LunarLux

Lunarlux’ influence is clearly Mega Man Battle Network, but it’s mostly visually as far as I’m concerned. The structure is rather akin to a traditional Jrpg and the battle system is turn based with some action elements to keep things interesting. What’s more impressive is how the game carves its own identity. The are some quirks with the gameplay that make it stand out (the way level up is handled, how you make your skills stronger, the amount of party members, the bonus you can add to your skills, etc.) and the package delivered is incredibly strong as a whole. The story was very engaging, the writing helped with keeping interest by remaining straightforward and giving you enough without overwhelming you with text. The music is fantastic, so many songs are catchy and high quality. Even though the game might feel bite sized compared to what is usually expected of games from the genre, it works to the game’s advantage by keeping focus. And somehow it was still possible to add optional areas, quests and collectibles to hunt for. The exploration feels rewarding, it’s made better thanks to the comprehensive in-game tracker of quests, enemies and achievements. It’s such a great feeling to go wherever you please with your ship, the game has an actual worldmap and it’s done well. The battle system is great, you have less battles compared to other games but they’re more unique and you feel less repetition. In terms of flaws, what I’m about to mention are going to be mostly nitpicks. There were rare instances of grammar errors or typo with the English text. But make no mistake, the text felt well written as if done by a native and with a lot of personality. So it feels like a small oversight. Next, the balance of fights did feel slightly off by the end, mostly optional fights. It feels like the main character is put in some unfair situations in the times she’s alone. Some defensive phases feel too cheap, mainly the reaction time demanded can feel too quick and a couple of undertale like sections where damage emerges right on top of the player. Lastly, 2 achievements felt a bit too grindy. Especially the one where you have to max all support skills. But again, the grind is a nitpick. It’s nothing compared to other games. Lunarlux feels like an RPG made by fans for fans. The developer knew exactly what to do, what pitfalls to watch out for and improving certain minor aspects that fans are familiar with (such as making it clear which NPC triggers a main story cutscene etc). That doesn’t make it perfect but it’s impressive what has been delivered for a first game. I’m so excited for the next game, though I’m unsure it’s a full on sequel. The price of around €18,50 is 100% worth it. It’s currently on sale (on steam) and I highly recommend it to fans of the genre. It took me around 29 hours to complete the game and get all the achievements. The achievements mostly amount to doing everything thoroughly (quests, fight all monsters, max all skills etc), most of it should come naturally when you are invested in the game and you like completing all checklists. The rest is not bad, definitely doable with a guide.

Game play is a bit dull and the grinding is harsh but it's still a really great game. The music is phenomenal, the graphics are really nostalgic. The battle mechanics are interesting, I really hope the game gets a better polish in the 2nd one. Melody is cute af ;)

Interesting game that takes a lot of inspiration from many different sources (Megaman Battle Network, Undertale, every indie JRPG). Combat feels initially extremely varied but over time a lot of your options get replaced by choices that are just objectively better, and I felt like by the endgame my Active Skill choices were largely the same over and over. This is heavily mitigated though by the fact that enemies have a lot of different attack patterns which forces engagement and attention. Some attack animations felt a little visually cluttered and it felt unfair to get hit by, but those were few and far between. Ultimately the combat was the best part of the game, and kept me actively engaged any time I was in combat. The story is fine. I think the characters and their motivations make a lot of sense but run along a lot of the same tropes that everyone has seen a hundred times before. The only knock I would have against the writing is that occasionally its a bit too cute / immature. Not so much that it affects the overall tone, but just enough to be noteworthy. The story ending with [spoiler] very clear sequel structure given that the primary conflict of the first half of the story [/spoiler] feels a little disappointing only in that this game does not feel like a complete package. What is presented here is good, but it definitely feels like the game was ended to be longer but was cut short. Exploration is good, albeit small. Locations, primarily cities, are very large and detailed, enough to even get lost in. Being able to fly around and bypass all pathing really lets you get a good look at the design of everything. Kinda like the story, I just wanted more of it. Overall I think this is generally an easy recommendation for me for anyone who is a fan of Indie RPGs. There isn't too much of here that is surprising or new, but a robust combat system and likable characters kept me engaged throughout my full playtime.

A pretty solid game, the script writing is entertaining and the combat is actually REALLY fun. The are actually a ton of small funny moments that I enjoyed(talk to rocks, trust) I am not done with the game so I dont know how the story will end up but so far so good. It has references and homages to Megaman Battle Network and Starforce that i also appreciated It can be a bit childish sometimes but maybe im old and jaded now haha. So far 9/10

Pretty good game. Engaging combat. Decent writing. Plenty to explore without having to grind. I think my only real complaint are a few button mashing sections.

