Let's Play 2023 - LUNAR: Eternal Blue Complete

[VidKid369]

I was gonna get a session in- finish up my session, but then I realized something, and I had to run back online to tell you! I misspoke earlier when I had mentioned that the Mystic Ruins were the remains of the Grindery, - it's so most obviously Taben's Peak not just from the name (so obvious.) but the location, -- it's in between Meribia and Vane where it shot it down in the distant past. I'm sorry homie for the confusion, I haven't played this game and analyzed it in forever, I'm getting forgetful in my old age! ...That kinda makes the Mystic Ruins even more mysterious... Why does Ghaleon choose to reside there of all the places he can make his home?

Ok, now that that's outta the way. I made it to Meribia and I have spoken to the townsfolk. I actually loved first strolling into Meribia in this game it takes me back to SSSC even the NPCs are recycled sprites. They've done away with Black Rose Street (dang!), the port (double-dang!) and the Seagull Tavern (triple-dipple dang!) so it's mainly now just the concentrated center of the once bustling seaport city in the last, the first game! Oh, vell! At least it takes me back at least a little bit.

I'm planning on going into the dojo (lol) and talking to Lunn who reminds me of either Revolver Ocelot or the Marlboro Man. And then I'll plan on traversing Taben's Peak to get to where you're at!

Ok, doing all that now.

Edit:

Note: Boo!! You can get 2 more bromides in Meribia! So there's a total of 3 you can get: one, from the minstrel in the tavern, second, from Ramus' grandpa if you just keep talking to him long enough he hands it over, and third, in the back of Ramus' store check the barrels and you'll find another Lemina one you might have to have taken the one from Ramus' grandpa first before this one appears I'm not sure. Don't forget these!!!

It's nice to see Lemina getting some backstory (compared to Jean's) even if it's just through pictures. Haha

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

... I actually loved first strolling into Meribia in this game it takes me back to SSSC even the NPCs are recycled sprites. They've done away with Black Rose Street (dang!), the port (double-dang!) and the Seagull Tavern (triple-dipple dang!) so it's mainly now just the concentrated center of the once bustling seaport city in the last, the first game! Oh, vell! At least it takes me back at least a little bit.

This is always my reaction when I first enter Meribia. I've played SSSC probably six or seven times - maybe more - and the layout is ingrained within me. I always try to go to the left here thinking there's more town. Alas -- Meribia is much smaller than it once was, and as you said, much of the town is now gone.

... Lunn who reminds me of either Revolver Ocelot or the Marlboro Man. And then I'll plan on traversing Taben's Peak to get to where you're at!

Haha! I never thought about that. He sort of reminds me of Haschel from Legend of Dragoon. I'm not sure if you remember that PS1 jRPG. It was pretty good, although I've never finished it. I've tried three times and always loose steam with the grinding for the timed attack combos. It's a haul, and a lot of grinding can sometimes make me lose interest.

ESB is, to me, a bit too grind-y, but I have a deep love for the story and characters that keeps me engaged. I think I liked grinding more when I was younger, I just don't have much time for video games anymore so grinding to me takes me away from time I could be spending on story. We've already covered this, though, hahaha...

Note: Boo!! You can get 2 more bromides in Meribia! So there's a total of 3 you can get: one, from the minstrel in the tavern, second, from Ramus' grandpa if you just keep talking to him long enough he hands it over, and third, in the back of Ramus' store check the barrels and you'll find another Lemina one you might have to have taken the one from Ramus' grandpa first before this one appears I'm not sure. Don't forget these!!!

Dude, I am so glad you said something about these. I have a bromide guide saved but only check it every so often, and although I got Jessica's Bromide, I missed both Lemina ones. Whoops! I also thought it was interesting that the grandpa hints that there are other bromides hidden around Ramus' shop, which helps you find the ones in the barrels...

Today was another grinding day at Taben's Peak, btw. I am almost done acquiring enough Silver to fully upgrade.

Since the past few days have been slow sessions for me and mostly just grinding (I am really tempted to use a cheat to get quick Silver and EXP at this point), how's the week been treating you outside of our gaming sessions? Any exciting updates in life?

The weather here has been crazy. I live in the SE United States and we went from snow to having days in the 60s, both of which are abnormal for us during the winter. At least it's been good weather. I run a few miles every other day, so it's been nice for the cardio.

