Honestly, to me, Dark Dawn's biggest flaw wasn't that it felt dated, it were the multiple points of no return that came out of nowhere. I still like the game, but things like that were unacceptable, even back then.
Everytime someone makes golden sun related content it makes me happy, cause it always give one step further into finally having a sequel. I'm still optimistic, just hope I'm still alive by the time it happens lol
This was certainly not expected. If you’re committed to smaller RPG retrospectives, I would love to see you tackle the Mistwalker trio of Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and The Last Story.
@datalphalion Blue Dragon would complicate things since there's 2 sequels Blue Dragon Plus and Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow,a 51 episode anime and the spin of manga Ral Grad which had 4 volumes. Sakaguchi really tried making Blue Dragon a thing.
I'm a huge Golden Sun fan. It was one of my favorite games as a young teen and still one of my favorite battle systems of any RPG. I've even got a djinn tattoo on my stomach.
Great video, Derrick! And for anyone who misses Golden Sun: I HIGHLY recommend Shining the Holy Ark! Many of that game’s ideas were the basis of Golden Sun’s mechanics and aesthetics. It’s fairly easy to emulate if you don’t have access to a Saturn.
Honestly, it's a shame the industry hasn't learned much from Golden Sun, Breath of Fire, (arguably) the Lufia series, and the Mario RPGs about dungeon design. The puzzle dungeons where your party has contextual actions that can be used to solve them really makes dungeon travel more engaging and fun than waltzing through a bunch of empty rooms, or even interacting with an internal puzzle seeing as knowing your character's abilities and being able to use them effectively makes each party member feel more important and builds a connection between them and the player.
@@HunterAnsorge-ok9jk Those are Action Adventure RPGs. It's an entirely different genre. They're more comparable to stuff like the 3D Zeldas, Okami, Beyond Good and Evil, etc. We've had some turn-based RPGs with more puzzle aspects to dungeons, but only recently with stuff like the Toby Fox games, Bug Fables, and more recently Sea of Stars. And it's still a rare thing in general as it takes a lot of work and most people stick to baseline RPGMaker.
Ah golden sun! I got dark dawn for DS for Christmas one year and loved what I played. So excited for this to drop on NSO! Also great video Derrick! I hope you do more short form retrospectives. But most of all don't burn yourself out on these retrospectives. They are top notch and well worth a watch and many rewatches.
The Switch has done wonders for many franchises. Of special note here, Metroid and Xenoblade. Metroid was assumed a forgotten franchise prior to the Switch and now there's not only the long-awaited sequel in Dread but the ENTIRE 2D story on the Switch (bar Zero Mission for now and Samus Returns). Oh, and then there's Prime 1 Remastered with 4 on the way and very likely 2 and 3 Remastered. Then there's Xenoblade that went from a single entry on Wii and pseudo-sequel on Wii U to a complete trilogy on Switch and then some (Torna and the upcoming DLC for 3). Takahashi said the story is complete. I assume his original vision from so long ago that you mentioned in the Retrospective has finally been realised. So with that I assume Golden Sun on GBA NSO is only the beginning. Can't have Part One without Part Two, right? And when we get DS NSO or a remake/port of Dark Dawn, then we'll hear about the next game. At least, here's hoping. (Now speaking of hope, please Nintendo do something similar with Star Fox. Adventure Remastered/Remake please. Oh, and Assault 2!)
Thank you for this video! Golden Sun is such a great rpg, and I'm so happy you are able to educate us on this legendary game series. I hope there's more.
I agree. I think it gets too much hate. Then again, it's the one I started with and I played it for years (honestly the only ds game I am willing to go back to any time) so I'm kind of biased
It legitimately had the best story and characters of the three games. It really could have used some more gameplay refinements, though. Cause the Djinn system was always a pretty awkward and clunky system that had little benefit and too much risk in engaging with. I felt they should have overhauled it between games.
@@xmant8842 The only reason why Golden Sun was made is because Nintendo wasn't sure if Square Enix would make games on the Gameboy Advance. They were mostly right, we didn't get any Dragon Quest games in the West for it, and Final Fantasy 4 wouldn't be on it till late 2005. Now a days RPGs are everywhere so Golden Sun is no longer necessary. It's like Nintendo doesn't have much passion for it, and was made out of Obligation.
As a quick follow up to my last comment, I remember watching the E3 reveal of Dark Dawn back on G4 years back and you could hear the fans cheer when it was shown for the first time that it was going to happen.
It didn't really occur to me that Mario Sports and Golden Sun shared a composer, until I was replaying Mario Tennis 64 on NSO. Some of the tracks feel like they could easily slide into Golden Sun.
