More of the Same in a Great Way
When it was released in 2001, I was a little past excited for Golden Sun. It promised an old-school, 16-bit rpg in a world that had seemingly forgotten how to do it. What was even better however, was the fact that sources suggested it was good. Long story short, I picked it up and never set it down, loving every minute of it. So, it comes as no suprise that I was once again intruiged when the sequel was released, and once again I found myself unable to put it down.
Golden Sun: The Lost Age followed an unusual plot twist in my eyes. There was an option to port your old clear data (for reasons I won't mention), but you didn't play as the same characters. Instead, you played against what would seem to be the antagonists from the original game. This concept panned out extremely well, and for the first time in some while a game showed the motives of both sides.
The battle mechanics work great, and a unique system (save for the original game) gives the game some style points. It takes the tried and true system of turn based combat with a new method of summoning. You locate monsters called Djinn around the world, in dungeons, towns, etc. The monsters come in 4 varities: Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth, and can be equipped to characters and used in battle for special effects like status recovery, allowing 2 turns in one, and so forth. The trick is, once you use a djinn in battle its elemental goes to a pool of sorts. When you build up so much of a given element, you can unleash them in the form of summons, the more the better. Another way Golden Sun 2 goes above and beyond most games of its time is its Psyenergy system. Essentiall just magic, it can be used to solve countless puzzles by moving blocks, lifting objects, creating tornadoes, and countless others. While it is the same system as the first game, that doesn't really bring down the overall feel too much. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
Controls are as sound as you're going to find in a gameboy game. The only factor that could bring it down is that certain, often used psyenergies require you to constantly open your menus over and over. While 2 of your psyenergies can be set to the shoulder buttons, sometimes this isnt enough for a given situation. Other than that, its basic controls with no major bumps.
The music in Golden Sun 2 is brilliantly done. Each peice fits well with the situation, if you're in a Volcano, you'll feel it. The same goes for almost every other place in the game. The sound effects are brilliantly done, and certain sounds, like the psyenergy or sword slashes are impressive considering its a gameboy advance game. Of course, there will be certain sounds that will drive you off the wall in due time as well (the psyenergy noise is always the same, always). Really though, theres never a time where you want to shut off the volume, which I can't say for a whole lot of gameboy games at the current time.
In terms of replay value, the game doesnt really do a whole lot. You could go back and look for djinn, or the best weapons or something, but the game offers absolutly no incentive to replay it. Basically, you play 30 hours, you get your clear data, and you set the game aside to collect dust on your shelf. But, for the 30 hours you are playing it, and potentially more considering how many side quests you do, its going to give you a ride.
Graphics are in the higher end scale of the Gameboy Advance era. With some suprisingly well done 3D visuals in battle (in respect to the old one). And bright, vivid, and interesting backrounds most of the time, it really shines. Some times youll notice certain rooms in dungeons look alot alike, with a different color pallet, but all in all it doesn't really hinder you to the point of frustration.
All in all its a great game, on that I would surely recommend to all my friends, and even some of my enemies, so I suggest you pick it up.
