Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (DS)

 

So, when will we save the planet?

Played through the third game in the series again. A bit later after the original games, and the reason being that there is no pull to play through this. At the time it has been 15 years and still no sign of an eventual continuation from the cliffhanger ending they left us in. On the other hand I have reconsidered my hate for Tyrell, so I actually find him rather agreeable somewhere like a quarter to half of the game length. Still a POS in the beginning since he needs to be to start the plot. 

Overall the plot works out for me, the graphics are a bit dated and I actually believe the 3d hampers it. Like many other games, it's the need for rotating 3d cameras and such instead of a quick action taking place. Which reflects that every attack takes a bit longer than in the GBA games. Interestingly it also gives them a bit more heft as you almost feel the heaviness of the weapons as our heroes swing them on the enemies. 

No, the worst part with this game is still the points of no return. Even with a guide at my side I still missed a djinn in one of the areas I couldn't go back to. And this reflect something that the game isn't as polished as the first games. You get mind read super late in the game which took away one of the most intriguing method of puzzle solving or finding information to progress or just lore of the world. And then by locking out several areas you diminish the workload even more. And that is what it feels like. Less passion in the game. They did put in the effort to show how for example Kraden's group could traverse the first temple, like they did in The Lost Age with Piers looking for his control gem for his ship. But there you could use your own psynergy to follow that path, here it gets locked behind the Point of No Return. It shrinks the world.

A fun thing is that I actually did the game for the first time as intended after leaving Belinsk on the ship, almost. You're supposed to go to Warrior hill to get the third eye, and from their to Izumo to use it in order to get Himi and then head toward Tonfon in order to get the Echo Gem to look for the Umbra Gear map. I usually find the map and the people carrying it before going to Tonfon and then wondering what the Echo Gem is doing in the item store. A pity that due to constantly creating points of no return I'm more inclined to go off the beaten path pushing me away from the narrative cause who knows what the game will lock out for you.

And the last part with the game was that since I forgot one djinn and realised it after doing everything you can do before fighting the final boss I switched file to the one where I had grinded to level 99 and gotten everything. Here I changed djinn around since the guide didn't have a class list and due to the very different structure of finding djinn meaning the carefully chosen class might be hampered due to the djinn you find since at times you will have a lot of a single element. 

At the end of things, it's a working game but their is a lot of missed potential and it just doesn't hit the highs of the older game. Not even the music compare really. It sounds like it should, but there is only two tracks from this game that really stand out and that is the Apollo Ascent and one of the outside dungeons track with the bells and bass. But there is no song like Elemental Stars that just sucks you in the mystery of the world. So it becomes a disappointment. 

So in a remake after they have to make it before going through the next part the only thing I would like is getting rid of the Point of No Return and why in the world is Crossbone Island set behind finishing the game? That is just irritating. 

Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Wii U)

 

Where's my continuation?

Finished off the second game again and the feeling of melancholy have appeared for finishing it up. Played it very slow compared to the last time. Last time I only put in 28 hours, 41 levels and missed 2 djinn and didn't get the last summons. Don't know why, but fixed it this time. Played it on Hard as well, mostly larger HP on the enemies I gathered. No problem until the end when I fought Dullahahn, which beat me every time so I had probably to grind for another 10 levels to be able to survive his attacks while dealing with the 200 regeneration he has. A bit easier on the old cart where I see that I had level 87 and played for 136 hours. Have I said this is my favourite game series? It has to be when a 30 hours game is played for 136 hours. Not as long as Tears of the Kingdom, but I only played that once. 

Played the game using the class items you get and while the first game actually gave me an enhanced experience since it made it easier with growth and such, here changing away from the basic classes actually was a hindrance where I constantly had to turn of the items and djinn to get Frost or Whirlwind, not until the second team showed up did it improve (and that was often due to their psynergy items that permanently gave you douse and Frost), but the final classes was awesome. At that point grinding for items worked really fine when I had all attack djinn put on the main party and diversified over all four meaning I could constantly hit them. And with Petra and Ground you could crowd control most encounters. And most late end bosses was really easy with a combo of those two and summon rush. Dullahan the only one that could handle it. Also went out of my way (which may explain some of the extra hours) to go to Air's Rock before Yampi Desert. Maybe would try to get the angry Kraden scene if I play again where you said no to everything and wanting to skip Lemuria gets Kraden so mad.

So, in a hypothetical remake, what would I want to see? Get rid of the RNG-blacksmith mechanic or let more enemies drop materials for Sunshine. I also realised again it was strange that people from the first game didn't have portraits there, but gained them here, so sync that up. A mini-map would be nice since the guide wasn't all that helpful at times since they didn't have a room in Ankhol ruins which put me on a loop which I couldn't get past. More funny is that I noticed they had missed a vial in Air's Rock as well. 

Still love the game. It has the emotional pay-off for a 60 hour game (both games combined) and cliffhanger in the end that really interesting. Sadly they didn't explain it in the 3rd game. Also, there was a lot of things they could have explored in a future game, the fighting between Hisperia and Atteka, Alhafra's greedy mayor and what happened to Prox after the Golden Sun event? Still, nice seeing it on the big screen, can't say the same for the next game, Dark Dawn since they never released it on the Virtual Console. A travesty I say!

Golden Sun: The Broken Seal (Wii U)

 

Finally!

Difficulties at work made me crave some nostalgic feelings and maybe it was time to replay the game I once called the best game ever. Especially since it was 6 years since last as of writing. So no story or such since I already covered that in depth. I think I played it on the Wii U last time, but since I didn't have a decent TV I think I used the Wii U gamepad and I gotta say, playing on a big screen with a Wii U Pro Controller felt rather well. Only problem with it I would liked to have utilised more of the buttons, but that is due to the Game Boy Advance controllers. 

So what did I do to spice it up? I decided to change my classes beyond the mono-elemental one I usually do. In the first game it doesn't work that well until you get 6 djinn of each element to gain some interesting combos. So I picked up my Prima Guide and had it beside me during the whole game. Then I began noticing certain things. For example giving Ivan Flint in the beginning and defeating the three thieves makes the game give you back Flint so that you won't miss him... even if it only is really a few minutes. It actually made it easier in most parts since I didn't have to think about growth psynergy or such since I already had it.

Then it was the artefact weapons and armor. Most of them in the early game is kinda worthless. The bandit sword is already out paced by the normal weapons you can buy before getting it. What's the point? And that keeps up until something like Altin. I read somewhere someone complaining that they didn't have money so maybe that, but I just played it normally and sold off all Water of Life and other consumables meaning I had enough money for pretty much anything. No problem. Maybe they didn't explore enough.

I also decided to do the game really out of order in my usual style. For example I headed for Imil and Mercury Lighthouse before Kolima Woods. Got my ass beat my Saturnos, so I headed back to Kolima and did that before returning with more djinn and levels. Went a lot easier. I forgot that I should have skipped the Force Orb for that special cutscene in the Altin Mines, have to wait for the next playthrough in 2030. Defeated the Cyclone monster in the desert before finishing Colosso, saw another text with Sheba before she left Tolbi which I haven't seen before. Read also that you could see the colors of the stones in Altmiller Cave with Reveal which was a cool tidbit. Never knew that since I wrote down what Babi said so I wasn't lost. Speaking about Altmiller Cave I found out that the Prima Guide has an error. The guide says that the Dragon Shield is in the cave, but it is in Altin Mine. Think it was a vial there, but they probably confused the vial with the Mystic Draught. Went through the Babi Lighthouse section and headed out so I could finish off Crossbone Island. I actually went back there as quickly I had the appropriate psynergy. Still, Carry is the final one and that is in Venus Lighthouse. After that I killed Dreadbeard at level 28, started up my old save that was for level grinding so I had 42 and grinded to 44 so that Ivan had the Tornado psynergy and then I beat the game and is prepared for the next game.