My first time with this game was watching my older sister play it once on her GBA when I was a kid. Years later I saw the game being sold at a game store. I was curious and vaguely remember the name at least. Got it, played it. Begged my dad to get me the second game. Had to work so much, got Lost Age as a early birthday gift. Then I got Dark Dawn like maybe a year or two after its release. Thought it was okay, but after multiple replays of all games I realized that Dark Dawn had really big shoes to fill and that ending didn't help either. I think Lost Age after transferring everything is peak Golden Sun. It was one of my first RPGS outside of pokemon and helped make me the person I am today with how much I love the genre. If we can't get a fourth game I would love an HD Remaster in the vein of Octopath Traveler style on Switch
The music alone causes so much nostalgia for me. Incredible games, at least the first 2, was not a big fan of the DS game. I wish they did something new with the series, I recently replayed both games on the switch
How in the world did some people think that the 1st and 2nd stories were unoriginal?? On another note, I never had a problem with the long dialogues, it made the story much more rich and complete. If anything I would say that the "choices" in conversations where kinda pointless as it didn't have any effect. And yes, my problem with GS3 was that it took place too soon in the timeline and made no sense. Should have been like a 100/200 year gap between the two first ones. That way, you can see the longevity of the first two characters and also it makes sense seeing the new civilizations and countries so developed.
Golden Sun was one the first video games I ever played. I got a GBA one Christmas that came with Golden Sun packed in. I instantly fell in love with it. My favorite RPG, that's for sure.
I have never played a Golden Sun game but am very interested and will definitely play the rerelease. Thanks for the video! Interesting to get the full story.
Have only ever played Dark Dawn but it is definitely one of my favourite rpgs ever. Am looking forward to the first two games being released on nso so I can finally play them properly.
I loved the two GBA games, but while I bought the DS one at launch, it took me awhile to finally play it. And it didn’t last long for me. Playing as the hero’s kids with a 30 year time jump was discouraging. Doubly more that the password option given at the end of Lost Age wound up going unused. I was expecting my work and effort in the first two games to continue on, and that sadly never happened.
A truly amazing series but sadly I have no hope of this series ever being revived outside ports/re-releases. I actually emulated the games the first time I played them, it was amazingly fun and nice to see such an amazing world on GBA. Was my favorite JRPG series for a long time until I played the Xenoblade games. I was lucky to find physical cartridges of 1 & 2 a few years back, and I'm really glad they are coming to NSO online so many more people have a chance to play these gems.
Someday I hope we get a remaster or remake of the first two games! Still remember my dad asking me what game I wanted for the drive to Disneyland. I picked Advance Wars as it had just came out (as did Golden Sun). My dad ended up getting me Advance Wars and Golden Sun in secret mainly because he thought I would like it after reading the review in Nintendo Power. Incredibly thankful he got me Golden Sun as well!
I have played all the Golden Sun games and still have those games although I currently don’t have a way to play the GBA carts. My GBA and original DS don’t work anymore. I’m glad to see the first Golden Sun heading to NSO. It makes me hopefully the Lost Age will come as well.
I got Golden Sun on a whim, I remember it was a choice between that and the Breath of Fire port as a kind of random gift from my dad and I went with the former due to the 3D visuals on the back of the box screenshots piquing my interest. I was blown away by everything in the game and was ~hooked~ for both future releases. Really hope to see that sun rise again someday ☀️
I'm just here to say the first one on GBA drove me crazy because your party wouldn't auto attack the next enemy if the enemy you told them to attack died before their turn. Drove me nuts!
Thank you for making this! I love golden Sun and I really want the series to return. Ported to NSO is a nice step forward afte rliterally nothing, but a new game or even a remake would just blow me away.
Golden Sun was my first GBA game. I remember 10 year old me begging mum for this $25 preowned game. So many hours spent, no regrets and have replayed multiple times. Never got around to Lost Age and Dark dawn though
I have both GBA Golden Suns and beat them both. I also have the DS game, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Really hoping for a new entry one day.
Golden Sun has the distinction of being one of the only games I started in earnest, but never finished. In the middle of the second game, I got stuck and just could not figure out where to go. It was really odd. I got stuck and then just sort of got frustrated, then bored, then moved on. It has never happened before that and only like two other times (Black Sigil is one other). This is cool so I get to see what happened
One thing I'm looking forward to the most in a remaster of the trilogy is a recomposition of its soundtrack. Just imagining the woodwinds makes me drool 🤤
Great video and a good summary of the mechanics and story of Golden Sun. Hopefully this video and the upcoming release of the original Golden Sun on Switch Online expansion pack introduces even more new people to this great franchise. Golden Sun was one of my first GBA games and an important part of my childhood. The two GBA games are still my favourite and I try to play them yearly. They still hold up great.
I absolutely loved the original two on the GBA. I bought Dark Dawn when it came out but never played it. I still have my original copies of all 3. Great video man.
Thank you so much for this video. The 2 first Golden Sun games will forever be symbols of my teennage. I believe the lore of the 2 games was incredible with such a strong shift in perspective of the world between 1 and 2. This strengthened the feeling of exotism and exploration very much, and this is what I remember the most from the games.
