Sol Moonarge

M1Savage · 09/10/2007, 11:28 PM

Started playing through this game this weekend and am really enjoying it so far. Who here has played all the way through this game? Just want to know who to bug if I get stuck for some reason.

Keranu · 09/10/2007, 11:54 PM

I haven't played it, but it looks really weird. Is it just me, or does the main character have a really long nose?

Tatsujin · 09/11/2007, 03:16 AM

one of the best RPGs i know. IREM did a real good job on that one.

M1Savage · 09/11/2007, 10:04 AM

Yes, a couple of the main characters have long noses. Gotta be careful when kissing a girl with that thing or it'll go right through her head (see the back of the game case for an example).

The game has been very impressive so far and I look forward to playing more.

GUTS · 09/11/2007, 07:42 PM

I'm getting close to the end, there were a couple spots I got stuck but not for long.

M1Savage · 09/17/2007, 04:47 PM

Arrrg! I'm stuck. Hoping GUTS or someone can help me out here.

Seems there is something here to take, but when I try, I just warp out of the area -

...and this dude won't let me into the cave -

...and though I can tell they're out of water here, I can only enter or exit the town from the one side -

Like always, I'm sure it's something easy I'm missing but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
Thanks!

Keranu · 09/17/2007, 05:54 PM

I love the tree graphics in this game

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GUTS · 09/17/2007, 09:02 PM

Savage in the town in the mountain (the one you pass through to get to the mountain dungeon you took a picture from) you have to talk to the old lady shop keeper from the side (the one at the top left of the town, she's there day or night). Then you go to that town with the dam blocking the water and talk to somebody, then the guy blocking the mountain moves if I remember correctly.

The item you got from the mountain dungeon was a map that warps you to any town you've been to, even though it looks like there's something there to grab you should already have it.

termis · 09/17/2007, 09:55 PM

game looks good. How about a review when you're finished?

M1Savage · 09/17/2007, 10:16 PM

GUTS, you da man!

I just thought I'd talked to everyone again. Didn't talk to her from "the side".

I'll give a review with pictures when I'm finished. Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as quick as runinruder, not to mention all those mahjong games I've got going as well.

GUTS · 09/18/2007, 12:14 AM

I just beat it tonight, let me know if you get stuck again. There are a couple more tricky parts.

Nazi NecroPhile · 09/18/2007, 10:51 AM

This game looks lovely, and I look forward to your review, but I have to ask. What is that, a fighting tomato in your party?

GUTS · 09/18/2007, 12:05 PM

Haha its a little sprout thingy that grows as it levels up.

awack · 09/21/2007, 11:10 PM

Ive had this game for a few years now, got it off ebay, but never gave it a serious try until i read some of the post here , the gameplay is not tedious, it has a nice fast pace, some of the graphics are the most colorful and detailed i have seen from an rpg of that period, me no likey the music to muchy so far though. I'm posting this screenshot for blacktiger because it has 102 colors, this is also the part where i stopped playing.

Keranu · 09/21/2007, 11:19 PM

I don't like the sprites very much, but the tiles look awesome! Does anyone have screenshots of the platform parts?

awack · 09/21/2007, 11:38 PM

This is all i have, i don't think I'm very far into the game.

M1Savage · 09/21/2007, 11:49 PM

Don't have a lot of side pics ready but here's a few more pics to whet yer whistle

Keranu · 09/21/2007, 11:51 PM

Holy crap, those screenshots look sweet! Thanks a lot, guys!

ParanoiaDragon · 09/22/2007, 02:26 AM

Wow, it looks great, one of these days I'll play thru it.

Kitsunexus · 09/22/2007, 02:47 AM

Wow, long-nosed Aaron Carter, the chick from the Land O'Lakes box, a tomato, and the father from The Jeffersons. That's an all-star cast.

Turbo D · 09/22/2007, 03:25 AM

Quote from: Kitsunexus on 09/22/2007, 02:47 AMWow, long-nosed Aaron Carter, the chick from the Land O'Lakes box, a tomato, and the father from The Jeffersons. That's an all-star cast.

rofl

esteban · 09/22/2007, 01:28 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 09/21/2007, 11:51 PMHoly crap, those screenshots look sweet! Thanks a lot, guys!

Seriously. I didn't know this game had platforming sections...

More screenshots of the platforming, please...

Keranu · 09/22/2007, 04:02 PM

Quote from: esteban on 09/22/2007, 01:28 PM
Quote from: Keranu on 09/21/2007, 11:51 PMHoly crap, those screenshots look sweet! Thanks a lot, guys!
Seriously. I didn't know this game had platforming sections...

More screenshots of the platforming, please...

Neither did I until GUTS mentioned it! In fact, I really knew nothing about this game at all until the posts about it recently! I've seen the same few screenshots for it for years and always though it looked funny.

nat · 09/22/2007, 04:59 PM

The graphics look really colorful and nice. This kind of game is the reason I love the Turbo! I need to get a copy.