Overall I fell in love with the game again. The Music, the graphics and the story just makes me happy. So since there is probably no reason for them to release Golden Sun 4 at the moment the best I can hope for is probably some kinda remake. Best option would be the first 2 games remade into one. Would I change somethings? I would prefer if running was the default, more buttons to use and maybe some tweaks so that early weapons actually is useful. The main characters don't default to defend if the target dies before a strike. A bestiary and maybe some added content. If both games are combines I would gladly take a New Game+ where the levels just continues so that you can grind to lvl 99 and max all stats. Another thing is maybe add a store or such that actually sells something like Oil Drops or Weasel Claws so that you can use different play styles. They can also put in a growth psynergy to Isaac like they did for Matthew. And more inventory space. There's like 5 open spaces when you are decked out with weapons, armor, accessories and psynergy items. I would enjoy that, but question if I still would bitch about the game straying from the pure original.

Shining in the Darkness (Sega Mega Drive II Mini) (1 000 post)

 

Guess the magician is evil?

So what shall be the first game to play off the Mini II? What's this? A game made by the people behind the Golden Sun-series? And it's an RPG? Sign me up! This is Shining in the Darkness, the first game in the Shining-series, that would turn into a tactical strategy fantasy game. But at its start it was a dungeon crawler rpg.

Game starts with you, the son of Mordred, the greatest knight of the realm (which I named ERIK since it had a 5 character limit and my real name has 6 characters in it, that and I didn't learn that his official name is Hiro until way later) being summoned to the king since Mordred and Princess Jessa have disappeared and is believed to being held in the nearby Labyrinth of the Ancients. You set out alone and delve through the first level of the Labyrinth until you defeat the first boss and finds the Royal Tiara belonging to the Princess. As you take it to the king he tasks you to find a party and rescue his daughter. You find your friends Pyra Myst and Milo Brax in the nearby town and together you set out to find the Princess. Pyra being a wizard herself and Milo being a cleric we have a power-trio dnd party.

Turns out she has been kidnapped by the magician Dark Sol so you have to traverse the trail of the Ancients, consisting the caves of Strength, Courage, Truth and Wisdom to climb to the higher levels of the Labyrinth. I played the game first on the Wii Virtual Console when I lived with my parents and I thought I got pretty far, I had my hand-drawn maps of the four caves and the first two floors of the Labyrinth, turns out there was 3 more levels. So I got to complete my maps after like 8-9 years. Yeah, I found my old maps so that made the early stage fairly easy, as soon as I was able to figure out what I meant. 

Graph paper, an adventurers best tool for exploration.

You finds out that Dark Sol is actually the wizard Melvyn that have acted as a consul for the king and even told you about the trail of the ancient. On the 4th floor you find Princess Jessa trapped in a cell and the key protected by a brainwashed Mordred that you have to kill. You break out the Princess and returns to the king and then prepares for the final battle against Dark Sol. You have decked out your knight with the light arms, Milo with mythril equipment and Pyra with everything left. Without grinding I got up all characters between 56-51 levels and that was easy enough. Dark Sol's motivations wasn't that clear, at first it sounded like he only wanted the power of darkness that was sealed in the Labyrinth, but as I faced him he talked about finally finding someone that could challenge him. He got vaporised anyway after his second form was defeated. You return, becomes a first knight and lord of a castle, Milo joins you while Pyra becomes the apprentice of the wizard Xern, the former master of Melvyn... is that really a good thing? He already created one dark lord and Pyra does have some evil tendencies since in her first appearance she puts slow on a person that bumped into her that we then had to save from the Labyrinth when he got caught there.

It was a fun game. Music catchy and the graphics was really nice. I could clearly see where Camelot got some of the graphical ideas that they used later on in Golden Sun (menus and such). There is a nod to Golden Axe with the Weapon Merchant being the dwarf from those games as well. Problems? The menu systems would need an overhaul since it's a lot back and forth to find what you want in the shops and that there is no easy way to see if equipment is better or worse when you look at them is a rather irritating nuisance. But it's at least worth trying. Lastly an interesting thing I noticed on the statistics of the characters, the mage characters Pyra and Milo has so much higher ground stats for defence meaning they actually take less damage until the end game when the main character gets the light arms. I get why, you got a lot more amor for the fighter, but it feels weird in a dnd way that the mage at least is bulkier (since I currently have a cleric dwarf in the campaign I get they can take some damage).

This also seems to be the 1 000 post I've ever done! Only took me 15 years to reach, and it all began with me travelling to the US to study international relations... didn't get much use for that in my career, but at least the internship allowed me to get the job at the public agency. Here's for another 1 000 posts!

Final Fantasy III (DS)

First time in Europe

Continued with the third game in the series and as the only version released in Europe was the DS version there was no other choice. The game begins with Luneth (the main character) falling into a cave where he is guided by one of the four crystals. He returns to the surface and the village of Ur where the village elder wish him luck on his journey out unto the world since he have nothing that binds him to the town since he was an orphan that was cared for by the elder. Trying to say goodbye to his friend Arc that tries to stand on his own legs, Arc runs away to the neighbouring town that have been rumoured turned into a ghost town. The town have been cursed by a djinni and one of the ghosts are the airship captain Cid that allows you to use his ship to get to the djinni's cave. The ship already have a passanger in Refia, the blacksmith's apprentice. All three travels to the castle to look for a mithril ring that is said to banish the djinni that belongs to Princess Sarah. Arriving you found the knight Ingus that follow you to the cave and finding Sarah you battle the djinni and returning everything back to normal.

First boss of the game

After that you return to the crystal and gets what is the most important gameplay mechanic, the jobs. Each crystal you save will give you a set number of jobs that you can use to get different abilities or let you use different equipment. First is the classic classes from the original Final Fantasy: Warrior, Thief, Black Mage, Red Mage, White Mage and Monk. So I began with a classic setup that they even show in the intro movie, Warrior, Black Mage, White Mage and Red Mage. Also due to knowing what I need. For one, the magic in this game have secondary function outside of battle. Mini and Toad affects how you play due to shrinking your character or turning you into a frog to pass certain areas in the game. It's like Golden Sun in that magic affects the world around you. Unfortunately it's only used like 3-4 times. It also have the problem that mini causes normal attacks being worthless so you have to rely on magic... actually forcing your character to use jobs with magic. And due to not being any restorative items for magic (with exception of Elixir, but you want that at the end of the game so don't use it), magic need to be rationed. Golden Sun improved that idea by locking the characters in monster free areas for puzzles and the ability to regain psynergy points by moving around making it impossible to lose or restart a dungeon. Sad they never used the ideas of mini and toad spells.

Where is Golden Sun 4?

