Best. Game. Ever.
The Golden Sun series is a series of video games created by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for various portable systems. At present, three games have been released: two Gameboy games and one very new DS game.
The Golden Sun storyline takes place in a world called Weyard, which follows the parameters of the flat world concept. There are little creatures called djinn (in in singular: djinni) that contribute to your alchemic power to use Psynergy, a spiritual physical force which can be used while in battle with monsters or in the game-play mode to overcome obstacles.
GBA Series
The two games that were the entirety of the series for many years; These could be said to be two portions of a greater whole at the same time they are two stand-alone titles for Game Boy Advance, for they share just about all aspects of game concept and design, and the latter continues the storyline of the former...
Golden Sun
The first game, sometimes referred to by its Japanese subtitle "The Broken Seal" to differentiate it from The Lost Age, was released in Japan in August 2001 (with the subtitle "The Broken Seal"), North America in November 2001, and Europe in February 2002. It focuses on the journey of Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia in pursuit of a band of antagonists led by Saturos and Menardi. Saturos' group intends to unleash the sealed power of Alchemy unto the world by using the four Elemental Star jewels to light the energy beacons atop the four Elemental Lighthouses situated across the world; Isaac's party is tasked by the Wise One, the omniscient guardian of the seal placed on Alchemy, to prevent this on the basis that it is a power that would spell potential cataclysm for the world if mankind were to abuse it. The world of Weyard is introduced to the player, but only a limited portion of it is explored; the majority of the plot progression takes places on the continent of Angara and the upper half of the neighboring continent of Gondowan to the south, and two of the four Lighthouses serve as the stages for story and plot revelation.
The various base concepts of the GBA series that are established in Golden Sun include exploring random encounter-filled dungeons that are filled with environmental and layout-based puzzles that obstruct the player's path, and the Psynergy system which is used both to solve such puzzles and to serve as battle commands for various purposes in combat. In addition, the Character Class system, the Summoning system, and the collectible Djinn system that directly allows for and provides power to both of these are introduced. 28 Djinn are available to find and earn, 7 for each element and 7 to be allocated to each of the four playable characters, and the original 16 summon sequences that the party inherently knows are introduced as well.
Upon completing the game, a Completed Data file may be saved on the menu screen, and it is revealed by The Lost Age that this serves as what The Lost Age uses to enhance its own content based on the inventory and game achievements the player committed in this game. Data transfer between Golden Sun and The Lost Age may be achieved by opening up a hidden "Send Data" feature on this game's main menu, selecting the Completed Data file, and either linking up both game carts via two GBA systems and a Game Link cable, or by using a text password this game generates for the player to manually input into a new game file in The Lost Age.
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
The continuation, released in Japan in June 2002, North America in April 2003, and Europe in September 2003, focuses on members and former captives of the original game's antagonistic party leading their own journey across the world of Weyard: Felix, Jenna, and Sheba are now playable characters, and they soon befriend a new ally named Piers and use his personal sailing ship to explore the oceans of the world and the many islands and continents surrounding the original two continents. Felix leads the group toward their objective to complete Saturos' goal to light the remaining Elemental Lighthouses and release Alchemy to the world, and they are pursued by the heroes of the previous game, who intend to stop them at all costs. Another issue Felix must contend with are the new pair of warriors Karst and Agatio, who are bent on seeking out Isaac to slay him in retaliation for his group's murder of Saturos and Menardi. Eventually, Felix's party learns a shocking truth about their world and the relation of Alchemy to it, and late in the game the original game's party comes to join forces with Felix to form a final traveling party of eight. But nothing can prepare them for what awaits at the final Lighthouse.
Many of the concepts brought back from Golden Sun, if not all of them, are expanded upon with new material, and several new features are added as well. The far more massive game world, of which none of the previous game's areas and locations can be explored, is the setting of a much longer and more non-linear quest that requires exploration both by land and by sailing the new ship across the seas. The dungeons themselves are much larger, more mazelike, and are filled with much more challenging puzzles, but also contain much stronger equipment from chests. There are four new playable characters, to which the four previous characters are eventually added to form a final party of 8 Adepts. There are 44 new Djinn, which when added up with the 28 Djinn the previous game's party may bring with them form a grand total of 72 Djinn, 18 for each element and 9 for allocation to each character. This causes class series to become stronger, as well as introduces several entirely new class series, three of which are granted by unique equippable items that may be discovered. There are thirteen new summon sequences that may be discovered throughout the game in the form of hidden, collectible Summon Tablets, which take any number of two separate elements of Djinn On Standby to use and include secondary effects in their attacks. Finally, much of the game's new gear comes about from a new, randomized item crafting system available in one particular town, making use of collectible forgeable materials as well as rusty items that need to be reforged.
