Lunar Knights for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

The Boktai games released on the Game Boy Advance were easily two of the toughest games I've ever had to review for the system, simply due to the fact that the incorporation of a sun sensor -- while highly innovative for a videogame -- completely restricted how I had to play the game. Removing the real-world sun element would have definitely hacked away at the game's creativity and originality, but it definitely made it tough to casually romp through without playing the darn thing either A) at specific times of the day, or B) cheat with a lightbulb that could emit the proper wavelengths to trick the sensor into thinking you're outside at high noon.



So unless you're a sharp cookie or a die-hard Boktai fanatic, you'd never be clued in to the fact that Lunar Knights is the official Boktai follow-up on the Nintendo DS. As good as the past Boktai games were, and still are, it's clear that Konami's US branch is a little nervous about the stigma that's attached to the namesake. So what was Boktai DS is called Lunar Knights, and Lunar Knights is everything that a Boktai sequel should be, with one exception: no sun sensor. Gone. Outta here. Surprisingly, though, the original soul has not been stripped out of the design since concepts have been reworked to incorporate the sun's replacement: in-game day/night and weather cycles that emulates the whole power conservation thing. And it works.



Lunar Knights is, essentially, a "restart" of the Boktai franchise for DS gamers. The backstory has been rewritten and characters have been renamed, but the game engine, gameplay...even enemy creatures, are recycled from the Game Boy Advance titles into a "new," but also a reworked and tighter DS product. Players begin the adventure as Lucian, a "vampire killer" who wields a pretty bad-ass sword and an angsty attitude to match. Through the story you learn that vampires have essentially taken over the planet and shrouded the world in a false sky so they can thrive. Our vampire killer's powered by the energy of the moon, so it's a good thing that night has fallen over the world pretty early in the game. Eventually you'll hook up with Aaron who's essentially the sun-harnessing hero that's been in the previous two Boktai games on the GBA. He's the shooter of the duo; to compliment Lucian's up-close sword capabilities, Aaron holds a ranged blaster that can take out enemies from a distance.



The Nintendo DS's upper screen plays home to this world's sky where you can see whether the sun or moon's out, and if it's being obscured by clouds or haze which, in turn, would affect the amount of energy that the two characters can absorb. It's important to keep track since, by the third chapter of the game, you'll need to swap between Lucian and Aaron to re-energize and survive. The goal: stay alive and slaughter the head vampire and free the planet from its clutches. Yes, there are a lot of similarities between Lunar Knight's concept and Konami's other vampire franchise Castlevania. It's been like that since the beginning.



In fact, Lunar Knights takes a closer step to Castlevania since the design removes almost all traces of puzzle elements. Oh, you'll find the occasional "find the key" or "hit the switch" items in this DS game, but ultimately Kojima Productions decided to crank up the action on the dual screen version. The lack of head-scratching is definitely missed, but honestly it's nice to see the game's energy being kicked up a notch thanks to the higher saturation of enemies and cooler weapons.



The Lunar Knights developers went so far as to remove the slower-paced "drag the enemy back through the level" mechanic from the Boktai design. In its place, there's now a stylus-controlled 3D space battle which might seem out of place for a vampire-killing game, but sort of fits the design if you follow it all in context. These extra boss battles, while certainly not terrible, 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. And it's the only time Lunar Knights really uses a 3D engine; with the odd, occasional slowdown when the screen gets cluttered, we've definitely seen better.



The cool Metal Gear Solid influence of "sneaking around" is still in the design, but it's been changed ever so slightly to incorporate the Nintendo DS microphone. Enemies respond to sounds just as MGS guards do...so if you "whistle" in place by blowing into the microphone, patrolling zombies will investigate what made that noise. You can also fire missiles at the wall to make noise as well, and as long as those creatures don't see you, you can sneak up on them when their backs are turned. You can blow through the game without playing the stealth strategy, but it'll certainly help get through some of the missions.







The game still looks, sounds, and plays like a Boktai game, even if it's officially no longer bearing its name. Lunar Knights doesn't stray too far from the Game Boy Advance engine, but the extra horsepower and capabilities of the Nintendo DS definitely allows for a bigger and better experience. The game can handle a lot more on-screen objects and enemies, for example. Touch screen power-ups offer up some cool ideas to take out enemies when you're all charged up. And the extra cartridge space beefs up the presentation with brief spoken dialogue, some pretty awesome animated cutscene video clips, and a quality, energetic soundtrack.



But if you're a Boktai owner and miss the sun sensor, you can still bring it into the mix. Plug a Boktai or Boktai 2 cartridge into the GBA slot of the DS, and you can use the light sensor to strengthen your characters. It's a cool option that will definitely make some portions easier to beat, so be warned that you might make the game easier to beat by bringing it to the adventure.

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