Lunar Knights 5090608 226033992 2008-07-16T15:10:45Z Mr T (Based) 7485776 /* Reception */ sorto ut, fact tag {{Inappropriate tone|date=December 2007}} {{Infobox VG |title = Lunar Knights |image = [[Image:LunarKnightsCover.jpg|Lunar Knights cover art]] |developer = [[Kojima Productions]] |publisher = [[Konami]] |released = {{vgrelease|Japan|JP|[[November 22]], [[2006]]}}</br> {{vgrelease|North America|NA|[[February 6]], [[2007]]}} [http://www.konami.com/Konami/ctl3810/cp20104/si1740238/cl1/lunar_knights] |genre = [[RPG]] |modes = [[Singleplayer]], [[Multiplayer]] |platforms = [[Nintendo DS]] }} '''''Lunar Knights''''', known in [[Japan]] as {{nihongo|'''''Bokura no Taiyō Django & Sabata'''''|ボクらの太陽 Django&Sabata|Bokura no Taiyō Jango to Sabata|lit. "''Our Sun: Django & Sabata''"}} and abbreviated '''''Boktai DS''''', is the fourth title in the ''[[Boktai]]'' series of [[Video game|games]] developed by [[Kojima Productions]], and announced at [[E3]] 2006. It begins a new story arc, and follows new protagonists and hence has also been marked as the beginning of a new series. The game was revamped to remove the necessity of using the real-life solar sensor due to player troubles; however, it still retains the functionality if any of the [[Game Boy Advance]] ''Boktai'' cartridges are inserted. As some gameplay features are exclusive to [[Japan]], the original names of the characters are used in such instances. ==Overview== ''Lunar Knights'' revolves around two characters: Lucian and Aaron. Lucian is a dungeon scroller, wielding various dark melee weapons. He is also imbued with the power of darkness, and can change into a vampire after he builds up a Trance (shortened to TRC in-game) meter by fusing with his Terrennial, Nero, which allows him to absorb life out of his foes. Aaron is an apprentice sharpshooter, and uses a variety of Solar Guns to deal damage to his undead foes. Unlike Lucian, Aaron has light powers, and can temporarily become an avatar of the sun when needed by fusing with his Terrennial, Toasty. The player increases the two characters' levels by killing enemies, and their weapons may be upgraded with various parts, allowing more abilities to be used with that weapon. The ultimate goal in ''Lunar Knights'' is to destroy a number of boss [[vampire]] enemies, in which the basic mission is to defeat each of them in their respective dungeons, either by exploiting their elemental weakness or using Trance. Once this is accomplished, the boss is launched into space using the Casket Rocket, Laplace; the player then enters a minigame consisting of three parts. The Casket Rocket is controlled from a third-person perpsective with the stylus. By moving the stylus, Laplace moves, and tapping the screen causes it to fire lasers. After these three segments have ended, there is a short video segment in which the defeated boss is purified with the intense solar radiation in the [[stratosphere]], made possible by the Interstellar Satellite Sunflower. As more bosses are defeated, the player is able to gain access to different elements through terrennials. There are four different terrennials available besides Nero (Dark) and Toasty (Sol): Ursula (Flame), Tove (Earth), Alexander (Cloud), and Ezra (Frost). With each acquired terrennial comes a different climate for the player to manipulate. This can be done by going to Sheridan's Mansion and selecting 'Change Climate' to change the default weather. Certain parts of dungeons, which often hold new items and weapons, are inaccessible unless the player changes the weather. Special high-priced items are dropped by enemies or objects under certain climate conditions. ==Setting== ''Lunar Knights'' producer Kensuke Yoshitomi confirmed in a 1UP interview (dated 9/23/06){{fact}} that although it takes place in the same world as ''Boktai'', but at a different time period with fresh characters, it is still not a direct sequel to ''Boktai''. He stated that the many versions of [[Princess Zelda]] and [[Link (The Legend of Zelda)|Link]] throughout [[The Legend of Zelda (series)|''The Legend of Zelda'' series]] are a good representation of this.<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3153974], TGS Lunar Knights Preview'', published [[September 23]] [[2006]]</ref> ==Terrennial System== Terrennials are the physical manefestiations of the elements that accompany the characters, with fire, ice, wind, and earth represented. In addition, the sun has a terrennial as does darkness. In addition to these elementals, there is a null-elemental Terrenial only available in the Japanese version - War Rock, whose details are described below in the Crossover section. When these terrennials are equipped, the player can use TRC powers, and they will add their elemental attacks to weapon strikes, at the cost of some energy. Each element is directly vulnerable to its polar opposite, and resistant to itself. For