The changes to gameplay brought about by transferring data from a completed save file from the previous game include primarily the inventory, statistics, and Djinn collections of the original game's party when they join Felix's party late in The Lost Age. Also, several bonus events may trigger based on what was achieved in the previous adventure, some of which yield unique equipment. The most important effect of this is that all 72 Djinn may be amassed; hidden throughout The Lost Age are four optional "super dungeons" explorable late-game that are more challenging than the mandatory dungeons, and while three of them may be explored in any case, the final and most challenging dungeon in the series, the Anemos Inner Sanctum, may only be entered when all 72 Djinn are present. It contains the most powerful optional boss in the series as well as the final two summon tablets, Charon and Iris.
DS game: Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
The initial playable cast that were the first characters to be revealed for Dark Dawn by E3 trailers and demo footage [9] are Matthew, a Venus Adept who is the son of the previous games' Isaac and Jenna; Tyrell, a Mars Adept and son of the previous games' Garet; and Karis, daughter of the previous games' Ivan. [10] In addition, an August 2010 trailer released in Japan introduced as the fourth playable character a Mercury Adept later named Rief, the son of the previous games' Mia. A later scan revealed that Eoleo, now an adult and his father's successor as prince of Champa and scourge of the Eastern Sea, is a playable Mars Adept as well. Rounding out the playable cast are Sveta, a were-beast Jupiter Adept that fights physically; Amiti, a young Mercury Adept prince; and Himi, daughter of the previous game's Susa and Kushinada and a Venus Adept girl with the hidden powers of a seer.
Nintendo's press release at E3 2010 was the first source to indicate that Dark Dawn takes place thirty years after Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Major characters from the old games have been confirmed to make return appearances in far older forms: Isaac is now an adult, and he is depicted with facial hair and a blue trench coat. His biography states that following The Lost Age, Isaac built a cottage within the Goma area east of where his hometown of Vale used to be, and the survivors of Vale have since relocated and founded a new settlement around the cabin. From here, Isaac has watched the remains of Mt. Aleph from afar using his cottage's telescope, observing for strange occurrences. Adult Isaac is shown with speaking roles. Kraden is another returning character, revealed to still be alive even thirty years after the previous game.
The first hint of the plot was provided within teaser text shown at E3 2009. What follows is what is known of that text:
...of a disaster the likes of which had never been seen before.
The heavens stormed. The lands quaked. The seas raged. Across the land, people prepared for the end of the world.
The tale spread that this calamity was caused by some unknown soul who had released a forbidden power upon the world.
From the extended trailer at E3 2010 and other material released to the public prior to the game itself, much more of the plot and premise has been revealed. A series of taglines indicates that something "went wrong" with the Golden Sun during its return to the world of Weyard, thus causing the state of relative peace across Weyard to be thrown into discord at the start of the game:
"A generation has passed since the Golden Sun rose above Weyard..."
"The world has been reborn."
"The Golden Sun was supposed to bring life back to the world. But something has gone wrong."
"A new generation must rise to the challenge."
"And they must do everything in their power to drive back evil."
Peace has more-or-less returned to these lands after healing from the wounds created by the Golden Sun, and the world's people now dwell in towns and villages amongst natural backdrops that have become more vivid than before. For example, what was once the Goma Range, a mountain range that walled off sections of the continent, is now a crevice-filled highland, and this is where the village that is the "new Vale" has been settled. This village is therefore in close proximity to Bilibin, which now owns a much larger area of land. Lord McCoy, however, has stepped down from his position as lord of Bilibin. Various trailers have shown that there seems to be far more demi-humans inhabiting Weyard now, of which Sveta is a representative, and Sveta's biography states that man-beasts mutated in response to the Golden Sun's appearance.
But because of the chaos that Alchemy's release had caused, people across the world have differing opinions on the ones who released it, the previous games' protagonists, also known as the "Warriors of Vale." Confirmed NPC gossip says that Sol Sanctum, formerly hidden from world knowledge three decades beforehand, became widely known about after the Golden Sun's appearance. Some recognize that the Adepts from Vale saved the world, but others would go so far as to think they are the ones who destroyed it. The Adepts' children would carry this burden both before and during Dark Dawn, having grown up respected by some and despised by others. In regard to whether the now-adult characters from the previous games beyond Isaac and Kraden will make appearances in this game, Shugo Takahashi simply says that while Camelot can't divulge this quite yet, there will be surprises in regards to this. The next generation of protagonists, in the meantime, will be exploring catacombs representing ancient civilizations as a main part of their journey.
Subsequently released information here introduces a mysterious country named Tuaparang that figures in the game's events, and two of its commanders, the warlike Blados and the bewitching Chalis, are set up as antagonists. Tuaparang excels in the sciences and in military power, and conducts secret maneuvers. For a currently unknown reason, its commander contacts Matthew and his friends, and Blados and Chalice encounter them repeatedly throughout the game. It is stated that it is as though they are using Matthew's group. Another member of Blados and Chalis' circle, Arcanus, bears extreme resemblance to Alex from thirty years earlier, and his actions and those of Matthew's group will together have a great effect upon the fate of Weyard.
Sorry it's so long, but you can't really make a short analysis of these games. They're the best
Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:40 pm
