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.
