Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)
CREDITS: 2010 XSeed. Screenshots courtesy of Amazon.com.

SHOPPING:

Lunar Games Lunar Strategy Guides & Art Lunar Toys Lunar Music Everything Lunar

Amazon.com Product Description:
Since its initial release over a decade ago, Lunar: Silver Star Story has continued to captivate fans with its timeless tale of love, betrayal and redemption, expertly woven into its involving gameplay and cinematic presentation. Now the original single player RPG masterpiece is reborn on the PSP as Lunar: Silver Star Harmony with all new graphics, added gameplay features, and a re-mastered soundtrack so that a whole new generation of fans can experience this legendary first entry of the Lunar universe, while newly added story elements will entice returning fans.

Story
While seemingly placid on the surface, the world of Lunar is slowly descending into chaos, as the Goddess Althena, the creator and guardian of the world, has disappeared and the valiant efforts of the legendary Dragonmaster Dyne and his faithful companions fade into obscurity. With Althena gone and no one able or willing to become the next Dragonmaster, a shadowy figure, known only as the Magic Emperor, has started plotting to usurp Althena’s place and become a god. In a remote village far removed from the decay that is slowly spreading throughout the world lives a young man named Alex, who dreams of one day becoming the next Dragonmaster like his hero Dyne. One day, Alex’s friend Ramus convinces him to head towards a cave near town, where it is rumored the legendary White Dragon resides. With Alex’s childhood friend Luna and his mysterious pet Nall in tow, Alex heads off on what seems to be a meaningless adventure, not knowing that it would be the first step in an epic journey with the fate of the entire world at stake.


PREVIEW >>> by skysenshi (01.23.2010)
An email from Ricardo Barbosa, who found my FAQ in GameFAQs, had me going back to retrieve my Lunar archives and immediately re-inserting them into this database even though it wasn't scheduled for migration yet. The email went like this, and I quote:

"I wanted to say thanks! I recently started playing Lunar 2, I actually have had the game from day one, but Im always so busy, I have lunar one as well, but barely touched it until they put on the gameboy advance. I looked everywhere and you guide was the only one worth looking for the bromides, and since they are on chonical order, that made it even better, it might be 8 years later, but your guide is still helping people, or at least one of them, thank you very much!"

Hehe, glad to know my old stuff are still useful. Thanks, Mr. Barbosa!

My memories of Lunar: The Silver Star Story (Complete) is rather hazy now (I did write the review in 1999, about 11 years ago) but I remember the characters very well. I loved Jessica and Kyle the most. I still use Kyle as an avatar in my private LJ.

I'm staring at the features and the screen captures and it looks like Silver Star Harmony is a complete remake of The Silver Star Story (Complete). The sprites and environment are different. Well, d-oh, it's all isometric now. Still cute, but amazingly different. The 2D seems to remain, although there are a new additions that are almost faithful to the original art. The battle system looks like it has been beefed up.

The following features are listed in Amazon.com:

• The beloved original story has been expanded and fleshed out with new cut-scenes and story sequences, revealing more about the four heroes and answering some of the questions left unresolved in the original.
• Widely acclaimed as one of the best RPGs of all time, the classic, original Lunar is back to be experienced by a new generation of gamers.
• Classic RPG play that has players leveling and upgrading gear as you progress through a story peppered with cutscenes.
• All of the graphics have been redone to take full advantage of the widescreen format and processing power of the PSP, and newly composed songs added to the re-mastered original soundtrack.
• The Arts Gauge battle system allows players to unleash devastating attacks or heal party members has been implemented to add another dimension to the battle system.

There are two versions of this remake: the regular one and the limited edition. Apparently, the limited edition has the soundtrack and the set of exclusive bromides. There are 13 of them. Hm. And here I was, hoping that my ancient FAQ would still be of use.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony will be released in March 2010 for Sony PSP. You can read more of this game's features here.

