Golden Sun review

The Gameboy Advance was in need of a pocket RPG to call its own, and along came Golden Sun; from the makers of those Mario Sports titles (Camelot) who know a thing or two about pushing Nintendo's handheld to its extremes. If you've ever given one of Square's RPGs a go on the Super Nintendo, then you'll know roughly what to expect here - albeit without the depth of typical Squaresoft characters. Whilst viewed from the same top-down perspective, the game is in no way basic-looking. Graphically flush with detail, colour and movement, Golden Sun oozes graphical and audio flair from its tiny screen and tinny speaker. Towns, buildings, indoor and outdoor locations are very organic-looking and cleverly disguise the grid-based structure of the locations, with seemingly random and natural placement of background props.And so you begin your quest, assuming the role of Isaac, in one of these beautiful locations. Initially set in the past, a flashback sequence begins the game, getting you comfortable with the kid from Vale - a town beset with magic users, at the foot of an erupting volcano. When you discover that the Temple of Alchemy (located atop this mountainous volcano) has been raided and secrets leaked, you set off on a journey to stop the ancient lost power of the elements from falling into the wrong hands. It's fairly typical stuff, as you'd imagine; kidnapped friends, an evil duo hell-bent on awakening ancient power, and former friends-turned-traitors standing in your way.The magical nature of the main characters allows you to perform magic spells (known as Psynergy) during the random battles, and collecting creatures known as 'Djinni' will enhance these abilities as well as alter your character type and class. Battles generally use a well-considered system, whereby unleashing a Djinni attached to your character will damage the enemy (as well as having other status effects) but will leave you temporarily without the protection of the Djinni. Unleashing all of your attached Djinni will reward you with being able to summon them altogether at once - in the form of a magnificent summon creature - where they will cause massive damage before recharging, ready to be used again. The power and accompanying animation of the summon spell will depend on how many of the same type (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water) of Djinni you risk using. Often it is best to attach them to multiple characters, as you can unleash the same elements in a single turn, however mixed elements can also weaken the potency of your spells and limit what you can learn, so certain tactical consideration has to be made regarding how your characters are equipped and customised.Most battles can be won without too much difficulty, although from the offset, tactical play is encouraged beyond simple button-mashing; enemies that are repeatedly targeted for attacks will result in missed opportunities when killed (with a resulting 'defend' substitute being carried out). Spells and magic will sometimes kick in before attacks and are often helpful in strengthening defence stats, and the results of Djinni being unleashed need to be accounted for during the action selection phase. No-brainer button-mashing won't get you very far, because you need to be suitably 'beefed up' to take on anything that comes at you. And when those happen to be the tremendous boss creatures that the game houses, your chosen attacks will have to be pushed to their extremes - because the boss fights are often very difficult indeed. Relying on stocked-up summon spells will see you through many of them (by first unleashing them from the menu prior to battle) but will soon prove far too restrictive on your power. Finding the right balance is the key here, whether that comes from choosing the right Djinni to produce the best spells (combining elements can bring great results, especially when done right) or choosing the right order to unleash them.As most RPGs generally live or die by their battle systems, it would be a shame if Golden Sun's were tragically realised - but thankfully, this isn't the case. The solid interface, slick menu system, easy-to-see cursors and satisfying clicks 'n beeps of the battles, make for a smooth and absorbing experience that only improves with time (and is also suitable for multiplayer link-up, due to being turn-based - though rather limited in scope; battling against a friend merely provides incentive to improve those stats). Each battle is a work of technical genius; the backdrops form an impressive pre-rendered 'landscape' which resembles the area your characters are currently in, with the enemies and characters being spun around by the camera which zooms in and out, panning around the battle scene, giving a pseudo-3D effect. It's not perfect, but it all happens with such grace that you can barely notice any graphical problems - especially with all manner of pyrotechnics on display. In short, battles are quite stunning.Similarly, on the graphics front, is the world map. Rendered in 'SNES-ified' Mode 7, the world map screen will scroll and slide solidly as you traverse it, perfectly displaying details such as rivers and mountains. The audio likewise remains one of the strongest attributes of Golden Sun. The main speaker doesn't quite do justice to the game's sound, at least not as efficiently as a pair of connected headphones. The patter of pouring rain from the game's opening is a standout point for sure, and features organic stereo separation that completes the mental imagery on cue. Even the music is well-chosen and expertly compiled, featuring memorable tunes that are both catchy and atmospheric.The story, however, is an area where Golden Sun refuses to go above and beyond the clichd characters and typical save-the-world plot. There are only a select few twists in the story, nothing too unexpected, but there are a lot of seemingly pointless characters that resurface and expect you to remember them at a later date. Places and names become lost in confusing saminess at times too, and the vast majority of the storytelling takes place in huge chunks of unskippable dialogue. Not being able to save or quit during this time can be very frustrating, considering the effort spent in allowing you to save progress literally anywhere else (a worthy feature on any handheld game). Furthermore, many plot advances will ask you 'Yes/No' questions that have literally no bearing on the outcome of anything. At times it even feels as though you are being checked to see if you are still awake! Yes/No answers continue to crop up throughout the entire game, even when it doesn't appear a question has been asked. Characterisation has been enhanced via 'emotion bubbles', which appear above the characters' heads during dialogue. Like speech bubbles, these display smiley faces, tears, or general signs of the characters emotional states. With a seemingly endless amount of twitch-responses, speech bubbling, and animation from the characters, plot advances can drag on like plays - with irrelevant and repetitive comments being made all the time. A streamlined script and/or improved game-save feature might have helped to ease this somewhat.Thankfully though, scripts and dialogue don't turn up when you don't need them - nor do random battles. During many of the important dungeon puzzles, random battles are reduced to practically nil, clearly an intelligent way of keeping player concentration squarely on the tasks at hand. Puzzles in Golden Sun are beautifully constructed, intelligent works of mechanical genius. Isaac and friends can navigate via the strict rules of the environment, which ultimately helps strengthen the puzzles' impact. A single-block gap can be hopped over - anything more and the gap is too far. Stone pillars can be pushed, and magic can be used for reaching farther away moveable items. Pools of water can be frozen into ice pillars; small green weeds can be doused with water magic to grow into tall climbable vines; and logs can be rolled around until they are stopped by an obstacle. With multi-tiered dungeon puzzles, you are always looking that little bit deeper into each puzzle encountered. They generally challenge your mental prowess to the extent that they are difficult but never annoying. The answers are always there in that very room, and unless you are missing an essential Psynergy spell, you will be able to pass as soon as you figure out the correct sequence/order/position you have to reach for each puzzle. In this respect, the puzzles are wonderfully crafted, and their difficulty seemingly pitched perfectly. For gaming-on-the-go, this sort of mind-bending is just the ticket.Golden Sun finishes not as terribly long after its beginning as you might have hoped. Average playtime obviously depends on how far out of your way you go to find everything it has to offer. And there is a lot there, make no mistake. But once it is over and the game's map has been fully coloured in - its final boss thwarted - the disappointment dawns. However, Golden Sun does not 'end' here: questions remain unanswered, friends remain unrescued, and a threat remains unsecured. As our heroes rejoice in the completion of one adventure, their friends are about to attempt (or continue upon) another - though you wouldn't necessarily feel 'cheated' by such an abrupt ending had the story ended well. If it's closure you're after, you'll just have to stick around and wait...