One of my favorite J-RPG series that had its humble beginnings when I was beginning high school. More innocent times... (sighs) Great video, fellas! :)
@@harimakenji2117 The only reason why Golden Sun was made is because Nintendo wasn't sure if Square Enix would make games on the Gameboy Advance. They were mostly right, we didn't get any Dragon Quest games in the West for it, and Final Fantasy 4 wouldn't be on it till late 2005. Now a days RPGs are everywhere so Golden Sun is no longer necessary. It's like Nintendo doesn't have much passion for it, and was made out of Obligation.
Bought it back in the day, because it came out on my birthday and I didn't know what else to ask for. Been a fan of the series ever since. I reeeaaaallly hope we get another a 4th one, one day...
I'd tried some rpgs and enjoyed them as a kid. But these were the first rpgs that I played through to completion, including meticulously converting my exact save data code. I teared up when it was over because it was such a big part of my high school gaming life. I knew the flaws, but I stilled loved the games for the immense customizability with the battle and djinn system. I would love to see a new one, or better yet, a new series from camelot that learns from all of the criticism and evolves on their capabilities. They're still a 9.9/10 for me. slightly flawed, but so close to perfect I never cared and probably never will.
Great retrospective on this awesome series! I hope the NSO release exposes the series to more players, and I'll still hold out hope for a remake one day. Two very very minor nitpicks: The classes other than the default mono-element classes were implied to be weaker, but the multi-element classes actually have noticeably better stats on average than the mono-element ones (presuming you have the appropriate Djinn loadout) alongside generally being more versatile. I don't know that I'd say Dark Dawn "Wrapped up its story" - major plot points introduced early in the game (Psynergy vortices, etc) were left unresolved and never followed up on, the main villainous organization is still at large and their motivations behind putting Dark Dawn's plot into effect aren't even clear, etc. Dark Dawn reads to me like the first half of a story, much like the first game was the first half of the story which The Lost Age concluded.
Mario Party Island Tour(and 10) had nearly everything different between the NTSC and PAL versions. For example, the minigame Quickest Cricket was changed to something involving grasshoppers.
I stumbled on this video, and I had no idea Bitner was part of this channel! GX hasn't been the same since you left, and I really enjoyed your Fire Emblem playthroughs.
I LOVE games that let you recharge your MP while simply walking around or even in battle naturally. Makes the game far more fun! They simply need to make the game harder to compensate! Make the bosses hit like trucks, etc. That is the best approach for any RPG imo, make the party overpowered but also the enemy as well.
I still remember I reset the game after losing the first fight 😅, not knowing that was supposed to happen. Was never able to defeat the final boss and so I never played GS2 or DD. Still, love the first game though.
Fellow Legend of heroes trails fan here. When you plan to cover the trails series I think the two best options are you play/cover them by the arcs like you are doing for dragon quest then put a video up on them or you and Daniel both go thru the series together arc by arc and co-develop the retrospective videos together similar to your one piece at a time and call it idk “Many Trails along the Path”. I do believe you and Daniel will enjoy the series. I know y’all have seen my comment a couple of times about it. The series needs more eyes and players I know for people who love xenoblade characters and world building will love Trails
Happy for the new retrospective Sad because it's so short Even sadder that the fact it's so short is because of the small amount of games in the series
I played every golden sun and have the first and the ds one ( america import btw) as phisical , i used to have lost age on my wii U but i think my wii U might have died for good . I first eperienced these games in an emulator but loved them so much i had to go and buy them. I think the general concept has lots of potencial, i mean avatar the show can have a good game and half of the potential and i still think it would be worth having a new GSG ( it would be a dream if monolith helped remake the games or the people that did links awakening...one can dream)
First two Golden Suns, along with Paper Mario, are what introduced me to traditional JRPGs and right away made me set a high bar on the wealth of variety and detail I expected from long-form adventure games. Those series are special to me. I almost had a stroke from excitement when Dark Dawn was announced at E3. Still hoping they'll make a 4th game so I can almost have another one.
The only things I want from the next gen Switch are 1- a solid 60fps at 1080p on all games 2- backwards compatibility and 3- a new golden sun game. If they release it in the gameboy advance/gamecube indigo color that would just be a cherry on top.
GREAT to see some love for the Golden Sun series. Have you considered covering other concurrent franchises that were left in a similar state at the time? Advance Wars would be great to look over. Especially with the remakes releasing soon! Also Puyo Puyo as well considering it has a rich history spawning as far back as the SNES era.
I've only finished Dark Dawn, but I thought it was great. At the time I hadn't played very many RPGs, so maybe that's why I never understood the negative reputation it has.
Golden Sun was my first ever RPG, so it holds a special place in my heart💖 I long for the day it gets a remake(hopefully in a gameplay style akin to Kingdom Hearts💗)
I've always loved the first two Golden Sun games and I hope that many people will check these games out when they launch via Nintendo Switch Online. Dark Dawn wasn't a bad game, but it lacked the charme of the first two games and I'm always salty for the damn cliffhanger D: I always hope that we'll see more of Golden Sun.
