Hm. Well I figured since I gave Zzang a whole blog entry I would, and should give my favorite MMO thus far a good little blog entry too right? For starters the title is simply lyrics from a song thrown in with Lunia. I guess they could apply to one another because to be honest the creators, developers, and whatever else you have going on there did aim pretty high with this game. Did they hit the mark? Wont know really until the game is finalized, but with MMO's in general they don't really become final since they continue to patch, and adapt over and over again. As such the only time they are really final is when they are about to shut down. XD Interesting isn't it?

Lunia itself is almost a spin off of "Record or Lodoss wars", and the full name of Lunia is "Record of Lunia wars" o,0 i did not know that until i was looking around the old site a long time ago. Regardless the anime and the game are both great, now the american site is making the actual site into a manga type ordeal. How interesting, an american site not making a comic, but a Manga. Then again american Manga's have been done before, but it will never stop shocking me. I do like them, but this is getting way off topic, and if you're wondering i'm too lazy to cap' america.

Moving on, Lunia captures the gameplay of an arcade game much like Zzang does, but in a different manner. For example when doing stages one still uses the keyboard to move around, but unlike Zzang there are different combo's(meaning a great deal more) and you have a wider variety of area to explore. The map is larger and like an actual old school arcade game it is not done by panels(depending on which games you have played in the arcade, because there are some that are done in that fashion) Lunia however will not give you that feeling of playing one of those types of games.

If anything it reminded me of sitting down and playing the first playstation but with clean graphics not cubes of nasty which I thought were superb graphics at the time. Does anyone remember that? Being a little kid and flipping out because playstation was soooo revolutionary and the graphics were just down right amazing? In all fairness they were good for the time period we were in, but still looking back on it, it's kinda funny. Well Lunia's story, and style of play drags me away from the fact i'm using the keyboard and I actually talk to the game(i don't expect it to respond) It's more along the lines of saying stuff like.

"Oh come now..."
"You can't be serious?"
"That....haha I didn't even know i could do that!"

By this I mean it draws me into it, and gives the character I am  playing a real 3D feel. Although you can not change hair style, and what have you from the start when you select a character that also makes it feel more like an old console game(which i love.) You have to play as the character in the story, or one of them anyway, and as such you can't change their complexion from the start or anything of the sort. see you have to start off how they did. Now as you go through the story, or their life rather then yeah sure you can because everyone has changes in their life. It would be more realistic if you could change the complexion later in the game, but yeah, you can't. Why would it be more realistic? People tan, and wit them always going out and fighting they are in the sun constantly. With that much being said I still love it.

From the process of the OBT I have learned that the manner in which one would be able to alter the appearance of a character at the core, such as hair etc...they would need to do it in the cash shop. Dunno how expensive that is going to be because for everyone that had an account before a certain time the cash shop points were given away for free. With that being said I have no clue as to what points Vs money really is.

Every single character in the game has it's own style of fighting, from a large sword, staff&magic, Book staff&magic, Doll&summonings, Two large hammers, or two daggers. (no i'm not including Limes fighting style because honestly i have no freakin clue how to explain how a green mass of slime goes about fighting really. Changes into other slimes with different abilities. there ya go).

mm, excuse me my nose itched.

I could go through a full diagnostic of the game from what I know, and have played, but I don't want to bore you with every single detail of the game so I will give highlights and explain something to those who are trying to join now. Actually let me do that first.

As of now the game is under development so you can join but not play just yet. so dun' complain about it, just wait. Trust me it wont be like Pi story~cough~ Sorry that was a cheap shot, but they are annoying me with how long they are taking with that game. Another blog for another time.

The skills in the game are very vibrant and it makes sure you know that you have done the skill. In some way it expresses it and shows you exactly what that particular skill does. For example in some games you'll use a passive skill or something and a faint glow will happen for a second or two then fade away and you know it's there, or the alternative it just doesn't show you anything at all you simply assume your skill is working. Not with Lunia.  Most buff skills i have seen end up with small sheilds floating around you. Now this is all suspect to change since i don't know  what all they are going to do to Lunia in the actual release.

As you know I don't play females, but I'm actually excited to see the new character(new to the us anyway) come out. Simply because I know Rachel will play as her and in that aspect it'll be fun to at least watch. The next male character will be a long time from now and from what I know it's a guy who uses two hammers. It really depends on how fast they go with the patches, and the episodes. No one really knows that just yet because the actual release is going to pretty much be one large awesome-sextastic patch which includes the new episode and character.

So it'll be another waiting game, but after all we wouldn't want them to speed through the game and run out of new material. For people wanting a more laid back MMORPG Lunia is not for you. The game is very fast paced and although I'm pretty sure it's not the first arcade style of it's time I enjoy it the most out of all the ones I have played. This includes Elan....it was alright but Lunia takes the cake I mean what game opens up and makes you pay after 14 days, only once, but then doesn't even have any of their new characters out? Yeah, they did that.

Moving on because that little fact upsets me just a tad. I would love to tell you more about Lunia but as I said i don't want to bore you and on another note it's freakin 6 am here so yeah i need to be passing out real soon.

Take a breath and review what kind of games you have been playing if you are in fact what people call a "Serious" or "hardcore(not the trend def. for it)" gamer and want to relax with a more light game then you should probably try Lunia. I do issue this warning if that is your goal, while playing Lunia you can get drawn back into that "serious" or "hardcore" aspect again because the game can really pull you in, with the story, and the actual game play. If it is your first arcade style mmo then prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

I honestly can not say a single thing about this game that dissapoints me. It's just pretty well rounded, but some...most...a lot of people compare it to games that don't even fall into the same category. Namely most point-click games, or games that use mouses as the primary method of movement. Reason I say that they don't fall into the same category, is because once the transition is made to the keyboard for everything(or mostly) or vice-versa the model of the game is completely flipped on it's ear.

In other words most games that use the keyboard are 2D side scrollers
Maple Story
Ghost Online
Dragonocia
Dragon gem

However Lunia takes on a 3D multi-layered map aspect to it's game. What I mean by multi layer is that the map looks more laid back at an angle instead of everything being jump up to get to this or jump down to get to that.
Yes, yes Elan has done this too, but yeah i've got issues with that game due to what they did. It's not a lot of money to pay for only once, and the game is fun but it's more of something like.
"You've got some balls on you to charge and not add anything....anything new to your game"
or simply
"The nerve!"
Tired and venting bare with me.

In a nut shell I love where lunia is trying to go with it's game design, original or not it is a fun experience that i think everyone should at least try.

In addition, what is up with the people commenting on some of the games on MMOsite? They say some of the most ridiculous crap I have ever seen. Since a game comes out in one country the other complains and then the one who has it boasts about being better. Sure some of it is playful banter, but most of what I have seen people take it too far.

Iunno, just seems soooooooooooooo silly. Needs to stop, but it probably never will. In fact i'm pretty sure it wont.

Joy to you all
~Paradox(Destruction)