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<title>Golden Sun</title>
<authors>Wikipedia</authors>
<publisher>wikipedia.org</publisher>
<publishedplace>network</publishedplace>
<publishedyear>2010</publishedyear>
<edition></edition>
<category>Golden Sun</category>
<section id="22245" fatherid="0" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="1">
Golden Sun, released in Japan as , is the first installment of a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. It was released in November 2001 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, with a Game Boy Advance sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, in 2003. The game is notable for certain unique game elements, such as the use of special "Djinn" that empower the player and can be used against enemies. A second sequel, tentatively titled Golden Sun DS, was announced at E3 2009.
Golden Suns story follows a band of magic-attuned "adepts" who are sent from their home town into the wide world of Weyard to prevent the potentially destructive power of alchemy from being released as it was in the past. Along the way the adepts gain new abilities, help out the local populations, and learn more about why alchemy was sealed away. The story continues in a sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age.
Upon its release, the game was highly praised; IGN said that Golden Sun could "arguably be one of the best 2D-based Japanese RPGs created for any system." The game went on to sell over one million copies in Japan and the United States alone.

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<section id="22246" fatherid="0" title="Gameplay" lv="" priority="2" level="1">
<section id="22247" fatherid="22246" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="2">
Golden Sun is a contemporary presentation of the traditional console role-playing game formula, where the player guides a cast of four characters as they journey through a fantasy-themed game world, interact with other characters, battle many monsters, acquire increasingly powerful magic spells and equipment, and take part in a building, predefined narrative. While many actions the player takes are compulsory, Golden Sun often allows the player to complete certain objectives out of order, and to visit previous locations, which can advance minor story elements.
Much of the game's time spent outside of battle takes place in dungeons, caves, and other locales that feature puzzles integrated into their layout. Among the various activities one must perform to make progress through the game world and story is pushing logs into rivers to cross them, shifting the track of a mine cart to allow access to new areas, and more. Many of these puzzles revolve heavily around the usage of the game's resident form of magic spells, "Psynergy" ("Energy" in the Japanese version), and many specific utility Psynergy spells require the player to find and earn items that grant the spells in order to use them.
Successful exploration of the game's world and conduction of the game's battles is heavily dependent on the strategic usage of the extensive pool of Psynergy spells available. Whereas many other RPGs limit the usage of their forms of magic to battles as offensive and defensive measures, Psynergy spells can be used both for battle, and for solving puzzles in the game's locales. A portion of the game's Psynergy can only be used in combat; conversely, many spells are only used in the game's overworld and non-battle scenarios. At the same time, there are Psynergy spells can be used in both situations; for example, the "Whirlwind" spell that can be used to damage enemies in battle is also used out of battle to clear away overgrown foliage that may block the player's path. Psynergy comes in four elements: Venus (manipulation of rocks and plants), Mars (revolving around fire and heat), Jupiter (based on wind and electricity), and Mercury (concerning water and ice). The player gains more Psynergy spells as the game progresses, both through leveling up and the acquisition of special Psynergy-bestowing items, and with each "utility" Psynergy spell the party gains access to more locations and secrets hidden in the game world. Players can return to previous locations in the game to finish puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of a specific Psynergy spell.

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<section id="22248" fatherid="22246" title="Battle" lv="" priority="2" level="2">
Golden Sun contains both random monster encounters, featuring randomly selected enemies, and compulsory battles involving set enemies, which advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up where the player's party and enemy party face-off on opposing sides. During a battle, the characters and the background rotate to give a pseudo-3D effect.
The gameplay in relation to Golden Sun's battle mode is similar to traditional console RPGs. In each battle, the player is required to defeat each enemy by a variety of measures, including direct attacks with weapons, offensive Psynergy spells, powerful Djinni, and there is also defending, all the while keeping the player's own party alive through items and supportive Psynergy that restore life and supplement defense. If the player's entire party is downed by reducing their hit points to zero, it is considered "Game Over", and the party is returned to the last Sanctum that the player visited with only Isaac alive with one hitpoint , and suffers a monetary penalty. The successful completion of a battle yields experience points, coins, powerful psynergy, and sometimes items.
In addition to the main game itself, there is also a competitive battling mode accessible from the menu screen. In this mode, players can enter their currently-developed team from their saved game files into an arena environment where they can either battle increasingly difficult CPU-controlled enemies with their full parties, or select three of their four party members to do battle against another player's three-character team. In neither case is there a reward or penalty for winning or losing.