[VidKid369]

Hi, Boo.

-I grinded so much in the Zulan Mountains that I had enough Silver to buy everything I needed in the weapon and armor shops in Meribia! Even had some Silver left over too as well!
-Yes, I'm familiar w/ Haschel. Tbh, I hate the older, black pony-tailed samurai looking guys in JRPGs. Cyan from FF6 and Haschel from the Legend of Dragoon I really hated their character art when I was a kid to the point where I didn't even want to play the game. To this day, I have LoD in my collection but I haven't gotten around to beating it. Maybe some day.
-Lunn's voice/accent is kinda cheesy: like whenever they have an Asian karate movie from the 80s all the people speak like that. :X
-I actually like grinding these days cause I have nothing but time in my schedule. I knew when I was a kid I wasn't gonna have any time to game when I got older because of either school/or, a job/kids/family so I sorta molded my lifes into something where I definitely had control of my hours and plenty of time to sit down and play specifically long RPGs. I know they're time-consuming so I sorta manipulated everything in my adult life so I can have time to game whenever I wanted to.
-I'm at the top of Taben's Peak I just have to talk to all the kids, everybody.

The week's been fine for me. I've been keeping a journal ever since December so I write everything down that I need to do and just general musings I have about lifes in general, lol. It's good therapy. I built a shelf for all my games/consoles so I have that set up in my living room right now. I'll try to snap a picture but I'm afraid it's gonna look huge and take up the whole page lol.

I've just been generally doing chores around the farmhouse (I'm meticulously clean like Ray Kroc) and just spending time with my dogs and stuff. Nothing TOO exciting, but gaming's always where it's at for me.

Yeah, I try to exercise everyday even if it's just an hour walk outside. Here in the Philippines it's always hot so days are in the 90sF everyday. I still haven't got used to it as an American. I've just been training the new maid we got in the house like teaching her what we eat during meals and how to work the laundry wash and stuff. Just same ole same ole stuff around here. In the evening times, when I'm pooped... I mostly just e-shop on Shopee (like our version of Amazon) app and just find little nick-knacks I need around the house and for myself/dogs. Like I've been buying self-care skincare routine stuff because I'm in my 30s now and I don't want my face to crack. I've been buying exercise equipment/yoga stuff. I've also been buying office/art supplies for my little office/desk area like artsy stuff like pens, markers and such.

Hope you're doing well, Boo!

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Dude, your retro gaming archive setup is awesome! I sold everything a few years back for cash and digitized my collection and only play via emulation nowadays. I do still have a PS3 that I picked up for cheap and a plethora of games, plus an old Xbox360 and those games. They're in storage bins in the attic since the emulation for those still aren't quite 100% solid yet. Eventually I'll need to sell those, too. I sometimes go through phases where I don't want to own a bunch of stuff, so I like to digitize what I can and sell off the rest. There are many days I regret it, haha.

As for the game...

Taben's Peak
I upgraded my gear and reached the top of the "mountain." I think I said it before, but I dig this interpretation of Nall. I wish he was a playable character. Maybe LUNAR 3 can have a playable dragon character whose magic was sealed away, essentially trapping them in human form and nerfing them.

I was soon trapped by the kiddos... How hilarious is it that Hiro, Lucia, and friends evaded the Dragonship Destiny, Leo, and Athena's Chosen but ended up captured by a bunch of wild children?!

I also find it hilarious the one kid doesn't trust Ronfar or his cooking. But everyone else seems to love Jean and her dancing, and Lemina was forced into scrubbing the floors. All while Hiro and Ruby got to sleep in and be lazy.

Lucia clearly recognizes Nall and knows what he really is. How does she know? When she was "created" by Althena I assume Quark was still the White Dragon and Nall hadn't been born yet. Later, the next morning, Lucia and Nall chat and he even knows who she is... how interesting.

One last thing before returning to Meribia to rescue the kids -- I find it sad for some reason thinking about the lone young adult woman at the playground. She has to leave just because she's grown. The Lost Boys / Hook analogy here has to be intentional, and I'm thinking there's probably some parallel here about the loss of innocence.

Meribia and Meribia Sewers
Finally -- a jRPG where the heroes have to go into the sewers, and characters actually mention how it smells!

