Topic: Golden Sun Review Mini

[Daan]

Questing it up in a world with lush environments, but also some pacing problems.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/37189/golden-sun-review-mini

Golden Sun has all the makings of a classic RPG. It opens with an array giant boulders and a magical thunderstorm overtaking the town of Vale. That sounds exciting, but throughout that opening, characters talk. Over and over and over again. The story is still somewhat engaging even with its slow pace, including a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding your party’s quest to save the world from vile villains bent on activating lighthouses that could spell doom for everyone.

The best part of Golden Sun are the lush locales and beautiful music, which hold up extremely well for a 2001 GBA game. The gorgeous sprite art still looks sharp whether you play it on the TV or the GamePad. But the best part of the world around you is interacting with it. The different Djinns, equippable creatures that help in and out of battle, give you abilities that can help you solve puzzles outside of battle, and that’s the most interesting and unique part of Golden Sun. It might be a standard RPG, but the way you explore the world with your different powers is gratifying and fun, containing many secrets.

The turn-based combat is neat even in its easy simplicity. The main hook are the Djinns, which are spread all across the land. By attaching them to your party members, the character’s stats and abilities change. The combat’s depth is nestled in the mixing and matching of Djinns. Finding the correct combinations is part of the struggle, but when you land on a grand pairing, it’s rewarding.

Golden Sun is a beautiful game, with a great style and presentation that makes the conversation-heavy storyline and simple combat better than it should be. Fortunately, the world traversal is fantastic and solving the many environmental puzzles is worthwhile and challenging. The 40-hour quest is still worth traipsing through, though, as even with its issues, Golden Sun is still a fun, unique RPG.

[doodies]

With the password system intact, I and many others will be trod ding through the awesome Lost Age on Wii U as well.

[Phil]

I didn't like The Lost Age as much, due to Air's Rock, the super lengthy dungeon, as well as various points in the game where you are given little to no direction, so you aimlessly wander around from point to point on the world map. Still an awesome game, though.

[WindyMan]

Two words:

Pan flute.