example, if the player strikes an ice-aligned monster with fire equipped, extra damage will be dealt, but if ice is equipped, less than normal damage will be dealt. ==Gameplay== ===paraSOL=== The game relies on an in-game weather control system, known as the paraSOL. It has a [[thermometer]], and measures water saturation and [[wind speed]]. The weather is generated from the game itself, not from the local outside environment. There are five types of weather: balmy subtropical, tropical rainforest, humid continental, arid desert and frigid arctic. ===Trance meter=== The Trance meter is built up as the player lands blows on their enemies. When it is full, the player can use the powers of one of theirr Terrennials to launch into an extra powerful attack that affects multiple enemies. The transformations mentioned above are two of these attacks, but some are more magical in orientation, and often revolve around interaction with the touch screen. ===Burst attacks=== Burst attacks are Trance moves performed by terrennials other than Toasty and Nero. When a Burst attack is used, the weather will change accordingly. ===Transformations=== Lucian and Aaron can transform into a much more powerful form by combining with Nero and Toasty respectively. * Dark Lucian: By combining with Nero, Lucian transforms into Dark Lucian. ** Dark Claw: Lucian attacks everything in his reach. ** Dark Fang: Dark Lucian will attack the closest/locked on enemy. He will draw blood like a vampire. * Sol Aaron: Aaron combines with Toasty, forming Sol Aaron. ** Sol Flame: Sol Aaron attacks everything in his reach. ** Sol Prominence: Aaron attacks the closest/locked on enemy. After the Trance gauge empties, the transformations finish and the time of the day changes. Sol Aaron causes the Sun to rise and Dark Lucian makes night fall. ===Other Gameplay Features=== * Blowing into the Nintendo DS's microphone will cause the character to whistle, drawing attention to enemies. This serves to replace the wall tapping of earlier games in the ''Boktai'' series. * Whistling also has the function of using a terrennial's special technique, which can only be used when the terrennial is glowing (happens during affiliated climate or time of day): **'''Toasty''': restores energy. **'''Nero''': targeted enemy drops an item. **'''Ursula''': greatly damages targeted enemy. **'''Tove''': restores health. **'''Alexander''': radial attack which knocks back enemies. **'''Ezra''': freezes targeted enemy. **'''War Rock''': Consumes nearby coins and transforms them into useful items. ===W-Gate Slot-In=== The player is able to use the [[Game Boy Advance]] ''Boktai'' games' sun sensor to play ''Lunar Knights'' like the original ''Boktai'' games. This option gives the player more of an advantage: slotting a GBA game into the DS' W-Gate allows the player to use extra sunlight by adding the detected sun strength to the amount produced by the in-game weather system (the extra sunlight appear as green blocks in the game's sensor bar) for a certain amount of time. It also enables the player to play in sunlight regardless of the in-game world's weather. Depending on which game is introduced into the W-Gate, the Solar Sensor will cause different effects in ''Lunar Knights'': *Solar Sensor Version 1: By inserting ''[[Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand]]'' in the GBA Slot, your standby character will fill his ENE (Energy) and it will also charge the Solar Station depending on how much sunlight hits the sensor. *Solar Sensor Version 2: By inserting ''[[Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django]]'' in the GBA Slot, your standby character will fill his LIFE and it will also charge the Solar Station depending on how much sunlight hits the sensor. *Solar Sensor Version 3: By inserting ''[[Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack]]'' in the GBA Slot, your standby character will fill his TRC (Trance) meter and it will also charge the Solar Station depending on how much sunlight hits the sensor. ==''Shooting Star Rockman'' crossover== The ''Rockman'' series crossover continues in this game. By linking to a Japanese copy of ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'' (''Shooting Star Rockman''), Sabata and Django can fight Ox Fire (Taurus Fire in English), one of the enemy FM-ians, as a hidden boss. If they are successful in defeating him, War Rock can assist them as a seventh terrennial. ''Boktai DS'' can also send and receive items and messages from ''Shooting Star Rockman'', and there are some items which can only be obtained in this fashion. This feature was removed from ''Lunar Knights''. ==Trivia == *Multiple voice actors from the ''Boktai'' series returned to voice characters in ''Lunar Knights''. **Guy Perryman, who voiced Count and Otenko, also voices Rymer and Toasty. **Kimberly Forsythe, who voiced Sabata, also voices Duke Dumas's