When Lunar debuted in North America in 1993, it was a standout in the emerging Western market for Japanese RPGs. Lunar featured detailed, animated cinematic cutscenes, plenty of voice acting, high-quality music, and–most importantly–an endearing story packed with engaging and memorable characters. While it wasn’t the first CD-ROM-based JRPG to hit the market, it was one that left a powerful impact on everyone who played it.
A sequel, two PlayStation remakes, a PSP outing and more further broadened the audience for Lunar. More than 30 years after the series’ debut, Lunar and Lunar 2 are coming back to the realm of PlayStation with the Lunar Remastered Collection. To give some insight into what makes the Lunar games special–and to stir fond memories among longtime fans–we talked to Matthias Pergams, Producer over at GungHo Online Entertainment America.
Silver Standard
“LUNAR was one of the first JRPGs on the CD-ROM format, with animated cutscenes, in-game voice acting, and even an opening theme song,” Pergams explains. “The series gained a dedicated following both within and outside Japan, paving the way for the genre as a whole. It’s a work that has a unique historical significance.”
The original Lunar has been remade and re-released a few times for various platforms (along with Lunar 2, to a lesser degree), so we were curious as to why the PlayStation “Complete” versions of the two games were chosen as the base for the remasters. “Each version is different and possesses unique merits, so we actually struggled quite a bit with this question. Ultimately, the choice came down to which version we felt represented the series best. For us, it was the PlayStation version”.
As this is a “Remaster” rather than a “Remake,” we were wondering if there were any major gameplay or story changes that players familiar with the original games would notice. “The overall story and gameplay will remain the same as the original release,” Pergams assured us. “We feel that the original still holds up today, and wanted to preserve the gameplay as it was envisioned by original developer GAME ARTS. We have added a variety of quality-of-life features to make gameplay smoother, such as an adjustable Battle Speed-Up option in both games, a toggleable option for a unified inventory system in Lunar 1 designed to simplify the item management process, and also the ability to customize the behavior of individual character AI during Lunar 1’s battles.”
“In this Remaster Collection, we have prepared a Classic Mode for fans who prefer to play the game with the dots as they were back in the day – an environment where you can play the game with almost the same graphics as in the PlayStation 2 era. We have also prepared a CRT filter for this mode, which we hope fans will try and see.” – Matthias Pergams
Remastered Luster
So what is new and improved in this remaster? “The most visible changes are the graphical updates, which include remastered graphics, in-game effects, UI, animated cutscenes, bromides (in-game collectible card items), and more. Perhaps the biggest feature is the new aspect ratio, as we’ve expanded the size of the screen to accommodate that of modern TVs. All the above features are in the “Remastered Mode.” The other is “Classic Mode”, which allows users to play the games with the graphics of the original PlayStation version.
One major topic of discussion among longtime Lunar fans is the voice acting. When the announcement post went up here on the PlayStation Blog, it was revealed that there would be an all-new cast. How did the team select the new voices? “Our priority when recording was making sure that we preserved the identity of each character through their new voice actors. We considered how we wanted each character to sound. Once we locked that down, we started looking at voice actors who were close to that, and then selected them based on how well they captured what we were envisioning. The end product is something we’re proud of.”
“We also had all the vocal songs in Lunar 1 and 2 sung by the voice actresses of Luna and Lucia respectively, which we modeled after the original Japanese version of the game,” Pergams noted.
“We asked Mr Iwadare to write a new song for this piece. The song is called ‘Looking up at TERRA’. It is used in the game selection screen, so I hope fans will listen to it.” – Matthias Pergams
The famous cutscenes are getting a touch-up, too. “One of the key features of Lunar is the animated cutscenes, so we took a great deal of care with them during the remastering process. The original scenes still hold up well today, so our main goal in remastering was to touch them up for modern audiences, rather than change the content itself. We think the results speak for themselves!”
All of these updates and changes were done with the blessing and supervision of the original staff. “Throughout development we frequently consulted GAME ARTS, the original development studio, and incorporated their feedback,” explains Pergams. “We also consulted other development staff, including the original composer, scenario writer, and character designer. Their input has been invaluable in maintaining the spirit of the original games during the remastering process.”
One such individual who revisited Lunar for this remaster is famed character designer Toshiyuki Kubooka. The team originally weren’t sure if he would be on board. “He’s extremely busy these days, so when we first reached out to him, we didn’t know if he’d accept our offer! But he was kind enough to draw not just one, but a total of three completely new art pieces for the game.”
Pergams also passed along a message from Kubooka-sensei to fans. “At first, I was surprised because it’d been a while since I’d worked on anything for Lunar, but I was really happy to have the chance to draw the cast again. Drawing them felt like meeting up with old friends again, so I had fun doing it. The art took longer than I expected, which inconvenienced everyone at Gungho America, but they were very transparent and cooperative so I’m grateful to them as well.”
New frontiers
Lunar was well-loved in North America and Japan, but–aside from the aforementioned PSP release–Lunar’s presence in Europe was nonexistent. We asked Pergams about releasing Lunar 1 and 2 Complete in Europe for the first time, and if they have anything they would like to say to players thinking about trying these games for the first time. “First and foremost, thank you for considering the Lunar series! I think the core ethos of the series can be summed up in one word: ‘Adventure’. I believe the Lunar series captures the essence of the classic adventure, in which you set out into an unknown world, meet trustworthy friends, defeat evil, and find true love. All adventures are valid and worth having, but there’s something nostalgic and unforgettable about the one Lunar provides.”
To finish things off, we wanted to see if Pergams had any advice for new players. “Don’t be afraid to use items! In many games, it can feel like a mistake to spend hard-earned money on temporary items rather than on permanent upgrades like weapons. However, items—particularly recovery items—can make a world of difference in a tough boss fight. We also recommend trying out the games’ Auto Battle system, alongside the new Battle Speed-Up option, for smooth progression. However you decide to play, we hope you enjoy the Lunar games!”