I've played them all. The biggest wtf with Dark Dawn was that there is a "point of no return" in the game that makes a number of Djinn permanently missable. I love the first two though. I've wanted Isaac in Smash since I played them. I'm hoping if Camelot has time with the Mario sports out of the way that they've had time to work on a new game.
@@orangeslash1667 you got a good point maybe they didn't have enough time to incorporate all of his psyenergy powers just to make him a assist trophy with just the move psyenergy as his one attack in Brawl.
What I would like to see is a prequel. I would like to play a prequel story of GS: Dark Dawn from Alex's perspective. And his adventures between the events of TLA and Dark Dawn. His connetcion with the "dark adepts" and the love with Veriti. Besides, I'd also like to see a prequel of the original games. With the "old-new" map of Weyard from the Ancient Times. Yegelos and Hoabna's story or Lemuria in the Golden Ages... I think these prequels can connect the original games with Dark Dawn more. :)
Great video Derrick! I agree with the DS release, the dialogue really didn't win me over and the battles were too easy, some of the puzzles were good but just felt like a skeleton of the first two games, hope a reboot comes but regardless thanks for this retrospective and all the research you put into these!
Golden Sun fans, the dream of a remaster still lives on, but in the meantime, I stumbled upon Sea of Stars, and it's a hidden treasure! If you're patiently awaiting a Golden Sun revival, Sea of Stars will quench your thirst for an epic RPG adventure with its masterful storytelling and captivating gameplay. Dive in and prepare for a journey you won't forget! 🌟🌌
Played only the first one on a boat-trip through the netherlands with my family - sadly I never had the opportunity to play the second with my previous characters since I couldn't afford the game back then and lost interest in it later. Today I don't have enough time for such expanding RPGs anymore, family takes its toll I guess...
I loooved G.S. And I do really like these series. Since you asked, I'll throw my vote out there for one on the Tales games again, even though I know ya'll saw my comment on the Xeno video 😊
Golden Sun was a masterpiece of the GBA era, but I really think it woulda benefitted from waiting out a generation and releasing both parts into one game on the NDS instead, in order to avoid the worst password in the Universe; that's prolly the biggest reason why so many people disliked Lost Age
Honestly, to me, Dark Dawn's biggest flaw wasn't that it felt dated, it were the multiple points of no return that came out of nowhere. I still like the game, but things like that were unacceptable, even back then.
As a sad note, Hiroshi Kajiyama, the artist who did the art for Golden Sun, passed away a few years ago.
Nooooo
Rest in peace
*Monster design, but still sad
I am now sad.
@@Mnemoniforma9.00 Then I was misinformed!
Played all of the Golden Sun Games a dozen times. Would love a 4th one but would settle for a remaster of the first three.
Me too but i guess it will not happen...
I've only played the 1 md 2 where is the 3rd game on
@@Niko6767 Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS
@@KennedyFarner How is Dark Dawn? I've only played the first 2 on the GBA. I'm guessing it's good, but probably not as good as the GBA ones.
@@johnnym2069 It’s good. They definitely expand upon the lore. And because it’s a DS game the graphics and combat are just as good or better.
Everytime someone makes golden sun related content it makes me happy, cause it always give one step further into finally having a sequel. I'm still optimistic, just hope I'm still alive by the time it happens lol
This was certainly not expected.
If you’re committed to smaller RPG retrospectives, I would love to see you tackle the Mistwalker trio of Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and The Last Story.
There’s a guy called Clemps you might want to look into.
@@TheHeroOfTomorrow He hasn’t finished Lost Odyssey or done The Last Story yet lol.
@@datalphalion Still! Lol
@datalphalion Blue Dragon would complicate things since there's 2 sequels Blue Dragon Plus and Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow,a 51 episode anime and the spin of manga Ral Grad which had 4 volumes. Sakaguchi really tried making Blue Dragon a thing.
I'm a huge Golden Sun fan. It was one of my favorite games as a young teen and still one of my favorite battle systems of any RPG. I've even got a djinn tattoo on my stomach.
Wind water earth or fire?
@@TheRealFutureMillionaire All four!
My mom found it a old gba game at her work, she gave it to and I fell in love with the game
I’m glad to see Golden Sun content…only to remind me the 3rd finished on a cliffhanger that has last over 10 years now😭
The first golden sun was my very first rpg, and I have been hooked on rpgs since then. I sincerely hope that we get a new game on the franchise.
Great video, Derrick! And for anyone who misses Golden Sun: I HIGHLY recommend Shining the Holy Ark! Many of that game’s ideas were the basis of Golden Sun’s mechanics and aesthetics. It’s fairly easy to emulate if you don’t have access to a Saturn.
I’m a simple man, I see Golden Sun, I hit like.
Golden Sun changed my life and remains to this day one of my favourite series. I discovered the internet through it and have always enjoyed it.