So after rescuing everyone the four set of out into the world trying to find the other crystals and help people they meet. Escorting Cid home to his wife in Caanan you learn of Daesh, a man that left his girlfriend while climbing a mountain and having amnesia. Climbing the mountain gets you caught my Bahamut that takes you to it's nest and you need to escape. Daesh joins you as you travel to the gnomish village and later the village of Vikings where you get a ship. Back to Caanan Cid tells you of king Argus that can help you turn the ship into an airship. He's gone so instead go to the village of Dwarves get to the Fire Crystal, but a whirlpool blocks the way out of the inner sea so you climb the tower of the ancients where Daesh remember who he is and sacrifices himself to stop the tower engine to blow up and casting the continent to the world (since it is revealed that it is a floating continent above the real world). The whirlpool disappears and you can get to the fire crystal and get more jobs. Like the scholar which you need since you arrive to a town under attack from the soldiers of the king Argus that kidnapped you and took you to the ancient fairy tree where you learn the king was betrayed by his advisor. He shift what his weakness is so you got to use the sage that have a free Libra move so you can see what it is. And as stated, magic need to be saved up. Defeating him lets you get the airship running and you can leave the island and at the same time learn from Cid that you all came from the world below right before it was covered in darkness. So first order of business is to undo that so you travel to a ship to get the priestess Aria to join you. You now can reach the water crystal where Kraken attacks and kills Aria as she saves Luneth so you kill him and get a set of new jobs. 

I don't know about the viking job

Now you get some boots to get to a gold manor to get the key to get back your airship back. Which quickly gets blown up at the kingdom of Saronia where there is a civil war enacted by the king to train the army. Well, of course he is brainwashed by his advisor so as you protect the prince you defeat the advisor, but not before the king dies so the prince is now the king. You now get a super quick ship called the Nautilus that allows you to reach Doga's Manor, one of the apprentices to the great sage Noah. Doga got the gift of magic, Unei the gift of the dreams while Xande got the gift of mortality. So he is the bad guy. Doga enchants your ship to travel underwater to get a lute to awaken Unei so you can get another airship, the Invincible which allows you to reach areas beyond mountains. Where you gather the last of four fangs you found during the adventure that is the key to open the four barriers that block the way to the crystal tower where Xande lives. Doga and Unei also sacrifices their mortal bodies to give you the keys you need in order to enter the tower as well as reach Eureka, the place where you can get the best magic and equipment. Which you need. 

Get used to your characters dying

To tell the truth I got all the way to the crystal tower with level 40 something and I got my ass kicked. So I got my old save where I was level 61 and did the dungeons I missed the last time I played when the game was released. I missed Bahamut's Lair, the treasure cave and the Saronia Catacombs, missing the most powerful summons (that I instead bought in Eureka). And with that I used two ninjas, one sage and one devout to get through the crystal tower, finding a mirror that locked me in place until Doga got the people I saved during my journey. Sarah, Cid, Daesh (who survived the engine room), the prince and one of the four old men you saved in a sewer. They help you so you can fight of Xande. Killing him reveals the true enemy, the Cloud of Darkness that intends to drag the world into the void. The Cloud kills you, but you are resurrected by Doga and Unei sacrificing (?) their souls. Entering the Void you fight four bosses releasing the four warriors of Darkness that saved the world a millenia ago when it was about to be destroyed by Light. With their help you now are able to fight of the Cloud and with that restore the world. Returning your friends and then traveling home (Ingus the only one getting the girl in Princess Sarah). The End!

Evil Woman (by ELO or Black Sabbath, both songs are ok)

Is that really the whole game? No, being on the DS it have some forced social aspects. You can use moogles to send letter to 5 NPC's and friends. If you send something like 7-10 letters you can get more letters from the NPC's letting you get access to a secret blacksmith and secret dungeon. No such luck for unsocial me, and now it's even harder since the server is down so you got to use local multiplayer... in Sweden... on a DS... great luck with that. So I'm actually looking into getting another copy of this and Dragon Quest IX to actually get everything... if I only knew where my DS Lite is. So back to the game as is. It's enjoyable but hard, especially with the forced 10 hours grind I had to do to finish the game (which I know by looking at my 35 hours finished file and the 20 hours save I used). It has nice mechanics with the job where you are expected to use different jobs in certain situations, but I ask myself why they even bother enforcing a couple of battles before the job is adjusted. Well, it's probably realistic, but the gameplay is hindered. For example I for some reason used Luneth as a thief in the new save racking up some rather high levels on that job, but you need that job to unlock doors until you get a third through the game and can buy keys. But the old save I've spent 0 levels on thief on any character meaning I walked by that. And the reason is probably I didn't use that class and never got that I could do it. Meaning thief, black mage, white mage and red mage at start and then shift red mage to monk and later scholar and then back to monk since the thief and monk are powerhouses in damage department (especially since the monk get claws well into the end of the game). Also the last jobs Ninja and Black Belt are great throwbacks to the original game. Which gives me inspiration for when I run through the first game on the PSOne and skipping fighter.

Anyway, you should have the ability to change without distraction since it discourage change in your jobs to see what situation they class fits. So you're gonna stick with the first classes that have the most potential since they reach level 70 before the end or even the max of 99 increasing effectiveness in attacks and such. Except when you have to, like the dragoons, dark knight, scholar and different magic users when using mini, but you don't get them much higher than 10 (or if you grind 25 according to my saves). The grind in the end is hard though and I believe maybe the sidequest would elevate it, but that would be for a different time. Otherwise grinding occured two other times for me. The first before the djinn cave since the first time through I got killed of by a griffin getting the wight sword... after 20 minutes of the game... and without saving. So I started over and grinded the character for a couple of levels. And then before the temple of Time, but after getting killed of a couple of times I went of doing some sidequest and dicovered the ones I missed the first time around. I'm glad I skipped the 10 hour grind though, but I wonder what I should do if I ever get the second copy. And why not have a New Game + where you keep the job levels? At least reward me for finish the game.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Premiere Edition

At least it was mint condition

So being a fan of the series I also got the other guide and went through to see if it was anything to have. And this was definitely better. just look at the number of pages, this one was 208 pages from start to finish while the first two game needed to share 224 pages. No, it definitely improved with more pages. Really, the first thing was the content page where I quickly can see where every town or dungeon is without problem. The other one only separated it in the different chapters it itself created, but if you don't know where Kolima or Lemuria is supposed to be it can be hard to find. Also a bit fun that they explain how you play the game in more detail here. And best of all there is an actual world map (which is only an enlarged map that came with the game itself, but it's more than what came with the other guide). 

Is something worse then? There is no item/equipment lists like the first guide and still no bestiary. I found at least one instance with some very weird sentence structuring. If it wasn't for the Points of No Return in the game it would be rather worthless. And I don't get why they printed in checkmarks on every box for objectives to complete in every area. Why not have it like the first guide with just empty boxes? And no class list?

Really, in modern times who needs guides like these when everything exists on the web? The only thing is to get the maps, and bestiaries and item lists. And these guides got one out of the three mentioned. I just got them because I'm a sucker for this series and still waits for the continuing story... or now just a remake for modern consoles. At least Crossbone Island is here this time.

Golden Sun & Golden Sun: The Lost Age Prima's Official Strategy Guide

I still love these games

So some time back I got the official strategy guide for the first two Golden Sun games and I thought, maybe read through it and see if it's any good? After all I played the game so much that I know it like the back of my hand. So lets start with the first game.

