Lunar: Dragon Song
Encyclopedia
Lunar: Dragon Song, known in Japan
and Europe
as , is a role-playing video game developed by Japan Art Media
for the Nintendo DS
handheld console. The game was originally released in Japan by Marvelous Interactive on August 25, 2005, with an English language version made available in North America
by Ubisoft Entertainment
on September 27, 2005, and a European version on February 17, 2006 by Rising Star Games
. As the first original Lunar series title in ten years, it was also the first traditional role-playing game available for the Nintendo DS
, utilizing several new features such as combat taking place across of two screens and the use of the system's built-in mic
to issue commands.
The game takes place a thousand years before the events of the first Lunar game, Lunar: The Silver Star
, and centers on Jian Campbell, a young delivery boy and adventurer who must save the world from the rising menace of the Vile Tribe, a race of powerful magicians who wish to gain control of the goddess Althena and take over the world. Largely panned by critics, the game has received negative reviews due to a number of gameplay additions often seen as tedious and debilitating, such as the inability to target specific enemies in combat, as well as the decision to not include series mainstays such as voice acting and full-motion video sequences.
viewpoint. Players may move the game's characters in eight directions using the Nintendo DS D-pad
or stylus
across of a number of different environments and completing story-based objects to move the plot forward. The game includes several differences to other games in the Lunar series, including a simplified world map that allows players to instantly travel to adjacent locations, and a condensed menu accessible from the bottom screen. A card collection system first seen in Lunar Legend is expanded to allow the cards to be used for beneficial effects, such as granting special abilities and changing game mechanics. Using the Nintendo DS wireless connection, two players can participate in a multiplayer game
using cards obtained through normal gameplay called Scratch Battle. By scratching off sections of each card, a player can "damage" their opponent by revealing numbers on its surface.
Unlike previous Lunar games that took a strategy
-based approach to combat, Lunar: Dragon Song relies on a strictly traditional turn-based
system where the player inputs commands at the start of each combat round with the appropriate actions taking place in accordance with a character's speed. While a player may freely select any character to use items or supportive magic on, specific enemies cannot be targeted by attacks, with the character artificial intelligence
instead choosing the target itself. Game producer and Japan Art Media
president Mitsuru Takahashi stated that the game's battle system was made intentionally simplistic to "speed up" combat sequences, as well as streamline the battling process. A player's party may consist of no more than three characters, each of which are switched in or out automatically at certain points throughout the story, with no way to actively switch between them. Before going into battle, a player may choose one of two different modes: Combat and Virtue. Virtue Mode allows a player to earn experience points known as "Althena Conduct" after winning a battle which go towards gaining levels which grant characters increased statistics and new skills. Combat Mode instead yields items.
Primary supporting characters include Gad, manager and owner of Gad's Delivery Service where Jian and Lucia are employed, and Zethos, leader of the Beastmen and one of the world's strongest fighters who follows the old doctrine that his people are superior. The primary antagonist
is Ignatius, member of the villainous Vile Tribe and expert magician who seeks to covet the power of the Goddess for himself. Lunar: Dragon Song is the first game in the series to not have Toshiyuki Kubooka
as lead character designer, but rather as a design supervisor who made final decisions on each character's appearance and maintain a
"distinct Lunar feel".
, making it the first game chronologically. The game opens with an explanation of the Lunar lore
and how the Goddess Althena created a habitable place out of a barren wasteland and sent four powerful dragons to protect it. During the time of this game, Humans and Beastmen are still at odds with one another, and live in opposing towns across the world. The game stars a delivery boy named Jian Campbell who works in the busy port town of Searis delivering parcels and packages to anyone he is assigned. His best friend and partner, Lucia, often joins him in his excursions and helps him defeat monsters that litter the land. Along their journey, they get caught up in the legend of the dragons and, eventually, must put an end to an evil Dragonmaster who seeks to use their power to rule the world.
magazine, whose editors found parts of the game to be "bothersome and stressful" such as losing health while dashing and having players choose either experience points or items as a battle reward, but also remarked that the game was "designed for people who are moved by an excellent storyline and characterization."