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<section id="22249" fatherid="22246" title="Djinn System" lv="" priority="3" level="2">
One of the most distinctive features of Golden Sun is the collecting and manipulation of magical creatures called Djinn (Singular: Djinni). Djinn, based on each of the four classical elements, can be found scattered in hiding throughout the game and are allocated to each character. The Djinn form the basis of the game's statistic enhancement, as well as the system that dictates the character's Psynergy capabilities. Attaching different Djinn to different characters modifies that character's character class, subsequently modifying hit points, Psynergy points, and other statistics, as well as determining what Psynergy the character is able to perform.
In Golden Sun, Djinn can either be "turned on" ("Set") or "turned off" ("On Standby"). When a Djinni is "Set" to a character, that Djinni exerts influence on that character's class (and therefore, his or her statistics and Psynergy collection) relative to both the character's innate element and that of the Djinni's. As there are twenty-eight Djinn encompassing the four elements that can be mixed and matched to the four characters, a large array of possible class setups for all four characters are potentially available, allowing a variety of combat options.
In combat, a Djinni has several primary uses. Each Djinni has its own special ability which can be invoked during combat by the character it is attached to, which can include enhanced elemental attacks, buffing or debuffing spells, healing/restoration spells, and other effects. After a successful invoke, the Djinni shifts to "Standby" mode until it is "Set" on the character again. While in standby, the Djinn do not contribute to character classes or statistics, but can be used for summon sequences, which are attacks where the player summons a powerful elemental monster to inflict damage on every enemy. This is the game's most powerful method of attack, and also the riskiest, as it requires Djinn to be on Standby and therefore not be available to bolster the statistics of whatever character the Djinn are on. Once a Djinni on Standby has been used for a Summon Sequence, it must rest a number of turns before it restores itself to Set position on a character. There are sixteen Summon Sequences in Golden Sun, four for each element, and each summon sequence takes between one and four Djinn of the same element on Standby.

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<section id="22250" fatherid="0" title="Synopsis" lv="" priority="-3" level="1">
<section id="22251" fatherid="22250" title="Setting" lv="" priority="1" level="2">
Golden Sun, in both background and chain of events, takes place in a fantasy setting that may be considered fairly typical of classic-style RPGs. It is the world of "Weyard", a massive earth-like environment with several major continents and many oceans. Weyard is revealed by the game's sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, to be a setting modeled on the flat Earth ideal of the world; it is a flat, vaguely circular plane whose oceans perpetually spill off the edge of the world's entire perimeter into an endless abyss.Male villager: The huge waterfall at the edge of the world is known as Gaia Falls. Old male villager: Well, at least Gaia Falls will put an end to a few silly arguments. After all, if it's got an edge and you can fall off it, the world is clearly FLAT!  The plot progression of Golden Sun spans the two largest continents in the world's central region: The Eurasian-themed main continent of Angara to the north and the more African and Middle Eastern-inspired continent of Gondowan to the south.
Weyard is a world governed by the fictional, ancient concept of the classical elements. All matter on Weyard consists of any combination of the four base elements: Venus (Earth), Mars (Fire), Jupiter (Air), and Mercury (Water). These four building blocks of reality can be manipulated by the omnipotent force of Alchemy, which used to reign supreme in the world's ancient past. Alchemy was sealed away in the past, however, and the world in the present age has become seemingly devoid of all magic. Various individuals throughout the world, however, each demonstrate an adeptness to manipulate one of the four elements through a chi-like form of magic called Psynergy. These Adepts, as wielders of Psynergy are called, generally refrain from displaying their talents to outsiders of their various settlements.

