Inglorious Basterds was famously a hard movie to end. How do you end a WW2 period piece that so diverges from real history? How do you come up with a believable ending, without throwing away all the credibility you've built up? How do you untangle the knot that you yourself created, without undoing your story and your creative voice? Well, you stop caring and shoot Hitler in the face with a tommy gun. Faux retro games hit this problem a lot too, as I would know from experience. Whether you're doing a tribute/revival game or a period piece(No, really, we should start calling games like this 'period pieces', I'm serious. That's what they are.), there is a personal line you have to decide on for how much are you serving the past, and how much is the past serving you. How much do you owe the things you take influence from to represent them, and their item, with care and accuracy. How much do you owe your inspirations? Lunacid, for its part, would choose to shoot Hitler in the face.

Modern takes on old games are some of my favorite indies and this blog post explains the appeal really well. Lunacid is kind of like King’s Field and Shadow Tower but in the end the developer is KIRA, not From Software, so the game will feel different no matter how close to the original formula it is.

  • grinning_serpent@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 days ago

    Lunacid was extremely enjoyable to explore but the gameplay is a little lacking. The “holy” element is extraordinarily powerful against most foes, so your weapon choices are effectively limited. It’s also quite easy on default settings, while the difficulty slider seems to do nothing but inflate or deflate monster HP and damage.

    I’d love to see a Lunacid 2 someday.

    • Lucy [she/faer]@piefed.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      1·
      16 hours ago

      The “holy” element is extraordinarily powerful against most foes, so your weapon choices are effectively limited.

      At my first playthough, I was so tired of using Lightning all the time. It’s such an obnoxious spell (thanks to its sound) but it’s very efficient because Light = Good.

      It’s really sad that all the dark weapons are just useless. Many of them look so badass!

      It’s also quite easy on default settings, while the difficulty slider seems to do nothing but inflate or deflate monster HP and damage.

      Yep. Difficulty slider only changes enemies’ damage, up to 500% of the initial value. I always keep it at ~300% because otherwise enemies deal such a negligible damage. But it won’t make the game hard because all you need to heal up to full health is to just press one button.

  • labyrinth@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    13 days ago

    I waited in excitement for a long time for the release of Lunacid but came away somewhat disappointed. I’m glad it exists and don’t regret the time spent… But I just don’t find it compelling enough to go through again.

    • Lucy [she/faer]@piefed.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      6·
      13 days ago

      I love Lunacid but gotta admit its’ gameplay is a bit lackluster. It’s held primarily by its superb atmosphere and the feeling of exploration. I replayed the game several times but whatever challenges I come with don’t really make the game hard. And level 1 playthrough would just be a boring slog thanks to 1 Speed…

  • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    13 days ago

    I played the Lunacid demo and theres a lot to like. It’s moody and myaterious, and the controls are just modern enough to not get annoying. But the combat itself is very of the time and really doesn’t interest me anymore.