Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to My Test Board. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Golden Sun Series; Golden Sun is a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot
Topic Started: Jan 12 2017, 05:40 PM (87 Views)
Jennondorf
Member Avatar
Administrator
Golden Sun follows the story of a group of magically-attuned "adepts" who are charged with preventing the potentially destructive power of alchemy from being released as it was in the past.[1] It later focuses on the descendants of the original heroes.[2] In this strain, Golden Sun follows the traditional RPG theme of wandering around and fighting.[3]

The original two games, Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age, were released in 2001 and 2002, respectively, for the Game Boy Advance platform. Following a six-year hiatus, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was announced at the Nintendo E3 2009 conference on June 2, 2009, for release in 2010 for the Nintendo DS platform.[2] In Golden Sun, the player plays as Isaac and his friends as they set off into the world of Weyard to prevent a group of anti-heroes from releasing alchemy to the world. Golden Sun: The Lost Age, however, follows the plight of the surviving members from the previous game's antagonists as they continue to pursue the release of alchemy into the world by means of lighting four elemental lighthouses.[4] Golden Sun: Dark Dawn follows the path of the descendants of the previous two games' heroes.[2]

Golden Sun has been widely lauded as among the best games for the Game Boy Advance, with the first game receiving Nintendo Power's Best GBA Game of 2001 and ranking in IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever, as number 94.[5] The Lost Age performed even better than its predecessor, ranking 78 on IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever.[6]
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jennondorf
Member Avatar
Administrator
The Golden Sun series follows a contemporary presentation of the traditional role-playing video game formula. Players guide a cast of characters as they journey through a fantasy-themed world, interact with other characters, battle monsters, acquire increasingly powerful magic spells and equipment, and take part in a building, predefined narrative.[3] Much of the game's time spent outside of battle takes place in dungeons, caves, and other locales, which generally require the player to find items that grant the bearer new forms of Psynergy in order to solve the puzzles integrated into their layout. To complete these puzzles, players must either push pillars to construct negotiable paths between elevated areas, climb up and rappel down cliffs, or obtain a special item to progress through the story and game world.[7][8] Outside of these dungeons and locales, the player must traverse through a large world map as they navigate between forests, rivers, mountain ranges, and in The Lost Age, the ocean.[9]

Successful exploration of the game's world and conduction of the game's battles is heavily dependent on the strategic usage of the extensive pool of Psynergy spells available.[10] Whereas many other role-playing video games limit the usage of their forms of magic to battles as offensive and defensive measures, Psynergy spells can be used both for battle, and for solving puzzles in the game's locales.[11] A portion of the game's Psynergy can only be used in combat; conversely, many spells are only used in the game's overworld and non-battle scenarios. At the same time, there are Psynergy spells can be used in both situations; for example, the "Whirlwind" spell that can be used to damage enemies in battle is also used out of battle to clear away overgrown foliage that may block the player's path.[12] Psynergy comes in four elements: Venus (manipulation of rocks and plants), Mars (revolving around fire and heat), Jupiter (based on wind and electricity), and Mercury (concerning water and ice).[13] The player gains more Psynergy spells as the game progresses, both through leveling up and the acquisition of special Psynergy-bestowing items, and with each "utility" Psynergy spell the party gains access to more locations and secrets hidden in the game world. Players can return to previous locations in the game to finish puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of a specific Psynergy spell.[9]
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jennondorf
Member Avatar
Administrator
Golden Sun contains both random monster encounters, featuring randomly selected enemies,[14] and compulsory battles involving set enemies, which advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up where the player's party and enemy party face-off on opposing sides. During a battle, the characters and the background rotate to give a pseudo-3D effect.[15]

Additional gameplay during battle is similar to that of traditional role-playing video game by defeating enemies in a variety of measures, including the afore-mentioned psynergy skill, summoning other-worldly entities by use of Djinn, or direct combat through various forms of weaponry.[16] In addition, there are various measures to keep one's own party alive through supportive psynergy and healing items—as well as calling upon Djinn to revive a downed player.[17] If the player's entire party is downed by reducing their hit points to zero, it is considered "Game Over", and the party is returned to the last Sanctum that the player visited and suffers a monetary penalty. The successful completion of a battle yields experience points, coins, and sometimes items.[16]

In addition to the main game itself, there is also a competitive battling mode accessible from the menu screen. In this mode, players can enter their currently-developed team from their saved game files into an arena environment where they can either battle increasingly difficult CPU-controlled enemies with their full parties, or select three of their four party members to do battle against another player's three-character team. In neither case is there a reward or penalty for winning or losing.[18]
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jennondorf
Member Avatar
Administrator
One of the most distinctive features of Golden Sun is the collection and manipulation of elemental creatures called Djinn (Singular: Djinni). Djinn, based on each of the four classical elements, can be found scattered in hiding throughout the game and split between the characters. The Djinn form the basis of the game's statistic enhancements.[19] Attaching different Djinn to different characters modifies that character's character class, subsequently modifying hit points, Psynergy points, and other statistics, as well as determining what Psynergy the character is able to perform.[20]

In Golden Sun, Djinn can either be "Set" or placed on "Standby". When a Djinni is "Set" to a character, that Djinni exerts influence on that character's statistics and may change the character's class[14] (and, therefore, his or her available Psynergy) relative to both the character's innate element and that of the Djinni.[19] As there are numerous Djinn encompassing the four elements that can be mixed and matched to the different characters, a large array of possible class setups for all characters are potentially available, allowing a variety of combat options.[21]

In combat, a Djinni has several primary uses. Each Djinni has its own special ability which can be invoked during combat by the character it is attached to, which can include enhanced elemental attacks, buffing or debuffing spells, healing/restoration spells, and other effects. After a successful invoke, the Djinni shifts to "Standby" mode until it is "Set" on the character again.[22] While in standby, the Djinn do not contribute to character classes or statistics, but can be used for summon sequences, which are attacks where the player summons a powerful elemental monster to inflict damage on every enemy. This is the game's most powerful method of attack, and also the riskiest, as it requires Djinn to be on Standby and therefore not be available to bolster the statistics of whatever character the Djinn are on.[23] Once a Djinni on Standby has been used for a Summon Sequence, it must rest a number of turns before it restores itself to Set position on a character. There are sixteen Summon Sequences in Golden Sun, four for each element, and each summon sequence takes between one and four Djinn of the same element on Standby.[22] The later games added more summons that require Djinn of mixed elements to use.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jennondorf
Member Avatar
Administrator
The player controls a total of four players in Golden Sun and up to eight characters in The Lost Age, once a specific plot advancer has been passed.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · General Discussion · Next Topic »
Add Reply