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Of all the long-awaited games to come along, only to be a sheer disappointment, it pains me to see Lunar: Dragon Song at the top of that list. Although this installment is set a thousand years before the time of Alex and Luna, players can expect a few familiar elements at play. Althena once again is in trouble, the main character ends up the filling the role as the proverbial hero, and oh yes, the Four Dragons are here too.
 The game walks a fine line between boredom and patience. During the first few hours, leveling up your characters will seem like an eternity while the story drags along at an unforgiveably slow pace. I predict the devoted fanbase collectively made a huge outcry upon discovering the game penalizes you for running. Health decay belongs in simulation titles that aspire to offer realism, but they have no place in a fantasy title like Lunar.
Even more disappointing is the restrictive battle system, which fails to offer the ability to target specific enemies. I am not particularly fond of the 3D-esque Suikoden engine, especially since the animation looks uninspired and flat. There are some interesting elements here at work though: unlike most contemporary heroes, Jian has to work his butt off as a courier to make any sort of cash; leveling up is rewarded by an unique "time attack" sort of format (which is good on paper, but ends up making the whole gaming experience longer than most would prefer); and there's a voice reconigition feature which allows you to do things like escape.
All told, there are a lot more enjoyable portable RPG releases available. Sadly, this title comes up short in too many areas to be considered fun.
There's a point in Lunar: Dragon Song where it transforms from a charming but flawed game in the classic RPG series into a chore. When money runs tight, which it will after a few hours, it becomes necessary to take jobs from the guild. It's then that the feeling of "Awww... Lunar!" wears off and the realization "I'm wasting huge, irreplaceable chunks of my life!" kicks in. Gaining zero XP while fighting creature after creature in the hope that one of them will drop the final item needed to complete a side-quest is sheer tedium.
I could live with the battle engine that doesn't hold a candle to Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue's more strategic offering. Ubisoft's translation not having half the personality or spark of showcased by Working Designs was expected. Being forced into hours of boredom completing irrelevant side-quests, on the other hand, is just plain unacceptable.
··· James Cunningham
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