## 2025-02-17 I remember **The Lost Age** even less than [[Golden Sun]]! I don't even remember if I finished it. I'm pretty sure I did? I dunno. Anyways - **The Lost Age** is so unbelievably interesting to me in how ambitious it is for a [[Game Boy Advance|GBA]] game from 2002. My understanding is that it was developed simultaneously with **Golden Sun** because the whole game couldn't be contained in one cartridge, hence the ridiculously long password system that transfers over: - Djinn collected - Character stats - Character levels - Equipment - Money - Event flags That last one in particular means that the choices you make carry over to **The Lost Age** too! That's pretty damn cool and impressive. But most of that stuff doesn't come into play until half-way through the game. At the start you aren't playing as Isaac and his team, but actually Felix and his. Following the events at the end of **Golden Sun**, you switch perspectives, which is pretty cool! But it's also hilarious in a way. Remember how I said **Golden Sun** has too slow of a start? I think Camelot took that to heart because **TLA** doesn't have, like. An opening at all LMFAO. You wash up on a new continent and then you're basically free to move about the open-world cabin. This is what's making me think I never finished it as a kid - I was definitely too dumb to figure it all out back then I'm pretty sure lmfao. You have zero direction other than "go find a ship" but can tackle areas and dungeons completely out of order, almost like a [[JRPG]] metroidvania. It's pretty neat in theory, but I'm curious to see how it plays out in practice. Only an hour or two in but I'm pretty engaged just by virtue of the fact that I can just *play* and explore and wander. Hoping it stays that way!