Poll of the Day > Golden Sun

(+) Yeah! (+)

While the game was mighty enjoyable and did some clever things for a game back in 2001, I'm not too certain it deserves such praise. I mean I guess if I enjoyed it enough to blaze through 24 hours of playtime in less than 2 weeks it gripped me somewhat.

I have the DS game but I haven't tried it yet. I'm kind of nervous to after reading reviews.

I was gonna order the ds one and play it but I heard it ends on a cliffhanger or something.
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The first two are some of my all-time favorite games.
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i'm a major fan of final fantasy. played them all just about and rank it as my one of my all time favorite game series period. rpgs definitely . but the first two golden sun games. i'll rank over any FF game. I can't put my finger on it, but something about them just makes them so magical to me. haven't played the third game yet.
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The ds one is okay, but it doesn't live up to the first two.
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The best thing it did was do the classic jrpg formula justice in a portable format.
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funkyfritter posted...

The best thing it did was do the classic jrpg formula justice in a portable format.

i'd add music to that. the music in that game for a GBA title was amazing. someone suggested to me you had to wear headphones to truly appreciate it, and that was damn good advice.
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I liked how it linked combat skills with overworld progression - something extremely few RPGs do
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I loved the way how it showed emotion on the characters, that really added something.
And then the music and gameplay of course. It was a pretty game and I hadt played anything that peretty back in the days.

SLX posted...

I loved the way how it showed emotion on the characters, that really added something.
And then the music and gameplay of course. It was a pretty game and I hadt played anything that peretty back in the days.

yeah and how everyone had different sounding gibberish as dialogue when they where speaking was a nice touch too.

edit: im starting to remember what made the games so magical for me. all the little things added together. music. how they showed emoticon like bubbles over the characters heads. the differing sounds of gibberish between characters since VA would be way too much for a handheld game like that. (hell I think VA was still a uncommon thing in console games)
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I hated the overflow of dialogue combined with the weak characterization, but the combat and dungeon puzzles were a lot of fun, and the summons were awesome.

I've only played completely through the DS game and I was a fan. I own the first two but I haven't played them yet.
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darcandkharg31 posted...

I was gonna order the ds one and play it but I heard it ends on a cliffhanger or something.

It starts off by setting up a huge problem, then cuts away from that for what is essentially a side quest which takes up the entire game, then the cliffhanger is them deciding to work on the real problem, the end.

The whole main quest you experience is to simply fix a giant kite.
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golden sun 1 was good, but 2 was even better

3 killed the series and made all kinds of missteps

I really don't get why Golden Sun is so good. Music aside, it doesn't really do anything remarkable, and it's definitely got its fair share of flaws, but I love the first two games. It's kind of weird. The third manages to capture the same feel of the first two games, and nicely fleshes out the combat system a bit, but it suffers from the same flaws more severely (namely, gameplay-significant collectibles hidden in obscure, arbitrary places that get locked behind points of no return without warning), and the blatant sequel bait structure of the story was just annoying.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2-r_UHotkc

probably in my top 5 game tracks of all time
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anondum posted...

golden sun 1 was good, but 2 was even better

3 killed the series and made all kinds of missteps

I liked 1 more. liked the main cast you played as more and the villains tons more. Satarous (spelling?) was the shit imo and him and Menardi had a far better back story then the ones from 2 with the whole they where actually more anti-hero than villains. they too where trying to save the world, but due to feeling like time wasn't on their side, didn't pull any punches or mind being branded villains in the process
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I loved the graphics for a lot of the unleashes, psynergy spells and summoning animations. Djinn and class tweaking was fun at the time. The level of exploration, particularly in the second game, was great too. 3rd one was decent, but quite annoying with the points of no return.
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I never understood the massive love the first two games get. I played through the first twice even getting 100% just cause I figured I did something wrong the first time. They're... good games. Nothing beyond that. I imagine a lot of people have a ton of nostalgia for them for being maybe their first RPGs and they're on a portable system and they're solid games. People saying they're the greatest RPGs ever? I just don't get it. Whatever, enjoy them if you want, not harming me at all.

I do agree that the music is great though.
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avatarmight posted...

I never understood the massive love the first two games get. I played through the first twice even getting 100% just cause I figured I did something wrong the first time. They're... good games. Nothing beyond that. I imagine a lot of people have a ton of nostalgia for them for being maybe their first RPGs and they're on a portable system and they're solid games. People saying they're the greatest RPGs ever? I just don't get it. Whatever, enjoy them if you want, not harming me at all.

I do agree that the music is great though.

not my first rpgs. still some of my favorites. opinions and such apply to everything. objectively speaking I know they aren't the best, but I think in my case the music went a long ways to making me love the games.

you do have to remember pokemon counts as a rpg. for my generation that was most everyones first.
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GS1 & 2 are among my favorite games of all time. Incredibly fun and engaging.

I don't hate 3, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first two.

Sand_Flare posted...

GS1 & 2 are among my favorite games of all time. Incredibly fun and engaging.

I don't hate 3, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first two.

question no spoilers aside from the exact point im asking (as in no details surrounding it just yes or no) does alex finally get legit dealt with. I heard hes in the game

edit: not just a question for Sand_Flare. anyone with the answer telling me is fine.
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I love the Karagol Sea theme.

I don't understand why Venus Lighthouse and the battle theme get all the love.

DistantMemory posted...

I love the Karagol Sea theme.