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<section id="22252" fatherid="22250" title="Characters" lv="" priority="2" level="2">
The player controls a total of four characters of Golden Sun. Isaac is a seventeen-year-old Venus Adept from the village of Vale, who serves as the game's silent protagonist. Garet, a seventeen-year-old Mars Adept also from Vale, is big and strong but slightly oafish and unfocused; nonetheless he is Isaac's closest companion. Ivan is a fifteen-year-old Jupiter Adept who has lived with a famous merchant in the town of Kalay all his life, but whose real hometown is actually Contigo, a town on the continent of Atteka; he is a somewhat quiet, insightful boy. Mia, a seventeen-year-old Mercury Adept from the wintry town of Imil, is a gentle healer from a heritage of Mercury Adept clansmen. A fifth character seen and playable in the game's exposition sequence is the 17-year-old Mars Adept Jenna, another childhood friend to Isaac, and Felix's sister, in Vale.
The primary antagonists of the game are Saturos and Menardi, a pair of immensely powerful and talented Mars Adepts of a foreign race hailing from Prox, a town in the frigid north near Mars Lighthouse. Their aim is to restore Alchemy to the world, and they are assisted by the powerful and mysterious Mercury Adept Alex, of the same heritage as Mia, and Jenna's older brother, the 18-year-old Venus Adept Felix, who is indebted to Saturos for the latter's saving Felix from death.

