Ages ago, or so the stories tell, the power of Alchemy ruled over the world of Weyard.
Alchemy wrote the base elements of humanity into thriving civilizations, like lead into gold.
But in time, man’s dreams gave birth to untold strife. Dreams of endless riches, of eternal life, of dominion over all that lived… Dreams of conquest and of war.
These dreams would have torn the world apart if not for a few brave and wise men, who sealed away the power of Alchemy deep in Mt. Aleph’s Sol Sanctum…
And so the journey of a young boy named Isaac began.
Golden Sun. Undoubtedly my favorite video game of all time, and definitely the one I’ve clocked the most hours on. How many games have you played for 2,000 hours without getting bored? How many games have you beaten 120 times? Needless to say, Golden Sun has been a huge part of my gaming life, and is probably the single greatest influence on my longtime infatuation with JRPGs.
Before I go any further, though, I should note that this blog will act as an introduction to Golden Sun, and will explain the workings of the game and why it is so great. Keep in mind that there will be mild spoilers about the plot of the game for the opening portion, though I will not reveal anything absolutely critical to the story. I also won’t discuss the plot of The Lost Age at all, since the story from The Broken Seal (the first game) is tied heavily into it, and divulging anything from TLA would most likely spoil those who haven’t played the first game.
The Golden Sun series of handheld RPG games, produced by Camelot, began with The Broken Seal (simply titled “Golden Sun” outside of Japan), released in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance. The story revolves around Isaac, a young boy living in a village inhabited by people with special powers based around the four elements of air, earth, fire, and water. These “Adepts” guard the sacred peak of Mt. Aleph, to prevent the abuse of the sealed secrets of Alchemy which granted them their powers. However, a group of mysterious strangers, hailing from the northern reaches of the world, infiltrate the sanctum atop Mt. Aleph and steal the Elemental Stars, the keys to breaking the seal on Alchemy across the world of Weyard. If the Stars are used to light the beacons of the corresponding lighthouses scattered throughout Weyard, the world will eventually consume itself whole. Isaac and his childhood friend Garet set out to recover the Stars, defeat the thieves who took them, and rescue their friends Jenna and Kraden, who were abducted along with the Stars.
A fairly generic plot, as far as JRPGs go. But the story isn’t what makes the game so incredible.
Graphics and Music
For a game that was released in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance, Golden Sun looks absolutely stunning. The graphics are far ahead of anything before it, with incredible amounts of detail in nearly every aspect of the game world. Golden Sun is a game that pushes the limits of the Game Boy Advance, despite being released about eight months after the handheld console itself was made available. Referred to in a Game Informer review as “a visual treat” with graphics that “would have amazed Super Nintendo owners back in the day” (sentiments shared by countless others who played the game), Golden Sun remains one of the most gorgeous titles for the GBA. Battles explode with brilliantly crafted effects, the world around Isaac is alive with color and detail, and the characters themselves are modeled with care. Overall, Golden Sun is an exquisite experience for the eyes, and has certainly not aged badly compared to games like Final Fantasy VII or Morrowind.
Golden Sun is no slouch in the sound department either. Fans of the Tales or Star Ocean RPG series will recognize Motoi Sakuraba’s musical style as they play through Golden Sun. Though sound quality on the GBA system is obviously limited compared to the DS or other modern consoles, Sakuraba works his magic on the game nonetheless, composing a memorable soundtrack that will undoubtedly cause nerd-chills for longtime GS fans, and leave newcomers wanting more. Gorgeous music, coupled with a vivid array of sound effects that further flesh out the world of Weyard and its inhabitants, serve to leave a lasting impression.
Bottom line: Golden Sun, if nothing else, is a feast for the eyes and ears.
Psynergy
Psynergy is the ability to manipulate one or several of the four base elements of the world. Those who are able to wield such power are known as “Adepts”; conveniently enough, your party members are all Adepts of different elemental alignments. Each of the four elements — air, earth, fire, water — can be used to devastating effect in battle, but you will often be presented with a puzzle or task outside of combat that requires the use of Psynergy to solve. Fortunately for you, Psynergy can do all sorts of things to assist you in progressing further, ranging from moving under obstacles while transfigured into sand, pushing faraway objects, conjuring gusts of wind, and smashing pillars to reading minds and causing small earthquakes.
The land of Weyard, and those who live there, can be manipulated in countless ways. An experienced Adept knows where to find such foci, and how best to utilize his powers to proceed along his journey. However, in a land as treacherous as Weyard, basic puzzle-solving will not be enough to prevail; one must also know how to defeat the various foes one will encounter along the way.
Combat
Golden Sun is, at first glance, a simple turn-based RPG, but several unique mechanics take an otherwise boring battle system into something wondrous. The basics of combat are relatively intuitive; you can choose to attack with your equipped weaponry, smite the enemy with Psynergy of various elements, use items to help your allies or hinder your foes, guard attacks, or simply flee from battle. The key mechanic that separates Golden Sun from Generic JRPG #284 is the Djinn system.
