Developer/publisher: Game Arts/GungHo ent.
Platform: PS4,PC,switch.
Official Site: N/A.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 18-4-2025
Okay I decided to get started on Lunar 2 the sequel to Lunar Silver Star Story because the original
Toki no Kizuna was too repetitive and I needed something else to spice up my life
so what better way than to work on your backlog than slogging through only one thing?
I actually ended up finishing both close together too.
Anyways this game is set thousands of years later following Hiro and his flying pet cat Ruby.
Pro's
- Interesting story that expands upon the setting of the original.
- Main heroine has good character development.
- Lot's of hilarious and funny moments.
Grey Area
- Epilepsy warning, ISTG this game had a lot of flashing.
Con's
- The first hour of the game was harder than the game overall.
- Slow walking speed in dungeons.
- Optional dungeons had difficult random enemies but the bosses were easy...
Honestly I found that the storytelling had significantly improved and it no longer felt barebones.
Lunar 2 actually ended up adding meat to the bone that was the original game.
Late game reveals did explain more about the world. Explained
why things are the way they are, overall I left pretty satisfied.
As for our protagonist this time... Hiro's just a normal boy who likes to go on
adventures and read way too many books, his grandpa is an archeologist.
The beginning of the game felt like a comedy which... suddenly gets serious
as some guy Leo crashes our parade of doing the usual adventuring.
Apparently the destroyer is coming and he is here to stop it and help Althena.
To do so they need to go into the tower but Hiro and gramps beat Leo to it...
they find a girl who Hiro thinks is the most beautiful he ever met and its love at first sight!😂
She doesn't really seem to notice him and is more concerned with her mission.
Lucia is her name and she came from the other side aka the moon in the sky
to seek Althena's aide and stop some guy named Zophar from destroying everything
but it seems Lucia is being suspected of being the destroyer as well.
Hiro decides to be brave instead of a chicken and tries to help her out with her mission.
 |
| Hmm... we should be close to the viera village right? |
Gameplay is mostly the same but I thought Lunar 2 was significantly more difficult
in its opening hour and you can actually get game overs easily. Thankfully
it balances out once you get access to actual equipment as well as more party members.
When Lucia first joins she is very overpowered and could one-shot everything so I was like
this is kinda nice but also... I bet she's gonna lose her powers cuz this ain't it or is she secretly
the destroyer? The game hinted she had the power to either save or destroy... and it checks out.
Of course she didn't keep that power cuz the game would be no fun and I did have to look up a guide
for the first boss because they did require some specific strategy like place your character
in the top left and make sure to debuff it. I didn't even know you could move your characters
with the defend command till the guide pointed that out. The UI felt much cleaner
and not as clunky as the first game which was nice as well buuut I did think it was
a little slower compared to the prequel. Switching screens also felt slower
maybe its something they couldn't fix.
It took me about 25ish hours to beat the game which wasn't particularly long.
I mostly had 1-3ish hour sessions, its not a long game and it didn't overstay its welcome at all
maybe its good I took a break between the two games and I fear had I jumped into this
right away then I may've liked it less so I am glad I didn't do that.
Much like Lunar 1 there's no complicated crafting system
and you just buy items and gear from shops or find them in chests.
In terms of collection there was the usual bromides and if you wanted them all
you're best off using a guide since most were still kinda missable during the main story
but there's a away to get them in the epilogue apparently.
A lot of the pictures were nice so its worth trying to find them.
There were a few for the previous heroines as well, sorry none for the dudes though.
 |
| Mia looks like a queen... because she is one. |
Lunar 2 still has some of the same progression issues that I hated from the first game.
Thankfully this only happened in the first real town you get to and never happened again. 😊
When I had to go look for that priest I already knew who it was but because
I hadn't talked to a bunch of specific NPC's I couldn't trigger the event.
I wish they learned because someone could even think there game is bugged cuz they know
what they must do but they lacked insuffient flags to trigger the next event.
Idk its probably some series staple but its weird its only in the first town
and then everyone is fairly straight forward.
Another thing I found weird was: Hiro can sprint but only for a short time
but what is weird is that in towns the speed was faster than in dungeons
so I didn't understant why they didn't keep it the same, just weird design.
There's ways to increase it but it involves putting on random gear pieces
and if you trigger a battle you will start asleep. WTF is this shit?!
Its almost impossible to avoid all enemies so ain't no way I will gimp myself
just so I can run faster, this feels like a cruel joke or punishment if you want to run faster.
Also it is hard to avoid enemies, while not impossible a lot of the times there's
no way to avoid them and only some enemies could be avoided.
This is more or less because of placement and some places just being tiny or cramped
but this is not a big deal since you need EXP anyways. May as well fight em.
Except in the epilogue but more on that later..
The only time I had trouble with the enemies in the main game was in the beginning
but I feel that this is more or less because you don't got any access to better equipment.
Once I did as well as getting more allies it felt the game became more balanced.
The last two dungeons were also harder than most dungeons but it should be ok if you have
max starlights so you can top up MP midway & before last boss. The epilogue did see
another spike but that wasn't an issue because of save and run method due to this
you can just save your MP for the boss as levels at that point didn't really matter.
