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Golden Sun Jenna. | align=center colspan=2|Golden Sun | | align=center colspan=2| | | style=width:80px|Developer: | Camelot Software Planning | | a href="/encyclopedia/Video-game-publisher" title="Video game publisher">Publisher: | Nintendo | | elease date: | 2001 | | a href="/encyclopedia/Computer-and-video-game-genres" title="Computer and video game genres">Genre: | RPG | | ame modes: | Single player | | a href="/encyclopedia/ESRB" title="ESRB">ESRB rating: | Everyone (E) | | latform: | Game Boy Advance | | edia: | Cartridge | Golden Sun (or 黄金の太陽/Ougon no Taiyou in Japan) is an RPG-series currently consisting of two games made by Camelot Software Planning for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The original Golden Sun was released in 2001 and the sequel which continues where the original ended, although with a different set of characters, Golden Sun: The Lost Age was released in early 2003. The series is generally more highly regarded than not by RPG fans. Important parts of the game are psynergy (a catch-all term describing numerous psychic abilites) and the Pocket Monsters-inspired djinn (singular "djinni"), creatures that can summon powerful attacks and improve characters' stats. There are 4 major types of psynergy and djinn, corresponding to the four different elements. There are also psynergies that defy classification or are a combination of more than one element. Elements The four elements play a crucial role in the series. They are named after planets and represent different elements, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. They are: In Golden Sun, a character is not a water-type who is weak against a fire-type; instead one is a Mercury-type which is weak against Mars-types. For characters, this can be changed by equipping a different set of djinn and thereby changing the class and elemental makeup of the character. However, all playable characters have an innate affinity for one of the four elements. This determines which character classes are available to them. Also, not all characters in the world of Golden Sun can use psynergy. Those who can are called Adepts. Influences The elements in the games are identical to the four Greek classical elements (fire, water, wind and earth). However, like the five Chinese classical elements (fire, water, earth, metal and wood), they are named after the five major planets (or four of the five major planets since there are only four elements in the games). Due to this mix of influences the same planets may not necessarily represent the same element in the games as they do in Chinese Taoism. Story Part I - Golden Sun The protagonist, whose role the player assumes, is a Venus Adept named Robin (Or Isaac in the English version) who goes on a quest to stop Saturos and Menardi, the villains, from lighting four lighthouses: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury. If the four lighthouses are lit, then his world will be in great danger. The first character to join Robin's party is Gerald, a Mars Adept and Robin's childhood friend, who comes from the same village. Next to join is a Jupiter Adept named Ivan from the city of Kalay, and later a Mercury Adept named Mary, who is the guardian of the Mercury Lighthouse. Their antagonists are the aforementioned Saturos and Menardi, Adepts from the Mars tribe in the north, together with Alex, who is Mary's former apprentice, and Garcia, a Venus Adept. Felix is the brother of Jasmine, a girl who grew up with Robin and Gerald. Their village, Vale, went through a terrible storm three years ago, and Robin's father and Jasmine and Garcia's parents lost their lives. Garcia was also thought to be dead, but Saturos and Menardi saved his life, and Garcia ended up joining them. Golden Sun has a traditional save-the-world storyline that some consider to be rather clich, but the game also goes deep into mythology and some philosophy, with many historical references along the storyline. The world of Golden Sun, called Weyard, is very roughly modeled after the planet Earth, with the Angara continent corresponding to Eurasia and the Gondowan continent resembling Africa and the Middle East. Unlike the English-language translation, this game, when released in Japan, actually had a subtitle like its sequel: 開かれし封印/Hirakareshi Fuuin (usually translated as "The Broken Seal" by members of the games' fanbase). Part II - Golden Sun: The Lost Age The continuation (and conclusion) of the story started in Golden Sun, The Lost Age features a different protagonist than the first game, this time allowing players to control Garcia (Or Felix in the English version), one of the antagonists from the original. Although he and his party join forces with Robin and friends near the conclusion of the game, most of the game is spent roaming the lower continent and the great sea as Garcia, Jasmine (a Mars Adept), Sheba (a Jupiter Adept), and a Lemurian, Piers (a Mercury Adept). The protagonists of the first game, Robin and co., become antagonists in The Lost Age, since the protagonist is now Garcia, who is attempting to do what the original party was trying to prevent: light the lighthouses. Robin's party pursues Garcia's party throughout the game, but the two groups do not actually meet each other until Jupiter Lighthouse, more than halfway through the game. Also, two other members from Saturos and Menardi's clan, Agatio and Karst, play a role in the story, but their roles were not as important as Saturos and Menardi's were in the first game. Also returning as an antagonist is Alex, who joins forces with Agatio and Karst. Agatio, Karst, and Alex wish to light the lighthouses as well, but also have other goals and are competing with Garcia and company. Garcia's party must fight Agatio and Karst on more than one occasion. Along with the save-the-world premise of the first book, The Lost Age offers a deeper sub-plot. With the shift of goals brought from the change in playable characters, there is an added philosophical element to the plot. Along with the which truth is the real truth problem comes a more comprehensive look into the history of Weyard, the Golden Sun world. With the discovery of Lemuria and sea-based transportation, much is learned about alchemy and its different practices, including psynergy. With Gaia Falls eroding slowly and Lemuria in a state of severe decay, the characters find little help with their task. This brings about the discovery of the true motive behind lighting the Lighthouses. Link feature One can pass the data from Golden Sun to The Lost Age so one can get one's items and status of the original party from Golden Sun when those characters join Garcia's party after the Jupiter Lighthouse. One can also use a password, or do neither and start the game with a pre-set party of characters. In addition, if you collected all the djinn from the first Golden Sun, and you transfer the completed data containing every djinn (7 of each element), you can find two ultra powerful summons, Charon (8 venus, 2 jupiter djinn), which does massive damage to each enemy and has a slight chance of felling them immediately. Iris (4 mercury, 9 mars), does huge damage, and fully restores the HP of every character, even the ones off the battle field. To achieve this, you must collect every djinn in both games for a grand total of 18 of each element. Go back to Contigo with the teleport lapis. That is your first clue. To be able to transfer data between the cartridges without using a password a player needs the following: - Two Game Boys
- One The Lost Age game and one completed Golden Sun game
- Link Cable
Fan activity There is an extensive network of Golden Sun fans and fansites on the Web, including an active fan fiction community. External links
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