A Djinni is an entity consisting of pure elemental energy that can bolster the abilities of the Adept it is assigned to. Like Adepts, they are separated into one of the four base elements of Alchemy, but are not limited to their own alignment (meaning, a Jupiter Djinni can be assigned to any type of Adept, not just a Jupiter Adept). The Djinn system is essential to combat, where they have multiple uses, but their most important role is arguably the Class system they provide to the player.
The Class system is one of the main reasons why Golden Sun’s battle system receives such praise. When you assign one or more Djinn to a party member, their “class” may change. Stats may be raised or lower, and new Psynergy may be granted, depending on the combination and number of Djinn assigned to that character. This allows for a great deal of customization and versatility when stuck at a certain difficult battle. Instead of being forced to grind levels or obtain new gear to face the threat, you can experiment with different classes to see what combinations will best aid your party.
The Class system is by no means the only use for these little guys, though. All Djinn can be “unleashed” in combat for various effects. Some, like Flint, simply damage the enemy, while others can buff you and your allies, paralyze foes, seal opposing Psynergy, and cure status effects. However, once a Djinni is unleashed, they go into “standby” mode, which means that any bonus they might have provided to your character’s class is removed until it reverts to its “set” mode (which costs a turn to correct for each Djinni on standby).
Should you wish to further engage the enemy even with standby Djinn, you can use them as reagents for powerful summon attacks. These spells are extraordinarily powerful, but will temporarily disable any Djinn used in the attack and prevent the player from manually resetting those Djinn to “set” mode. Of course, the sheer power of summons (and the occasional buffs they can provide, such as healing or Attack bonuses) more than offsets the opportunity cost of wielding such potent spells.
I didn't play it but it reminds me of the good old classic JRPG. They were so good compare to the craps we been getting recently *cough* FFXIII-2 *cough* Edit: did i forget to mention the badass music they used to have?
Last edit: 2012-06-12 23:59:25
I hate all this singing
Wala.Revolution Liechtenstein. June 13 2012 00:08. Posts 6045
Being amazed at the graphics. Ragnarok and Apocalypse were my favourites.
Being amazed at the music. Damn I love so many tracks.
Passing by that missable dijinn, and having to re-start and getting very mad at myself for not being careful and mad at the developer (this is one of the things I hate the most about rpgs - permanently missable stuff).
Many of the stuff you listed, using RNG for items, mindreading EVERYONE, staying/battling for the music...
EDIT: now just listening to ost :D
EDIT2: I think while it isn't the most memorable, Walking Forward with Determination (World theme #2 right) was the most impactful. I remember being awed when it swtiched.
Last edit: 2012-06-13 00:15:33
Stuck.
Archas United States. June 13 2012 00:09. Posts 5731
On June 13 2012 00:08 Wala.Revolution wrote: Passing by that missable dijinn, and having to re-start and getting very mad at myself for not being careful and mad at the developer (this is one of the things I hate the most about rpgs - permanently missable stuff).
... Huh? There are no missable Djinn. Which one are you talking about?
"there's like 3 billion something vaginas out there that you havent seen yet." - QuanticHawk
TheToast United States. June 13 2012 00:11. Posts 4804
Nicely done! Never owned or played gameboy advance, but I've always sort of liked the console/japanese style turn based-RPG; there are some really fantastic games in the genre. PC Gaming >>>> Console Gaming always, but I might have to throw this onto my absurdly long list of games to play eventually (on a PC emulator of course)
-edit 5/5 ofc
Last edit: 2012-06-13 00:11:53
I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
Wala.Revolution Liechtenstein. June 13 2012 00:14. Posts 6045
I also played this game a lot. I remember farming xp from the Thunder Lizard thing that takes you to Deadbeard's island, I finally got my guys up to level 99! Then, when Lost Age came out (I played from original release), I imported those lvl 99s to rape face! I only had one GBA though, so what I remember most distinctly is the 3 hrs or so I spent with the code system of data transfer, pouring over thousands of individual characters trying to find the one mistake I made, and rewriting it out all over again when I couldn't find it. Good times.
Manic by name, Manic by nature.
Archas United States. June 13 2012 00:16. Posts 5731
On June 13 2012 00:14 Wala.Revolution wrote: Was it not in the original? I must be confusing it then with GS:TLA.
There weren't any in Lost Age, either... which Djinni are you talking about?
On June 13 2012 00:14 ManicMarine wrote: I also played this game a lot. I remember farming xp from the Thunder Lizard thing that takes you to Deadbeard's island, I finally got my guys up to level 99! Then, when Lost Age came out (I played from original release), I imported those lvl 99s to rape face! I only had one GBA though, so what I remember most distinctly is the 3 hrs or so I spent with the code system of data transfer, pouring over thousands of individual characters trying to find the one mistake I made, and rewriting it out all over again when I couldn't find it. Good times.
FUCK GOLD PASSWORDS
Seriously.