Best of the bunch!

So first problem reading through the book, there isn't any world map in the whole book. It's not much of a problem in the first game since it's pretty much linear, but it would have been nice for the bearings of where I am in the world. There is also a bit jarring "I" 2 times in the text around Tolbi. I expect that in Online Walkthroughs, but this? It feels a bit unprofessional. And then we have some information I actually miss, for example the whole optional dungeon Crossbone Island. Theres no guide for the different room puzzles, they don't mention the earth djinni Bane which is one of the most powerful ones. They mention it in the list of the djinn's at the start of the guide, but for some reason the stats on Bane and Zephyr isn't written down, which is weird. I also miss that they didn't stat Deadbeard who is one of the tougher bosses in the game. And also that one of the most important items is hidden there, the Cleric Ring which nullifies cursed equipment and is the only place in both games you can find it. Also I think the guide writer got confused on what ship you get to use later on since it is referring to Babi's ship as the one we use at the end of the second game, but that isn't true, it's Piers ship he got from Lemuria.

Thing's I didn't know was that Hsu was Feizi's brother. I don't know if the guide is correct, but it changes at least some of the dynamics and why she is worried. I don't think any people in Xian mentiones it either so how the guide knows that I wouldn't know. The guide also gives me easy checkable lists on what to get on the Tolbi fountain. It's also nice have the weakness of bosses handy and actually learn that some status effects have a possibility to work. And then it's the second game.

Intro music is better though in this one

Right of the bat I get a bad feeling since the first thing is they spell Ivan wrong as Iwan. Secondly is that they mistake Piers ship with Menardi's even though it's stated that Piers was found on it. Then we have the problem of the map when I'm supposed to sail all across the world and don't get any visual clues on how the world looks like. Which poses another problem and that is that the hidden items that exist in the shallow waters of the ocean isn't shown. The rusty weapons are listed at the weapon and armour section since you can bring it to the smith Sunshine, but items aren't since they aren't unique. Which leads to another problem that affects the guide for both games. There isn't any enemy compendium, so say, for example when you read about the Prophet's Hat and that it is a dread hound that have it... where is it? I know it's in Altmiller Cave in the first game and various locations like Gaia Rock in the second game, but it isn't mentioned at all in the guide. This is especially problematic when you think about the forgeable materials that you really need to grind for. They also missed the first bonus for transferring data from the first game and that was fighting the bandits from Vault again as you leave Madra. They missed the golden shoes and they aren't mentioned at all. There's also an inconsistent in how they write this guide since Tolbi fountain had every item in a box which you could tick of, but Lemuria Fountain you got them in the text mentioning what everything is. Why the inconsistency? 

What's good is the guide for the classes which I never bothered with since each normal element are powerful enough, but maybe I should try it with the guide by my side. I miss a bit of content though. Why no mention of the Dark Panther Method? That a djinni of opposite element increase the chance of an item drop. I don't expect them to outline the whole 100 % drop method, but that one is rather important. And the 3 x Select at the naming screen to name other three characters in the game and then the other code to name Felix, Jenna and Sheba at the first game? It's in the game and it's a fun code to use (if you want to since I never use it other than to look that I can do it). It's also nice to have a overview map of towns and dungeons, although it's kinda irritating that if a house is important, like the lord's different castles there ain't any map of the interior.

Really, you don't need this to finish the games and things that are useful like list of forgeable equipment, classes and such you can probably get on GameFAQ, and things that should have been here like Bestiaries and secret codes defintliy exist there since I printed it out ages ago. Had all of that been in these guides I would recommend it as a complement in case you want to 100 % or test different strategies to finish it faster or such, but it doesn't exist here.

Tales of Zestiria

The Tales of King Arthur

Back in the Gamecube days I bought the Tales of Symphonia game and found it rather enjoyable. I got the sequel to the Wii and actually never finished it. Didn't get a Tales of game until Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS. So as you notice I only got the Nintendo releases even though I got a PS3 and there been like 3-4 games and the first I bought was the HD collection of Tales of Symphonia which I wished was released for the Wii U but no. And then I read that LittleKuriboh was one of the voices for this game so I got it instantly. And then I learn that Kirbopher is one of the major voices... sweet! And what do you know, celebrities draw sales apparently cause after finishing the game I say it's the weakest Tales of game in the story department I've ever played. The premise is that it is the Age of Chaos caused by the Lord of Calamity who causes strife in order to create hellions, creature born out of the Malevolence in the peoples heart. To combat this a Shepard shall emerge from the humans and together with the Seraphim bless the land and purge it of Malevolence.

Meet the Shepard Sorey

Sorey, raised by the Seraphim leaves his home with his best friend, the seraph Mikleo, to warn Alicia, a knight they found in the ruins they were excavating and being hunted by an assassin. On his journey he will take up the mantle of Shepard from the fire seraph Lilah as he is pure and will rid the world of all Malevolence. As standard the interactions between the characters are fun, informative and well acted. Sadly the main character is boring, a goody-two-shoes that more or less is a Loyd, but lacks the great villain to compare him to. Heldalf is no Mithos Yggdrasill for sure. Of course Abyss didn't have a strong villain either, but Lukes journey and depth was something that made that game stand out. Here... nothing. And maybe it isn't the main focus of the game. You have very little environments and it's more focused on dungeons. A dungeon crawler. Action, battles and treasures. And it works. The armatize functions work well enough and unleashing the Mystic Arts are really satisfying. Sadly they even revamped the weapon system for a loot based economy where you gather weapons to synthesise and combine for better effects. Sadly this means you either spend 100 of hours gathering items, synthesising and taking notes of what does what... or you buy a guide... or read a FAQ, but it's busy work and I can't tell if a weapon is better or not due to all the skill bonuses. Just tell me if it's better Attack or Defence and I'm fine alright?

Well, apparently some people don't need clothes

So I'm a bit underwhelmed with the game, the only thing I can't say a bad thing about is the music which is made by Motoi Sakuraba, he who made the music for Golden Sun and you can tell. Certain themes sees eerily familiar and with an easy four element set up I feel right at home. Other things that are fun is they incorporated a discovery system where you find relics, plants, creatures and monuments that reminds me of Skies of Arcadia... doesn't help that Sorey begin with the same color-scheme from clothes to hair, all that's missing is an eye-patch.... oh, here it is in Fashion. Sadly that is all discovering you do since the overworld map is gone and we have a smaller world with a few settings. Sadly that feels like most RPG's are heading and I guess with more technical power you push more detailed environment, which feels big and looking across the whole area is fantastic, but the continent feels small in comparison to the two worlds of Symphonia or the one world of Abyss. Also there is several problems with the story. The malevolence angle, while understandable, gives the sense that you can't do anything without causing hellions. Lie, malevolence. Feeling sad, malevolence. Denying, malevolence. Really, an ascetic monk would probably be the only one not be affected or as they pointed out people really determined that they do the right thing, which somehow causes no malevolence. Right, I just need to believe in what I do apparently and it doesn't care if it is good or evil. No, I might play Tales of Symphonia Chronicles after I finish the DLC in this game.