GENRE: Digital Novel, Mystery, Strategy, Role-Playing
PLATFORM: Nintendo DS
CREDITS: 2010 Capcom Co., Ltd. Screenshots courtesy of Amazon.com.

SHOPPING:

Ace Attorney Games Ace Attorney Art and Manga Ace Attorney Music Everything Ace Attorney

Amazon.com Product Description:
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth takes the Ace Attorney series from the courtroom to the crime scene, leaving the legal battle behind while bringing the action to various crime scenes. This time around, the player takes on the role of famed prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, a memorable rival of charismatic legal eagle Phoenix Wright. Edgeworth actively investigates crime scenes in order to pursue the truth behind each case. By solving the challenging puzzles presented him, Edgeworth will work with the police to bring criminals to justice. Users will be able to directly control the character avatar’s movement on the scene with the arrow key or touch screen and investigate the crime scenes freely. If, during the course of an investigation, users find contradictions, they will be able to obtain new information by presenting decisive evidence. In some cases, users will identify clues and conduct examinations of material witnesses. On these occasions, users will have to uncover the truth behind the crimes using collected information, the evidence, and logic.


PREVIEW >>> by skysenshi (01.05.2010)
I was supposed to do a review on Gokusen manga, but I accidentally stumbled upon this DS game on Amazon.com. Those of you who've read my Phoenix Wright reviews would know that I am absolutely in love with the Ace Attorney series. While I wasn't too happy with the characters in Apollo Justice, I'm glad that Miles Edgeworth, who was part of the original Phoenix Wright cast, is back. This is definitely a new reason for me to get re-acquainted with my Nintendo DS!

The following features are listed in Amazon.com:

• New action game component that allows for exploration of crime scenes using either D-Pad inputs of the DS/DSi stylus to uncover clues.
• Crime-solving adventure for Nintendo DS and DSi starring Miles Edgeworth, the popular rival of attorney Phoenix Wright.
• Gameplay moves out of the courtroom and onto the crime scene and features several unique cases to solve with over 15 hours of gameplay.
• New technique, such as "Logic" mode assists you in uncovering the crime.
• Unique dialog trees and interrogation techniques let you question witnesses to discover the truth.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth will be released in February 2010. You can read more of this game's features here.

Didn't think it would come to this again, but this site has just moved homes. I began transfer in November of 2009, although it’s quite a slow, arduous process. Hey, I’m only one person working on migration (this sorta makes me think things were much easier when I was just FTPing HTML files instead of switching databases).

New layout, new server (Blogger, which I had been using for my Portfolio since 2005), and maybe a new life? The Otaku Fridge began with GeoCities and now it ends with…Google. At least for 2010. I hope this is the last database migration I’ll ever have to do. It’s exhausting!

Many of you will probably ask why I'm doing this yet again when I haven't been able to finish the initial migration from HTML to Wordpress for Otaku Fridge 2007.  Well, much as I loved tweaking the Wordpress content management system and testing its limits, it seems I have been remiss in tweaking the limits of my own wallet. 2009 was a year of life-altering events: Michael Jackson's untimely demise (plus Francis Magalona's, Cory Aquino's, David Carradine's, Patrick Swayze's, Farrah Fawcett's and Brittany Murphy's T.T), Typhoon Ondoy submerging so many of our cities, and the political unrest surrounding the fear that we'll once again be under Martial Law. I never imagined I could actually spend thousands of pesos on people (typhoon victims) that I am not related to and if you think about it, spending so much money on a hobby (maintaining my sites) seems suddenly trivial. So, as you can see, I'm finding a new home in a less sophisticated platform.  I feel like I've downgraded, technology-wise.  Still, the important thing remains: Blogger is free. Not to mention, it's in sync with the rest of my favorite Google applications.


So in ending 2009, I present you with its last review: Bleach Movie 1 - Memories of Nobody. Enjoy...while I whip up my first review for 2010. (That is, after I finish 4 PhD papers due next week.)