• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Golden Sun |OT| The Sun Rises Again! (Wii U VC)

Fandangox

Member
It's got the dungeon and puzzle stuff down. But while the story was never great before, it's even more overly verbose now. If it's cheap, try it. But it definitely doesn't hit in the same way

Wow even wordier than the GS:1&2? That sounds unlikely! Still, it was like $10 I think I should probably go for it.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
The main issues with Dark Dawn are that it relies far too heavily on previous plot points from Golden Sun 1 and 2, the cast of GS1 + 2 is extremely important to the story but you only ever see Isaac, Garet, Kraden, and
Alex
in person while the rest are relegated to encyclopedia entries, and the world has changed so much in so little time that not much is recognizable, and it feels a little jarring coming off of the ending of GS2. It also acts a lot like GS1 in that the entire game feels like it's building up to something instead of having something actually happen, but there's a lot less "oomph" to the story and it's harder to care about the plot and characters. It's not a bad game, but it's not nearly the gem its predecessors were.

I also don't know what the deal was with Felix getting totally shafted. His encyclopedia entry say that he went somewhere and was never seen again... I hope that leads up to something in GS4, if it ever gets made. Everyone else seems to have at least a residual presence in the game, but Felix just went completely AWOL. Isaac is also considered the leader of the Heroes of Vale, while Felix is considered his companion... didn't we play as Felix during the more important game?
 
I absolutely loved, loved, loved GS1 & 2 on the GBA back in the day. Like the Zelda Oracle games, the password/link cable transfer system was innovative and enriched the overall experience in an appreciable way. Besides being a weaker product in general, Dark Dawn suffered from launching about 5 years too late and for abandoning the linked game concept.
 
I loved this game so much. Probably the first JRPG I actually beat. I never played Lost Age because I couldn't get the freakin' carry-over password to work :/ oh and Dark Dawn was a piece of garbage and made my soul hurt.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
The main issues with Dark Dawn are that it relies far too heavily on previous plot points from Golden Sun 1 and 2, the cast of GS1 + 2 is extremely important to the story but you only ever see Isaac, Garet, Kraden, and
Alex
in person while the rest are relegated to encyclopedia entries, and the world has changed so much in so little time that not much is recognizable, and it feels a little jarring coming off of the ending of GS2. It also acts a lot like GS1 in that the entire game feels like it's building up to something instead of having something actually happen, but there's a lot less "oomph" to the story and it's harder to care about the plot and characters. It's not a bad game, but it's not nearly the gem its predecessors were.

I also don't know what the deal was with Felix getting totally shafted. His encyclopedia entry say that he went somewhere and was never seen again... I hope that leads up to something in GS4, if it ever gets made. Everyone else seems to have at least a residual presence in the game, but Felix just went completely AWOL. Isaac is also considered the leader of the Heroes of Vale, while Felix is considered his companion... didn't we play as Felix during the more important game?

GS1 and GS2 were originally one full game but due to cartridge space were split. I would say both are equally important. As for Felix's whereabouts it is disconcerting but with Dark Dawn the game did feel more restrictive. Not as much places to go for one.
 

lights

Member
I played The Lost Age and it's one of my favourite GBA games ever, but I never got round to playing the first game for some reason.

I'm really glad this is coming to Virtual Console and I'll buy it for sure, but I really wish it was on 3DS instead.
 
I replayed 1 and 2 last year, not sure if I want to get back into it again so soon, but I sure do love replaying it.

For me though, the real meat of the game is TLA. The first game is more like a tasty appetizer.
 

Videoneon

Member
The Golden Sun duology is amazing. Holy shit. I love it to death.

I remember finally playing the first game after not finding it all that interesting. I was bored in the prologue section and also had the dubious honor of being among those who were lost in that same section. I stick it out though at the insistence of a friend. So I finally get Ivan and pass through that Northern cave or whatever (where the water puddles are), and things start to pick up, then I get Mia and more Djinn and I'm traveling to the north to get to the Mercury Lighthouse.

I had this moment of epiphany while fighting Saturos, where I was just like "this game gives me reason to live." ARRGH. So good. From that point, I played it obsessively and beat it in about a week.