Loom

Having played the Secret of Monkey Island many people encounters the pirate Cobb at the SCUMM bar talking about this high fantasy game called Loom and in the third game they reference someone named Bobbin Threadbare (Bobbin was also referenced in the original game at the circus). So with that much advertising I just had to play it, and boy was it fantastic. For clarification I went with the CD-version without going that some saw as a bit flawed due to changes in dialog and almost no music. I can see way and I might replay another version just to get a full experience. Still it was a rather fantastic journey while it lasted.

It's THE Loom on the island of Loom in the game Loom

The story is that your character Bobbin Threadbare is a Loom-child, a child spun from the Loom by his mother Cygna Threadbare without consent of the elders, for this she was turned into a swan and banished beyond the thread. Around his 17 or 18 birthday he is summoned by the elders and there he overhear his caretaker arguing with the elders and she is put under the same spell as Cygna, but it backfires and turns the elders into swans at the same time. They all fly away leaving Bobbin alone and with one of the elders distaff with which he can perform drafts that works like spells. Trying to find his people he set of to the mainland uncovering a plot by the clerics to use the different skills of the guilds to conquer the universe. Really, this is novel worthy and apparently it was plans for two sequels making a trilogy and it shows since in the endgame the clerics try raising an army of the dead, but instead brings back Chaos and it's up to you to stop her. The climatic ending is near the Loom as Chaos wants control of it to spin the world as she see fit, but you decide to destroy with a draft that she gave you by killing your caretaker. MY GOD!!! WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Well, you enter the rift in the thread, turn yourself into a swan and fly away and Chaos shouts that we shall meet again. And of course there was no sequels. The man behind the idea left for other projects and no other people at Lucasarts felt they could do it so it disappeared. Damn it.

 It's the ending of Dark Dawn all over again! Boy, it was a long time since I referred to Golden Sun (when I wrote this 3 months or so ago, before I went on the Golden Sun memory lane).

It is a beautiful looking game, especially since the CD version boosted the graphics quite a bit, but as mentioned the music mostly disappeared and seems to only play during talking sequences. Sad since most I've heard is rather good renditions of the music from Swan Lake. Also, it appears to be censored, but the scenes that are left can be quite gruesome with two persons unmade by Chaos (the first ones head and chest flew at the screen as well) and another one eaten by a dragon. Apparently if you want perfection and could do without the voices the FM Towns version is the way to go. I must try that one out definitely. The voices are taken from a radio drama that came with the original and explains the origins of Bobbin and history of the world. They do a good job although at some points Bobbins voice actor feels a bit to much of a drama actor than a fluent voice actor.

Gameplay wise it's an adventure game where you walk around and solve puzzles to further the plot. Now, the puzzles are all solved by using magic. Magic works by reciting drafts you have stumbled upon while interacting with items all around you, hearing music notes that you then use the distaff with. Each spell consists of four notes and if you do it in reverse you can in some instances cast a reversing spell or similar. For example reversing Open makes thing close and so on. A tip is to write down every spell you see and it's only 16, but if you forget them it can put you in a dead end, but with the internet today you can trail and error you forward with the right spell (the spells are randomised at the beginning so don't bother saving the combinations after you finished). Spells are also effected by the difficulty you choose at the beginning. First time I choose practise and you get the different notes and they light up and in the bottom is a box showing the whole spell. Good way to start to get how the game works. In standard mode they just light up and I've heard that in expert mode you need to identify the notes by hearing. Might try that with the FM Towns version, but I guess not many are able to play that.

Not everyone can be a Leopold

Overall it's a short game and rather easy I found. The only times I had some trouble was at the very beginning before I understood how I played the game (it introduced me to The Adventure Gamer so no harm done) and the second time was near the end when I had mapped most of the spells and realised I don't know their true names, meaning I don't know how to use them. I checked it out on the web and since that is manual knowledge I don't see it as cheating, although it made me solve the current puzzle. It's well worth a play, but as mentioned it ends on a cliffhanger which to this day is unresolved. One could hope that Disney pick this one up and turns into their own animated fantasy trilogy now that they own all of Lucasarts. I would go see it, but then again, the only movie they've made that is equally dark is probably Taran and the Black Cauldron and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Remembering Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (2)

So were's the sequel?

This time we tackles the story. The game is set 30 years after the Last Age and the world has been reshape due to the Golden Sun event and new places have appeared while others have disappeared. Meanwhile psynergy vortexes appears that causes havoc and every 10 year a really big one appear, dubbed the Mourning Moon. Apparently they suck the surroundings dry of psynergy. To combat this Isaac and Garet have set up camp to watch over the ruins of Mount Aleph while Ivan has helped them build a Soarwing so that they can access Sol Sanctum and speak with the Wise One. All this planning is crumbled as Garrets son Tyrell decide to take the machine for a spin and crashes it so Isaac's son Matthew have to lead Tyrell and Ivan's daughter Karis to Morgal to find Mountain Roc feather. 

Not even his father likes Tyrell

And here is the first problem with the story, I don't like Tyrell. As his father put it, he's a brat. He destroys the machine as he wants to fly, he almost burns down a store (which he burnt down before) and he's stupid. Yes, Garret was portrayed as rather dimwitted at times, but he was loyal to a t and followed Isaac when Isaac overruled him. He could argue against it and often grounded that in the task at hand (stop Felix for example). Heck, he has the same attitude here. Garett was reasonable, Tyrell you have to smack around so he doesn't do anything rash and the one that does the smacking is Karis. This makes Matthew just appear as a figurehead for the real brains of the operation that is Karis. Not to mention the kids are 16. Isaac and Garett was at least 17. Let's continue. So you set visit a couple of places which tells you what happened to Vale and Vault and how the survivors copped with this new world. You meet people like Carver and Patcher all the while reinforcing the story of the Mourning Moon and the destruction caused by the Psynergy vortexes and how the non-adepts perceive adepts and such. Great set up for something big. Meanwhile you have to follow Kraden to a ruin to reach Biblibin since the bridge at Carvers was destroyed by a vortex. Inside you are attacked by Tsuparang soldiers led by Blados who kidnapps Rief, Kraden's apprentice and son to Mia and brother to Nowell. There you also meet Arcanus who... it's Alex. It's freaking Alex, but let's assume we don't know that.

The Phantom of Weyard

So Matthew and co has to split with Kraden and rescue Rief. Meanwhile Blados blew up the exit creating the first PoNR. Hope you got the 3-4 djinni before exiting the cave. So now your objective is to cross the mountains to reach Morgal. To do this you must activate 2 alchemical machines hidden in these lands. The land being the former Lamakan Dessert, but no Xian or Altin. Here you meet the ruthless King Wo who wages war against Passaj and Ayuthay to establish himself before reclaiming his homeland Sana from the benevolent Emperor Unan. The cities being the homes of the alchemical machines that you need to fix in order to take the cloudpassage from Passaj to the Neox capital at Craggy Peak. They also pick up prince Amiti in Ayuthay who everyone believes to be a messiah, born without a father and such, but apparently a water adept came by 20 years ago fixing their machine and created an oasis paradise. Gee, I wonder who the mysterious water adept can be.

