## 2025-02-16 Feel like I owe **Golden Sun** an apology. Granted, I am using a [QOL Hack](https://github.com/JackitK/Golden-Sun_DoD_Minus) and have a FF button which makes it easier to get back into, but I've always said that I'd never be able to give it a replay because it's such a slog in retrospect. This was unfair of me, so: sorry **Golden Sun**! Don't get me wrong, the beginning is still an absolute nightmare to power through on a repeat playthrough, and I want to put a gun to my head whenever Kraden is on screen because I know I'm about to get monologued into killing myself. But after that **Golden Sun** is honestly pretty [[Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain|goopy]]. It's pretty much a loop of town -> dungeon -> town like any other [[JRPG]]. But **Golden Sun** sets itself apart even 24 years later[^1] thanks to some interesting mechanics that keep things fresh. First are those dungeons I mentioned. **Golden Sun** probably has the most engaging dungeons I've experienced in any JRPG. None of them overstay their welcome, and they all have some unique puzzle mechanic that makes them each feel fresh. It's funny, those puzzles were *so* hard when I was...6 years old. Guess I've made *some* progress with the old noggin nowadays. But yeah they're a lot of fun. Even the desert dungeon - which I pretty much universally loathe when playing a JRPG - is quite fun here, outside of the pretty difficult boss. On that note, combat. I've seen it said that the combat is too simple in **Golden Sun**, because you can just set all of your Djinn and then summon them over and over again. And yeah, that was more than enough to scrape by when you were 5-10 years old and barely knew what you were doing. But optimizing your party as you collect Djinn to set classes for each character is a lot more in-depth than I expected after looking at the [Golden Sun wiki](https://goldensunwiki.net/wiki/Character_class). Mono, Dual, and Tri-element classes all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and it becomes a balancing act to capitalize on in battle - should you keep Isaac as a Ninja for the unreal speed and critical hit buff, or pop summons for extra damage that will revert him back to his base, weaker class? You can choose not to engage in this stuff, but with a little theory-crafting you can also make your whole playthrough a lot more of a cake-walk. Saturos dragged my sorry ass up and down the Mercury Lighthouse when I was in first grade, but our rematch was a lot more in my favor thanks to some intentional class set-ups. Also: can't believe this game came out in 2001 on a [[Game Boy Advance]] and it looks as good as it does to this day. Camelot had no business putting so much effort into the graphical detail, but I'm glad they did. So yeah, about 11 hours in and cruising through, think I'm at about the halfway point. I can tell because I'm playing through stuff that I don't remember anymore. The nostalgia has been overwhelming. **Golden Sun** just has this sense of style to its sound effects and visuals. The bleeps and bloops when you go through menus, the "X Weapon let out a howl!" critical hit effects, the summons...I am not in a great place at the moment, and in those moments, I think indulging in a time where I didn't know how awful life was going to be can be a tiny bit healthy. Or at least, that's how I've convinced myself. And I will continue to convince myself as I jump into **Golden Sun: The Lost Age** after finishing this game. If I want to remember awfulness then I'll play **Golden Sun: Dark Dawn** after that, LMFAO. ## 2025-02-17 That's a wrap! The game's still good y'all. Abhor that slow start but after that it holds up quite well. One thing I didn't realize is that this game is uh..kinda meandering plot-wise, huh? The opening has this urgency to it - get to Felix and Co, stop the lighthouses from being lit and save Kraden and Jenna - but after that it's like your party barely cares or remembers until the very end of the game? Garret sometimes has flashes of cognizance and is like "hey uhhh we don't have time for a tournament right now do we, we gotta go like...save our friends?" but ironically, the party treats *him* like an idiot for not wanting to stop and help every single person they see! Like I think he's on to something y'all! Anyways the final boss and music still slap, and I forgot how cool the side-dungeon is. I've said it before but **Golden Sun** is very much a successor to **Lufia 2**, to the point that I wonder if it shares some DNA between its dev teams. This optional dungeon is definitely proof of that with its focus on puzzles and whatnot. I'm also happy that you don't have to *finish* the dungeon to collect the last djinn. On my way to [[Golden Sun - The Lost Age]] now. [^1]: *turns into a skeleton*