I wonder if the layout is the same as it was in SSS or SSSC? I am pretty sure some of the enemies are the same!

I rescued the kids and defeated Master Lunn - I mean, the leader of the Shadow Dragon Cult.

I missed a chest so I had to back into the sewers to get it -- it was a Silk Dress for Jean.

Taben's Peak

I'm saving here and stopping for the night. I'll return to Nall tomorrow.

[VidKid369]

Thanks dude for the compliments about the pic! I actually think my collection is pretty small compared to most, but I pretty much exclusively only go for RPGs. Sometimes I dabble in other stuff. I just wanted to not have my collection collecting dust up in the attic or somewhere else in the house I wanted to put it out for display!

I pretty much am still into physical copies. I have room in the house that I'm not making use of. I very rarely download games online, only if I'm randomly interested in something, I'll usually go for the physical game case! Something kinda empty to me about downloading a game and there's no disc or anything that goes with it... But I'm sure that'll change since downloads and streaming is the next generation thing!

I'll probably never get rid of my stuff... I'm kinda thinking about raising my kids with video games in the house so once I'm dead they can do what they want with it! lol

I'm about to talk to everyone in Taben's Peak and I'll try to make it past the Meribian Sewers to where you're at right now! I've been kinda busy testing out the PS4 Pro and had a couple games come in thru deliveries: Final Fantasy XV and Yakuza 0, so I've been playtesting them out. Really happy with the PS4 Pro purchase fwiw.

Super happy to be doing this side-project w/ you man, it kinda takes me back to my roots and what I really enjoyed growing up! I love going really slow and analyzing the little bits and parts of the game. What I noticed--Usually I just get through the game as fast as I can all the while talking to everybody and getting everything. Now that we're taking baby steps and I can spend a few days in a town and really analyze and take in what the townsfolk and NPCs are saying, and how I feel about their line?

All really good stuff, man.

Edit: Alright, I made it though the Meribian Sewers and I kicked the Masked Man's butt... whose voice is so obviously Lunn's. LOL I'll head to Taben's Peak and wait up for you!

Some random thoughts that popped into my mind while playing the last few sessions:
-I wonder if anyone's ever compared Jean to Kitana from Mortal Kombat with the fans?
-Lemina at Taben's Peak has me thinking she and I are a lot alike (she's always been my favorite character in L2: EBC) when she was complaining about having to be around kids. I sorta find little kids annoying too! :haha
-Lucia's A.I. is growing a lot more, she's using different attacks like Power Up!(sp?) and Lightning Bomb. She's definitely growing as a person.

[VidKid369]

Hey, Boo!! I've been mostly just thinking hard and a lot about our analysis on LUNAR 2 and I have a few notes I've been ruminating about that've been stirring in my crazy head:

Notes:

-I think the main narrative is basically Lucia's Mission: She needs to see/meet with Althena. So they're all going to Pentagulia. Hiro and Ronfar seem to be penetrating this drive the most. Ronfar has business to take care of in the Holy City and he knows the way. Jean has her own thing going on, and Lemina wants the party to join the Magic Guild so she's heading for Vane. ...
-I think the next main major sub-plot is how annoying Leo is. Even all the way out in Meribia, the biggest city in the world, he's put up wanted posters trying to capture the group. He's relentless almost to the point of insanity, I personally feel like. I hate Leo so much. I want this point to be relevent to my real life but I know that has nothing to do with this game, but I've just come to learn I hate all the soldiers, guards what-have-you's that work for a "Empire" of some sort in JRPGs. I just find them and their mission so annoying. I love when the writers turn them into bumbling fools cause that's how I feel about them. FF6 does this too with the myriad of soldiers you can talk to in the game. Turns out they're just lazy, poor, literal bums that joined the force, hot-headed, dumb/stupid, grunt working work horses, just NPCs that don't add much story to the overall thing. Anyway, ... just how I feel about these types.
-Jean's whole sub-plot / backstory about the Masked Man. She seems to have her own thing-agenda going on away from the group. She's just tagging along to see if she can travel and find out what/who it is?
-Now that Nall's made an appearance Ruby's story gets a pump-pump with the whole Red Dragon thing.

So I initially don't like EBC much compared to SSSC cause there's so much stuff going on. But now that I'm taking baby-steps, I can piece everything together slowly as the game progresses.