Hm... Same father as Heuy, Dewey and Louie

You get it running and traverse the mountains and enter one of the most interesting dungeons in the game, the Craggy Peak ruin. It has 12 rooms associated with the zodiac and you must solve all 12 puzzles to be able to leave. After that you reach a mountain village were you are "greeted" by two Sanan nobles, the younger one being a spiritual twin of Tyrell, boy, two of them. His story is that they fled the beastmen uprising in Morgal while there father, the governor and brother to Emperor Unan, was killed. His sister unfortunately was captured and he and his mentor tries to save her. Traversing yet another mountain ruin you encounter Sveta, the sister of the current Morgal king Volechek and she agrees to help you pass the mountain and gives you information of the Mountain Roc near Kolima forrest (that has moved for some reason). Here you also finds out that Eoleo, son of the Pirate leader Briggs who appeared in the last game has also been imprisoned and Briggs ask for your help to rescue him. No other choice you agree while on the way to Kolima forrest to see the elder Tret. So after saving Kolima... again you meet Tret who gives you information on to enter Berlinsk and rescue the prisoners. Also this little hint is dropped:

Amiti: "I am Amiti of Ayuthay. It is a great honor to make your acquaintance."

Tret: "Hmph. Charmed, I'm sure. Another relative of Mia's, right?"

Hmm, interesting! Besides that the Sanana noblemen joins you in climbing the mountain and at the top confronting the Roc to get the feather, at the same time as Blados and Chalis drops the hint that you must start the machine below Belinsk to save the prisoners. The Sananas steals the artefacts necessary from you and bolts. You follow them and enters the ruin below the city and meet up with Sveta and the Sananas as you start up this third alchemical machine. This one summons the Eclipse tower that cast an eclipse over a large part of Angara summoning monster that slaughers the innocent. Apparently Volechek had been duped by the Tsuparang as he was told it was a weapon he could defend his land from the Sanan empire and the power hungry Biblibin. So the party rescues the prisoners and flees on Briggs ships, but not before Briggs have been killed by the shadow monsters. And this is the third and last PoNR (the second one being Craggy Peak which you can't return to after leaving). You can't enter Belinsk, Kolima, Port Rago or Border Town or even the mountains again. Instead you can return to the south of Angara again and see what calamity the Grave Eclipse has caused. Which I really like. Consequences. People you met have died, important NPC's like the generals of King Wo actually died during their siege of Ayuthay. The people of Ayuthay and Passaj survived most of the destruction due to the alchemical machines that powers the Eclipse Tower and as you will find out they also powers the machine to stop it, the Apollo Lens. A gun powered by solar energy atop pretty much the great wall of Angara. But first you need to gather the 3 orbs to open the road and the Umbra gear so that Sveta can survive the intense light at the machine. Sailing the seas also takes you back to Izumo... kinda. Izumo was destroyed, but the villagers fled after a vision from their leader Uzume who died upon leading her people to safety. Makes me think of Moses for some reason. Here you meet Susa and Kushinada from the last game and their daughter Hima that has fallen in a coma which you wake her from with an artefact that gives her a third eye. So now the parties is complete, you gathered all the gear and traveled up to the Apollo Lens. Where you are confronted by Tsuparang again, but this time Arcanus helps you and unveil his true name Alex, although he still goes with the High Empyrors plans, but Blados and Chalis have betrayed Tsuparang and are from the Umbra Clan... which is what Tsuparang is and they turned Volecheck into a Chaos Hound and... fire the damn thing already!

Moonstone Cannon! FIRE!!!

So the tower is turned off, the blast caused human-born beastmen to turn into light adepts and Alex escaped while Sveta became queen. And our heroes got the feather and returns home. A job well done, although I can't help but think we forgot something, what could it be?

Oh... Oops!

And that is the end. No "The End?" or "To Be Continue", just "The End". On a freaking cliffhanger again. And that was 5 years ago and still no Golden Sun 4. God dammit. So, what was good with the story? The ideas of the Eclipse Tower, Apollo Lens and Alchemical machines. The set up of the psynergy vortexes and a more present antagonist compared to the last games were frankly they hardly showed up. The bad? The whole games main driving point is a fetch quest for a feather while you by chance stumbles upon the bad guys that decide to use you (if not somehow the Tsuparang are behind the vortex cutting the bridge at Carver's home and intercepted Kradens note as to know they were coming... dammit, if that's the case it would be a rather good twist). Even if the feather isn't a huge problem the fact that we did drop any hint toward the psynergy vortexes after the first dungeon and reintroduce it at the very end feels a bit... cheap? It sets up the setting so good, the continent has shifted, the psynergy vortexes appears and every 10 year a massive one erupts. Also, people complained that we didn't see any of the new cities in the last games, but I chalked it up to that they weren't important and the game itself states that due to the shifting landmass some of them came to prosper like Tonfon that lied on a mountain top, but now had fertile soil to grow into the Sanan empire (within a 30-year time frame, but somehow the game states they were both peacekeepers and warmongers although the former Emperor Ko established the empire and it was just recently Unan took over so how that worked beats me). But we shift story as we stumble around in the world trying to reach the Roc and then accidentally starts this domesday machine and has to fix it. It feels like two games was mashed together. The beginning and the end feels as if they are completely separate from the middle portion and it feels they were tacked on to try to explain why the middle happened. Other things that is irritating is that they still don't develop the characters. It's even less since Isaac at least felt he had to take responsibility, but here the fault lies with Tyrell and does he learn? I don't know, we don't mention it at least. And the silent protagonist. At least both Isaac and Felix spoke in either game while Felix also said some words in the end. I believe they tried to fix that with a 4 kind of emotional responses, happy, ecstatic, sad and angry. Fine, more than yes or no, but it's hard sometimes to see if what I'm responding to. Is it the question I'm given or the answer I'm giving? And it still doesn't matter for more than one or two lines.

So should I be happy due to winning or sad for using violence or angry to show some gusto? What does it matter better chose ecstatic than I'm both happy and have gusto!

So... is it bad? No, it's a decent game and Camelot still put in a lot of care and thought into it. And all of this might be salvageable in case a forth game ever continues on this and tying all this together. I think this game more was hurt by expectations. Everyone wanted a big game like the Lost Age, what we got was a retread of the first game with a bit of new settings in the old setting. We only saw what, a 1/5 of the whole of Weyard? The few things people wondered wasn't addressed at all like Sheba's heritage, Tolbi's leaders after Babi, did Dodonpa reform. Things I discovered in my last playthrough was also the hatred between Atteka and Hesperia that Felix speed up. Also, what become of Lemuria? Could Piers return or is he still exiled and how did they react to the unleashed Alchemy? One of the few things that was mentioned was Susa and Kushinada's son that would help Isaac one day which is mentioned when we meet them, but he already left and some speculate he is with Piers and Nowell, which frankly is setting up one way a potential sequel could start where you play as him as the main protagonist since he is a Venus adept. Really, of all of this we only answered one question and that was if Alex survived the Golden Sun. Now we have even more questions like the deal with Tsuparang, who is the High Empyror (really creative naming there guys), the umbra clan and the light adepts. Will anything of that come to play? Also of all the characters in this game, will Amiti figure out who his father is? And it's been 5 years already. There is some small talk about a 4th game here and there with a petition some years ago. I hope the series doesn't end like this, but I will probably be cautiously optimistic until at least 2 years... or 5 years... or 10 years... It will never end this pain of disappointment, will it?

At least Isaac was in Smash Brother! Right Guys and Gals?

