[PSP] Lunar: Harmony of the Silver Star

Yeah, we were talking about it in the gaming news thread. I find this pseudo-press release thing from LunarNet funny, though.

Quote:

L:HSS will take advantage of the PSP's graphic capabilities in battle and town screens and uses an isometric view for towns (similar to Lunar: Dragon Song)

Yes, it takes advantage of the PSP's incredible ability to display 2D sprites and backgrounds! And do they really want to make that comparison to Dragon Song? It seems like you should be saying "A first for the real Lunar series!"

Very meh as details continue to be released. Seems like a half-assed remake with the bulk of the change coming in added voicework. Good job, Japan, what a classic RPG already remade three times over really needed was more voices.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

It also doesn't help that Lunar has a ho-hum storyline (like every other jrpg, amirite) and characters whose personalities are hardly passable-- that is, if you take away their Working Designs-inspired dialogue. Ireland may have butchered it, but he made it more colorful than it would have been otherwise.

Working Designs and their translations are a prickly issue with Soluzar, as I recall. His post was originally two sentences.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

For the record, I have no real opinion on Working Designs' localizations, nor do I hold any loyalty to their games. I just know Lunar was boring-ass shit like every other contemporary.

Originally Posted by Soluzar

I don't know that for sure, but I'm willing to admit the possiblity. Without being intimately familiar with the original version, it's hard to say. It is always possible people have been giving Working Designs more credit than they are due. I won't say Victor Ireland, if only because I don't know exactly how much personal input he had on every project in his company. Could be a lot, could be a little, I just don't know.

If you must know, Working Designs fanboys are the prickly issue. You were the one who used the term 'butchered', whereas I did not and would not. I don't agree with their style in some ways, but on the other hand it's a perfectly serviceable script and somewhat better than many you might find from the same era.

I just don't comprehend the adulation this company gets. I really don't see it. Sure they brought over some great games, our collective videogaming memories wouldn't be the same without 'em, but what really bugs me is the concept that nobody else could deliver a reasonable localisation for Lunar other than Working Designs. Gech pretty much wrote it off already, and so did you.

Wait, what? I understand the position of people who don't like Working Designs' liberal approach to localization, but how do you get this passionate about this garbage without even knowing Victor Ireland's role in it? Isn't it worth researching?

The only difference between you and Gech right now is that you've gone and swung in the opposite direction of his statement. You've written me off despite the fact that I said none of those things, and in reality all I said is that the game needs to be spruced up to be entertaining and unique. If Alexander O. Smith wants to take a stab at it, fuck yeah, hand the man the goddamn script. I'd go for some olde english in my Lunar, just for kicks.

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Batshit loco, actually! I removed it (and only that) since I was choosing to antagonize you while simultaneously telling you it'd be better to chill out. I apologize.

I'm a big importer-- or rather, I was one back in the day. My Japanese was good enough to have a preeetty decent understanding of everything going on in the game, and it was... straightforward. It wasn't bad, but the characters and plot fell into the typical. The stalwart, lovesick hero (who couldn't even be saved by copious amounts of dialogue tweaking); the frilly girly-girl in need of saving; the cocky douchebag villain; etcetera. A story about dragons and powerful magic, blah blah. That stuff never changed, but the game is remembered fondly for its quotability and unusual sense of humor-- something not in the original (believe me, I'd remember the thespian/lesbian joke if I saw it).

I also happen to have a strong distaste for Working Designs worship, but I also think they made some interesting contributions to the localization process.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Oh, so they're trying to explain how the Four Heroes became heroes and how exactly they saved Althena from evil or whatnot? Not a bad addition, even if it would have been better off as a new game.

Now that I think about it, I remember reading how they always wanted to work on a prequel starring the Four Heroes.

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Vic Ireland in general seems to be bizarre. His reactions to anything vaguely related to his work are usually either dickish nonchalance or offended rage.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

GEN-D3 Final or whatever is confirmed, and I guess there's a patch for m33. It seems to be running fine for most.

FELIPE NO

Wasn't the whole intro in the original about how Alex is in love with the legend of Dyne and how he wants to emulate him and go on adventures? The whole thing with Luna is the stereotypical "knight in shining armor" bit to give it a deeper sense of purpose and become the main driving force of the protagonist, but Alex's desire to be a Dragonmaster was always there.

That being said, I'm reminded of how shit this story is.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I've already put it down. No real interest in continuing on with it.

If they ever do decide to remake Lunar 2 (hahaha), they had better handle it a bit better.

Jam it back in, in the dark.