terrennial, Perrault. **Bianca Allen, who voiced Lita and Carmilla in ''Boktai'', returned to be Carmilla, Virginia and Lisbeth. **Eric Kelso, who was Black Dainn in ''Boktai 2'', voiced Kay and Dumas. **Donna Burke, who voiced Hel in the first ''Boktai'', voiced Ursula while **Walter Roberts, who voiced Smith in ''Boktai 2'' and the Silvery White Knight in ''Boktai'', returned to be Ernest and Alexander. *Within the game a player can find items named after some of the Immortals from the previous ''Boktai'' games. Also the weapons Lucian uses are named after the final bosses of the first three ''Boktai'' games. Also one can reach the ruins of Istrakan from ''Boktai'', and San Miguel from ''Boktai 2''. *In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', another game created by [[Kojima Productions]], the theme for ''Lunar Knights'' is a playable song in the in-game [[iPod]]. *Also in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' is Aaron's Solar Gun. The gun can be charged, and when [[Solid Snake|Snake]] fires a charged shot, he yells, "SOL!!!" ==Reception== <div style="font-size: 90%;float:right;border-left:1em solid white"> {| class="wikitable" |+'''Reviews''' !Publication !Score |- |<center>''VG Resource Center'' |<center>7.75 out of 10<ref>''[http://www.vgrc.net/reviews-215.html VGRC's]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |- |<center>''Gamespot'' |<center>8.4 out of 10<ref>''[http://www.gamespot.com/ds/adventure/lunarknights/review.html GameSpot's]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |- |<center>''Honest Gamers'' |<center>7 out of 10<ref>''[http://www.honestgamers.com/systems/content.php?game_id=22024&console_id=52&review_id=5448 Honest Gamers's]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |- |<center>''GameZoner'' |<center>8.4 out of 10<ref>''[http://nds.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r29713.htm GameZone's]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |- |<center>''1UP'' |<center>9 out of 10<ref>''[http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3156990 1UP's]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |- |<center>''IGN'' |<center>8.2 out of 10<ref>''[http://ds.ign.com/articles/762/762630p1.html IGN's]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |- |<center>''Game Informer'' |<center>8 out of 10<ref>''[http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200704/R07.0208.1629.11062.htm?CS_pid=G190111]'' review of ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 31st March 2007.</ref> |- !colspan=3|Review compilations |- |<center>Game Rankings |<center>83% (based on 25 reviews)<ref>[http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/922144.asp GameRankings.com] page for ''Lunar Knights''. URL retrieved 14th March 2007.</ref> |<center> |- |<center>GameStats |<center>8.7 out of 10 (based on 13 reviews)<ref>[http://www.gamestats.com/objects/695/695637/ GameStats] on ''Lunar Knights''. URL accessed 14th March 2007.</ref> |} </div> Reception for ''Lunar Knights'' has been mostly positive, with review aggregator sites Game Rankings and GameStats placing the game at 83% and 8.7/10 respectively. Both IGN and VGRC cited comparisons to ''[[Castlevania]]'', another series published by Konami, with IGN saying "Konami already has a vampire-slaying action adventure in the form of ''Castlevania'', and even though the storylines and universes are completely independent of each other, it's hard to ignore the similarities." While most reviews seem to praise ''Lunar Knights'' for the use of the terrennial and paraSOL systems, Honest Gamers said "It brings some excellent features to the series, but fails to implement them as smoothly as it should have." Furthermore, many took issue with the controls of the space shooting sequences, with GameSpot calling them "clumsy" and VGRC saying "It would have been a lot nicer if you could control your ship with the D-pad, and aim/fire with the stylus, but alas, that is not the case." IGN criticized the same sequences, "while certainly not terrible, [they] aren't anything special and do feel a little tacked on as a completely separate design that's not incorporated as well into the environments." Nintendo Power magazine gave the game an 8/10, and stated that the game could have used more of the environmental puzzles of the original series.{{fact}} ==Notes and references== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/boktai_ds/ Official website at Konami (Japanese)] *[http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/lunar_knights/ Official website at Konami (English)] {{Boktai}} {{Studio 4°C}} [[Category:2006 video games]] [[Category:Hideo Kojima games]] [[Category:Konami games]] [[Category:Nintendo DS games]] [[Category:Nintendo DS-only games]] [[Category:Studio 4°C]] [[es:Lunar Knights: Vampire Hunters]] [[nl:Lunar Knights: Vampire Hunters]] [[sv:Lunar Knights: Vampire Hunters]]