Lunar Threads

I realize the Lunar games are considered short in terms of RPGs, but it takes me a long time to finish one. I feel the need to read everything I can. I'm replaying SSSC and I talk to any NPC I can before the one triggers the story to move forward. Every. Single. Time.

I recently killed the creature that attacked Vane after the situation that occurred in Meribia. I talked to everyone in Meribia after, got Mia on my team and talked to everyone in Vane again, got Nash on my team and talked to everyone in Meribia again. After talking to Miria and getting the information about the red dragon, I talked to everyone in Vane again (including those in the Cave Of Trial) before leaving to go through every town using the white dragon wings to talk to all of those NPCs and the NPCs in surrounding areas before finally going to Nanza and watching the situation with his "pretend to be a singer from Nanza" trick and talked to everyone in Nanza before and after having him join my party. After this, I went through the white dragon wings and repeated the process from Burg to Lann before deciding to continue on to the Marius Zone.

Do the rest of you have this tendency to any extent?

not so much, i'm more of a get from point A to point B kinda guy

So far all of my efforts have been worthwhile. I've seen new stuff from at least a couple of the NPCs each time no matter how minor the story advancement was.

I'm definitely the type, to the occasional annoyance of people watching me play. I defended it like this once:
Housemate: The goal of the game is to beat the game.
Me: No, the goal of the game is to see everything the developers put into it.

This sort of completionism is why I'm really slow finishing games. I've trained it out of myself a bit when playing games whose text doesn't change nearly as frequently as Lunar's does, which is probably most of them. I'm pretty sure I was playing a Lunar game when the above conversation took place.

^ Usually after I've played Lunar, the next JRPG I pick up features a few hours of going back to locations and exploring whether the dialogue is different. It often isn't.

I don't go back to every location after every event, but I do let myself wander back sometimes.

The massive amount of text and regularly changing NPC dialogue is a big part of what sets Lunar apart from other RPGs. Nothing else seems to measure up.

Leo wrote:The massive amount of text and regularly changing NPC dialogue is a big part of what sets Lunar apart from other RPGs. Nothing else seems to measure up.

It really is striking how often you can go back to places you've previously visited in Lunar and find new dialogue. I've had at least one obsessive play through of both 1&2 (PSX versions) where after pretty much every big story event I'd "make the rounds" and see what new dialogue is available. In general as time has gone on I've been less obsessive about such things for the simple reason that I have less time to play than I used to. That's not to say I'll necessarily just try and finish the game as quickly as possible, but I am less concerned about seeing everything than I once was. It'll often depend on how into the game I am and how much I deem whatever is "worth it."

The strange thing is that even with me playing this way, I still manage to miss several of the bromides.

Well, two of them in SSSC are very easy to miss. One intentionally, one accidentally. Also, the two you buy from Ramus are only available if you paid off his 30s debt at the beginning of the game.

EBC's are easier since there are only about seven of them in the main game.

What does he say if you talk to him and you don't have 30 silver?

I think I've checked, but I don't remember. Unfortunately, the file server with most of my Lunar notes is down at the moment. No, wait, my SSSC/SSST notes are one of the docs I have a local copy of. Here's what I wrote:

Person above weapons store wants Ramus to pay the 30S. Ramus asks to borrow it, and when Nall says they don’t have it, respectfully suggests they return when they get it. At this point can pay the debt
Trigger: Pay the debt -> Mia’s and Jess’s bromides 3 avail at end of game.

That was on page 5 of 235, by the way. And it only goes up to the dialogue just after the Vile Crustacean.

Thorough! Thanks. =)

I went into the Marius Zone and haven't walked into the center of Reza yet. Instead I went to Iluk, Damon's Spire and then to Meryod. I forgot about there being an NPC standing in the way of the weak bridge. I'm slightly over 24 hours in and I'm just now about to have the White Dragon Wings stolen. lol

I inevitably started rereading my notes and correcting typos (I transcribed a lot of dialogue). One bit that's fun is when Nash finds you again after Ramus gets the shop and leaves the party. When Nash asks you to come to Vane and meet Ghaleon, you'll get new text the first seven times you refuse him.

I can't believe I never tested that!

Alun, before I drive myself insane I figured I'd check with you first. Did you take notes on the various ways you can go through Meryod after the bridge breaks?

Reloading a save a ton of times to try all the various ways of collecting the other characters and then talking to the other NPCs seems pretty overwhelming at the moment.

I, er, haven't gotten far enough with a replay to take notes on that. ADD is a -Borgan- sometimes.

Have you tried finding Kyle (the first time you go through Nanza and he's drunk) before you're told where he is? He's all maudlin: "I was only holding her hand, Jethy..."

I love how well they do drunk-spelling and no-teeth-in-my-mouth spelling. I bet everyone sits there for a second rereading and trying to "translate" the words of the guy on Black Rose Street whose dentures were stolen. lol