Golden Sun opens like most every other RPG out there; a young (male) protagonist wakes up and has to face a crisis immediately; in this case, your town is about to squashed by a giant boulder. Quickly recruit some friends and forge your destiny!
Tragedy strikes and 3 years later…..the game begins. You have weapons, magic, herbs and add-on’s just like every other game; one fun way Golden Sun sets itself apart is Synergy; the ability to move things through some latent power you can harness. It’s most essential function is to add puzzle solving into an RGP which seems a natural fit but is absent more often than you would think.
There are story elements set up early on that pay off later on, at least to where I’ve played. 100% honesty: I’m about 10 hours in and my interest is waning. I’ll take major heat for that but it’s the battle elements. I’m very impressed with the graphical overlays in this game, the puzzles, the small party, there’s a lot to like. The backgrounds and scenes are quite brilliant for GBA and the music does some heavy lifting; the gameplay in the battles isn’t getting it there. Also, the main characters aren’t grabbing me like they may have in my younger years.
Altogether, so far, it’s an impressive package for the GBA; that’s where I stand with it. let’s go to scores:
Playability: 6; Going with a six as the battle elements aren’t setting themselves apart enough for me. There’s a side project of collecting creatures called Djinn, but the match doesn’t strike for me on those.
Graphics: 8: Some of the effects I’ve seen in the game so far are impressive, damn impressive but sometimes I can’t even tell my own characters apart. The battle scenes also lack detail. But the backgrounds and towns (including interiors) are quite nicely done.
Music: 7.5: Battle worthy tunes play triumphantly during hard random encounters; bubbly fun ballads cue up while in town or having a funny conversation. The music hits where it should every time out and is fairly memorable.
Replay Value: 6.5: This isn’t my go to RPG; I’m not sure if it’s the handheld experience or that I’m just now finding it but I’d stretch to the Suikoden series or Shining Force every time above this one. That being said, I got through a rough third or more of the game and everytime I thought of leaving it behind, those gorgeous scenes pulled me back in.
Originality: 8: it scores and doesn’t; you need those fantastic story elements in the game and this one certainly has them; it feels large in scope almost immediately and the puzzle solving and maneuvering in the game give it a different feel than some classic RPG’s but then again, the battles don’t excite me and don’t feel fresh at all. I know this game has a following, so high marks on that account but for my own tastes it leaves some to be desired.
Total Score: 72%
bobombblast 