Ok, that's all for tonight. Ciao!

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

I actually think my collection is pretty small compared to most, but I pretty much exclusively only go for RPGs. Sometimes I dabble in other stuff. I just wanted to not have my collection collecting dust up in the attic or somewhere else in the house I wanted to put it out for display!

I feel you, and I think your collection looks awesome! I get jealous when I see those gaming rooms where every system has their own cubby and the games are super organized. Yours definitely looks awesome.

Lemina at Taben's Peak has me thinking she and I are a lot alike (she's always been my favorite character in L2: EBC) when she was complaining about having to be around kids. I sorta find little kids annoying too! :haha

Just you wait! You'll have kids eventually, and when they're your own... they're not so bad. My kids are practically my best friends! My daughter is 11 and is my mini-me, and we have a lot in common and very similar personalities. She just got her first boyfriend, which is freaking me out. She's not been into boys but she and this boy have admittedly liked each other all school year, so I have to give them credit.

Lucia's A.I. is growing a lot more, she's using different attacks like Power Up!(sp?) and Lightning Bomb. She's definitely growing as a person.

YES! I wasn't really paying attention until you called it out earlier, but I love the changes to her AI. I wonder if it's based on the party level or based on events? I assume events, but you're two or three levels higher than me.

I think the main narrative is basically Lucia's Mission: She needs to see/meet with Althena. So they're all going to Pentagulia. Hiro and Ronfar seem to be penetrating this drive the most. Ronfar has business to take care of in the Holy City and he knows the way. Jean has her own thing going on, and Lemina wants the party to join the Magic Guild so she's heading for Vane.

See, I find Lemina's motivations right now paper-thin. I think she's the weakest character story-wise by far, with Jean's story a close second. Like you said, Jean's story feels very separated. I still like her character a lot, it just seems odd. I keep thinking: why would Jean and Lemina have willingly joined Hiro and Lucia knowing that the two are wanted criminals?! I could understand trusting them if they have some prior relation, but they don't and Lemina joined almost immediately after joining them.

Now that Nall's made an appearance Ruby's story gets a pump-pump with the whole Red Dragon thing.

YES!

So I initially don't like EBC much compared to SSSC cause there's so much stuff going on. But now that I'm taking baby-steps, I can piece everything together slowly as the game progresses.

I like EBC a lot, but I do think SSSC has a stronger, more cohesive story. I also feel like more effort went into upgrading SSS into SSSC than EB into EBC. Regardless, it's sort of hard to capture the feeling of SSSC twice, so I can see how it's a nigh-impossible high bar to meet.

Anyway, I'm going to be playing some tonight, so I'll move onto the next events. Sorry I didn't get to play yesterday -- my kids are now in multiple sports and I'm literally running to events every single night. I'm curious if I can use my save on the PSP emulator and take the game on the go...?

[VidKid369]

-Lol I'm just copying people I see online and how they display their games. I thought to myself hey maybe I should do that? It'd look nicer that's for sure, and I kinda wanna show off a little. Thanks again for the compliments, Boo.
-Oh yeah mostly I get annoyed with other peoples' kids, but I know when I have kids of mine own I will probably change. When I was a little kid I didn't like adults paying attention to me... so I sorta just ignore kids when I'm around them now. I think they're probably a lot smarter than they appear. :shrug:
-I'm assuming Lucia's A.I. is based on events that take place when she realizes certain things about lifes in general, that're for the positive and she gains a little bit of humanity. I kinda see her as just an empty shell and as she progresses thru the story she gets filled up with all sorts of human emotions like: friendship, caring, love, etc. And as she goes through this metamorphosis she's more likely to use/or she regains her powers, a bit more...
-I can see where you're coming from about Lemina. I stan her so I feel I have to defend her. I mean, Lemina's personality IS pretty paper-thin and one-dimensional in the first place! So does she really need a hard reason to go along w/ the party? lol I think she's just after money and that's more than enough reason to do anything, even IRL. I still find Jean's ambitions to be sorta lagging behind the rest... Her story is just so far away from everyone else's. She's just traveling with them basically. Either way, I like both the girls though.
-It's fine don't worry about the schedule Boo, just play at your own pace and I'll find a way to catch up/keep up/wait for you. I just found SSSC's story more simpler. It's just about love. I think I saw somewhere that Vic was hyping up that EBC has a ton more text compared to SSSC so maybe that's why I'm so reluctant to play it sometimes cause I'd have to read through everything.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Taben's Peak