Honestly, it's a shame the industry hasn't learned much from Golden Sun, Breath of Fire, (arguably) the Lufia series, and the Mario RPGs about dungeon design. The puzzle dungeons where your party has contextual actions that can be used to solve them really makes dungeon travel more engaging and fun than waltzing through a bunch of empty rooms, or even interacting with an internal puzzle seeing as knowing your character's abilities and being able to use them effectively makes each party member feel more important and builds a connection between them and the player.
The only contextual puzzle game in recent history to do it right were the new God of War games
@@HunterAnsorge-ok9jk Those are Action Adventure RPGs. It's an entirely different genre. They're more comparable to stuff like the 3D Zeldas, Okami, Beyond Good and Evil, etc.
We've had some turn-based RPGs with more puzzle aspects to dungeons, but only recently with stuff like the Toby Fox games, Bug Fables, and more recently Sea of Stars. And it's still a rare thing in general as it takes a lot of work and most people stick to baseline RPGMaker.
Ah golden sun! I got dark dawn for DS for Christmas one year and loved what I played. So excited for this to drop on NSO! Also great video Derrick! I hope you do more short form retrospectives. But most of all don't burn yourself out on these retrospectives. They are top notch and well worth a watch and many rewatches.
The Switch has done wonders for many franchises. Of special note here, Metroid and Xenoblade. Metroid was assumed a forgotten franchise prior to the Switch and now there's not only the long-awaited sequel in Dread but the ENTIRE 2D story on the Switch (bar Zero Mission for now and Samus Returns). Oh, and then there's Prime 1 Remastered with 4 on the way and very likely 2 and 3 Remastered. Then there's Xenoblade that went from a single entry on Wii and pseudo-sequel on Wii U to a complete trilogy on Switch and then some (Torna and the upcoming DLC for 3). Takahashi said the story is complete. I assume his original vision from so long ago that you mentioned in the Retrospective has finally been realised. So with that I assume Golden Sun on GBA NSO is only the beginning. Can't have Part One without Part Two, right? And when we get DS NSO or a remake/port of Dark Dawn, then we'll hear about the next game. At least, here's hoping. (Now speaking of hope, please Nintendo do something similar with Star Fox. Adventure Remastered/Remake please. Oh, and Assault 2!)
The fact the history of this series can be told in 17 minutes is such a bummer dude
Thank you for this video! Golden Sun is such a great rpg, and I'm so happy you are able to educate us on this legendary game series. I hope there's more.
Wish Golden Sun would come back and someday Isaac gets into Super Smash Bros.
Dark dawn Is awesome. Its a shame it never got the love it deserved. Still hoping for a sequel
I agree. I think it gets too much hate. Then again, it's the one I started with and I played it for years (honestly the only ds game I am willing to go back to any time) so I'm kind of biased
It legitimately had the best story and characters of the three games. It really could have used some more gameplay refinements, though. Cause the Djinn system was always a pretty awkward and clunky system that had little benefit and too much risk in engaging with. I felt they should have overhauled it between games.
@@xmant8842 The only reason why Golden Sun was made is because Nintendo wasn't sure if Square Enix would make games on the Gameboy Advance. They were mostly right, we didn't get any Dragon Quest games in the West for it, and Final Fantasy 4 wouldn't be on it till late 2005. Now a days RPGs are everywhere so Golden Sun is no longer necessary.
It's like Nintendo doesn't have much passion for it, and was made out of Obligation.
As a quick follow up to my last comment, I remember watching the E3 reveal of Dark Dawn back on G4 years back and you could hear the fans cheer when it was shown for the first time that it was going to happen.
And now it would get the same reception if Golden Sun came back.
Nintendo NY would go insane
when the new golden sun finally comes out, I've been waiting 20 years
It didn't really occur to me that Mario Sports and Golden Sun shared a composer, until I was replaying Mario Tennis 64 on NSO. Some of the tracks feel like they could easily slide into Golden Sun.
My first time with this game was watching my older sister play it once on her GBA when I was a kid. Years later I saw the game being sold at a game store. I was curious and vaguely remember the name at least. Got it, played it. Begged my dad to get me the second game. Had to work so much, got Lost Age as a early birthday gift. Then I got Dark Dawn like maybe a year or two after its release. Thought it was okay, but after multiple replays of all games I realized that Dark Dawn had really big shoes to fill and that ending didn't help either. I think Lost Age after transferring everything is peak Golden Sun. It was one of my first RPGS outside of pokemon and helped make me the person I am today with how much I love the genre. If we can't get a fourth game I would love an HD Remaster in the vein of Octopath Traveler style on Switch
The music alone causes so much nostalgia for me. Incredible games, at least the first 2, was not a big fan of the DS game. I wish they did something new with the series, I recently replayed both games on the switch
How in the world did some people think that the 1st and 2nd stories were unoriginal??
On another note, I never had a problem with the long dialogues, it made the story much more rich and complete. If anything I would say that the "choices" in conversations where kinda pointless as it didn't have any effect.
