Lunar: Dragon Song (Nintendo DS, 2005)

You know, I love Lunar. I think Silver Star Story was one of the better RPGs of it's generation and even Eternal Blue had some very great moments. This game, however, is just really, really bad. It honestly seems as if the developers tried their damndest to make the game as inconvenient as possible. You lose HP when you run, which is just meant to make you angry I assume, and you can't even target specific enemies in battles, which blows my mind. What exactly is the point of that? Anyways, I figured I would give it a try, since Lunar is usually worth it, but all the bad reviews for this game were right on the money. It is barely worth playing and if you have other options then you should go with those.

I read the reviews and did research before buying this game, so I knew exactly what I was getting into. The box says the game was made by the "original creators of Silver Star Story." This is false; Game Arts farmed the development out to Marvelous Entertainment, a multimedia company best known among gamers for the most recent portable Harvest Moon games. They are not credited for their work, by the way.

While this is not by any means an adequate entry in the great Lunar series, it is an interesting and very non-traditional RPG which may appeal to a small and specially tuned audience, because not since Unlimited Saga has an RPG taken such an aggressively avant-garde approach to gameplay. Every element of the long-established formula has been twisted. Right from the beginning, you can buy a weapon that allows the main character, Jian, to slay anything in the early dungeons in one turn. But it will still be hard going for a number of reasons: you cannot run, either in the field or in dungeons, without bleeding 1 HP per 2 seconds, and you cannot run at all below 1/3 HP; you cannot choose which enemy to attack; status effects can only be healed with items; and weirdest of all, you must choose between battling to gain experience and to earn key items for the courier's quests, which are the only source of money.

That all sounds really bizarre on paper, and the what-the-heck-is-this factor is strong in practice, too. That such an experimental game should bear the weight of being Lunar 3, the newest entry after 10 years to one of the best traditional RPG series ever, is unfortunate. Taken with an open mind, though, there are some definite merits to the dissonant choices Marvelous made, and it makes an interesting little game.

Here's what I mean: if you concentrate mostly on experience and leveling (Virtue mode), then you get some bonuses from that decision. Each monster-populated area has a special blue treasure chest, which you unlock by clearing the area of monsters in Virtue Mode. These chests often contain an expensive weapon or piece of armor that was recently unlocked in the shops. Also, since your characters are leveling up and getting extra HP, after a couple of hours you can start running all the time without worrying about bleeding HP. For the fastest way through the game, I recommend playing it like that, clearing each new area in succession and only switching to Combat Mode when you have to backtrack. If you play only Combat Mode, then you have a totally different kind of game. You'll be stuck at whatever level you stop leveling up at, but you will also be able to upgrade your equipment much more often, and you will gain cards from battles, which have wonderfully helpful effects in battles. Bosses also have lower HP when you are at a low level, so the game is not completely impossible, but you will have a lower HP stock, meaning you can't run as much, and a lower MP stock, meaning you can't heal as often and you will need to stay well stocked with items.

The storyline is unusual, too. In Chrono Cross, the main villain was a demi-human who resented humans' harsh treatment and sought to exact revenge. That's more or less the usual order of things, where such themes are concerned. Dragon Song reverses the roles; you are human, and it is the beast-men who have the power. They hate you, but eventually man and beast have to band together.

Rent or borrow if you can, to make sure you can stand the downsides. There are good times here.

I bought this game as a Christmas gift for my niece, and she absolutely loves it. I would defenitely recommend this game to anyone who wished to purchase it. The graphics are great as well of the content.

Game play is a little too linear, but great story and graphics...great game over-all and can't target opponents individually

I will start out by saying this game takes some getting used too, and could have been so much more. The developers made some pretty odd choices about the combat system, and losing HP when you run (what a pain). But overall I loved this game. It is the only real RPG out on the Nintendo DS, and once you get past the games flaws, you will come to love the game, I know I have. I think anyone who is willing to actually give this game a real shot will love it. I will warn you though, when you first start this game you may find it hard to play it because of the awkward choices made by the developers, but just keep going and you'll get used too it and begin to appreciate everything else this game has too offer.

This game, do not buy this game. First off you die when you run your hp will slowly decrease and your charictor will look like hes stressed right when you hit the run button which is super stupid, and your charictor is the one bragging on how hes a acrobadic type of guy and such. Second, the main charictor looks like a damn girl. A chibi map? What the hel1? I hate this game. This is as bad as final fantasy tactics for the gba. Lunar for the gba was pretty well done but this, this is a complete peice of trash I am still trying to find a way to return it or something I had this back orderd and I just cant belive the crap I have had thrown at me. This game is also suppose to be in the past and now theres beastmen race or whatever, I dont even want to know why there there now when they didnt say anything about jessica at all in the first game, this is just garbage dam. I still havnt played threw much of the game which I wont but I can already tell this girl with the green hair and her bow would be my least favorit charictor, with that body what is that a 5 pound pull back bow? I played every other Lunar game there is from the SegaCD to the psx and gba and they were all fantastic and now this happens, unbelievable. Damn

This is one of my favorite games! Its got awesome graphics and its a nice long game. nothing to short. It get difficult at times, but what RPG doesn't.. good buy.