Remembering Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (1)

The most anticipated game of 2010... for me

Boy, playing through this game has really torn me between if its good, passable or nostalgia driven. On one hand, it was so fun to play this and see all the nods to the previous games, the same music and graphics that very closely come to a real 3d creation of the 2d sprites of the original. To see familiar characters and places, solving puzzles again and explore more of the lore and settings of Weyard. They improved several gameplay features and introduced some new ones that enhances the game. Take the added unleashes for the weapons which you have to master by using. Feels more organic and a weapon can have several unleashes. Also if during a battle the target dies you just attack another enemy. Then we have the psynergy uses which also was improved in ways like you now light up what items can be affected by the psynergy you want to use and if you want to cancel it doesn't cost you any psynergy points (or PP). The game introduces even more psynergies as well and finally a different venus adept than the warrior and a different jupiter adept than the mage. All of these are good things with the game since it's nostalgic and at the same time gives me more to explore and use. If it would work for a newcomer to the series I wouldn't know since the references comes instantly to me, but they have a lexicon which are activated by words in conversation that you press with the stylus and the games give you an description. More good things is the added mini-map at the DS top screen where you also have stats and set djinni during battle so the battle screen isn't cluttered.

The main characters promotional art

So what is wrong with the game? Most are story related and I will cover that in Fridays (yes, it will be published on Friday) update. So in this segment then, what is the problem? First of, and a damn offender is the Points of No Return. In short there is parts of the game that get locked out after you pass a certain point. The old games had no such thing (if you don't consider the change from The Broken Seal to The Lost Age) and here there is 3. What this mean is that if you missed a djinn or such along before a PoNR you have to replay the whole game to get it (which isn't that long, the latest playthrough was around 25 hours for me). And there really wasn't necessary in my opinion. Yes, story reason was given and some of them I understand they kept as broken bridges so you wouldn't advance to areas outside the game, I get that, but they should have kept the broken bridges and let me go back to the earlier stages of the game. I fear they wanted to minimise NPC interaction in these stages to keep the word count small (which I guess is the reason we don't get this games equivalent of mind read until the last PoNR). Which is sad since the former games had that possibility, even for places were you couldn't access it meaning they took time and effort which showed a huge dedication of care and labor for those games. Then we have that all items, equipment and weapons that are basically copies from the last two games. Certain new forgeable, but the majority is the same. The same goes for the summons when we are only introduced to 1 new one. Also, they took away the gambling portions of the games. No dice game and no tickets (which seriously limits boots and rings to find and there is no shirt category whats so ever). Not even a lucky fountain to get really awesome gear. The new music is alright, although the main theme for this game is a bit subdued. I greatly preferred the Lost Age main theme. But it isn't bad in any means and the Apollo sanctum music is fantastic as well as the outside dungeons with the bells and bass line. The graphics... well, I see what they are and it is a decent 3d rendering, but still... it's not that appealing at times.

Kraden, what did they do to you?

So in all, the game plays better in many aspects compared to its predecessors, the graphics are so and so, the music is decent, but they took out certain features and hardly put in any new content leaving a lot of the overall opinion on the story and boy, do we have something to talk about. To give a perspective also on my own opinions. In 2010 when the game was released I've waited 7 years for this game. When it was shown in 2009 I spent several post on this blog with my speculations, hopes and dreams for this game. I bought the game on launch day and played it. Reading through my posts I seem to at least be satisfied with this game to still my Golden Sun cravings. Sadly, no new game have been hinted at or shown for the last 5 years and the craving is rising for even more of this series, to explore this world once again. So while scouring the net I stumbled upon this playthrough  of the first two games and find it intriguing that someone didn't like this marvellous series, but reading though it I finally saw many of the flaws that I never thought of. Mostly the writing, but also that pretty much every non-lighthouse dungeon is a freaking cave and that the battles are just spam normal attacks or djinni. Some complaints put forward I share with him, like that there is no motivation for the player to play the Lost Age to the end until after the midpoint of the game. But just like in How I Met Your Mother, if you really like someone, the flaws are easily over glanced. And I still love those first games.

Although Kraden was pretty much just saying what everyone else already said.

Remembering Golden Sun: The Lost Age (2)

And we begin the game with a text recap of the last game, which you can't skip!

Did I say Thursday? I meant Friday. So the story begins just before the climatic battle atop Venus Lighthouse and Jenna, Kraden and Alex are escaping the impending disaster following the lighting of the lighthouse. As they reach Idejima the beacon is lit and the shockwave throws the peninsula out of sea and Felix and Sheba are flushed upon the shore, somehow surviving the fall from the top of the lighthouse (either miracle or maybe a passive psynergy ability as the one shown in Kolima, then again Sheba survived falling from the moon so anythings possible I guess). Trouble ain't over since a flood wave appears and pushes them into the continent of Indra that itself been wedge between Gondowan and Ossenia. So You need to find a boat. Which Piers has, but he has been looked up as a pirate of Champa. He himself is a Lemurian that was thrown out of Lemura by the tidal wave so you decide to help this fellow adept. Which takes you from Madra to Alafhra confronting Briggs the pirate captain of Champa, then you round Ossenia meeting werewolves that gives you more depth of the working of Alchemy (the werewolves in this game are weaker jupiter adepts as they've been exposed to particles of psynergy stones from Air's Rock just nearby. This tie in to the last game were many people became adepts after being hit front and centre by a synergy stone from mount Alephs eruption. Anyway, you return to Madra and what do you know, the Black Orb that controls his ship is stolen by the Kimbombo in Gondowan and Piers gone after them. Great, a stealth mission, reminds me of Lunpa.

Be vevy vevy quiet, we've hunting crystals!

Meeting up with Piers gives you your new Mercury adept and after solving the Kimbombo troubles you are rewarded with a ship. And this opens up the game for your own exploration. You can tackle most places in any order, but to sum it up you need to take Gaia and Aqua Rock to learn the psynergies within in order to climb the three trident ruins and take the three pieces. With them return to Alafra, fix the ship and Briggs escape to Champa, confront him and get his grandmother to reforge the trident. With the trident you now have the weapon to defeat Poseidon which is guarding Lemuria in the labyrinth in the Sea of Time which you need Yepp's nursery rhymes from the village of Yallam.  And in Lemuria you finally get a reason to do this quest. The world is ending as a consequence of mankind sealing of Alchemy and the world slowly fading away with its nourishment. Finally, a reason to play the villains of the last game. I know that around here they also told us that Felix and Jenna's parents were alive together with Isaac's father. Great, halfway through the game. A bit late don't you think? I mean, I'm just told to continue the quest, but no one explains why. Especially important since I played the first game were I strived for the opposite. Great twist and all, but really. Doesn't help that the only reason we need to get to Lemuria is to get the psynergy Grind to reach the other side of the world. 