Back to Lucia! Funny how spending time with these kids really loosened her up and got her to identify more with humanity. In fact, I just realized how opposite Luna and Lucia are. Luna was Althena as a human incarnate and always had her humanity from birth, and then loses her humanity as the Dark Songstress; she only regains it due to Alex's love and sacrifice for her. Meanwhile, Lucia is Althena as a Goddess-child that slowly finds her humanity. Just an interesting parallel there. Two drastically different origins end up reversing.

I'm glad I exhausted the dialogue here, because I missed the Cute Ribbon in the play room the first time I was here!

One of the kids mentions that whenever she couldn't sleep at night, Lucia's singing would help her sleep. This alludes to the ransom and kidnapping having lasted multiple days. I always find it funny when jRPGs try to put timeframes on some of these events and they end up making zero sense.

Onward to Vane!

Vane
On the world map, it's kinda cool how you can see that Vane is on what was clearly an island has crashed down into the earth.

Transmission Spring
Don't miss Mia's bromide from the trident-carrying hombre! Unless I'm mistaken, her hair is more straight here in the bromide; I'm pretty sure her hair looks like like Lemina's hair, just black.

I love that we end up in the Cave of Trail, as seen in SSSC. This is the kind of easter egg / continuity I like!

If I'm not mistaken, there's only one treasure chest in the entire dungeon (at the topmost floor), and Lemina won't let me open it. What a fiend!

Vane
One thing I really love about this game is the regional foods. Every area seems to have one -- in Vane it's apparently jalafruit. Just some nice cultural color.

Reading some books in the library, a few things stick out...
-The era in which Dragonmaster Dyne was active was a time known as the Heresy War. I never knew that!
-The first Dragonmaster was named Louie, and his first step on Lunar is still out there... Which makes me wonder... Could the Blue Star be earth and this is all on our Moon in the far future...? Likely not, but one could wonder...
-Another book mentions again that Goddess is reborn into a human form multiple times, meaning Luna was not the only time Althena chose to become human. Does her soul become the goddess again when the human incarnate dies? I always find this bit of lore fascinating.
-Another bromide of Lemina hidden in one of the bookshelves!
-One note has information about the Vile Tribe with some scribbles from Phacia, which says that the Vile Tribe finally left the Frontier and lives amongst the humans. I don't remember this in the story here at all, and I know some members of the Vile Tribe looked human, while others looked imp/goblin-esque. Side note: Phacia was always my favorite waifu from SSSC.

I explored Vane entirely and exhausted all dialogue choices, and saved right in front of the Magic Guild. I'll head in and confront Borgen tomorrow.

[VidKid369]

Hey, Boo I just made it to Vane officially (made it through the Cave of Trials) and I tried to talk to everyone and of course when you’re in Vane you have to read all the books in the Magic Library.

I have a few notes, I’ve been ruminating all night:

-It’s kinda sad the White Dragon Wings Nall gives you have obviously lost all its power in the previous game it allows you to teleport to any place you’ve visited previously and in this game it’s the same as Ronfar’s Escape Litany to take you out of a dungeon. I guess it speaks to there being no Goddess anymore and a lot of her magic in magical artifacts have weakened. Nall and the dragons still exist though?
-Is it just me or are we being bombarded with so many Lemina bromides? I love that we made it to Vane and her story and reasons for joining can be more fleshed out. I was thinking the reason the two girls joined is probably just superficial & shallow like it’s better to travel in a group? shrug
-Lucia’s A.I. is back to normal as she’s casting Plasma Rain again admittedly it’s not as powerful as it was in the Blue Spire. A lot of people notice when she casts her stat-ups she always casts it on mainly Hiro. Could that just be because she likes him?
-I’m kinda of out of it but I’ll re-read the books in Vane again tomorrow to see what I can come up with.
-Lemina has such a heinous insecurity about Vane and how its lost all its glory. I think it explains her being one-dimensionally greedy a lot to restore it to what it ONCE was.

Cheers!

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

-It’s kinda sad the White Dragon Wings Nall gives you have obviously lost all its power in the previous game ... I guess it speaks to there being no Goddess anymore and a lot of her magic in magical artifacts have weakened. Nall and the dragons still exist though?