I don't understand why Venus Lighthouse and the battle theme get all the love.

my favorite theme is the one that plays in the room where you get the elemental stars originally or whatever they where called (its been many years since playing) I actually have that song on my mp3 player.
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lots of great battle themes but doom dragon is my favorite. satauros theme popped up again for the true final boss, star magician

Mars Lighthouse deserves way more love than it gets.
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mooreandrew58 posted...

Sand_Flare posted...

GS1 & 2 are among my favorite games of all time. Incredibly fun and engaging.

I don't hate 3, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first two.

question no spoilers aside from the exact point im asking (as in no details surrounding it just yes or no) does alex finally get legit dealt with. I heard hes in the game

edit: not just a question for Sand_Flare. anyone with the answer telling me is fine.

No.

Sand_Flare posted...

mooreandrew58 posted...

Sand_Flare posted...

GS1 & 2 are among my favorite games of all time. Incredibly fun and engaging.

I don't hate 3, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first two.

question no spoilers aside from the exact point im asking (as in no details surrounding it just yes or no) does alex finally get legit dealt with. I heard hes in the game

edit: not just a question for Sand_Flare. anyone with the answer telling me is fine.

No.

mother fucker.

edit: oh well I guess the villain doesn't always need to be clearly and definitely beaten. might be a nice change of pace from normal stories but someone else said it was a cliff hanger ending which makes me think now it will just come off as they planned a sequel and never did it.
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The Golden Sun games are two of my favourite games. The DS one is trash though.

I remember liking the second one on GBA.

Lost Age was the first one I played and I loved it, although I don't remember many specifics about it. I bought the first game a couple years ago; it was cool, but it seemed really short. Still haven't started the third game.
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Lokarin posted...

I liked how it linked combat skills with overworld progression - something extremely few RPGs do

You mean how you had to find things to power them up?

SLX posted...

I loved the way how it showed emotion on the characters, that really added something.

Honestly it annoyed the fuck out of me how they made Felix a silent protagonist in the 2nd game when he talked more than any other character in the first game when he appeared.
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how you had to use psynergy in dungeons and the like. I really can't think of another rpg that had you interact with the environment like golden sun did

Pokemon also lets you use combat skills to manipulate the environment, in the form of HM's.

Revelation34 posted...

You mean how you had to find things to power them up?

That's half of it. The other half is stuff like using Freeze and Grow (or whatever) to do things.
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KogaSteelfang posted...

darcandkharg31 posted...

I was gonna order the ds one and play it but I heard it ends on a cliffhanger or something.

It starts off by setting up a huge problem, then cuts away from that for what is essentially a side quest which takes up the entire game, then the cliffhanger is them deciding to work on the real problem, the end.

The whole main quest you experience is to simply fix a giant kite.

Nice, glad I didn't order it then.

_AdjI_ posted...

Pokemon also lets you use combat skills to manipulate the environment, in the form of HM's.

ya mean cut this tree and swim and.... yep, that's about it, oh yeah, climb this wall lol.
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darcandkharg31 posted...

I was gonna order the ds one and play it but I heard it ends on a cliffhanger or something.

yep and they're never gonna make a 4th one

all the GS games were really fun. great combination of puzzles, combat, and exploration. I always thought the battle system lent itself somewhat to PVP but that was never really explored.
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I do remember that through various glitches and RNG exploitation, the games could be hacked to hell and back.
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acesxhigh posted...

darcandkharg31 posted...

I was gonna order the ds one and play it but I heard it ends on a cliffhanger or something.

yep and they're never gonna make a 4th one

all the GS games were really fun. great combination of puzzles, combat, and exploration. I always thought the battle system lent itself somewhat to PVP but that was never really explored.

The second game had pvp, it was awful. Secondary effects like status were easy to counter so fights always came down to groups nuking each other until someone ran out of pp.
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healing in these games is way overpowered. once you get 4 djinn and unlock aoe heals you are pretty much invincible. maybe in link arena you could down someone with sol blade+excalibur both unleashing on the same turn, but then you can revive people with full hp.

anondum posted...

healing in these games is way overpowered. once you get 4 djinn and unlock aoe heals you are pretty much invincible. maybe in link arena you could down someone with sol blade+excalibur both unleashing on the same turn, but then you can revive people with full hp.

I didn't have that problem. I recall in 2 having to heal damn near every turn in the final boss fight. thus effectively losing one person doing damage. but I never attempted to over leveled in those games. I didn't grind at all actually.
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it was boring with muddy sprites
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helIy posted...

it was boring with muddy sprites

I don't remember any sprites being muddy. Even at the beginning of the game when it was raining.
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they looked really bad. like psuedo 3d sprites
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helIy posted...

they looked really bad. like psuedo 3d sprites

they didn't look 3d at all. the battles just did the whole rotating around once in awhile giving a psuedo 3d feel.
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yeah this looks super good
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helIy posted...

yeah this looks super good

looked about as good as any GBA game I played.
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pokemon looked way better

any of the final fantasies

swordnight swordcraft stories

megaman battle networks

ect

golden sun had muddy gross sprites because they tried to do them in a pseudo 3d style.

it did not work for them.
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I've tried playing GS on a emu recently and I can confirm, it's ugly as ballz, even with a filter.
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helIy posted...

pokemon looked way better

any of the final fantasies

swordnight swordcraft stories

megaman battle networks

ect

golden sun had muddy gross sprites because they tried to do them in a pseudo 3d style.

it did not work for them.

Only one of those monsters has brown on the sprite.
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