Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Hands-On
By:
Micah Seff
|
October 20, 2010, 1:01 pm

The folks at Nintendo were gracious enough to invite us down to their offices in Redwood Shores to check out Camelot’s newest RPG time killer, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Originally Andre was on the invite list, but it quickly became clear that his sum total experience of no Golden Sun games wasn’t going to provide him with enough background to see just what Dark Dawn was all about. Luckily, I swooped in, stole the appointment, and ventured for the first time into Nintendo’s enigmatic enclave.

 

 
I’m glad I did, as what Nintendo had on display in its demo room (still adorned with delightful textile-themed Kirby decorations) was a Golden Sun experience through and through. While I had been a moderate fan of the first games, I never quite got as absorbed in them as I thought I would. Dark Dawn seemed like it might change that with its refined systems and engrossing exploration mechanics.
 
Nintendo gave us a fairly long demo with the game spanning about an hour an a half. The Treehouse representative on hand took time to walk me through several different sections of the early game to give a feel for the engaging balancing act that is Golden Sun. Alongside the interesting combat systems, intricate approach to character upgrades, and involved storyline was the welcome inclusion of world map exploration and puzzle solving. This was always something that set the Golden Sun games apart from the competition in my eyes, and I’m happy to see it making a return.
 

For those who aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about, in Golden sun games, you’re not just making use of your spells, dubbed Psynergy, during combat. Outside of the combat screen you’ll have access to a whole slew of Psynergy each with its own practical uses. Activate your Whirlwind ability to raise some flower platforms to traverse a tricky section and snag a secret, use Move to line up some pillar, or cast Grab to grapple your way across a gap. It’s a whole lot of fun, and adds to the feel that you are indeed an adventurer with a vast array of methods for dealing with the world around you.
 
That world contains plenty of things to discover, but perhaps the most interesting are the Djinn that are scattered throughout the land. Djinn were part of previous Golden Sun games, but this time there are seventy of them in the game, and each one is visually distinct, making them feel even more like Pokemon than they already did. Djinn can be equipped on your characters to change their classes and assign Psynergy powers. You can mix and match different Djinn on different characters to concoct interesting class combinations. Djinn have an elemental affiliation, as does each character, but players won’t automatically be equipping every wind Djinn on your Wind Psynergist. You’ll have to put some work into finding the best Djinn setup for your battle party.
 
 
The combat system in the game pulls elements from all the various core mechanics and then integrates them into a cohesive system that requires forethought, cunning, and a little bit of patience. It’s all great fun and really works despite the random encounters (usually the kiss of death for a game like this when I am concerned.) Players will have to manage their Djinn so that they can cast spells and perform summons at the right times. Djinn can be put in standby or set on your characters. If they are set, they alter a character’s class and allow him/her to cast a differing assortment of spells depending on the Djinn. If they are in standby, they can be used in combinations with each other to pull off summons. What this means is that a particular summon will have a cost that is measured in the number of Djinn in given categories that must be used up to summon the attack. It’s a really fun system that requires players to carefully manage their Djinn if they want to pull of some impressive, damage-dealing summons.
 
The summons themselves highlight the impressive look of the game. They are elaborate and action packed, much like in previous Golden Sun games. I had my fears that the 3D graphics of wouldn’t be able to match up to the sprite-based beauty of the first two games. Gladly, it seems like this isn’t the case with this DS sequel. Everything is brightly colored, and nicely detailed. I daresay the game gives Dragon Quest IX a run for its money in the visuals department, and that’s saying a lot. Every spell, attack, and summon just looks fantastic, and the story sequences are quite nice looking as well.
 

The story in the Golden Sun games was always the big limiting factor for me, and what I saw of Dark Dawn wasn’t quite enough for me to determine whether this game would be different from me. The game takes place 30 years after the events of the last game, and players will step into the Psynergy-wielding shoes of the children of the previous games’ heroes. It’s kind of a fun way to tie the series together without being stuck with the same heroes over and over again, so I didn’t mind it. the story starts out fairly simply, with your goals mainly being small scale, but it quickly became obvious that the main characters were soon going to find themselves embroiled in an earth-shattering conflict. It was all fairly standard RPG fare, and though there wasn’t anything too interesting or unique going on in that department, it was hardly something that detracted from the rest of the experience.

As I left Nintendo’s offices, I was aware of a palpable excitement for this title that I hadn’t expected to experience. I’m not the biggest DS player anymore, but I would play Dark Dawn without a moment’s hesitation. Camelot seems to have struck gold yet again, and fans of the original game should certainly be happy to sink their teeth into this game once it hits stores November 29.
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Background Check: Micah
I love RPGs and the Golden Sun series has always been an enjoyable experience for me. The original blew me away with its new ideas and fun combat, but the sequel ramped up the difficulty so much that I never beat it. The series is still a favorite of mine though.

Golden Sun - Love it
Golden Sun: The Lost Age - Like
JRPGs - Love 'em