M1Savage · 09/22/2007, 10:45 PM

Don't know that I'd exactly call them "platforming" sections. It's not exactly Mario.

I'm stuck in some freakin town wearing a mole suit at the moment. Not a clue what I'm supposed to be looking for.

GUTS · 09/23/2007, 06:07 PM

Dig through ALL the rock to find the hidden staircases in the houses, there are a couple people you need to talk to, then you go to the graveyard and check all the graves to free the people's spirits.

The platforming sections aren't actual platforming, the game just switches to a side view instead of overhead, but all the the controls are exactly the same. It does make for a really nice bit of variety though, especially since those sections usually have some of the best graphics and coolest effects in the game.

Keranu · 09/23/2007, 07:11 PM

Quote from: GUTS on 09/23/2007, 06:07 PMThe platforming sections aren't actual platforming, the game just switches to a side view instead of overhead, but all the the controls are exactly the same. It does make for a really nice bit of variety though, especially since those sections usually have some of the best graphics and coolest effects in the game.

Yeah that's what I figured, but that's still neat.

M1Savage · 09/23/2007, 09:35 PM

Made a lot of progress in the game today. Got turned into a cat so I could swat mice at one point.

Thankfully I had the heads up on the rainbow glasses or that one dungeon would have been damn near impossible. Think I'm nearing the end.

SignOfZeta · 09/23/2007, 10:25 PM

Damn, this game has nice graphics.

Regarding the screen shots you are using, are you actually playing this in an emulator, or are you somehow just transferring your save file to the emu in order to advance the game to that point at take a screen shot?

Keranu · 09/23/2007, 10:31 PM

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 09/23/2007, 10:25 PMRegarding the screen shots you are using, are you actually playing this in an emulator, or are you somehow just transferring your save file to the emu in order to advance the game to that point at take a screen shot?

I was wondering the same.

M1Savage · 09/23/2007, 11:06 PM

I'm playing it on my laptop using MagicEngine so that's where my screenshots come from.

Found an uncharted island in the middle of the ocean but don't see a "ghost ship". Wonder what I missed now?

Going back now to sail around some more....

Edit: ...and Tah Dah! There it is.

Guess I just needed to look a bit harder. Moving right along...

Edit V2.0: Finished the game today so here's a few of my "useless thoughts". Pretty much everything GUTS said about the game goes for me as well. The game moves at a good, quick pace and really picks up toward the end. None of the dungeons are long enough to get annoying. The enemies are interesting. Grafx are very colorful and well done for the most part. Music was good overall, though I wish it was more varied in places. One of the easier to play PC Engine RPGs for non-Japanese speaking people. It has a cool "debug" mode that I've been playing with this evening. Overall an excellent game and it now ranks as one of my favorite PC Engine RPGs.

I'll probably post more on my site at a later date. For now, back the the never ending mahjong games and ???

GUTS · 09/28/2007, 02:56 PM

Sweet, how did you like the ending? I didn't know that guy you were playing at the beginning of the game was the main guy's father, I didn't realize it until the end when he's yelling odosama or whatever the japanese word for father is. I spent the whole game thinking that you had got blasted back in time by Silver at the thief's tower or something, haha.

Kitsunexus · 09/28/2007, 03:37 PM

Quote from: GUTS on 09/28/2007, 02:56 PMSweet, how did you like the ending? I didn't know that guy you were playing at the beginning of the game was the main guy's father, I didn't realize it until the end when he's yelling odosama or whatever the japanese word for father is. I spent the whole game thinking that you had got blasted back in time by Silver at the thief's tower or something, haha.

Since we're going to give away spoilers now. Kirk dies, Snape kills Dumbledore, Master Chief dies but really doesn't after all, Dorothy was just dreaming, Jack drowns to save Rose, Gwyneth Paltrow's head is in the box, Tyler Durden is the narrator's alter-ego, etc...

RuninRuder · 09/28/2007, 04:16 PM

Spoilers rule.

I remember this one time when I blurted out the incredible ending to CF2 because I thought everyone present had already beaten it. Little did I know that GUTS' old buddy Bill had been waiting to play the game for years and had purposefully avoided any and all written material on it so that he wouldn't run into spoilers.

Oh well.

Keranu · 09/28/2007, 06:18 PM

I'm pretty sure I had something to do with that CF2 spoiler as well. Poor, poor, Billy

.

M1Savage · 09/28/2007, 11:20 PM

Heheh, well it's not really much of a spoiler as the actual event takes place fairly early in the game and it's also in the manual. The big surprise for me was when his girlfriend/sister turns out to be a dude! Did NOT see that one coming.

The ending was cool though.

esteban · 09/28/2007, 11:28 PM

Quote from: m1savage on 09/28/2007, 11:20 PMHeheh, well it's not really much of a spoiler as the actual event takes place fairly early in the game and it's also in the manual. The big surprise for me was when his girlfriend/sister turns out to be a dude! Did NOT see that one coming.