And yes, my problem with GS3 was that it took place too soon in the timeline and made no sense. Should have been like a 100/200 year gap between the two first ones. That way, you can see the longevity of the first two characters and also it makes sense seeing the new civilizations and countries so developed.
Golden Sun was one the first video games I ever played. I got a GBA one Christmas that came with Golden Sun packed in. I instantly fell in love with it. My favorite RPG, that's for sure.
I have never played a Golden Sun game but am very interested and will definitely play the rerelease. Thanks for the video! Interesting to get the full story.
Have only ever played Dark Dawn but it is definitely one of my favourite rpgs ever. Am looking forward to the first two games being released on nso so I can finally play them properly.
DD is the weakest entry in the series. Highly recommend the first two.
@@dwinters6291 DD is the best. TLA is the weakest
@@novustalks7525 no, the other way around! 🙄
@@cfewLW74 absolutely not
I loved the two GBA games, but while I bought the DS one at launch, it took me awhile to finally play it. And it didn’t last long for me. Playing as the hero’s kids with a 30 year time jump was discouraging. Doubly more that the password option given at the end of Lost Age wound up going unused. I was expecting my work and effort in the first two games to continue on, and that sadly never happened.
A truly amazing series but sadly I have no hope of this series ever being revived outside ports/re-releases. I actually emulated the games the first time I played them, it was amazingly fun and nice to see such an amazing world on GBA. Was my favorite JRPG series for a long time until I played the Xenoblade games. I was lucky to find physical cartridges of 1 & 2 a few years back, and I'm really glad they are coming to NSO online so many more people have a chance to play these gems.
Someday I hope we get a remaster or remake of the first two games! Still remember my dad asking me what game I wanted for the drive to Disneyland. I picked Advance Wars as it had just came out (as did Golden Sun).
My dad ended up getting me Advance Wars and Golden Sun in secret mainly because he thought I would like it after reading the review in Nintendo Power. Incredibly thankful he got me Golden Sun as well!
I have played all the Golden Sun games and still have those games although I currently don’t have a way to play the GBA carts. My GBA and original DS don’t work anymore. I’m glad to see the first Golden Sun heading to NSO. It makes me hopefully the Lost Age will come as well.
I got Golden Sun on a whim, I remember it was a choice between that and the Breath of Fire port as a kind of random gift from my dad and I went with the former due to the 3D visuals on the back of the box screenshots piquing my interest. I was blown away by everything in the game and was ~hooked~ for both future releases. Really hope to see that sun rise again someday ☀️
I'm just here to say the first one on GBA drove me crazy because your party wouldn't auto attack the next enemy if the enemy you told them to attack died before their turn. Drove me nuts!
Thank you for making this! I love golden Sun and I really want the series to return. Ported to NSO is a nice step forward afte rliterally nothing, but a new game or even a remake would just blow me away.
Golden Sun was my first GBA game. I remember 10 year old me begging mum for this $25 preowned game. So many hours spent, no regrets and have replayed multiple times. Never got around to Lost Age and Dark dawn though
I have both GBA Golden Suns and beat them both. I also have the DS game, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Really hoping for a new entry one day.
This is a super helpful video as I'm jumping into the Lost Age a couple months after finishing the first one. These games rule and I love them.
I love this series so much and hope it comes back someday. What other video game has an ancient Egyptian giant robot as an early game summon?
Golden Sun has the distinction of being one of the only games I started in earnest, but never finished. In the middle of the second game, I got stuck and just could not figure out where to go. It was really odd. I got stuck and then just sort of got frustrated, then bored, then moved on. It has never happened before that and only like two other times (Black Sigil is one other). This is cool so I get to see what happened
One thing I'm looking forward to the most in a remaster of the trilogy is a recomposition of its soundtrack. Just imagining the woodwinds makes me drool 🤤
Always fascinating to hear the history during these. Didn't realize Camelot had ties to Enix and Sega in the past
Great video and a good summary of the mechanics and story of Golden Sun. Hopefully this video and the upcoming release of the original Golden Sun on Switch Online expansion pack introduces even more new people to this great franchise. Golden Sun was one of my first GBA games and an important part of my childhood. The two GBA games are still my favourite and I try to play them yearly. They still hold up great.
I still need to play Dark Dawn. It kinda flew under my radar.
I absolutely loved the original two on the GBA. I bought Dark Dawn when it came out but never played it. I still have my original copies of all 3. Great video man.
Thank you so much for this video. The 2 first Golden Sun games will forever be symbols of my teennage. I believe the lore of the 2 games was incredible with such a strong shift in perspective of the world between 1 and 2. This strengthened the feeling of exotism and exploration very much, and this is what I remember the most from the games.
Derrick's back?! Love to see these vids!
Golden Sun for Nintendo Switch YESS!
