Gameplay Details

Through the years, the Lunar system of gameplay hasn't changed a great deal. Graphical updates between the originals and the remakes were fairly heavy, and some of the things in the side story, Lunar: Magic School, were different, but for the most part, nothing major had changed over a decade of Lunar games. Lunar Legend took some liberties, redoing the battle system quite a bit, but none of the changes to the Lunar series gameplay compare to Lunar: Dragon Song's new systems. While there are some notable similarities, such as Althena's Statues being planted all over the world and enemies being seen on the dungeon maps, many elements of Lunar's gameplay, specifically the battle system, have been changed dramatically. Gone are five character parties, range and movement on the battle system and flying baby dragons to act as your menu systems. Replacing these things are a new three party battle system spanning both of the DS's screens, an isometric view of dungeons and buildings, a coliseum that friends can link up to play each other using cards found in battle, and a job system known as "Gad's Express". Still cutscenes will be present in the game, much like Lunar Legend, but of higher quality.

You can take a more in-depth look at the gameplay system of Lunar: Dragon Song in the articles linked below:

The Battle System

Much like the Saturn and Playstation remakes of Lunar 1 and 2, and the GBA remake Lunar Legend, you can see enemies upon the dungeon and field maps in Lunar: Dragon Song. You can also still dash with the B button, similar to the previous mentioned Lunar titles. However, unlike those earlier Lunar titles, instead of only having a limited amount of time you can dash, in Dragon Song, dashing depletes your characters HP. When your HP is at 1, you can no longer dash. When contact with an enemy occurs, the battle begins.

The battle system in Lunar: Dragon Song is quite different from that of previous Lunar games. The biggest difference is the change from five party members to three. The combat area spans both DS screens, and enemies can appear as either grounded enemies on the bottom screen or airborne enemies on the top screen. Regular attacks won't work on airborne enemies, as you must use magic and missile type attacks to damage enemies in the air. Three commands can be used in battle by the player: Attack, Special and Item. These, much like most of the menus in the game, can be selected either by the directional pad or by the touch pen. The attack option is the standard physical attack with swords, kicks, etc. Special allows the player to use magic and special attacks, such as Gabriel's special Whirlwind Slash attack, or Lucia's healing magic. Attack spells, as with previous Lunar's (and most RPGs for that matter) will also play animportant role in the game. The item command will allow the player to use standard items along with cards collected during battles. Cards can be used both in battles during the game, or in the Coliseum. Each monster on a card has a set number of "P" (or HP) and an attribute (water, earth, wind or fire). When the "P" of the card is used up, the card is gone.

Players may also opt to use auto-mode for battle, which works much like the "AI" mode in previous Lunar titles. This can be turned off at any point during the battle. Also, blowing into the DS mic will make the characters attempt to run. Note that you will not always succeed in running, and during boss battles, running from battle is not an option. Counterattacks and critical hits also return from past Lunar games.

Two different types of battle modes exist in Lunar: Dragon Song: Normal mode and Virtue mode. Characters do not earn experience points when in Normal battle mode. You must switch to Virtue mode to gain levels. However, items can only be won after battle in Normal mode. In Virtue mode, monsters can be converted from the "Dark Side" to the "Light Side". Changing an enemy to the light side will make it a pure spirit, and it can no longer be fought. In your menu system while walking around the field there are checkboxes for monsters within that field. The picture to the right shows what the bottom screen looks like while walking around on the field. The (2) in the picture shows the checkboxes. The (3) is where you tap with the touchpad pen to change between Normal and Virtue mode. Defeat monsters in Virtue mode, and that monster's checkbox will be checked. Defeat them in Normal mode, and the monster will regenerate somewhere on the field. One thing to be aware of is the stopwatch in your menu. The stopwatch is denoted by the (1) in the picture. When you defeat a monster in Virtue mode, the watch is reset to its maximum time. However, if the watch hand makes a full turn, one checkbox will be unchecked and an enemy you defeated will appear back on the field. If you can defeat all the monsters in the area in Virtue mode before the time runs out in the stopwatch, there will be no more monsters in that area until you leave the area and return. There are some fairly important benefits to defeating all the monsters in an area. A 30% restoration of HP and MP is given when all the enemies are gone, and you can then open all blue treasure chests in the dungeon or field. Normal treasure chests can be opened at any point.

The combat screen of Lunar: Dragon Song has changed a lot compared to past Lunar games. Much like Lunar Legend, characters are set in a specific place on the battle field, unlike how range and movement around the battle screen played an important role of the original Sega CD games and their remakes. However, unlike Legend, the characters are now shown from behind, rather than the right side of the screen. This is similar to RPGs such as the Lufia games. Much like past Lunar games, there are a number of status alignments, such as poison, sleep, confusion and more. Standard RPG stuff.

As you can probably tell, the battle system of Lunar: Dragon Song has changed tremendously since the days of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete. However, fans should have a blast with all the unique features that Dragon Song brings to the Lunar series. In fact, a huge new innovation to the series is found in the form of a new multiplayer coliseum. The next page of the gameplay section is dedicated to the explanation of this new and exciting feature to Lunar: Dragon Song!

