Silver Star vs. Eternal Blue

[Lumina]

MAJOR SPOILERS REGARDING THE LUNAR SERIES, READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK

Reflecting back on the many iterations of the Silver Star story, I really got to thinking about the why it’s generally better received than Eternal Blue among fans of the series. If you’re interested, here are some of my thoughts and opinions on how the two games compare.


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Protagonist

While they’re both classics in the mind of fans, I personally like to think Silver Star is a little more relatable because it portrays many of the more common childhood fantasies that many young boys share.

I think that many players feel more fulfilled playing as Alex on his quest because growing up a lot of us daydreamed about the types of things he experienced throughout the game. Be it going on adventures, becoming a powerful hero, saving a damsel in distress, and perhaps even the world in the process. I for one know that I personally felt an immense sense of satisfaction the moment Alex transformed into a Dragonmaster for the first time. It felt like “I” did it, and all of "my" hard work had finally paid off.



The irony in this though is that out of the two of them Hiro is more of an everyday man than Alex is, and by that logic, should be much easier to connect with. The truth is however that most of us didn’t grow up dreaming about being an everyday man, we wanted to be something extraordinary, and through Alex we can be an everyday boy from a small village that grows up to be a legendary hero, savior of the world, and the last of Althena's Dragonmasters.

In the Alex vs. Hiro debate there will always be fans on either side, but I think it’s easy to see why Alex will always be considered the fan favorite of the two.

Advantage: Silver Star


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Love Interest

This is a topic that you will see fans more evenly divided on.

With Silver Star you get a very classic JRPG love story centered on childhood friends and unspoken love. It’s a bit clich?© but there’s not much to complain about here. It becomes clear very early on that that there is something between Alex and Luna and the game does a great job early on highlighting the way they feel. However, up until the very end of the game when they are reunited, save for a few small scenes here and there, I feel that the love story takes a bit of a back seat the moment Luna is captured. Therefore, despite being as much of a Luna fan as I am, I can’t give the point to Silver Star on this one.

While the love story in Eternal Blue is a bit slow on the uptake, I feel that once Hiro and Lucia’s relationship starts to develop, it’s given more and more of the spotlight as the game progresses. In addition, I found that while the Silver Star had a few touching scenes, Eternal Blue was so much more emotionally charged when it needed to be. I remember feeling so distraught at the heart wrenching standard ending of Eternal Blue.



Thankfully there was an epilogue that tied it all together in a nice little happy ending, but the realization that the standard ending effected me so seriously made me understand that Eternal Blue made me care more about how things turned out between Hiro and Lucia. Therefore:

Advantage: Eternal Blue


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That's all for now, I plan to carry on and add more to this over time, feel free to share your thoughts and feelings about the subject.

Next Topic: Antagonists

[WoottWinds]

Gah... I have such a hard time comparing the two games. Silver Star will always be my favorite due to unnaturally extreme nostalgia, but I do think that Blue Star is by far the "better" game.

Protagonist: Out of the two, I would also have to give Alex the upper hand for pretty much the exact reasons you described. I loved Hiro, but (as you mentioned) I did feel like I grew up alongside Alex, journeyed his adventures, and overcame his trials. He is one of the only game protagonists I have ever felt wholeheartedly attuned to.

Love Interest: I'm incredibly torn on this one. On one hand I completely agree with you that Eternal Blue explores and develops its relationship between Lucia and Hiro much better than Luna and Alex in Silver Star, where it was pretty much evident from the beginning that they were already the perfect match and in love before you even started playing. However, I thought having Luna be a main character in your party for a good portion of the game, only to have her ripped away from you gave such an incredibly strong motivation to get her back, unlike the majority of the "damsel in distress" type stories. You got to know her personality, how she was with Alex, it showed her as a totally competent and valuable member of your battle party, and then suddenly she was just gone. That feeling of emptiness in your team after she left is just unrivaled in my opinion, and it makes this one an incredibly hard choice... In the end, I'd have to say that for me, Luna is the better Love Interest while Eternal Blue has the better Love Story.

As for the next topic, Antagonists, I say bring it. No one can touch Ghaleon in my opinion! If you dare even suggest that Borgan has a chance of de-throning him as top villain (regardless of how terrifying his bromide may be), I will have utterly no choice but to challenge you to fisticuffs.

[Lumina]

In the end, I'd have to say that for me, Luna is the better Love Interest while Eternal Blue has the better Love Story.

Well put, I agree!

If you dare even suggest that Borgan has a chance of de-throning him as top villain (regardless of how terrifying his bromide may be), I will have utterly no choice but to challenge you to fisticuffs.

Haha yea that bromide was seriously disturbing.

I remember finding it the first time, I was like "Alright a secret bromide! This one has to be good if they hid it so well.... let's have a loo-OH GOD! MY EYES!"

[Blue Star Princess]

I'm really biased. D;

For me Hiro is my favorite Guy when it comes to Lunar Hero's, which could be the fact that EB was my firs lunar game and I just loved him, maybe it was his tattoos or his boomerang it was something. When it came to Silver Star I liked Alex but he was no Hiro.

For for the love story I'm def, going to pick EB again. I mean I understand the whole childhood friends turning into a romance thing and how most people find it cute and sweet but I think I liked Eb's more because Hiro really had to work for Lucia to really notice him and actually fall for him through out the entire game. I mean the boy made it pretty clear that he was interested in her in the very first cutscene together. <3 Not to mention since Lucia was practically and alien she had to learn what all the different human emotions were as well not to mention try to understand them.

Though kudos to alex for rescuing Luna, cause you know if he didn't Hiro would've never really existed probs.

[lopez]

Protagonist:

I don't have a major preference between the two, though if I had to pick it'd probably be Hiro. Alex was a bit too quiet for my tastes.

Love Interest:

Hiro + Lucia for me. There relationship was very one-sided from the beginning, but then slowly blossomed into a mutual attraction for each other as Lucia came to respect and appreciate the world around her. Alex + Luna had the simple childhood friendship thing going for them, which is fine, but there was no major development between them.

Antagonist:

Ghaleon from Eternal Blue spoiler:



well, as the Chester to Bishop Nikolas in Ys III)



/spoilers

[Lucia Blue Star]

I love them both, they both have a great story plot that most games wouldn't even dare of going ^^

[Dust]

I'm not sure I could pick between the two myself either.

[Lucia Blue Star]

Hey Dust! How are you?

[Dust]

Trogging along How about yourself? I had some oral surgery to get done (yeah that was fun). Haven't been able to check the boards as often as I would've liked to lately to be honest. I've actually been trying to squeeze in another playthrough of Lunar, but I can't find the time. My backlog of games is glaring at me.

[Lucia Blue Star]

Lol sad to hear that, but I hope you get better soon ^^ and your games miss you...