One of my favorite J-RPG series that had its humble beginnings when I was beginning high school. More innocent times... (sighs) Great video, fellas! :)
I loved this series. It was a shame Dark Dawn was so easy cause it had potential! Lost Age was way tougher
Camelot's website recently had Golden sun artwork as they asked for applications to work for them. Fingers crossed for a new golden sun
I hope its still for the switch tho
@@wouter.d.h. me too 😢 it seems we might get another nintendo console soon
@@harimakenji2117 The only reason why Golden Sun was made is because Nintendo wasn't sure if Square Enix would make games on the Gameboy Advance. They were mostly right, we didn't get any Dragon Quest games in the West for it, and Final Fantasy 4 wouldn't be on it till late 2005. Now a days RPGs are everywhere so Golden Sun is no longer necessary.
It's like Nintendo doesn't have much passion for it, and was made out of Obligation.
The seires has a lot of die-hard fans which says something to the impact of the game and seires.
This makes me feel super old remember when I played golden sun the lost age in university but yeah really wish the series got brought to newer systems
Thanks for covering the serie !
Bought it back in the day, because it came out on my birthday and I didn't know what else to ask for.
Been a fan of the series ever since. I reeeaaaallly hope we get another a 4th one, one day...
I'd tried some rpgs and enjoyed them as a kid. But these were the first rpgs that I played through to completion, including meticulously converting my exact save data code. I teared up when it was over because it was such a big part of my high school gaming life. I knew the flaws, but I stilled loved the games for the immense customizability with the battle and djinn system. I would love to see a new one, or better yet, a new series from camelot that learns from all of the criticism and evolves on their capabilities. They're still a 9.9/10 for me. slightly flawed, but so close to perfect I never cared and probably never will.
Great retrospective on this awesome series! I hope the NSO release exposes the series to more players, and I'll still hold out hope for a remake one day.
Two very very minor nitpicks:
The classes other than the default mono-element classes were implied to be weaker, but the multi-element classes actually have noticeably better stats on average than the mono-element ones (presuming you have the appropriate Djinn loadout) alongside generally being more versatile.
I don't know that I'd say Dark Dawn "Wrapped up its story" - major plot points introduced early in the game (Psynergy vortices, etc) were left unresolved and never followed up on, the main villainous organization is still at large and their motivations behind putting Dark Dawn's plot into effect aren't even clear, etc. Dark Dawn reads to me like the first half of a story, much like the first game was the first half of the story which The Lost Age concluded.
Mario Party Island Tour(and 10) had nearly everything different between the NTSC and PAL versions. For example, the minigame Quickest Cricket was changed to something involving grasshoppers.
Played the 1st game. Hated they battle targeting system that wouldn't just move to the next mob if the 1st one was killed.
I would love a good remake of this game. The music is great, I love the story, and boy would I love another sequel.
I played the first one on my friends GBA on the first minutes playing it, I was Blown away completely.
I stumbled on this video, and I had no idea Bitner was part of this channel! GX hasn't been the same since you left, and I really enjoyed your Fire Emblem playthroughs.
THANK YOU for making a video about Golden Sun!
BotW's runes are psynergy, we need a 3D Golden Sun ;)
I LOVE games that let you recharge your MP while simply walking around or even in battle naturally. Makes the game far more fun! They simply need to make the game harder to compensate! Make the bosses hit like trucks, etc. That is the best approach for any RPG imo, make the party overpowered but also the enemy as well.
I still remember I reset the game after losing the first fight 😅, not knowing that was supposed to happen. Was never able to defeat the final boss and so I never played GS2 or DD. Still, love the first game though.
In my top JRPG series, made my teen years easier and made me fall in love with JRPGS even more.
I love this series. Including Dark Dawn!
Fellow Legend of heroes trails fan here. When you plan to cover the trails series I think the two best options are you play/cover them by the arcs like you are doing for dragon quest then put a video up on them or you and Daniel both go thru the series together arc by arc and co-develop the retrospective videos together similar to your one piece at a time and call it idk “Many Trails along the Path”. I do believe you and Daniel will enjoy the series. I know y’all have seen my comment a couple of times about it. The series needs more eyes and players I know for people who love xenoblade characters and world building will love Trails
Happy for the new retrospective
Sad because it's so short
Even sadder that the fact it's so short is because of the small amount of games in the series
I played every golden sun and have the first and the ds one ( america import btw) as phisical , i used to have lost age on my wii U but i think my wii U might have died for good . I first eperienced these games in an emulator but loved them so much i had to go and buy them.
I think the general concept has lots of potencial, i mean avatar the show can have a good game and half of the potential and i still think it would be worth having a new GSG ( it would be a dream if monolith helped remake the games or the people that did links awakening...one can dream)
Golden sun and Golden sun TLA are my 2 favorite Gameboy advance games of all time
Love hearing "Flying Dragon of the Battlefield" from Shining Force III (my favorite game of all time) in the beginning.
I adored these games as a child but I couldn't for the life of me finish any of them!
Can’t wait to play Golden Sun on NSO
Why wait when you can download the emulator for free??