Critical reaction to the game's English version was similarly lukewarm, with the game receiving largely low to average reviews. Electronic Gaming Monthly
panned the title's unorthodox gameplay both in and out of battle, claiming that "When its fundamentals are botched this badly, not even Dragon Song's semidecent story can save it." Game Informer
similarly described the game as an "unfun and almost unplayable nightmare of gameplay design missteps", with the magazine later ranking the game eighth on its list of the "10 Worst Games of 2005" year-end review. IGN
conversely felt that the game was an average handheld role-playing game, but that it contained many flaws that would require "patience and an abundance of free time" to overcome, stating that "Lunar is not a bad game by any means ... [it] features a bundle of original ideas, but fails to implement them in a fashion that stays entertaining throughout the course of the game." 1UP.com
similarly called it "a better-than-average handheld RPG with a likable cast, a charming story, and appealing graphics", but found it inferior in presentation to earlier Lunar titles, finding that it "isn't really up to the thrilling and dramatic heights the series was synonymous." GameSpot
felt that many of the game's features lacked cohesion, remarking that it felt "convoluted where you want it to be simple, and shallow where you wish it had some depth" adding that "Even the most devout Lunar loyalists will have a hard time enjoying this game."
In an import review of the North American version, Eurogamer
ultimately declared that "Lunar: Dragon Song could, should and would have been the DS's first great JRPG, especially considering its lineage, but, rather, what we have here is a wasted opportunity; one that turns your anger to frustration then to plain, empty sadness," calling the game's battle system "comfortably the worst in 20 years of RPGs." The game maintains a 58% average score from aggregate review website GameRankings based on 38 reviews, and a 59% score from Metacritic
based on 30 reviews.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as , is a role-playing video game developed by Japan Art Media
Japan Art Media
Japan Art Media, or JAM, is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 1989. The studio began developing games for the Game Boy, but soon branched out to develop games on many other platforms, mainly Super Nintendo and PlayStation...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
handheld console. The game was originally released in Japan by Marvelous Interactive on August 25, 2005, with an English language version made available in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Ubisoft Entertainment
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
on September 27, 2005, and a European version on February 17, 2006 by Rising Star Games
Rising Star Games
Rising Star Games is a video games publisher formed as a joint business venture between Scandinavian distributor Bergsala and Japanese video game publisher and content developer Intergrow....
. As the first original Lunar series title in ten years, it was also the first traditional role-playing game available for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, utilizing several new features such as combat taking place across of two screens and the use of the system's built-in mic
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
to issue commands.
The game takes place a thousand years before the events of the first Lunar game, Lunar: The Silver Star
Lunar: The Silver Star
is a role-playing video game developed by Game Arts and Studio Alex for the Mega-CD console. Originally released in Japan on June 16, 1992 to critical acclaim, the game was translated and released in English by Working Designs the following year...
, and centers on Jian Campbell, a young delivery boy and adventurer who must save the world from the rising menace of the Vile Tribe, a race of powerful magicians who wish to gain control of the goddess Althena and take over the world. Largely panned by critics, the game has received negative reviews due to a number of gameplay additions often seen as tedious and debilitating, such as the inability to target specific enemies in combat, as well as the decision to not include series mainstays such as voice acting and full-motion video sequences.
Gameplay
Lunar: Dragon Song is a traditional two-dimensional console role-playing game with an overhead, isometricIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
viewpoint. Players may move the game's characters in eight directions using the Nintendo DS D-pad
D-pad
A D-pad is a flat, usually thumb-operated directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern video game console gamepads, game controllers, on the remote control units of some television and DVD players, and smart phones...
or stylus
Stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
across of a number of different environments and completing story-based objects to move the plot forward. The game includes several differences to other games in the Lunar series, including a simplified world map that allows players to instantly travel to adjacent locations, and a condensed menu accessible from the bottom screen. A card collection system first seen in Lunar Legend is expanded to allow the cards to be used for beneficial effects, such as granting special abilities and changing game mechanics. Using the Nintendo DS wireless connection, two players can participate in a multiplayer game
Multiplayer game
A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...
using cards obtained through normal gameplay called Scratch Battle. By scratching off sections of each card, a player can "damage" their opponent by revealing numbers on its surface.
Unlike previous Lunar games that took a strategy
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
-based approach to combat, Lunar: Dragon Song relies on a strictly traditional turn-based
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
system where the player inputs commands at the start of each combat round with the appropriate actions taking place in accordance with a character's speed. While a player may freely select any character to use items or supportive magic on, specific enemies cannot be targeted by attacks, with the character artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
instead choosing the target itself. Game producer and Japan Art Media
Japan Art Media
Japan Art Media, or JAM, is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 1989. The studio began developing games for the Game Boy, but soon branched out to develop games on many other platforms, mainly Super Nintendo and PlayStation...
president Mitsuru Takahashi stated that the game's battle system was made intentionally simplistic to "speed up" combat sequences, as well as streamline the battling process. A player's party may consist of no more than three characters, each of which are switched in or out automatically at certain points throughout the story, with no way to actively switch between them. Before going into battle, a player may choose one of two different modes: Combat and Virtue. Virtue Mode allows a player to earn experience points known as "Althena Conduct" after winning a battle which go towards gaining levels which grant characters increased statistics and new skills. Combat Mode instead yields items.