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<section id="22253" fatherid="22250" title="Plot" lv="" priority="-3" level="2">
The force of Alchemy was prevalent in Weyard's ancient past, allowing for the development of great civilizations, but this eventually gave way to worldwide conflict that had subsided only with the sealing away of Alchemy.In-game text: Ages ago, or so the stories tell, the power of Alchemy ruled over the world of Weyard. Alchemy wrought the base elements of humanity into thriving civilizations, like lead into gold. But in time, man's dreams gave birth to untold strife. Dreams of endless riches, of eternal life, of dominion over all that lived... Dreams of conquest and war.  The keys to unlocking Alchemy, four magic jewels named the Elemental Stars, have been hidden within the mountain shrine, Mt. Aleph, which in turn has been guarded by the town of Vale at the mountain's base over the ages. Three years prior to the start of the game in the game's prologue, however, Saturos and Menardi, along with a raiding party, raid Mt. Aleph with the intent to take the Elemental Stars for themselves, but fail to solve the riddles guarding them and are driven away by the mountain's trap, a magically generated thunderstorm and rock slide.Menardi: How could we have anticipated Sol Sanctum would unleash such fury? / Saturos: It's a miracle that even the two of us were spared. / Menardi: That switch... It must have been a trap. / Saturos: But to think it could conjure up a storm this powerful! / Menardi:...Another demonstration of the awesome powers of Alchemy. / Saturos: Regardless, we must not fail the next time we challenge Sol Sanctum. 
In the present, the teenaged adepts from Vale, Isaac, Garet, and Jenna, join Kraden in his research of Mt. Aleph,Dora: Where do you all plan to go today? / Garet: We're going to Mt. Aleph with Kraden. / Dora: Mountain climbing with Kraden, eh? Kids and their games... / Jenna: No! It's part of our studies... / Dora: Ah, yes... Alchemy.  but this coincides with a second raid of the sanctum by Saturos and Menardi, who are now assisted by the adepts FelixFelix: I know I've caused you much grief, Jenna. It was a miracle that I survived that day... / Saturos: We are the ones who saved him. / Menardi: We saw him floating unconscious in the river as we passed. / Felix: I've been with them ever since... I've experienced a lot.  and Alex, and they coerce Isaac into giving them three of the four stars.Saturos: You heard us... If you wish to save your friends, then give us the Elemental Stars! / Menardi: Do you accept our terms? / Isaac: Yes. / Kraden: No, Isaac! You must not give them the Elemental Stars! / Saturos: Why would you deny us? Don't you want your friends to be safe?  However, before they can retrieve the final star, they are forced to escape from what is now an erupting volcano,The Wise One: The volcano will erupt... Without the power of the Elemental Stars to contain it, the magma flows freely once again, and this chamber is collapsing.  with Jenna and Kraden as their hostages.Saturos: Forget about them. They won't make it out alive. / Menardi: But Saturos, there's still a chance they might survive. / Saturos: Anything is possible... So what do you suggest we do? / Alex: We take this "Jenna" with us... If they survive, they will want her back. And if they want her back, they will bring us the Star.  The guardian of Mt. Aleph, the Wise One, appears before Isaac and Garet and commands them to prevent Saturos' group from achieving their goal of restoring Alchemy to the world with the casting of the Elemental Stars into their respective Elemental Lighthouses situated across Weyard. Alchemy, as the Wise One describes, is a power that can be catastrophic if misused by the people of Weyard, so it should be kept sealed as it is.The Wise One: The world will be exposed to the threat of Alchemy. / Garet: Alchemy? A threat? / The Wise One: It can be a dangerous power if it is misused... If the Elemental Stars ignite the flames of the four lighthouses, that power will be released. As long as the four lighthouses remain unlit... 
Isaac and Garet valiantly pursue Saturos' group to the first Lighthouse, Mercury Lighthouse, and along the way they are joined by other young adepts named IvanIvan: Your quest has been on my mind ever since I  Vault. Remember? I read everything that happened in your minds. I couldn't just leave, not with all these terrible things happening. If I can't rescue Master Hammet, then I want to help you... Please, allow me to join your quest.  and Mia.Mia: Well, I... Uh... I... I'll be joining Isaac on his quest.  However, in spite of their best efforts, they fail to prevent Saturos from activating Mercury Lighthouse with the Mercury Star.Garet: It's too late! The lighthouse has already been lit! / Mia: It... It can't be! The beacon cannot be lit without the Mercury Star...  Saturos' group immediately leaves for the next Lighthouse while Isaac's party immediately resumes its pursuit, and the lengthy chase and journey that follows eventually spans two continents, during which Isaac finds that Saturos has taken another adept hostage as well: the female Jupiter adept, Sheba.Iodem: There were seven? Is this the same group you were following before? / Soldier 2: I'm certain of it. One of them must have been...Sheba. / Iodem: Sheba, you say... Is this true!? / Soldier 1: The scholar Kraden was protecting her. I'm sure it was Sheba... / Iodem: Did you hear that, Isaac? What do they want with Sheba? 
Golden Sun climaxes at Venus Lighthouse; Saturos and Menardi activate the lighthouse with the Venus Star, but are again confronted by Isaac's party.Saturos: I hope you don't think you've finished us off. / Mia: You may not be finished, but you can barely stand. / Menardi: Right now, yes... But we'll be back on our feet... as soon as we do THIS! / Saturos: (Throws the Venus Star into the Venus Lighthouse well) / Ivan: Oh, no! He threw the Elemental Star into the lighthouse! / Mia: How could this happen... We couldn't keep them from lighting the beacon! / Saturos: That's not all... The energy of the beacon will restore our power.  Attempting to annihilate their opponents, Saturos and Menardi magically merge to form a gigantic two-headed dragon,Saturos: Heh heh... Felix is the least of your worries  now. / Mia: Oh my-they're glowing! / Menardi: It's time you learned what true power is! / Ivan: Their Psynergy is overflowing! / Saturos: Hya ha ha! It's too late to run! / Garet: Uh-oh... They're fusing! / Ivan: They've merged into one another! Everyone get back!  but the fierce battle ultimately ends in victory for Isaac's party as they slay Saturos and Menardi for good.Saturos: How... How... did we lose? / Menardi: We are superior in every way, but still we were defeated...  Their victory is a hollow one, though, as they come to the conclusion that the remnants of Saturos' group, headed by Felix and Alex, are still on its quest to light the remaining two Lighthouses, while Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden are still with them.Garet: We did it! We won! / Ivan: We beat them...but have we really won? / Isaac: Yes. / Ivan: Even though we couldn't stop the beacon from being lit? / Garet: What are you talking about? We did everything we could! Sure we couldn't save the Venus Lighthouse, but... We beat them! They're gone! You saw them fall down into the pit... So we don't have to worry about any more beacons being lit! / Mia: But Felix is gone, and he's taken Sheba...  The game ends as Isaac's party boards a ship entrusted to them previously and sail out into Weyard's open seas in search of their continued objectives.Garet: But now we can sail the ship of the ancients! / Ivan: It certainly will aid us in our search for Jenna.