Last edit: 2012-06-13 00:17:08
"there's like 3 billion something vaginas out there that you havent seen yet." - QuanticHawk
ManicMarine Australia. June 13 2012 00:18. Posts 335
On June 13 2012 00:14 ManicMarine wrote: I also played this game a lot. I remember farming xp from the Thunder Lizard thing that takes you to Deadbeard's island, I finally got my guys up to level 99! Then, when Lost Age came out (I played from original release), I imported those lvl 99s to rape face! I only had one GBA though, so what I remember most distinctly is the 3 hrs or so I spent with the code system of data transfer, pouring over thousands of individual characters trying to find the one mistake I made, and rewriting it out all over again when I couldn't find it. Good times.
FUCK GOLD PASSWORDS
Seriously.
Agree lol. I still play Golden Sun from time to time, I think I last played through it last July during my mid semester break from uni.
On June 13 2012 00:14 ManicMarine wrote: I also played this game a lot. I remember farming xp from the Thunder Lizard thing that takes you to Deadbeard's island, I finally got my guys up to level 99! Then, when Lost Age came out (I played from original release), I imported those lvl 99s to rape face! I only had one GBA though, so what I remember most distinctly is the 3 hrs or so I spent with the code system of data transfer, pouring over thousands of individual characters trying to find the one mistake I made, and rewriting it out all over again when I couldn't find it. Good times.
My thoughts exactly, the number of hours I spent farming that Thunder Lizard, you had to walk through his whirlwind to fight and then leave/re-enter the zone and do it again.
And, copying the code from one game to another. My god that took forever but I was so happy to have done it. The Lost Age if I remember correctly was about 3x as long as the original, I had so much fun with that.
Also the happiness I felt when I beat the Magician ... oh man. Good times. Thanks for the flashback.
Archas United States. June 13 2012 00:21. Posts 5731
I loved this game so much. I probably shoulda mentioned it in my blog, but this goes hands down as one of the best I've accidentally played. I had some spare money and asked my dad if I could get a game, he said yes. So I was at Best Buy looking for the game I wanted, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I settled on another cool game called "Golden Sun." I think the only complaint I ever had with that game was waiting for the Lost Age to come out since you know most games don't end halfway through.
My favorite moments were Star Magician, Dullahan, and link battling this kid who got destroyed.
On June 13 2012 00:19 juicy wrote: My thoughts exactly, the number of hours I spent farming that Thunder Lizard, you had to walk through his whirlwind to fight and then leave/re-enter the zone and do it again.
And, copying the code from one game to another. My god that took forever but I was so happy to have done it. The Lost Age if I remember correctly was about 3x as long as the original, I had so much fun with that.
Also the happiness I felt when I beat the Magician ... oh man. Good times. Thanks for the flashback.
The best place I found to farm was for that one extra boss with the long hallways. You could find wonder birds there which gave you like 10,000 xp each and you can get dark matter too. I used them to level all my characters up to 90.
Oh favorite weapon I got was Excalibur. That had so much potential to do a lot of damage. It was just so hard to make it.
Edit: Just read the memories section, and now that's bringing back so many memories. The summons in the game were incredible, and Judgement was awesome. The ones in Lost Age were great too, I can't remember what it was called but the one with the dragon that consumes the land.
Last edit: 2012-06-13 00:28:10
Write your own song!
JingleHell United States. June 13 2012 00:34. Posts 11262
That game was truly amazing. Played the ever living hell out of it for several years. One of my friends I showed it to is still in the ROM modding community for it.
http://jinglehelltech.blogspot.com -- Pics of my rig in Profile
This game was like... my addiction for the longest time. I played it throughout middle school thinking how great and wonderful the story was, and how well the puzzles were made for the majority of the game. When the second one game I out, I was even more thrilled. They did such a great job.
Then I heard them making another for the DS. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed... Oh well. I would suggest playing the first and second ones as they are wonderful hidden gems in the Nintendo line up.
Jaaaaasper United States. June 13 2012 01:02. Posts 2503
On June 13 2012 00:39 Zhou wrote: This game was like... my addiction for the longest time. I played it throughout middle school thinking how great and wonderful the story was, and how well the puzzles were made for the majority of the game. When the second one game I out, I was even more thrilled. They did such a great job.
Then I heard them making another for the DS. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed... Oh well. I would suggest playing the first and second ones as they are wonderful hidden gems in the Nintendo line up.
The third one was not as fun, but it is still a decent game, although not as good as the first 2.
Sounds like your relationships suck, although probably not literally.- kwark Best part of waking up, KwarK banning rape apologists in my cup! I guess you could say... *puts on sunglasses* ... they were asking for it. colaboy and Kasaraki
This game was amazing, i loved it. It was like the only game i found it acceptable to get to the last boss, die a whole bunch because he was significantly harder than anything before (understatement), go back and basically do everything that was not done to 'farm/grind' and come back later.
AND HE WAS STILL F***ING HARD but beating him was one of the greatest moments ever. :D
The game as a whole was so well done, and the djinn system had some serious depth to it. I had planned rotations for specific scenarios, basically being 'use this sequence to do insane damage. then as they recover do X to stay alive while my stats are bust due to all of them being on cooldown, then use Y rotation to steadily, safely finish the boss fight'
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JingleHell United States. June 13 2012 00:34. Posts 11262