The Coliseum

The Coliseum of Dragon Song is a brand new feature to the Lunar series. To use the Coliseum, you must first acquire cards through normal gameplay of Lunar: Dragon Song. Once you have at least one card, the Coliseum feature will open up. The Coliseum allows you to play the "Scratch Battle" system with both friends and strangers through the Nintendo DS's wireless capabilities. After selecting a player to play against, you will begin the battle.

The battle system uses cards. It should be noted that cards have HP just like players in the game. If your card loses all of its HP, the other player gets your card. However, if you defeat your opponent's card, and knock its HP down to 0, you gain his or her card. If you win, the HP of the card is restored.

The scratch battle view is split into top and bottom. On the top screen, it will show both your card, and your opponent's card, including a HP meter of each card (labeled as "P"). The bottom screen mainly consists of the "scratching area", which is a 6x4 grid. Above that are slots for 5 attack icons. To start the battle you select a card to use for battle. Neither player knows what card the other player will use until after they have selected a card for battle. On the "start" signal, you scratch one square off of the scratch card. The icons from the scratched squares determine the card's attack method. Both players are able to attack first. When both players have scratched off one square, go on to the next one (decided at the point when that square is 70% scratched off). However, once you have started scratching, you cannot scratch another square.

The first one to finish executes an attack. The attributes of the last 5 attacks remain as a history on the top part of the lower screen. You can also earn bonuses depending on the number remaining.

The scratch battle is repeated until the HP of one side becomes 0. The winning player gets the card of the opponent. The battle ends and the “Select Other Player” screen returns. Note that the P points of the cards used in battle are completely restored at the end of the battle. If all of the squares on the scratch card are scratched off but neither player has won, this is a draw.

Menu Systems

As with any RPG, Lunar: Dragon Song has many menu systems. Being the first Nintendo DS RPG, it will be the first to take advantage of the DS touchpad system for moving through the menu's. For the most part, menu's can be navigated by both touchpad and the standard directional pad. While moving around on most of the maps in the game, the top screen is generally used for moving your character around while the bottom screen is reserved for things like conversations, character's current HP/MP levels and that sort of thing. You can also enter the menu system by touching on the menu icon in the top right of the the bottom screen.

The main menu is set up fairly simplisticly. Once you've entered the menu, the top screen will show pictures of your three party members. It also shows their vitals (HP/MP) and the amount of silver you currently have. On the bottom screen, the menu is setup using icons, and can be navigated either with the D-pad or using the touch pen. It also shows the current location and any current actions going on. A picture of this screen can be found on the right.

The options for the menu are Stats, Special, Items, System and Assigned Jobs. The Stats menu shows your characters current statistical information that is standard for most RPGs. Things like current level, HP, MP, Attack, Luck, Wisdom, etc. are shown for the character. Current equipment and how many Althena's Conduct (experience) points are needed to the next level are also shown on this screen. You can navigate between characters using the L and R buttons. The Special menu shows the various special attacks and/or magic that can be used by that player. For the most part, only healing and special attributes spells can be used from here.

The items menu allows you to view, use and equip items. Much like with past Lunar games, all characters share a single knapsack for holding these items and equipment (just without the flying kitty to hold it for you). Many of the same styles of equipment have returned for Lunar: Dragon Song. Weapons, clothing, gloves, hair bands, rings, etc. are all equippable. Standard items, things to be delivered for Gad's Express, and cards obtained during battle are also listed on this screen.

The system menu, as you probably guessed it, is where you can save your game. There is also an option called "Music Hall" which allows you to listen to some of the music found in the game. Finally, the Assigned Jobs menu shows the job currently assigned by Gad's Express.

That concludes the main menu system. Other menu systems are present, such as choosing a location while in town or on the world map. Individual locations also have their own menu's, some described in other sections such as Gad's Express, the battle system's menu's, and the coliseum menu system. Also, the shop menu systems are fairly similiar to past Lunar games. Buying, selling, etc. is all done in pretty much the same fashion as past games. You select what you want to buy, and then select the quantity or if the item is equippable, who to equip it to. It should also be noted that unlike past Lunar games, weapons and the like can become damaged in battle. So buying extras may be a good option if you have the spare silver.

Gad's Express

Jian and Lucia have worked together for about a year now doing jobs for Gad's Express. This "job" of Jian and Lucia's plays an important role in the gameplay of Lunar: Dragon Song.

Each town in Lunar: Dragon Song has a Gad's Express in it. If you choose to go into the Gad's Express shop, you'll be able to take on various jobs for cash. You are paid depending on the difficulty of each job, which is measured by a four star system. In Gad's Express the bottom screen shows the available jobs to you. On the top screen, it lays out the details of the job you're currently viewing. It shows the name of the job, the amount of silver you will be paid to finish the job, the difficulty of the job, a description of the job, and the addressee and address for the package or item to be delivered.

When you've found the job you would like to work, and have selected it, you can enter Gad's Express to check the progress of said job. Once the job has been accepted, you must complete it before you can start a new one. If you cannot complete a job, you will have to pay a fee to get out of it.

An example of a job would be to find and deliver 50 acorns by defeating specific enemies to gain those items, and take them to the person or people you are supposed to deliver the goods to. Most of the items you are asked to find or deliver are pretty much useless to you on your quest, but some of these items needed for some jobs can only be found on some fairly tough enemies, making some of these jobs extremely difficult. Once you have completed a quest, return to Gad's Express to collect your reward!