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. It 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
because of 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.