Fun game with some slight mario and luigi styled fighting (I would've preferred more, but thats just me)

[h2]Note : you can consume 1 item per turn[/h2] WIP -Nice pace between story, exploration and fights (compare Touhou) -Chara design -End credits -Not much encouraged to switch builds (pirates) -Childish but coherent and stuff regularly happens -Movesets weird in 1st playthrough Not sure of what it wants to be in its mechanics -Stall strong -Managing shields was challenging at first [h2]Aesthetics[/h2] [h3]Chara design[/h3] I love the chara design overall. Not sure how to say it... Some VTubers or anime girls give me the feeling that their entire character is about being pretty for the audience, as if they must look cute in everything they do. While the 4 LunarLux girls do look pretty, I feel like they act by their own will without a 4th-wall obligation to always behave cutely, which make them feel more genuine to me. I especially love the combat forms of the 3 other girls. [h2]Unlockable movesets work well[/h2] Attacks, support skills and upgrade chips have to be "found" around the world. This keeps exploration involving, as the next one you find might always be the next core of your combat strategy. A player who never cleared the game will have a hard time in harder difficulties, since, while not knowing enemy patterns, they also wouldn't know which skills they need and where to find these. I find this great for replayability, as this further increases a player's skill gap between their first and second playthrough. [h2]Flawed player movepool[/h2] [h3]Redundant moves[/h3] Here are all the combat "actions" I needed across my playthrough : [list] [*] -AoE damage [*] -Single-target damage [*] -Damage mitigation/nullification [*] -Resource gain (health, SP, shield, super meter) [*] -Self-buff (increased damage, resource gain over time) [*] -Status ailment attack (burn, drench, stun) [/list] There are 20 attack moves, 30 support skills, 30 super moves and 10 upgrade chips. This is more than enough for the above. Each move is ultimately different and has its own animation, but some are redundant combat-wise, notably single-target attacks, that deal more damage : [spoiler] [list] [*] -against bosses [*] -against ex [*] -the more status ailments they have [*] -the more shields you have [*] -the more QTEs you succeed [*] -the higher your SP [*] -the higher your super meter [*] -if used consecutively [*] -if you skip support skills [*] -multi-hit attacks [*] -luck-based [/list] etc. [/spoiler] There are many different strategies that compete against each other to be the one you'll pick for dealing damage, and they are not equally balanced. This also applies to super moves. Some specialized attacks like "dmg+ against bosses" also seem worse than others non-specialized ones that have similar/lower SP costs, while others like Aqua Grenade, Phantom Strike or Geyser can feel surprisingly strong for their SP cost. Damage-wise, it's generally [b]better to provide a consistent damage output every turn rather than casting expensive attacks that require to skip turns to replenish SP[/b]. From there, a move that does something relatively good for its SP cost can still be bad if it either drains your SP too fast or if there are better affordable moves. In some games like card games, it's sometimes better to save resources for later or use cheaper attacks while investing into setups ; this helps at making attacks of all costs relevant in certian situations. LunarLux combat doesn't go that deep beside niche cases, and I mostly found myself wanting to spend as much SP as possible without hitting burn-out, so I'd keep using the same few cards better suited for this. [h3]Flaws for both newcomers and masters[/h3] As a newbie, I regularly found new moves that would replace my current strategy altogether, which brought welcome changes of paces, but it was frustrating to see skills that I invested into become completely useless, with the threat of it possibly happening again as I'd unlock more moves. Now, as an accustomed player, if I were to start a new playthrough, I'd rather rush for the few best moves early on and spam them through the whole game, which I'd find rather boring. [h3]Funny super bar annoyance[/h3] When your super meter becomes full after your attack, enemies can still hit you afterwards before the turn ends, which would chip some meter away and prevent you from casting a super the next turn (you need the bar at 100% to do so), even though you had your bar full just now. You can still spend your one-item-per-turn before attacking to fix your super bar back, and I do find this issue funny, but I think it would be right to modify it so getting hit couldn't drain a fully-filled super bar. [h2]Battle rank doesn't seem to matter much[/h2] At the end of a battle, the player is given a rank based solely on the amount of hits that they received in the fight. While I welcome such additional stakes, this feature doesn't really seem to "know" what it wants to be : [list] [*] -There are quests and achievements about obtaining S ranks. However, none seems to ask for specific enemies (so you can grind S ranks in the easiest repeatable fight) [*] -Higher scores increase dropped currency. Though, this is irrelevant in story fights that you only need to clear once, and it's generally more rewarding to grind boss encounters (single enemy and high base reward) than easier no-hit-able fights. [*] -There doesn't seem to be loot that requires a minimum rank (all loots are currencies), which I think would've helped making fighting ranks more rewarding. [/list]

constant crashes and softlocks that are documented but haven't gotten fixed turn a potentially okay game into a slog especially for people trying to do all the games "content". ZX (hard mode) enemies don't respect your time, giant hp pools and having to wait turn after turn to have the game give you high damaging support skills is just mind numbing. if a specific fight is taking too long I can just die and lower the difficulty right? nah the game will usually crash when you game over. the characters and setting are all fun too, the gameplay and overall experience is just not.

what if simon the digger was a pink-haired girl

Such an incredibly well made game. It doesn't overstay it's welcome, it doesn't sell itself short. It knows that it's a goofy, polished, efficient, rich spiritual successor to old isometric top-down pixel art RPGs like Battle Network. (It personally lit up my memories of Custom Robo Arena on the DS) It's a fun world that's rewarding to learn about as you play through the game, and the length of it is in no way daunting. I beat it in 11 hours, and the time certainly flies by for most of it. I love how hammy the dialogue is, and the combat is some of the most engaging I've encounters in a game of this style. It's like Clair Obscure but with more features and released way before Clair Obscure was. I almost skipped over this game when going through my backlog and I'm happy that I didn't.