The ending was cool though.

hahahhahahahhaaa.

esteban · 09/28/2007, 11:30 PM

Quote from: runinruder on 09/28/2007, 04:16 PMSpoilers rule.

I remember this one time when I blurted out the incredible ending to CF2 because I thought everyone present had already beaten it. Little did I know that GUTS' old buddy Bill had been waiting to play the game for years and had purposefully avoided any and all written material on it so that he wouldn't run into spoilers.

Oh well.

Was that ArmedAramaments, or was that KingofCrusher (IIRC, GUTS = kingofcrusher, or something like that).

Which reminds me: GUTS, have you written any more stuff about all those oddball PS1 games? I'd love to read some stuff

Keranu · 09/28/2007, 11:57 PM

Yeah I'm pretty sure GUTS name on those one Turbo Boards was KingCrusher or KingofCrusher as you said.

esteban · 09/30/2007, 10:44 AM

Quote from: Keranu on 09/28/2007, 11:57 PMYeah I'm pretty sure GUTS name on those one Turbo Boards was KingCrusher or KingofCrusher as you said.

GUTS had some page about wacky, obscure PS1 games. He had plans to write about more games, but I don't know if he ever did it.

GUTS, enlighten me.

spenoza · 09/30/2007, 06:27 PM

I don't remember the sister/girlfriend being a dude part. Someone give me a little more to go on (it's been about 10 years since I last beat the game).

GUTS · 09/30/2007, 06:42 PM

No I kind of lost interest in writing stuff on the internet, although I do have a few weird games I was thinking of doing some shit on. I didn't pick up on the girlfriend being a guy part, that's hilarious.

Kaminari · 10/05/2007, 08:37 AM

For info, Sol Moonarge was not developed by Irem but by the Irem fan club. An official dōjin game. Which explains why the production values are kind of mixed: great graphics but poor gameplay and music.

GUTS · 10/05/2007, 01:53 PM

What? The gameplay is excellent, that's the game's strongest point.

CrackTiger · 10/05/2007, 03:19 PM

Quote from: GUTS on 10/05/2007, 01:53 PMWhat? The gameplay is excellent, that's the game's strongest point.

It seems that there are two major groups of RPG fans, those who enjoy old school/traditional RPG gameplay and those who prefer the modern stuff.

Depending on which group you fall into, either one can be viewd as poor gameplay.

I like so-called "traditional" gameplay that doesn't involve overly convoluted "systems" or feature hundreds of spells/skills/etc that I'll never use and only three that I will.

I like world maps, turn based battles and dungeons that aren't linear pop-up-book paths. I also like to be able to equip my characters with weapons and armor.

I don't like RPGs that are completely linear or unlinear.

Keranu · 10/06/2007, 12:47 AM

Quote from: guest on 10/05/2007, 03:19 PMI like so-called "traditional" gameplay that doesn't involve overly convoluted "systems" or feature hundreds of spells/skills/etc that I'll never use and only three that I will.

Agreed. All I need is Fight, Magic, Item, and Run.

Defense is exceptional too.

ParanoiaDragon · 10/06/2007, 02:21 AM

Quote from: guest on 10/05/2007, 03:19 PM
Quote from: GUTS on 10/05/2007, 01:53 PMWhat? The gameplay is excellent, that's the game's strongest point.
It seems that there are two major groups of RPG fans, those who enjoy old school/traditional RPG gameplay and those who prefer the modern stuff.

Depending on which group you fall into, either one can be viewd as poor gameplay.

I like so-called "traditional" gameplay that doesn't involve overly convoluted "systems" or feature hundreds of spells/skills/etc that I'll never use and only three that I will.

I like world maps, turn based battles and dungeons that aren't linear pop-up-book paths. I also like to be able to equip my characters with weapons and armor.

I don't like RPGs that are completely linear or unlinear.

Same here!

M1Savage · 10/06/2007, 08:54 AM

Quote from: Keranu on 10/06/2007, 12:47 AMAgreed. All I need is Fight, Magic, Item, and Run. Defense is exceptional too.

Then Sol Moonarge would be right up your alley. There is also six auto battle options you can use depending on how you want your party to level up though I preferred managing it myself for most of the game.

GUTS · 10/07/2007, 12:44 AM

Yeah exactly, Sol Moonarge has an incredibly intuitive and streamlined combat system for any RPG from any generation. I don't understand how anyone who likes RPGs could call the gameplay bad by any stretch. It's super fast, has random "super attacks", auto battling, lots of magic, items, and cool looking enemies, what's not to like?

JapanTokei · 07/03/2010, 05:01 AM

So I just found out there are 2 versions of this game.... reviving this thread.

See my post on the (exterior) differences of the game. Any of you guys know if there are differences in the gameplay b/t the 2 versions?

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8330.0

2/13/2025: Localization News - Cosmic Fantasy 3-4!

Sol Moonarge