I didn’t even know they had a third installment! I played the first two and the second was my all time favorite
First two Golden Suns, along with Paper Mario, are what introduced me to traditional JRPGs and right away made me set a high bar on the wealth of variety and detail I expected from long-form adventure games. Those series are special to me.
I almost had a stroke from excitement when Dark Dawn was announced at E3. Still hoping they'll make a 4th game so I can almost have another one.
The only things I want from the next gen Switch are 1- a solid 60fps at 1080p on all games 2- backwards compatibility and 3- a new golden sun game. If they release it in the gameboy advance/gamecube indigo color that would just be a cherry on top.
Great video! Never knew about the previous Camelot rpgs. They have some of GS's esence
GREAT to see some love for the Golden Sun series. Have you considered covering other concurrent franchises that were left in a similar state at the time? Advance Wars would be great to look over. Especially with the remakes releasing soon! Also Puyo Puyo as well considering it has a rich history spawning as far back as the SNES era.
I've only finished Dark Dawn, but I thought it was great. At the time I hadn't played very many RPGs, so maybe that's why I never understood the negative reputation it has.
Golden Sun was my first ever RPG, so it holds a special place in my heart💖
I long for the day it gets a remake(hopefully in a gameplay style akin to Kingdom Hearts💗)
I've always loved the first two Golden Sun games and I hope that many people will check these games out when they launch via Nintendo Switch Online. Dark Dawn wasn't a bad game, but it lacked the charme of the first two games and I'm always salty for the damn cliffhanger D:
I always hope that we'll see more of Golden Sun.
Loved the first two games to GBA and I would love to see a remaster of them to Switch!
I've played them all. The biggest wtf with Dark Dawn was that there is a "point of no return" in the game that makes a number of Djinn permanently missable.
I love the first two though. I've wanted Isaac in Smash since I played them. I'm hoping if Camelot has time with the Mario sports out of the way that they've had time to work on a new game.
I feel like that he should have got in Brawl instead of Lucas.
@@nicksokolowski7709 Maybe couldn't figure out how to make him work as a fighter, so he became an assist trophy?????
@@orangeslash1667 you got a good point maybe they didn't have enough time to incorporate all of his psyenergy powers just to make him a assist trophy with just the move psyenergy as his one attack in Brawl.
@@nicksokolowski7709 indeed.
This series needs love. Is so damn great
What I would like to see is a prequel. I would like to play a prequel story of GS: Dark Dawn from Alex's perspective. And his adventures between the events of TLA and Dark Dawn. His connetcion with the "dark adepts" and the love with Veriti.
Besides, I'd also like to see a prequel of the original games. With the "old-new" map of Weyard from the Ancient Times. Yegelos and Hoabna's story or Lemuria in the Golden Ages...
I think these prequels can connect the original games with Dark Dawn more. :)
These videos are amazing. Thank you so much.
The complete history of Fire Emblem or Spyro would be awesome!
I've recently bought the DS one for a good price. I'm waiting for the two GBA games to make it to NSO and finally play them all :)
I wish Camelot would remake Golden Sun & The Lost Age from the ground up. A full remake as one huge title the way it was intended to be.
I feel like even Camelot wants to eventually conclude the story threads they left open in Dark Dawn. I have hope the sun will rise again one day
Only played the first, don’t remember why i didn’t finish it, and i don’t know why i never played the others. I’d like to go back to it sometime
So glad it is coming to the Switch soon, but it would so awesome if Camelot remake it on Switch 2 !
series has potential, they just need the right people to do it, i will still play this game in any way possible and i hope for a new entry game
Great video Derrick! I agree with the DS release, the dialogue really didn't win me over and the battles were too easy, some of the puzzles were good but just felt like a skeleton of the first two games, hope a reboot comes but regardless thanks for this retrospective and all the research you put into these!
Golden Sun fans, the dream of a remaster still lives on, but in the meantime, I stumbled upon Sea of Stars, and it's a hidden treasure! If you're patiently awaiting a Golden Sun revival, Sea of Stars will quench your thirst for an epic RPG adventure with its masterful storytelling and captivating gameplay. Dive in and prepare for a journey you won't forget! 🌟🌌
This is a great video!
Played only the first one on a boat-trip through the netherlands with my family - sadly I never had the opportunity to play the second with my previous characters since I couldn't afford the game back then and lost interest in it later. Today I don't have enough time for such expanding RPGs anymore, family takes its toll I guess...
In my book, 1 and 2 are some of the greatest games ever made.
Those enemies at 3:04 already look like very similar in design to those djinns from Golden Sun
I loooved G.S. And I do really like these series. Since you asked, I'll throw my vote out there for one on the Tales games again, even though I know ya'll saw my comment on the Xeno video 😊
Golden Sun was a masterpiece of the GBA era, but I really think it woulda benefitted from waiting out a generation and releasing both parts into one game on the NDS instead, in order to avoid the worst password in the Universe; that's prolly the biggest reason why so many people disliked Lost Age