Welcome to Atlantis... I mean Mu... I mean Lemuria

So you now know why you are doing this and you now can reach the lighthouses. So you head off to Contigo where Jupiter Lighthouse stand, but you can't enter it. Now, by playing the first game I know that the Shaman's rod need to go to Hesperia, the continent north of Atteka. But they don't say anything about it, but they speak about the war between the two continents so that must be were I'm going. And when I find it... how do I know that by lugging the Shaman's rod with me will gain me another psynergy? Isaac and co knows since that what Hammet told me as I rescued him, but how do Felix and the rest knows? Hell, how does a player who didn't played the first game know? Anyway, I get it after humiliating the shaman leader in a colossi styled battle. And they hint that this will be a future strife between the people of Atteka and Hesperia. Of course we didn't see that in Dark Dawn. Back to Contigo and up the Lighthouse. And this is one of the better dungeons in the game. Really, both game have the lighthouses as great dungeons as you climb and figure out the mechanics of it and in this game you have to start them as well. Which again, could have been used for Mercury and Venus in Dark Dawn as we didn't see that. Anyway, after climbing the tower and open the beacon we again see Isaac and friends who we have heard all things about during the game as these great warriors. And this is the scene we see them again:

They were right to warn me of Garret's clumsiness in the first game

So I have to save them as they are attacked by Agiato and Karst, the proxian threat in this game. Really, if I had grinded my characters to 99 as planned this scenario wouldn't have worked either way.  Isaac entrust the Mars star to you as you head up to lighten the beacon. There Agiato and Karst steals the last star from you as they see me as a liability. Thankfully we beat them back, but they get away with the star. And now it's time for the reunion with the old gang. Eight adepts are out to save the world in their newly upgraded ship that has wings. A flying ship. Fantastic. Of course it hardly moves the plot since it just for backtrack and getting some cool items here and there. But you travel faster and neutralise the random encounters. A blessing. So why couldn't you go to the last area before? Because an ice wall which you need a cannon from the dwarves (yes, there is dwarves here) and a psynergy and magma ball from Magma Rock. And to reach Magma Rock you need lift that only Isaac and friends have. Time to bring the fight to Prox... oh right, all their actions were totally justifiable in saving the world. So we come in peace. And this dragon people are rather nice if you avoid all their warriors, although they seems to have misplaced your parents. Up the Lighthouse we go. And boy, this dungeon. It took me more time than necessary due to some mistakes from my part. First the damn ice block above a hole. Supposedly you would instantly think grind as useful here (I guess this is the reason they gave the Insight ability in Dark Dawn). The second one was due to me not reading the text after defeating Agiato and Karst dragon forms and therefore miss to awaken the Lighthouse before returning to the starting area so I had to go down there again. My fault. And then we climb the lighthouse and meet The Wise One again that will be our last obstacle... or rather the three-headed Doom Dragon. As Garret said "we already defeated a two-headed dragon what difference does a three-headed make?"

Oh, should have seen that coming

Yes, after the battle it's revealed that the Doom Dragon was Felix and Jenna's Parents and Isaac's father. More or less killed by there own children. That is pretty dark for a children's game. You still throw the Mars star in and ignite the Lighthouse. This causes the forming of the titular Golden Sun and grants Alex the powers he desired. Just before you communicate with the other three lighthouses that shows you that he Wise one isn't as cold hearted as he appeared and thanks to the light their parents are revived and (as told in the next game) the heroes themselves are granted longer life (and maybe greater powers?). You travel home to Vale and finds it destroyed due to the forming of the Golden Sun, but even here the Wise One saved everyone... well, except Alex, instead he body slammed his body onto the mountain peak so he couldn't move and almost was dragged into the earth. F***ING Amazing. 

Almost cried here

So why didn't I like the game as much? Looking through here I guess is that I don't feel as much for Felix compared to Isaac and he don't show up again until the last 3/4 of the game.  They don't motivate the character of Felix and he has a habit of knowing things me as a player don't know which is brought forward with Kraden all the time. The parents still alive is an obvious point and had they told me in the beginning I might have connected better and actually justify my actions. Gameplay is better, scope is larger and the world is even more fantastic, all accompanied with a fantastic soundtrack. Yet the main characters don't give me anything to work with. Isaac was given a mission (it was wrong in the end, but it worked for me) and tried to fulfil it, all actions could be measured to that goal... what was Felix goal before the reveal? Sad to say, Dark Dawn also had a clear goal, but they somehow screwed that up. Wonder how that experience will be, since I still had fun with this game, otherwise I wouldn't have put 40 hours into this game yet again..The others don't get off scot free either. Sheba waits until gaining the flying ship in order to tell us why she wanted to join us in our journey, that is to find out where she belongs as she fell from the sky in Laliviero. You get to know that she probably comes from Anemos, the city of wind adepts that took to the sky and become the moon. Jenna then, I guess they talked about her rescuing her parents and following her thought dead brother during the first game, but at least I could expect her to follow her brother for whatever reason, but I wanted more. Really, the only one that has a decent story arc is Piers. You know he wants to find his ship, then reach Lemuria and then tasked by King Hydros to lighten the beacons. Each step is explained and you can follow the logic behind his decision. You might have missed the reason he set out in the beginning, but that takes a backseat to him getting home. Really, he's mother actually dies in the game. He actually lost someone dear to him compared to the others who saw all their family survive. His only problem is that he doesn't get playable until 1/4 through the game. The games ace in the hole is the villain Alex... or is he a villain? He never killed anyone, he duped everyone and wanted ultimate power, but for what reason? Some point to him trying to destroy Vale at the end, but others point out that he might have known the village was abandoned due to the Wise One and therefore saw it as a harmless demonstration of his new powers. Really wished they explored more of Alex ideas and motivations in Dark Dawn.

There is a reason why I use him as my avatar

Remember Golden Sun: The Lost Age (1)

99, 100... eh, fudge it, let's continue the story

After 40 hours of play I finished of this game, and it still feel as satisfying doing it as when I did it the first time back in 2003. It was a long wait back then, but I was hyped, especially after getting a promo CD from an now defunct Swedish gaming magazine that had clips from all kinds of games, including this one and if I remember right it was this one:

Listen to that music. That bombastic intro alone sold me on that this game was a much have. And now I played it on the Wii U. 40 hours more docked into that game. So what is better? It's larger first of. The original was rather railroaded as you had little choice to get anywhere else than the plot demanded, here they allow you free reins once you get the boat to do the elemental rocks in any order you want or tackle the trident towers (or whatever they are called). I guess the preferred order from the game designers where water than earth to be honest due to some dialog choices and needed powers, but it really doesn't matter.

Look at this map and you only visited the northern continent in the first game

Other improvements was forgeable items with a smith in one of the towns (rng based as well so you could fool it to give you one of the better weapons in the game). Also a lot more items to get from random drops so you know what that mean, ring-grinding. Although I think the designers realised their miss since it is harder to get the desired monster to appear since you need to cycle through them. If you find a correct spot that is. Also a lot more psynergies to use and some really useful ones like teleport (which took me a play through to realise that you could use outside of dungeons as well to get to any town on the map you visited). Also the world itself felt deeper with the different stories and legends you uncovered together with the ruins of the ancient world, the titular lost age of man. One of the better introductions was also the New Game + future that allows you to replay the game with your ending level. It clearly beats playing from scratch and level grind the hell out of low level monsters. And playing through it I can't say I didn't enjoy it and in many ways far superior to the original. And yet there is still some things I find disturbing me enough that I prefer the original over this. And they are all story related so I will bring that up in the story post on Thursday so I can collect my thoughts and better present them.

Well, except for the password, damn thing is 6 pages long and you can't even use the link cable like the original, if you had both games, two GBA's and above mentioned link cable. And if you had two of one game you could even duke it out!