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<section id="22254" fatherid="0" title="Development" lv="" priority="4" level="1">
Golden Sun underwent a development cycle of between twelve and eighteen months by Camelot Software Planning, which is considered a long period of time for the development of a handheld video game, and was described as a "testament" to the positive results a long development cycle can bring to a game. It was shown in early, playable form at the Nintendo Spaceworld Expo in Japan on August 2000. North American previewers received the game a few weeks before the release, and IGN noted that the experience of developing Shining Force for Sega helped Camelot develop a gripping RPG for the handheld.
Originally, Camelot planned to create a single title instead of a series, and in the extremely early stages of their project they had created a game design document for the one Golden Sun game to be on the Nintendo 64 console. When it became apparent the N64 was to be superseded by the Nintendo GameCube, Camelot shifted their focus to making a game on the handheld Game Boy Advance.
As a handheld title, Golden Sun was originally going to be a single game, but due to both the hardware limitations of putting the game on a single Game Boy Advance cartridge and the developers' own desire for what they wanted to do with the game, it was expanded to become two successive games, Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Scenario writer Hiroyuki Takahashi and director Shugo Takahashi had previously designed Shining Force III, where the story involved playing through the perspectives of both the "good" side and the "bad" side of the characters. Thinking that it was an effective way of conveying the full story of a fictional game world, they incorporated elements of this storytelling methodology into the two-game setup of the Golden Sun series, having the player control the "good guys" in Golden Sun and members of the antagonistic party in The Lost Age.

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<section id="22255" fatherid="0" title="Reception" lv="" priority="-5" level="1">
Golden Sun met with generally strong reviews, of which many were emphatically glowing. Many praised the game's vibrant graphics, high-quality sound, and varied, refined RPG gameplay, with particular optimism on the Djinn-based gameplay system and Battle aspect. It was also praised for being graphically stunning for the limitations of the 32-bit cartridge, with Gamespot noting that "Golden Sun is a throwback to some of the SNES' best." G4 TV stated "It's the best original (nonport) GBA RPG to date", while GamePro raved that Golden Sun was "A huge, fantastic, creative, and wickedly fun RPG that doesn't seem to care that it's 'just' on a GBA." It was rated the 31st best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list..
Complaints about the game generally revolved around the overuse of text dialogue in the numerous cutscenes throughout the game, especially in the prologue, causing the game to get off to a cumbersome start. In addition, some faulted Golden Sun for still relying on the "wander around, get into a random battle, win battle, wander around, random battle, etc." theme in many role-playing games. Golden Sun rates a 9.2/10 on MobyGames, and an 8.5/10 on GameInformer.com (the main complaint being low replay value, it was still titled "GBA's Golden Child"). The game has a 91% ranking on Metacritic.
In 2001, Golden Sun won the Nintendo Power Award for best Game Boy Advance game of the year. Golden Sun was ranked 94 on IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever. In 2007, it was named 24th best Game Boy Advance game of all time in IGN's feature reflecting on the Game Boy Advance's long lifespan, as well as it's Game of the Month for April 2003 because it had "amazing graphics and sound presentation, as well as a quest that lasts for more than thirty hours." Golden Sun has sold 740,000 copies in the United States and 338,000 in Japan.

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<section id="22256" fatherid="0" title="References" lv="" priority="-6" level="1">
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<section id="22257" fatherid="0" title="External links" lv="" priority="-7" level="1">
Category:2001 video games
Category:Game Boy Advance games
Category:Game Boy Advance-only games
Category:Golden Sun

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