Golden Sun
Categories: Articles to be merged | Wikipedia articles needing clarification | 2001 computer and video games | Episodic games | Game Boy Advance games | Golden Sun
| Golden Sun | |
| Developer(s) | Camelot Software Planning |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of Japan.svg August 1, 2001 Image:Us flag large.png November 11, 2001 Image:European flag.svg February 22, 2002 |
| Genre | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
Golden Sun (or 黄金の太陽/Ougon no Taiyou in Japan) is the first part of an RPG-series by Camelot Software Planning for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. Unlike the North American localization, the Japanese release of the game has a subtitle (as did its sequel worldwide): 開かれし封印/Hirakareshi Fuuin (commonly translated as "The Broken Seal" by the games' fanbase). It was released in 2001, with a sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, in 2002.
Contents |
Story
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 outside references along the storyline.
The game begins on a stormy night in the village of Vale, situated next to Mt. Aleph, which houses the Elemental Stars. These gems are the essence and quintessence of each element. However, the antagonists, Saturos and Menardi of the northern fire clan, tried to steal the Stars without success. In the process, they triggered a giant storm, which threatens the village.
The player assumes the role of the protagonist Isaac (however, the player can name Isaac whatever he or she wishes) from the beginning. His best friend Garet joins early on. We are also introduced to Jenna, and her brother Felix, who is carried away by the river along with Isaac's father and Jenna and Felix's parents; they are all assumed dead.
Three years later, Isaac and Garet, Felix's sister, Jenna, and the scholar Kraden decide to explore the Sol Sanctum after overhearing a conversation between Saturos and Menardi. It is them who discover the Elemental Stars. However, Saturos and Menardi follow them into the Sanctum, kidnap Jenna and Kraden, and steal three of the four Stars. In the process, another antagonist, Alex, is introduced. It is revealed that Felix did not die in the tragic storm but was instead saved by Saturos and Menardi. As the chamber starts to collapse, the antagonists flee with their captives. Isaac and Garet are left with the Mars star. The Wise One, guardian of the Elemental Stars, saves Isaac and Garet from the collapsing Sanctum, telling them to recover the Stars. If they are used to light the four elemental lighthouses, the power of Alchemy, sealed away many years previously, will be set loose upon the world, leading ultimately to war and its destruction.
Isaac and Garet set out on a quest to prevent that from happening. They band together with a Jupiter Adept, Ivan. Together the three travel to the Mercury Lighthouse, where they find a Mercury Adept, Mia. However, the four are too late to stop the lighthouse from being lit, and fail the defeat Saturos and Menadi in a battle atop it.
The protagonists continue to pursue their foes throughout the continent of Angara, eventually ending up at the Venus Lighthouse. They learn that a girl named Sheba has been kidnapped by their foes. Isaac and his party pursues them up the Venus Lighthouse, and at last defeat Saturos and Menardi at its top, but are again too late to prevent the beacon from being lit. In the earthquake that follows, Sheba falls off the Lighthouse into the sea and Felix jumps after her to save her. Isaac's party leaves the Lighthouse to search for Jenna, but they find no no sign of her, and eventually decide to set sail from Lalivero, in search of the other continents.
Afterwards, it is revealed that Jenna, Alex and Kraden are on Idejima, a peninsula which broke off the mainland during the eathquake, and is now frifting out to sea. Felix and Sheba wash up on its shore, safe and alive.
The game is left open-ended and is continued by its 2nd part.
Gameplay
Elements
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:
Traveling
The player moves the party around the world by walking from place to place. The player can travel in two types of areas: the world map and in specific locations.
The World Map
The world map is an overview map of the game's entire world, and is used for walking between specific locations. The world map features plains and forests, which can be traversed, as well as mountains and rivers, which cannot be traversed. Most specific locations are represented by icons on the world map. While traveling in the world map, the player may encounter random battles.
Specific Locations
Positioned throughout the world map are specific locations which the player's party can enter. These are primarily towns, but also include forests, caves, dungeons, and other assorted locations. Specific locations contain much more detail than the world map, such as NPCs, houses, shops, etc. Locations are divided into seperate screens; when the player reaches the edge of a screen, the game scrolls to the next screen. Random encounters do not always occur in specific locations, or sometimes they will occur in some screens of a location but not others.
Conversation
Golden Sun contains large amounts of dialogue to advance the story. Sometimes the main player character (Issac) is allowed to interact with the dialogue by providing a response to questions (always either "yes" or "no"). Often the questions asked give the illusion that the player is affecting the story with his or her decisions. In reality, in these situations the dialogue choices only serve to give the player a false sense of freedom, as in most cases both responses will lead to the same end result. This is accomplished through several means: sometimes another party member will simply disagree and override the player, sometimes a character will state he or she thinks the player is lying and ignore the player's response, and in one instance the question is simply repeated until the player gives the desired response.
Items
Golden Sun contains numerous items which the player can use, equip, or sell.
Weapons
A wide variety of weapons are available, ranging from a simple stick to powerful swords, axes, and rods. Weapons are equipped to characters and affect the attack of the character they are equipped to. Addionally, some weapons have special powers which are occassionally activated during combat. Some weapons are restricted to certain classes.
Armor
Armor is available for the chest, head, and arms of each character. Armor boosts a character's defense. Some pieces of armor have special effects to characters' stats. Some types of armor are restricted to certain classes.
