A one line description would read "Final Fantasy 5 Advance", but that wouldn't encompass the true greatness of this game. Perhaps the greatest portable RPG ever created, Golden Sun impressed me massively on all facets. So the question is- where do I start praising this game?
I think I'll start with the actual gameplay, the most important part of any game. Golden Sun may first seem to be your average, nondescript Final Fantasy ripoff pseudo-rpg, but that illusion is dispelled once you start accumulating Djinn, switching around classes until you find that perfect combination, and making good use of the Djinn and Summon abilities.
Now, if you've never played Golden Sun, you probably got a little confused in that last paragraph. First off, a Djinn is a cute little elemental creature, and these little guys form the backbone of the choice-making of Golden Sun, and contribute to a lot of the fun. When Djinn are set to a character, they give some inherent stat bonuses, and, if worked with certain combinations, change that character's class. For example, the main character, Isaac, starts out as a Squire. However, once you start piling on Earth Djinn, he changes to a Knight, then Gallant, then Lord. If you gave him, say, Wind Djinn, though, he'd change into an Apprentice, then Illusionist, then Enchanter, then Conjurer. Each class 'chain' offers different spells- adding a few as you get to the 'higher' classes- and stat focuses. A Lord would have high HP, Attack, and Defense, while a Conjurer would focus more on PP (basically mana) and Agility. Multi-elemental classes like Ninjas, Samurai, Dragoons, Mediums, Rangers, and White Mages are great in the late game, some of them having completely unique spells.
But that's not all. You can also use Djinn in battle, and they produce varying effects, from basic damage (usually inflicts a status condition too) to boosting stats, to protective auras, to healing. Once you use a Djinn in battle, it'll move to Standby, and you won't get its stat/class bonuses anymore. But you WILL get the ability to start Summoning. Summons require Standby Djinn- for example, the basic Earth summon, Venus, just uses up 1 Standby Djinn. Judgement, on the other hand, one of the most powerful summons in the game, requires 4 of the Djinn. Summons dish out serious damage, and are the most visually impressive attacks in the game.
Combat itself is extremely fun, and never seems to bore- even after so many random encounters. The level design is simply spectacular, and a welcome change from standard RPG level fare. Many RPGs make their dungeons little more than relatively simple mazes with an occasional chest, important location, or stairway/portal/whatever thrown in. The levels are filled with well-designed puzzles, testing the player's mind as they use various spells to overcome obstacles, scratching their mind for how to get that Djinn/item that's been standing there, mocking them. But Golden Sun, while offering a good challenge with its puzzles, never gives anything 'impossible'- I always managed to figure them out... eventually.
Which brings us to graphics. Golden Sun is, graphically speaking, one of the best games to hit the GBA. The detailed scenes and animations make me wonder if this is even a GBA game, or some secret prototype that somehow got into the hands of the public. This game looks simply beautiful, especially the summons and some of the more powerful attacks.
The sound and music are good for a GBA, especially some of the boss music. Not the best I've heard, really, but still enough to make me turn the volume up quite a bit, sacrificing battery life for the ability to listen to some of the better tunes.
The plot is a relatively good one, despite the 'bunch of teenagers are the world's only hope' cliche that sticks out like a sore thumb towards the beginning. Menardi and Saturos serve as great villains, and become even more compelling when their true motives are revealed in the game's sequel. The large amounts of dialogue can be annoying at times, but are usually worth reading (and if you want to skip them, here's a hint: hold B).
Well, I basically covered it all. Golden Sun is simply a great game, any way you look at it. I highly reccomend it to any GBA owner, RPG fan, or any gamer period. An instant classic.
Verdict: 10 out of 10
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