And then I bought The Lost Age and it was even better. For me, GS2 > GS1. Or something like GS2 >>>>> GS1

I actually typed in the entire Gold level or whatever it was password. I screwed it up the first time, too.
 

Zing

Banned
This game has far, far too much useless dialog. Here is an example of what you will see in this game:

<wizard> Oh, these are the powerful jewels. Do you want me to tell you more about them?
Yes/No?
<you> Yes.
<wizard> There's no time for that. Let's go.

Another example:

<wizard> These are the powerful jewels. Have I ever told you about them?
Yes/No?
<you> Yes. (attempting to skip the full explanation)
<some other party member> WAIT, YOU NEVER TOLD MEEEE!
Wizard proceeds with full explanation...

There are probably two dozen Y/N questions in the game within just a few hours of play, and not a single one ultimately affects the outcome or dialog tree. Hell, you get one within the first ten seconds of the game. The mother asks Isaac if he has everything he needs (Yes/No?), but if you select "no", she basically says "too bad, let's go".
 

wrowa

Member
O7IxH2O.jpg

Golden Sun's graphics are holding up better than I expected, to be honest. Even on a 50 inch TV it still looks surprisingly decent all things considered. It's definitely easier to play it on the GamePad, though, despite that annoying manual button being on the screen the whole time.
 

maxcriden

Member
Golden Sun's graphics are holding up better than I expected, to be honest. Even on a 50 inch TV it still looks surprisingly decent all things considered. It's definitely easier to play it on the GamePad, though, despite that annoying manual button being on the screen the whole time.

The graphics definitely hold up surprisingly excellently on a handheld screen, at least. Just goes to show how well certain artstyles can hold up!
 

thesaucetastic

Unconfirmed Member
fuck, that music is so nostalgic.

I want to play it again now so badly, but I don't have a Wii U yet and the friend I lent my GBA copy to 5 years ago never gave it back to me ;_;
 

Grief.exe

Member
fuck, that music is so nostalgic.

I want to play it again now so badly, but I don't have a Wii U yet and the friend I lent my GBA copy to 5 years ago never gave it back to me ;_;

They are actually very easy and cheap to acquire.

I found both Golden Sun I and II on Craigslist, but I also commonly see them in retro game stores.

I am planning on following along on my Micro, you should try to do the same!

$11.46 with Prime shipping on Amazon, not terrible http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005OARM/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 

thesaucetastic

Unconfirmed Member
They are actually very easy and cheap to acquire.

I found both Golden Sun I and II on Craigslist, but I also commonly see them in retro game stores.

I am planning on following along on my Micro, you should try to do the same!

$11.46 with Prime shipping on Amazon, not terrible http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005OARM/?tag=neogaf0e-20
ooh yeah, that's not bad at all. Might just bite. Following along sounds fun, maybe I'll do it too! :D
 

Draconian

Member
Wow. I just spent a good 10 minutes being very confused about where to go in the first area before I realized that staircases are incredibly hard to see on the TV. I looked down at the gamepad and finally realized they were there.
 

Keby

Member
Man I really really hope they also release Golden Sun The Lost Age as well. It's just not the same experience with only the first game.

Been having fun replaying this game though!
 
For Europeans, despite the original releases coming out in German, French, Italian and Spanish (as separate carts) this VC release is in English only (this is contrary to how they handle the rest of the VC where everyone gets shitty 50Hz if a non-English ROM exists). I'd love to know why but not being an affected country leaves me incapable of asking but just something to bare in mind if you really liked those localisations (or maybe something to be joyful about if they were bad..).

Wow. I just spent a good 10 minutes being very confused about where to go in the first area before I realized that staircases are incredibly hard to see on the TV. I looked down at the gamepad and finally realized they were there.
I noticed in the download thread you found the solution here was to use exact pixel scaling (resulting in the tiny border) rather than full screen.
 

Taruranto

Member
I only played 1, and I thought it was one of the worst jrpg I ever played. The dialog were hand-down the worst part of it, just ugh.
 