I had the same thought! We also already have Dragonfly Wings. Seems a bit duplicative considering we have both consumables and spells that do the same.

As for the story...

Vane

I completely forgot that Borgan was one of the Four Heroes. We've pretty much met all four, now -- Leo the White, Lunn the Blue, Mauri the Red, and now Borgan the Black. Although I can't remember if Mauri has been outright stated as the warrior for the Red Dragon or not, although I think one random NPC did list the Four Heroes by name.

I find it funny that Lemina's mother Miria says that Lemina and Borgan are a lot of like, and Lemina muses on whether or not Borgan has brainwashed her mother (ahem, ahem, Mia her mother -- or I guess it wasn't really brainwashing rather than a shape-shifting imposter).

I don't lol often, but I lol'd at Ronfar when they got to the roof and he mentioned giving Lemina a pep-talk, but then promptly stated that everyone was afraid of Lemina. Haha! And then Lemina tells Hiro that his pep-talk is shite.

With Lemina's mothers kidnapping, at least we finally have motivation for Lemina and her role in this journey.

I left Vane and wandered to the forest with all the bugs (a Google search tells me it's called Sluice Forest), and they absolutely wiped my party. I don't know if I wasn't supposed to come here yet or if I am just somehow extremely under-leveled, but I hadn't saved at all during this session, so I'm outta luck and that's my demoralizing session of the day. I may play later tonight to get caught back up.

[VidKid369]

Hey, Boo! I had some notes I was ruminating about as I was exercising this afternoon:

-This's kinda going back to Taben's Peak but it wouldn't be a JRPG if the main character wasn't thrown in jail lol (I'm sure you can relate as that was my favorite moment in Chrono Trigger). I think it's so funny whenever you somehow wind up behind closed bars. It just always happens in JRPGs. lol :p
-I was thinking about Lucia's A.I. and how being around the children in Taben's Peak really brought back her almost-full powers, as afterwards she starts casting Plasma Rain like she did in the Blue Spire. She learned about singing, and as we all know the Goddess Althena loves to sing. So I think Taben's Peak/the children was a really significant moment for Lucia's growth, and learning about human nature and how humans behave. She definitely becomes a beneficial ally now in battle as she constantly attacks now or casts stat-ups. She's no longer just running away or running around the map aimlessly.

Also: This's kinda of a bonus but as you know I always pick Christmas/Dec 25th as my start-date whenever I re-play LUNAR/any WD game. I was reminded of it but I usually game until around this time and Chinese/Lunar New Year is around this time of the year so I thought I'd gather all my Lunar collectibles in celebration for the Year of the Rabbit!


Gong Hay Fat Choy!

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Fuck this game. In the nicest way possible.

I'm caught back up. I think I was just tired yesterday and tried sneaking in a gaming session while knowing I was on-call for work and family responsibilities. Shame on me! Hahaha. Luckily I realized that I had a save state and wasn't as far back as the save file, so I'm not nearly as bad off as I thought I was.

Sluice Forest
I fought through Sluice Forest and then camped out. What a fun team moment; I savor these little quiet character moments. If you notice, Ronfar is sleeping at the trail entrance to the screen, indicating what I interpreted to be a bit of a protector role; I love it...

...Too bad it was slightly broken by the skinny-dipping Lucia and peeping pervert Hiro. C'mon man, I thought we grew past this, Hiro! At least she screamed and demonstrated some self-awareness this time around. Also -- I love that she was singing the weird little orphanage song from Taben's Peak.
I high-tailed it to Azado, upgraded my gear (and had enough Silver, so no grinding necessary)! I also forgot to equip the Thieve's Staff on Lemina, so that went on her, too. I didn't talk to any NPCs, so when I play tomorrow I'll have to spend some time talking to the NPCs and getting to know this port town.

Regarding comments from your last post...

She learned about singing, and as we all know the Goddess Althena loves to sing. So I think Taben's Peak/the children was a really significant moment for Lucia's growth, and learning about human nature and how humans behave.

