Games Gameboy Advance Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age
Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age
Game Info:
| Platform: | Gameboy Advance |
| Developer: | Camelot |
| Publisher: | Nintendo |
| Players: | 1 |
| Format: | 128MB Cart |
| Gallery: |
Editor review
Handheld roleplaying at its finest
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Roleplaying games on handhelds have always baffled developers. Whether it's the lack of space or processing power, RPGs have always been restricted to home systems; until the release of Nintendo's newest handheld, that is. Nintendo wowed the handheld gaming market with its incredibly impressive and undoubtedly powerful Gameboy Advance. With its momentous release came Camelot's first RPG offering for the new system, Golden Sun. Needless to say, the game was a smash hit. It finally brought RPGs to the handheld world and the community couldn't be any happier. But of course that was all in the past, the original Golden Sun was released over a year ago and fans of the series are clamoring for a sequel; and they received just that, with Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age. You can tell just by looking at the cartridge that it's a massive game. It is one of the first games along with Doom II ever to utilize a 128 megabit cartridge, up until now all GBA games have been using 64Mbit or less. From a technological standpoint, Gs2 is similar to its predecessor in every way. Very little has improved in both graphics and sound. Sure, there are a few new monsters and new animations, but the game is practically an expansion to the original. Some may not like this, but this game is a brilliant example of the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.", which in a nutshell means that if there's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're looking at, then don't mess with it, lest you risk mucking it up. This is completely fine with me, since the graphics and sound of the original are pretty hard to top. The story picks up where the original left off. After Isaac's crew decimated Saturos and Menardi atop Venus lighthouse (at this point, they are fighting the Fusion Dragon), the remainder of the opposing group (Felix, Jenna, old man Kraden) is trying to escape the lighthouse before it blows to kingdom come. After the lighthouse is finally lit, the ground begins to tear and Idejima (where Felix's party is located) begins to float away from the mainland. From this point, Felix and his sister along with Kraden are reunited with Sheba, who's still alive even after falling from several stories high. This is the official start of your quest, which is to light the remaining lighthouses and save Weyward. As you may notice, you now control Felix's party, whose agenda is the complete opposite of Isaac's objective. Sometime during the middle of the game the two parties reunite and become one! I hope I didn't spoil too much for you. :) The gameplay is identical to the first game, with the exception of a few new features. You can transfer your characters from the previous game via Link Cable or the creative password mode. While you won't be using those characters right off the bat, they will join your new party later on in the game. New djinn have been added and "Summons" are now available, which are the combinations of several djinn summons and often do thousands of points of damage. Forging is also a new feature and this allows you to bring raw materials to a blacksmith and have them forged into powerful items. Your new party also has a new set of Psynergy that are quite unusual, albeit useful. On top of all of that, the game is much more open ended than the first, once you get a mode of transportation (in this case, a Lemurian Ship), you can travel all over Weyward doing whatever you wish. This can be a tad confusing to some, however, because at times your next destination is unclear and you may waste time just wandering around. The puzzles are just as challenging as the original and are never so baffling that an immediate trip to GameFaqs has to be made. Another major improvement over the original is the increased hours of gameplay. Unlike the original, this adventure will take you all over the land of Weyward and Camelot has also added a ton of things to keep the player busy, like secret dungeons and everyone's favorite, more rare item drops! So far, Golden Sun 2 is the only handheld game I've played for over 50 hours (I spent an actual 55 hours) which is a vast improvement over the original, which I only played for 20 hours. The sound hasn't changed much, but Camelot has added new music for the new areas and they are very, very nice. I'm no music critic, but I know when I hear something good, and GS2 had me humming its tunes for some time. Like many other RPGs that I've reviewed, this game is not perfect. I really would have enjoyed more character development, which is an important feature for any RPG. The gamer is only allowed to know the basics of the characters (usually their past and relations), which is not enough for me. To truly be immersed in an RPG, the characters must feel real and you have to be drawn to them as if they were real people. The new party is basically a mirror image of the original, they use the same elements and play the same role. The game also could have used more mini games, the lackluster casino type games alone are not enough. They don't produce enough prizes or provide a real challenge. Golden Sun 2 is a shining example of what a handheld RPG is supposed to be. It easily edges out Lunar Legend, Breath of Fire 2, and even Pokemon. RPG'ing on the go has finally been realized! | |||||||||
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