funky on the main page. One of the July updates looks like it was done in August and one of the August updates (the most recent) looks like it was done in July.

[GhaleonOne]

The dates are my fault. It'll be fixed shortly.

[Erasculio]

The bit about the hair doesn't bother me either - I think Athena was portrayed like that (resembling Luna) just so we would know that was Athena, and not someone else.

What would bother me, though, is if Lucia is Athena, and Jill becomes a Dragonmaster, only to have Lucia captured and the powerful mage who's heping Jill reveals himself to be evil. Anything other than that would be fine in my opinion.

Erasculio

[Alunissage]

Well, I was under the impression that the only reason that Ghaleon was affected by this was because of two things.

1. He loved her too

No.

If anything, he was jealous of the relationship Dyne had with her as that is, that they understood and agreed on what the proper course was. Ghaleon had no reason to interact with her at all; he wasn't the dragonmaster. Ghaleon doesn't yell at Althena in the flashback scene, he addresses Dyne.

2. He knew that this was to be Althena's last incarnation, because she felt that humans could live a more peaceful life without her. He didn't like this idea, and felt that humans where too weak to do it themselves, so it pissed him off. That's why he took power in the first place isn't it? To make lunar what he felt it should be, with a god to lead the humans?

All true except for that "last". As I said, find me a quote from the game indicating that she did this repeatedly in the SSSC game.

Greensky - Uh, the Blue Star is Earth, Lunar is the moon. Is that what you're asking?

Officially iit's not that specific:

Golbez: Lunar is supposedly set on the Moon, inhabited by people who were brought from the Blue Star (Earth). Does this mean that it's setting is in the future?

Ryousirow Hasukawa: Maybe or maybe not. Nobody said that "Lunar is the Moon". But name of the first dragon master is "Neil". And in the legend, his first step was on that place so silent. And his "arms were so strong".

As for the purpole hair, I can't say. In that one screen, it looks like Althena, but with just purpole hair instead of blue. That would conflict with EBC wouldn't it? In EBC, when Althena destroyed the Earth, she had blue hair. How is it that she could go from blue, to purpole, back to blue until she died? Maybe Althena has an identicle twin sister?

We don't know that they're using the SSSC/EBC timeline. If Althena reincarnates multiple times, there isn't a specific reason to think she keeps the same image as a goddess each time. Although the picture I use as my avatar, found in the Goddess Tower in TSS, somewhat implies that Althena does have a fixed appearance. *shrug* No point in speculating much farther on this without the new game in hand.

[Lunar Eclipse]

Is it okay to quote EBC since it should be in the same continuity as SSSC, Alunis? Luna's hologram says:

"I returned to this world as I had many times previously . . ."

To me, that allows for multiple reincarnations even though she doesn't state it as clearly as I'd like.

[ilovemyguitar]

Maybe Althena has an identicle [sic] twin sister?

That's what I'm thinking. I'm suspect that that's not actually Althena in that picture, but something new, like a different goddess, possibly. We've seen one goddess (Althena) and one god (Zophar), and there are some who suspect that the EB Lucia was also a sort of goddess herself. So it's entirely possible that Dragon Song will introduce another goddess.

Also, let's not forget that at various points in SSSC and EB/EBC, the terrain of Lunar has looked like it did in that picture. Such a thing could happen again in DS.

[Alunissage]

I meant to reread the script of that scene last night and forgot...but the general impression I got was that EBC was pretty much just EB dressed up (as opposed to the significant changes in SSSC) and so essentially the same script was used. In EB Luna's message says that "it was to be my last rebirth". I'm just pretty sure that when I first played SSSC, before I even knew EB existed, that was a change I noticed. But I could be wrong; I haven't replayed it to the end since 1999.

[Lunar Eclipse]

Maybe Althena has an identicle [sic] twin sister?

That's what I'm thinking. I'm suspect that that's not actually Althena in that picture, but something new, like a different goddess, possibly. We've seen one goddess (Althena) and one god (Zophar), and there are some who suspect that the EB Lucia was also a sort of goddess herself. So it's entirely possible that Dragon Song will introduce another goddess.

But is Zophar really a god? I always thought he was just a physical manifestation of human iniquity. He wanted to become god-like if I recall correctly, and he wasn't even close until he absorbed the power of Althena.

Edit: Ah, I see, Alunis. Thanks for the clarification. I'll need to go check my Rememberizer in EBC as well so that I can listen to everything that she says.