Characters
The principal characters are Jian Campbell and his companions, a group of young adventurers who are caught up in a quest to save the world from the rising menace of the Vile Tribe. Jian himself is a headstrong delivery boy for Gad's Delivery who must often travel through monster infested lands to make his runs, and has trained himself in hand-to-hand combat accordingly. Lucia Collins is a kind-hearted yet bossy young girl who works with Jian, and has a natural gift for healing magic. Gabryel Ryan is a free-thinking young beast-woman who believes humans and beastmen should be considered equals, and fights with a combination of martial arts and magic dances. Flora Banks is a skilled marksman and healer who lives with her brother on the outskirts of the Frontier, a barren place that resembles the world of Lunar before the Goddesses' intervention. Rufus Crow is an adolescent Beastman and general of his nation's army who develops a rivalry with Jian after their first encounter, yet sees him as an ally soon after.Primary supporting characters include Gad, manager and owner of Gad's Delivery Service where Jian and Lucia are employed, and Zethos, leader of the Beastmen and one of the world's strongest fighters who follows the old doctrine that his people are superior. The primary antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
is Ignatius, member of the villainous Vile Tribe and expert magician who seeks to covet the power of the Goddess for himself. Lunar: Dragon Song is the first game in the series to not have Toshiyuki Kubooka
Toshiyuki Kubooka
Toshiyuki Kubooka is a Japanese animator, character designer, and illustrator. He is particularly known for his work on games of the Lunar series.-Anime:*Batman: Gotham Knight...
as lead character designer, but rather as a design supervisor who made final decisions on each character's appearance and maintain a
"distinct Lunar feel".
Story
The game takes place 1000 years before Lunar: The Silver StarLunar: The Silver Star
is a role-playing video game developed by Game Arts and Studio Alex for the Mega-CD console. Originally released in Japan on June 16, 1992 to critical acclaim, the game was translated and released in English by Working Designs the following year...
, making it the first game chronologically. The game opens with an explanation of the Lunar lore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and how the Goddess Althena created a habitable place out of a barren wasteland and sent four powerful dragons to protect it. During the time of this game, Humans and Beastmen are still at odds with one another, and live in opposing towns across the world. The game stars a delivery boy named Jian Campbell who works in the busy port town of Searis delivering parcels and packages to anyone he is assigned. His best friend and partner, Lucia, often joins him in his excursions and helps him defeat monsters that litter the land. Along their journey, they get caught up in the legend of the dragons and, eventually, must put an end to an evil Dragonmaster who seeks to use their power to rule the world.
Reception
Lunar: Dragon Song experienced low sales during its original release in Japan, selling only 24,673 copies in the region. The game received a 27 out of 40 score from Japanese Famitsu WeeklyFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine, whose editors found parts of the game to be "bothersome and stressful" such as losing health while dashing and having players choose either experience points or items as a battle reward, but also remarked that the game was "designed for people who are moved by an excellent storyline and characterization."
Critical reaction to the game's English version was similarly lukewarm, with the game receiving largely low to average reviews. Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
panned the title's unorthodox gameplay both in and out of battle, claiming that "When its fundamentals are botched this badly, not even Dragon Song's semidecent story can save it." Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
similarly described the game as an "unfun and almost unplayable nightmare of gameplay design missteps", with the magazine later ranking the game eighth on its list of the "10 Worst Games of 2005" year-end review. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
conversely felt that the game was an average handheld role-playing game, but that it contained many flaws that would require "patience and an abundance of free time" to overcome, stating that "Lunar is not a bad game by any means ... [it] features a bundle of original ideas, but fails to implement them in a fashion that stays entertaining throughout the course of the game." 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
similarly called it "a better-than-average handheld RPG with a likable cast, a charming story, and appealing graphics", but found it inferior in presentation to earlier Lunar titles, finding that it "isn't really up to the thrilling and dramatic heights the series was synonymous." GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
felt that many of the game's features lacked cohesion, remarking that it felt "convoluted where you want it to be simple, and shallow where you wish it had some depth" adding that "Even the most devout Lunar loyalists will have a hard time enjoying this game."
In an import review of the North American version, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
ultimately declared that "Lunar: Dragon Song could, should and would have been the DS's first great JRPG, especially considering its lineage, but, rather, what we have here is a wasted opportunity; one that turns your anger to frustration then to plain, empty sadness," calling the game's battle system "comfortably the worst in 20 years of RPGs." The game maintains a 58% average score from aggregate review website GameRankings based on 38 reviews, and a 59% score from Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
based on 30 reviews.