This is a really, really good call-out. I never even thought about the "magic of singing" parallel to Luna and Althena. Even when ruminating over these connections, that one flew over my head. I do like the magical element of singing and how it is in relation to Althena's magic. Have they ever explained that? Like has it ever been outright stated that singing has a magical property to it? I did halfway expect Lucia to start singing Luna's song --

https://youtu.be/H1sUuCGyMzo?t=193

[Lucia] definitely becomes a beneficial ally now in battle as she constantly attacks now or casts stat-ups. She's no longer just running away or running around the map aimlessly.

Yeah, definitely. Her spell repertoire is growing!

Also: This's kinda of a bonus but as you know I always pick Christmas/Dec 25th as my start-date whenever I re-play LUNAR/any WD game. I was reminded of it but I usually game until around this time and Chinese/Lunar New Year is around this time of the year so I thought I'd gather all my Lunar collectibles in celebration for the Year of the Rabbit!

Dude, your collection is awesome! That's even more than I expected! What is the red-covered book in the lower middle? Is it the player's guide for the original Sega Saturn version? I remember hearing about a manga, and I'd REALLY like to track down a translation and give it a read.

Sorry again if this playthrough is taking far too long. I know we're about a month in and still on the first disc (yikes!). Hopefully you're having as much as you say you are, haha...

[VidKid369]

Hey, Boo!!

So, I’m in the Sluice Forest right now grinding because I don’t have enough Silver to buy all of the weapons in Vane. Thank goodness the monsters in the forest shell out a lot of Silver.

*Yes, singing and song have magical attributes tied to it in the world of LUNAR, as the Goddess herself loves to sing and hear her children’s songs. Remember how all of Luna’s magic were songs or song-related? And in SSSC it took singing to make the entrance to the Blue Dragon Shrine appear. They flat-out stated in the Making of disc that song has magic attached to it.
*The red book is the Japanese artbook for Silver Star Story I bought it way back in 1999 on AOL. It’s really nice to have. There’s an Eternal Blue artbook out there too that I wanna get still that’s supposed to be even better.
*Don’t worry about me I’m having tons of fun. I think it’s kind of fun how each of us has busy days / days where we can really get a good session in. haha

So I’m really happy Lemina’s reason(s) for tagging-along have been fleshed out a little bit. I was gonna say she’s my favorite character cause a) she’s a blonde, and b) her one-liners about making fun of Borgan make me laugh my sides hurt. I think her greed is explained in that her sole mission is to revive the Magic Guild and she’s the only one that cares about Vane and its legacy anymore. Plus I think she’s such a great ally in battle cause her magic can easily help clear out enemy hordes.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

*Yes, singing and song have magical attributes tied to it in the world of LUNAR, as the Goddess herself loves to sing and hear her children’s songs. Remember how all of Luna’s magic were songs or song-related? And in SSSC it took singing to make the entrance to the Blue Dragon Shrine appear. They flat-out stated in the Making of disc that song has magic attached to it.

Maybe as a grand finale once we finish EBC we can watch the making of discs. I am pretty sure that EBC had them, but I've never watched them - only the SSSC ones.

So I’m really happy Lemina’s reason(s) for tagging-along have been fleshed out a little bit. I was gonna say she’s my favorite character cause a) she’s a blonde, and b) her one-liners about making fun of Borgan make me laugh my sides hurt. I think her greed is explained in that her sole mission is to revive the Magic Guild and she’s the only one that cares about Vane and its legacy anymore. Plus I think she’s such a great ally in battle cause her magic can easily help clear out enemy hordes.

Yeah, I love her. She has the confidence of Nash, the greed of Ramus, and the gusto of Jessica. She's like a "best of" character and I love her. She's probably my favorite ESB character next to Nall and Ronfar, and even then it's a toss up.

Anyway, tonight is a super short session for me. I didn't get home until 9:00pm and then had to tuck the kids in bed, take care of the animals (in the dark), and check work email about a critical issue.

I just went back to the Sluice Forest and did some leveling. Like you mentioned, the silver-per-battle is great here. Plus, now that I'm focused and upgraded, the battles here aren't a challenge. I think the first time I came here I wasn't paying attention and I didn't cure poison quick enough, and when I used spells I chose ones that weren't elemental weaknesses (I wasn't paying attention to what color it was showing when picking the enemies to attack). I dunno, let's chalk it up to me having an off day or something.

Tonight should be a nice, long quality session. I get to work from home Friday so I can stay up a bit later tomorrow night.