AI/auto mode is helpful to remove tedium of battles but there's moments
manual input is better such as boss fights or a certain cavern beneath
a certain new version of a city. Some later bosses may've had me do another take
but this game is very generous and you can save right before most, even mid dungeon.
You can save anywhere. Also enemies don't respawn till you leave the dungeon.
There's also no fast travel feature for a good while, you do get that same
special item from the original game but its been nerfed and only gets you out of dungeons.
Which makes the item that you can buy useless or Ronfart spell that does the same thing...
It isn't apparently not untill the epilogue you get access to fast travel which is a good
20 hours into the game... but even then you had to revisit the towns for it to work.
NANI le F*&cK It would have been nice indeed to have a quick way to restock on items
but the game just makes it a pain in the butt. Hiro already went to those places
so I cannot fathom this decision. The rememberizer works the same way
you have to visit certain spots before you can view the scenes. Unlike the previous game
which just let you view them right off the bat. This simply only adds play time.
That aside this game did have me look for my party members once but I wasn't as annoyed with it
maybe because nothing felt like it every dragged on too long and the game balance was alright
sans beginning and epilogue. Those two moments are the only time the was a difficulty spike.
Lunar 2 did not overstay its welcome and I had no issues with the pacing.
Idk what the original was like in terms of humor but this game
did have one legendary line from Ronfar no less that made me smile.
 |
| Me every morning...... |
There's only one area I grinded in because I wanted the best equipment at that point
and it was in Sluice forest, the money gain elsewhere before it was just not worth it.
Doing so did give me an extra level or two as well so it wasn't a bad idea.
I ran from most of the enemies in the epilogue dungeons cuz it wasn't worth my time
and the bosses themselves were easy and not level-gated.
TL;DR
 |
| Lunar 2 is the most hilarious RPG I have ever played and I don't regret it. |
I liked Lunar 2 a lot more because it actually adds to the original
which honestly just felt flat to me and this game is the meat to its bones.
Sure some of the story-beats are kind of predictable but it was the right kind of predictable
and it felt like I also learned a little bit about the world it took place in. Instead of like
setting off on a journey to become a dragon master, a bunch of stuff happens and then some.
The romance was a little better, its not as obvious oh no they like each other but you could
definitely tell they both cared. Its also explained off key in a single line of dialogue no less
that Alex simply is a quiet guy(that grits his teeth in the face of adversity) with a kind smile.
Even that... made me appreciate our past hero a little more.
For Hiro its kind of love at first sight but... there was no time for sappy stuff
and it didn't feel like Lucia reciprocated it so it kind of felt one-sided at first.
This leaned towards; when a guy likes a girl he'll do anything for the girl
so in short Hiro is just a massive Lucia simp.😂😂😂
Due Lucia spending time with the group she learns how to be human and understands feelings
due to this I think it was believable she fell for Hiro. I think its kind of heartwarming.
It also felt a bit like a comedy which may not be everyones cup of tea.
9/10
Overall I felt engaged with the story and was motivated to sit through the game
which was slightly more difficult than its prequel. It knew when to have fun and
when not which made it an overall enjoyable experience.
I can recommend it if you'd like to see more of the world of Lunar
especially if the original game left you feeling this wasn't all.
More rambles after the jump but its mostly about the characters and a summary of my thoughts.
Characters
and he just says what's on his mind like yea Lucia is a hot babe! Hiro is a simple guy but he
is also a nerd, he read so many adventure novels and he could only dream he went on one.
Then he met Lucia & he just knew that was it, he had to support this woman with a mission.
Hiro also was a bit more talkative than Alex so that helped a lot as well. Occasional ''...'' were still
present but they felt a lot more appropriate. Not like someone was gritting their teeth and bearing it.
Hiro doesn't really understand a woman's heart so at a certain point I thought he was a big baka.
Still he's got his heart in the right place and without her... where would Lucia have ended up at?
 |
| I kinda ship it tbh. |
but also not too annoying if that makes sense, guess they found balance.
about her mission, almost like a robot. I hoped she'd become more human...
She's only an NPC and her actions in battle are random and she would at first only buff herself
but as the journey progressed she started buffing Hiro and the rest as well. I thought this
was beautifully implemented and added a lot to her development as a character.
I loved watching Lucia grow over the course of the game, I understood her more than Luna.
 |
| Hiro infected him with his adventurous spirit... |
anyways seems Nash and Mia worked out cuz I suspect Nash is Leo's ancestor.💀
But seems they had more than one kid cuz it wasn't just Leo who was annoying at times.
In the end he somewhat redeems himself and couldn't help but find him hilarious...
he has his heart in the right place but unfortunately only a single working braincell.
Leo is also my best boy and his whole mystere act pretty much sealed the deal.
Ronfar or Ron for short felt like he is Jessica and Kyle's love child.😂😂😂
He's a retired 3rd rate priest, his spells may not be the best but it does the job.
Ronfar(t) now spends gambling and drinking... though he hasn't
completely lost all of his sensibility and still has his heart in the right place.
