Golden Sun

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Golden Sun
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Developer:	Camelot Software Planning
Publisher:	Nintendo
Release date:	2001
Genre:	RPG
Game modes:	Single player
ESRB rating:	Everyone (E)
Platform:	Game Boy Advance
Media:	Cartridge

Golden Sun (or 黄金の太陽/Ougon no Taiyou in Japan) is an RPG-series currently consisting of two games made by Camelot Software Planning for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The original Golden Sun was released in 2001 and the sequel which continues where the original ended, although with a different set of characters, Golden Sun: The Lost Age was released in early 2003. The series is generally more highly regarded than not by RPG fans.

Important parts of the game are Psynergy and the Djinn (singular "djinni"), creatures that can summon powerful attacks and improve characters' stats. There are 4 major types of psynergy and djinn, corresponding to the four different elements. There are also psynergies that defy classification or are a combination of more than one element.

Contents

1 Gameplay 1.1 Influences 2 Story 2.1 Part I - Golden Sun 2.2 Part II - Golden Sun: The Lost Age 3 Link feature 4 Fan activity 5 External links

Gameplay

The four elements play a crucial role in the series. They are named after planets and represent different elements, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. They are:

• Mercury (water) (blue)
• Mars (fire) (red)
• Venus (earth) (orange/yellow/brown)
• Jupiter (wind) (purple)

Golden Sun's battle system revolves around the Djinni. Though most characters have a few Psynergy abilities which can be used both in and out of battle (for Zelda-style adventuring), the vast majority of their abilities are determined by character class, and class is determined by how many Djinni the character has 'attached' to him- or herself, and of what element(s). The simplest option is to attach all 7 Djinni of an element to one character, but certain classes are accessible only using combinations of Djinn types. Attach Djinni also provide statistics bonuses.

In battle, characters can attack with weapons, use Psynergy, use items, run away, and also perform certain Djinn-related actions. The first option is to activate an attached Djinn for a combat bonus--healing, attack, stat bonuses, etc. However, this detaches the Djinn and may alter the character's class. From there, the character has the option of re-attaching the Djinn (which consumes that turn), but it is sometimes wise to leave them floating, as detached Djinni enable the game's Summon spells. Each element has four Summons, which require 1 to 4 floating Djinn and, as a bonus, will reattach them.

Not all characters in the world of Golden Sun can use psynergy. Those who can (for instance, all the player characters and many of the villains) are called Adepts.

Influences

The elements in the games are identical to the four Greek classical elements (fire, water, wind and earth). However, like the five Chinese classical elements (fire, water, earth, metal, and wood), they are named after the five major planets (or four of the five major planets since there are only four elements in the games). Due to this mix of influences the same planets may not necessarily represent the same element in the games as they do in Chinese Taoism.

Comparison

	Jupiter	Mars	Mercury	Saturn	Venus
Golden Sun	Wind	Fire	Water	N/A	Earth
Chinese Taoism	Wood	Fire	Water	Earth	Metal

Story

Part I - Golden Sun

The protagonist, whose role the player assumes, is a Venus Adept named Isaac who goes on a quest to stop Saturos and Menardi, the villains, from lighting four lighthouses: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury. If the four lighthouses are lit, then his world will be in great danger.

The first character to join Isaac's party is Garet, a Mars Adept and Isaac's childhood friend, who comes from the same village. Next to join is a Jupiter Adept named Ivan from the city of Kalay, and later a Mercury Adept named Mia, who is the guardian of the Mercury Lighthouse.

Their antagonists are the aforementioned Saturos and Menardi, Adepts from the Mars tribe in the north, together with Alex, who is Mia's former apprentice, and Felix, a Venus Adept. Felix the brother of Jenna, a girl who grew up with Isaac and Garet. Their village, Vale, went through a terrible storm three years ago, and Isaac's father and Jenna and Felix's parents lost their lives. Felix was also thought to be dead, but Saturos and Menardi saved his life, and Felix ended up joining them.

Golden Sun has a traditional save-the-world storyline that some consider to be rather cliché, but the game also goes deep into mythology and some philosophy, with many historical references along the storyline. The world of Golden Sun, called Weyard, is very roughly modeled after the planet Earth, with the Angara continent corresponding to Eurasia, the Gondowan continent resembling Africa and the Middle East, and Tundaria resembling Antarctica.

Unlike the English-language translation, this game, when released in Japan, actually had a subtitle like its sequel: 開かれし封印/Hirakareshi Fuuin (usually translated as "The Broken Seal" by members of the games' fanbase).