Other Items
Other types of items exist, with varying functions. Some items replenish health or energy, while others boost stats or damage enemies. A few special items can be equipped which grant new abilites to the wielder. Many others have unique special functions. Some items can be forged into unique weapons and armor.
Character Development
As standard in most RPG games, characters are developed through the process of leveling up. Characters level up after gaining experience in combat; after obtaining a certain amount of experience, a character will progress to his or her next level. Each time a character levels up, he or she gains health points, Psynergy (the game's equivalent of magic) points, attack, defense, and agility. A character may also learn a new Psynergy technique after leveling up. The level-up process is not interactive; the player cannot choose any aspects of it.
Experience is earned at the end of a combat session (assuming the player's party was victorious). The party earns a certain number of experience points depending on the difficulty of the opponents faced. Each character in the party recieves the same amount of experience from each fight, regardless of that character's participation in it.
Character development is affected extensively by Djinn.
Djinn
The Djinn are creatures of magic found throughout the world. Each Djinni is associated with one of the four elements in the game. Djinn are a major part of Golden Sun and help separate it from other RPGs. Djinn are attached to characters and have extensive influence on character development and play a vital role in combat.
Effect on Characters
Equipping a Djinni to a character immediately affects that character's statistics, Psynergy, and class. Some of the character's stats will be increased, while others will be decreased. The character will gain access to a new set of Psynergy techniques and may forget old ones. The character's class type will also change. Each of the four types of Djinn will react with a given character in a certain way (a character has a unique set of Psynergy techniques for each type of Djinni). A character may be equipped multiple Djinn.
Djinn can be traded among characters to experiment with different effects, allowing the player to customize each character to a degree.
Standby and Set
A Djinni attached to a character may be set in one of two modes, Standby or Set. In Standby mode, the Djinni may be used to call a summon, but does not affect the character's stats (it does still affect the character's psynergy and class). In Set mode, the Djinni boosts the character's stats and can be "unleashed" to activate a power specific to that Djinni.
Unleashing Djinn
Each Djinni has a specific ability which can be activated in combat. Activating this ability is referred to as "Unleashing" the Djinni. An Unleashed ability may affect party or enemy stats, launch an attack, or have other effects. After being Unleashed, a Djinni's status is changed to Standby.
Summoning with Djinn
If some Djinn in the player's party are in the Standby position, Summons will become available. Summons are powerful attacks launched by Djinn. Multiple levels of Summon for each type of Djinn are available. The more Djinn of a certain element in the Standby position, the higher the level of Summon available (for example, if three Fire Djinn are in Standby, a level three Fire summon can be executed). Summons affect multiple enemies and often are more powerful than standard attacks. After a Summon is called, the Djinn used to call that Summon will be placed into a "recovery" phase for one turn, and on the next turn will automatically be Set. Summoning is discussed in more detail in the Combat section below.
Combat
Combat in Golden Sun is turned based. After the player has selected his actions for each party member, characters involved in a battle (both members of the player's party and opponents) take turns attacking based on their agility rating. Characters attack in order from highest to lowest agility.
At the beginning of each turn, the player can choose to fight, flee, or check his or her party's status. If the character chooses to flee and the attempt is successful, the combat will end. If not, the player will be forced to endure the enemy's attacks.
If the player chooses to fight, a battle will commence. When it is a party member's turn to attack, up to six options will become available: Attack, Psynergy, Djinn, Summon, Item, and Defend. Please see below.
Attack
The character selects and attacks a single target with his or her weapon. Damage is based on the character's attack rating and enemy's defense, but may be higher if the player scores a critical hit or a weapon's special power is activated.
Psynergy
Opens a list of the character's Psynergy powers. The player can choose to use a power or return to the previous screen. Some Psynergy powers affect multiple targets, and some Psynergy attacks are more powerful than standard attacks. Using a Psynergy power costs Psynergy points.
Djinn
If the character has one or more Djinni attached, the player can choose this option to open a list of that character's Djinn. The player can Set a Standby Djinni, Unleash a Set Djinni, or return to the previous screen.
Summon
If any character has any Djinn in Standby mode, the player can choose this menu to view the list of possible summons. Any character can execute a summon, even with another character's Djinni. Summons are usually very powerful and affect all enemies. After a summon is carried out, the character that called the summon will have the stat associated with the element of the summon temporarily boosted (in other words, calling a Fire summon will boost that character's Fire power temporarily, and so on). The player can also choose to return to the previous screen.
Item
From this menu, the player can select an item to use or equip, or return to the previous screen.
Defend
The character does not take any action; however, damage to this character is reduced during the round of combat.
Characters
For a full list, see List of characters in Golden Sun.
Notes on Elements
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 major planets. Due to this mix of influences, a planet may not necessarily represent the same element in the games as it does in Chinese Taoism.
| Jupiter | Mars | Mercury | Saturn | Venus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Sun | Wind | Fire | Water | N/A | Earth |
| Chinese Taoism | Wood | Fire | Water | Earth | Metal |
Packaging artwork
 Ougon no Taiyou: Hirakareshi Fuuin |
 Golden Sun |
Golden Sun |
External links
- The Official Nintendo Golden Sun Site
- Golden Sun Syndicate
- The Golden Sun Realm
- The Official Camelot Golden Sun Site
- Golden Sun FAQs at GameFAQs
- Golden Sun Fan Fiction Archive
- Golden Sun forum at Gametalk
| Golden Sun series |
|---|
| Golden Sun | Golden Sun: The Lost Age |
| Characters |
| List of characters in Golden Sun |