Unfortunately he's a ladies man and a pervert, I wanna stress here that Hiro
did nothing wrong during the scene where Lucia got new clothes.
Also the whole Mauri x Ronfar thing reminded me of Alex and Luna's situation
in the original game, Mauri almost losing herself but Ronfar bring her back
and doing everything because he loves her. I kinda shipped it at the end.
Jean is a dancer with a dark past that she wants to overcome, I thought
she was kinda cool and didn't find much reason to dislike her or anything.
I thought she hit like a wet noodle in battle till I equiped two warrior's crest
on her which suddenly made her a lot better in battle. Other than that she was OK.
Her bromides kinda sucked except for her sunbathing one.
Lemina was Nash and Mia's real love child, she's a bratty ojou-sama that tries
to rope everyone into joining the magic guild but since they're already on a quest
she decides to lend them their aide till they're done all so they can join.
Honestly I thought she was just annoying but her spells were pretty neat I guess
and by the time I reached Vane I was a lot more tolerant of her after seeing her situation.
When they all faced Borgan aka Vauthry she did show some growth and I can't really hate her. 
Borgan had a bromide as well and I'm like oh hell yea always wanted to see Vauthry take a bath.😨
They joke about that it is forbidden and NOT to open it... wish I didn't.
Ghaleon was also back but also not really, mostly due to Zophar but
I found him to be a little more tolerable and also hilarious in this game
but it never really felt like he was a villain mostly due to his actions
which I always found questionable. Sadly this game didn't really give
him much more depth but the heroes did make him react to his villainous past.
 |
| Yea you were quite barbaric indeed mister magic emperor. |
 |
| Your were showing you were supporting Lucia... and that never changed. |
Also...
 |
| I kinda want to see this... |
 |
| Jean has a good point, this was me last game in the final dungeon(s). |
 |
| Thank you, I really needed this.😭 |
This game does have a post game which also has another ending because
the original was kinda well... I mean its okay if you like open ended stuff but it just
didn't feel right to end it like that to be honest especially if you were shipping.
There were some optional dungeons as well like Brave labyrinth,Dragon Maze and Lionhead
but they were so ass I ran from every encounter cuz ain't no way the encounters were fun.
If every random encounter is like a boss its better to run, toodles!
The gear found wasn't that much better and I had no trouble beating the bosses without grinding.
Chaos armor was legit the most stupidist thing i've seen, random stats rolled at the start of battler?
oh goodness gracious Ronfar(t) darling just keep your previous gear, its much safer.
I was only lvl 55 after all that and most lvl ups came from bosses.
 |
| You're still green though, you just got better at running. |
if anything the lunar games thought me is that you can't waste your stamina
on every encounter cuz then you have no energy for the main event aka the boss.
So its okay to run from some of your troubles and preserve your energy.👌
 |
| Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality and that means running from small-fry. |
Final Thoughts?!
Well glad I did end up playing this game and Silver Star Story before it as that really was
the building blocks for Eternal Blue! it seems we got to see more of the world of Lunar
that I wanted to see as I always had a feeling that just silver star story wasn't all there is to it.
It still felt like an older FF game with tales of vibes and the characters were great.
I enjoyed getting to know the chara's and seeing them interact with each other
as well as seeing more of the world, a lot of it didn't feel very recognizable because
it has been 1000 years but some remnants of what transpired still remained.
The protaginist also felt like he had more personality to him than the first game which was nice.
I suppose in some areas he is still a simple guy but I liked how it was like this girl...
I gotta protect her and help her on her mission. In doing so he also got to go on the adventure of his dreams. I suppose they went for; if it feels right, it feels right. I liked Lucia as well she may be
a woman with a mission but due to Hiro and everyone learned to understand humanity.
The overall story also didn't feel that flat to me but it surprised me of how much of a comedy it was.
Especially factoring the romance, I didn't expect this to be a rom-com RPG holy shit
because some of it was absolutely hilarious which just made it more enjoyable to me.
Its also hilarious how in Lunar 1 I liked the other characters romances more
but in Lunar 2 I actually like the romance between the leads.😅
The ending or rather true ending of the game was satisfying... just not the whole
running from every random encounter in the epilogue cuz they were harder than the bosses.
 |
| Hiro is a freaking NERD. |
The game did know how to be serious as well and the characters arc's felt like they were
implemented better and they don't have to all face themselves right before a boss fight
n the final dungeon. Punishing too if you happen to die. CoughLunar1Cough.
Lunar 2 however was a lot more generous and let you save before bosses most of the time.
There were also more anime cutscenes in this game, some of them were long though...
its easy to notice the quality had improved significantly because some were pretty.
I don't think this RPG is for everyone but if you're someone that enjoys humor in them
as well as like 90s anime and enjoyed old FF or tales of games then look no further!
9/10
Overall the sequel compliments the original really well. 15 years ago I remembered
looking at Lunar 2 wanting to play it but it was PS1 only... i'm glad it was released
from this jail because it adds quite a bit more to the world of Lunar
that the original doesn't even touch upon.
Anyway back to Toki no Kizuna's FD.
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