Part II - Golden Sun: The Lost Age

The continuation (and conclusion) of the story started in Golden Sun, The Lost Age features a different protagonist than the first game, this time allowing players to control Felix, one of the antagonists from the original. Although he and his party join forces with Isaac and friends near the conclusion of the game, most of the game is spent roaming the lower continent and the great sea as Felix, Jenna (a Mars Adept), Sheba (a Jupiter Adept), and a Lemurian, Piers (a Mercury Adept).

The protagonists of the first game, Isaac and co., become antagonists in The Lost Age, since the protagonist is now Felix, who is attempting to do what the original party was trying to prevent: light the lighthouses. Isaac's party pursues Felix's party throughout the game, but the two groups do not actually meet each other until Jupiter Lighthouse, more than halfway through the game. Also, two other members from Saturos and Menardi's clan, Agatio and Karst, play a role in the story, but their roles were not as important as Saturos and Menardi's were in the first game. Also returning as an antagonist is Alex, who joins forces with Agatio and Karst. Agatio, Karst, and Alex wish to light the lighthouses as well, but also have other goals and are competing with Felix and company. Felix's party must fight Agatio and Karst on more than one occasion.

Along with the save-the-world premise of the first book, The Lost Age offers a deeper sub-plot. With the shift of goals brought from the change in playable characters, there is an added philosophical element to the plot. Along with the which truth is the real truth problem comes a more comprehensive look into the history of Weyard, the Golden Sun world. With the discovery of Lemuria and sea-based transportation, much is learned about alchemy and its different practices, including psynergy. With Gaia Falls eroding slowly and Lemuria in a state of severe decay, the characters find little help with their task. This brings about the discovery of the true motive behind lighting the Lighthouses.

Link feature

One can pass the data from Golden Sun to The Lost Age so one can get one's items and status of the original party from Golden Sun when those characters join Felix's party after the Jupiter Lighthouse. One can also use a password, or do neither and start the game with a pre-set party of characters.

In addition, if you collected all the djinn from the first Golden Sun, and you transfer the completed data containing every djinn (7 of each element), you can find two ultra powerful summons, Charon (8 venus, 2 jupiter djinn), which does massive damage to each enemy and has a slight chance of felling them immediately. Iris (4 mercury, 9 mars), does huge damage, and fully restores the HP of every character, even the ones off the battle field. It also revives any down characters (including ones off the battlefield), and cures status problems, such as haunt, sleep, curse, and stun. To achieve this, you must collect every djinn in both games for a grand total of 18 of each element. Go back to Contigo with the teleport lapis. That is your first clue. After solving the hardest puzzles in Annemos sanctum, you fight a boss called Dulahan. It is extremely strong, and it can use Charon summons as well. Good luck defeating it! New Information on Dullahan! Dullahan can use a power called True Collide, like the psy attack Drain. It deals over 200-300 damage, and worse, he recovers health equal to the total damage the attack does! And it effects 2-3 characters. Another ability is called Formina Sage, although it can only target one person, it deals over 600 damage! Formina Sage is a wind element type attack. Dullahan Also uses an ability called Element Swap, which changes its elemental weakness. It wastes his turn, but doesn't do much, either way, he's still a huge threat. In this battle, do NOT rely on Djinn. Dullahan knows an attack called Djinn Storm, which puts all djinn in recovery mode. In addition, Dullahan knows the psynergies Condemn, Haunt, and Curse. But what is REALLY special about this boss is... He can attack THREE times in a single turn. Just a reminder, he uses Charon summons (described above). If you're EXTREMELY lucky and you beat him, a stone tablet containing the summon Iris, (mentioned above) is your prize for winning.

Tips on Defeating Dullahan: If your characters have strong enough base stats (if they are all around level fifty and up) you can place all of your djinn on standby, and when you enter the battle, summon your most powerful summons (highly recommended are Charon and Catastrophe). You should have two rounds of summoning with your first party which is expendable, and the next party finishes off with summoning what the first party started.

Iris is a powerful summon that allows its weilder to attack all enemies and do large quantities of damage, and at the same time Iris heals and revives all party members to maximum capacity.

To be able to transfer data between the cartridges without using a password a player needs the following:

• Two Game Boys
• One The Lost Age game and one completed Golden Sun game
• Link Cable

Fan activity

There is an extensive network of Golden Sun fans and fansites on the Web, including an active fan fiction community.

External links

• The Offical Nintendo Golden Sun Site (http://goldensun-games.com)
• The Golden Sun Realm (http://planetnintendo.com/goldensun/)
• The Official Camelot Golden Sun Site (http://www.camelot.co.jp/taiyo/index.en.html)
• Golden Sun FAQs at GameFAQs (http://gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/game/30328.html)
• Golden Sun: The Lost Age FAQs at GameFAQs (http://gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/game/12775.html)
• Golden Sun Fan Fiction Archive (http://midcatwmn.com/goldensun/index.php)de:Golden Sun

ja:黄金の太陽