Lunar Threads

There is some decent animation going on with the enemies, and it's a shame that the videos aren't really clean looking. I would have liked to see some boss battle videos, and major spells so I would have a better look at the game. It seems like random battles occur pretty frequently.

That last sentence is a bit of an understatement. It's Kiz's only complaint with the game, the encounter rate. It really does get outrageous at times.

I remember hearing about the same thing in the Game Gear game, and it's a shame they didn't fix that for the Saturn version. It's not enjoyable when battling becomes a chore.

On a side note, was there only one anime released for Lunar: Magic School? I watched "The Hidden Power of the Blue Dragon" on YouTube and it was pretty humorous.

Silver Phoenix wrote:I remember hearing about the same thing in the Game Gear game, and it's a shame they didn't fix that for the Saturn version. It's not enjoyable when battling becomes a chore.

On a side note, was there only one anime released for Lunar: Magic School? I watched "The Hidden Power of the Blue Dragon" on YouTube and it was pretty humorous.

The Game Gear game didn't have that bad an encounter rate; it was pretty average for RPGs of the same era, among games with random encounters.

There was only one anime released: Magical School Lunar - Secret of the Blue Dragon. The one floating around on YouTube is the same one on this site. KF

So how was the game story wise, did it have anything going for it aside from it being a Lunar game and not Dragon Song? One thing I missed from the original Lunar TSS was all of the spells, regardless of their usefulness. I would think Magic School would have a vast amount of spells, and if not that is just sad.

Silver Phoenix wrote:So how was the game story wise, did it have anything going for it aside from it being a Lunar game and not Dragon Song? One thing I missed from the original Lunar TSS was all of the spells, regardless of their usefulness. I would think Magic School would have a vast amount of spells, and if not that is just sad.

It has a small-scale plot in comparison to the main titles in the series, but kicks Lunar DS's ass in terms of storytelling. It's episodic and humorous most of the time. The Saturn version does inject some extra epicness, though. As far as spells, roughly a third as many as TSS per character, but it does have a large selection of combo spells. According to the strategy guide Blade gets 8 moves, but the far more magical-seeming Ellie gets 7. Wha?

I take it that Blade is a male character? I thought it was always just the three girls in your party. I think only 7-8 spells is way too limited for a game that is supposed to be about magic. I like Grandia's system of spells and unlocking them, even if there are shared spells. I miss rpgs with a ton of spells, because I'm a magic whore.

I'm also the same way with movies. I want to see a ton of magic in fantasy movies, and there never seems to be enough spells even in Harry Potter.

There's a 4th PC that you might call a male version of Mia going back to the Game Gear version, and the Saturn version adds a few others, most prominently Blade (a veritable Kyle doppelganger).

So far as magic whoring is concerned, is breadth preferable to depth? ^_^ I'd say MSL has depth on that count, if anything. You really rely on magic... combat is interesting.

Well obviously quality is better than quantity, but I like my cake and throw it too. I wish there were Saturn videos showing all of the character spells/abilities.

Silver Phoenix wrote:So how was the game story wise, did it have anything going for it aside from it being a Lunar game and not Dragon Song? One thing I missed from the original Lunar TSS was all of the spells, regardless of their usefulness. I would think Magic School would have a vast amount of spells, and if not that is just sad.

The story was actually really good. Both the story and characterization in MSL were excellent; I really enjoyed it all the way through (I even liked translating it, despite hating translation to begin with).

The number of spells is greater than in any other game except for TSS. But, with TSS, older spells were made obsolete by newer spells, so while numerically it had more, the kind of magic wasn't as diverse. With MSL, because of the reliance on magic, there're a lot more interesting spells and types of effects. And the combinations just add another layer entirely.

I have listed all the spells available in my guide here:
http://www.lunar-net.com/msguide/g-magic.html
KF

Videos damnit! While I enjoyed the list of spells in TSS, not knowing what they did was really stupid to leave out. At least MSL gave prominence to the spells, and no other Lunar game had combo spells. You can't count Catastrophe because that is a single person spell.

Silver Phoenix wrote:Videos damnit! While I enjoyed the list of spells in TSS, not knowing what they did was really stupid to leave out. At least MSL gave prominence to the spells, and no other Lunar game had combo spells. You can't count Catastrophe because that is a single person spell.

One of these days when I do a Let's Play of MSL. But that'll be some time down the road.

Though maybe, before then, if my saves are still working, I can just do a series on all the magic spells. KF

Yes, it's the least you can do for my upcoming birthday.

A L:MS Let's Play would be a nice addition as no one has done a full playthrough (to my knowledge) on youtube.

One of these days I'm going to buy a kick arse computer just so I can get a Saturn emu working on my PC and record videos. XD

Though if I get into the JET program this year that could be a LONG way off.

Silver Phoenix wrote:Yes, it's the least you can do for my upcoming birthday.

A L:MS Let's Play would be a nice addition as no one has done a full playthrough (to my knowledge) on youtube.

It would be really, really boring.

cj iwakura wrote:

Silver Phoenix wrote:Yes, it's the least you can do for my upcoming birthday.

A L:MS Let's Play would be a nice addition as no one has done a full playthrough (to my knowledge) on youtube.

It would be really, really boring.

It would be really, really boring if it were unedited. Proper editing could make or break it.

If/when I do one, a ton of the filler battles will be taken out. A few of the more interesting ones will be there (and whenever I get a new spell, sure), but other than that, nothin'.

However, I'm going to hold off on doing a Let's Play of L:MS until I can find a good way to record directly from my TV to video. Right now all I have is something that can record directly from my Saturn, but the lag is such that I wouldn't be able to do a full Let's Play off of that. KF

Most people seem to include a new monster appearance, and then skip over most random battles. Obviously you don't want a 50-60 hour long Let's Play.

You could just use a Saturn emulator and record from it using Fraps.

cj iwakura wrote:You could just use a Saturn emulator and record from it using Fraps.

There aren't any Saturn emulators that run well enough...

If you know of one, however, I'd be extremely grateful. KF

Well, if it becomes a problem to record it properly, maybe I'll wind up doing one then. I never did get to finish the game so maybe this will motivate me to do it...