I'm at Imil. Game has held up really well for me. :)

I'm not upgrading my armor on my first playthrough. I need some challenge. I did the Tret dungeon so all I need is to complete Mercury Lighthouse and get some water. :D

Oh and... ISAAC FOR SMASH BROS!

Grief said:
I will be on a plane today so I will be able to get some screenshots and playtime in.

I'm confused. You're taking your Wii U... on a plane? An air plane? How do you power the system on up there?

keby said:
Man I really really hope they also release Golden Sun The Lost Age as well. It's just not the same experience with only the first game.

Been having fun replaying this game though!

I couldn't get into Lost Age. Massive disappointment. It was by far my most anticipated game in 2003 too. I couldn't sleep the day before I could play it. The original (this game) is one of my most favorite game of all time.

So yeah, I don't miss Lost Age, but I'll get it when it comes out.
 

lights

Member
Following along on an actual GBA.

Was having a nice glass of whiskey at 30,000 feet while I played today.

I have a Micro but only a couple of games for it, I was thinking of getting Golden Sun as well.

How does it play on the Micro's screen size? I was bit concerned about the text size.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Such fun little games. The only flaw is really the drawn-out dialogue and all the "...", but it's not a big deal really. Fun, dynamic battles, lots of exploration and kick-ass puzzles, good music, what more does a jRPG need? Well, the story could be more interesting, but at least it's serviceable and there aren't any actual "bad" moments.

I still need to beat part 2... >_> Gonna be a while with Dark Souls 2 using up all my time, though.
I want Camelot to make more RPGs.
I want Camelot to make Shining Force IV. :(

Here is the full piece that is used for the game's box art.
gscoverarthqkdy.jpg
Gorgeous. Cute anime style without being saccharine and gross. Just classy and old-school. I love it.

More Golden Sun music
[links]
That's all for now
<3 Sakuraba is a master.
 

jblank83

Member
The main issues with Dark Dawn are that it...

I'd say the main issues with Dark Dawn are that the difficulty jumps into the kiddy pool about 2 hours in and stays there the entire game, that just as the game opens up the overworld exploration it ends abruptly (and with a ridiculously lame boss fight), that the dialog is both terrible and copious, making GS 1 and 2 look like Shakespeare, and finally that the story is uninteresting and features an ending that makes no sense. On the plus side, it got the dungeon/town puzzle design of the GS series right.

Dark Dawn feels like a game pushed out halfway through its design cycle to meet a holiday release. That the last boss feels like the traditional "first big mid-game boss" supports this, along with the sloppy difficulty curve.
 

Ezalc

Member
Golden Sun games are amazing. I have the first two here, and I still need to complete the second. Stopped at the air rock dungeon thing because of reasons. Want to play Dark Dawn eventually.

Hopefully this just means that Isaac is in Brawl as a playable character.
 

Draconian

Member
Dark Dawn feels like a game pushed out halfway through its design cycle to meet a holiday release. That the last boss feels like the traditional "first big mid-game boss" supports this, along with the sloppy difficulty curve.

The thing is we know that this can't be the case, because iirc it was in development for quite awhile. I remember the first E3 where they had a little demo and then didn't talk or show anything about the game at all until E3 the next year.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I played Golden Sun on release, but I don't think I ever beat the game. It's funny how much of the countryside I recognize.

Some more shots, Lights asked how the text looks like on the Micro screen.

VmzN3a1.jpg
 

ec0ec0

Member
i think that its easy to understand me when i say that we have had many patience with nintendo and the eshop over the years, especially in europe with 50hz and more but...
if, in spain, the original golden sun on the game boy advance was in spanish...

WHY IS GOLDEN SUN ON THE ESHOP ONLY IN ENGLISH??.... nintendo, really...

(i just read that it was in english on a review)

EDIT: i can play a videogame in english like if it was in spanish, but not everyone can. I know that, depending on the quality of the spanish translation, its better to play the english translation if that one is better, but we are not even talking about that. When the game was released it was in spanish. Nintendo always releases its games in spanish, so i dont know what happened...

Also, what about the rest of europe?? Is the game in english there too, or can you play it in your language??
 
Top Bottom