Lunar: Dragon Song (DS) is an excellent RPG the characters are easy to level up. The side quests to get money by working for Gad's express was ingenious. I give it an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. It falls shy of a ten because the player is unable to control which character is going to slay which monster. It also falls shy because its characters are unable to parry.

I got the item very quickly. It was in perfect condition. The game works great and the case is not damaged. Thanks for the wonderful service. I hope to use you again. Thanks

I have been a fan of the "Lunar" system. Because of that, I wanted to buy all of them if I could find them.

When Lunar Dragon Song was announced for the Nintendo DS, I was extremely excited to learn what happened 500 years before Dragonmaster Alex saved Luna from the evil Ghaleon.

Graphics/screen shots on reviews looked great, reviews were mixed on the game. Some loved it, some hated it. Some thought it was "ok".

Turns out that the reviewers rating this game as "average" or "below average" were right. Here is how I see it:

The good: This game has incredibly nice anime-style graphics, "mugshots" for every character you interact with, great music, funny dialogs, and cute towns to walk around.

The bad: When it comes to the story, it is linear and boring. The game is virtually a straight-path to killing the last boss and watching the ending. Not that it is easy; I am not saying that at all. What I am saying is that the story doesn't have any of the sharp turns, plot twists, and side quests we all enjoy when playing RPGs. You spend a heck lot of time running errands to earn gold (pretty much no monster drops GP), and the card system is flawed and inconsistent. I ended up using a CodeBreaker to get unlimited use of the cards, to "balance out" the game. Battles are slow, the battle controls are BORING as heck, and the "timer" they created per each map area.... it's so ridiculous, I have no comments on it.

Bottom line: This is a good time waster if you are on a long trip, but to actually play it beginning to end with high expectations - nah!

Final rating: 2.5 out of 5 (in my humble opinion).

If you are willing to over look the faults, then this becomes a great RPG. The faults are redundant for me to say again, due to the fact that everyone that has written a review says the same thing, but I will repeat, just in case you have not read those yet.

The faults of this game would be the running issue. Now, when I read reviews previous to buying this game, I thought they meant when running from battles. Oh no, it's when you run on the main screen, walking from place to place, does not involve battles at all. When you run, you lose HP, on the main screen. That "I need to run to get to the next place quick because I need an action fix" is what makes people press the B button while walking in order to make the character run... refrain from this and you might not have really low HP when you encounter a monster.

Also, you cant chose the monster you hit. It's automatic. Whatever monster is closest to you gets hit first. Which this isnt so bad, except that it makes my whole battle strategy go down the drain. If you're like me, and when you begin a new game, you figure out what monsters are harder to kill and you go for those first in order to keep yourself from dying, losing HP, or using too much MP, then you my friend, are out of luck. You can not choose the monster you hit. So basically, there is no battle strategy in this game, you just fight.

Other then that, I dont really know. I'm already starting to lose interest in the game and I havent even gotten to the first boss. I love Lunar. It's my favorite series and I will finish this game, but it will take me longer then a normal game I think because I will get frustrated with those faults. But the plot line and story are great so far, the battles are not so great.

it's a good game but ending is not good i like how the game look it got my attention me everything is great but like i said the ending is not so good it though you would fought another dragon master instead you fight a monster

I really like this video game. Ever since I bought it, I have not put it down yet, except when I sleep. I love it.

This game is a little on the low end as far as graphics, the interface is a bit sluggish, it does not have a very addictive game play draw to it like some other games I have played, I give it a 2 out of 10

Very fun, RPG game similar to Final Fantasy gameplay. Since these are one of my favorite series, I was really pleased. Game was brand new and 1/2 the price it was in the stores, even as used and this was still sealed. Very pleased.

I have bought from this seller before and completely enjoy buying from this seller. They are extremely fast with their shipping and their games come in excellent, if not perfect condition!!! I trust this seller exclusively! Thanks guys!!! Or girls!!!

First of all I bought this game because I have played and enjoyed this series all the way back to my Sega Genesis. Although all could be played separately, it was set in the same "world" and had the same general game mechanics... So naturally I had to buy this one for the Nintendo DS so I could see what new folds have been added to the series!