This 16-bit era throwback is sure to charm RPG fans.
The story here is more or less 100% standard. Magic objects have been stolen and things are getting rough. Luckily, you are a young boy and one who just happens to be born to save the world. Relatively early in the game, you pick up three companions who stay with you the whole of the game and do not change. The whole thing is about as linear as you can get aside from a few side quests. The story is fairly well engaging though and despite it getting annoying after a while that your answers to various questions obviously have no effect on what happens, there is plenty to enjoy here without getting to chose your own adventure so to speak.
For starters, this is just a really well groomed game. The graphics, though limited by GBA's small screen, are bright and endearingly done. Cut scene are done in engine without any manner of voice acting but they are typically pretty well done and only a few times during play do they get irritating or confusing, even though there are a couple before boss battles that get to be a little much if you have to watch them more than once. What Golden Sun really does right is the music though and I think this feature alone really puts this on par with some of the RPG classics of the 16-bit era. The synth patches sound excellent--and I am not normally a fan of GBA synth voices--and the music is wonderfully composed and veers from European folk music to progressive rock in style. The theme that plays behind the main menu I now count as one of my favorite pieces of music ever to include all styles from video games and otherwise. There can be no doubt, this is one game that is simply a joy to witness and this still holds true over a decade after its original release.
Throughout the game, your primary means of customizing your character are these little creatures called Djinns, each of which has an elemental ability assigned to it. You can equip the Djinns like items to various characters for a stat boost and additional spells or leave them in standby where you can use them as summons-type attacks. Both of these strategies has it's merits and proper use of them makes your journey much easier as you get later in the game. Your characters level up throughout the course of the game too, of course, and throughout the game you find and can buy upgraded gear. Most of this stuff is pretty straightforward. There are no multiple upgrade paths or interesting combos of gear, which is fine because that sort of thing is taken care of by the Djinns.
To its credit, Golden Sun does not tack hours onto its play time by using a brutal difficulty curve. In fact, most first time players will probably not have to level grind at all if they spend a reasonable time getting lost or figuring out the mildly difficult puzzles in the dungeon areas. The only point where the game gets frustrating is sometimes you need to use what feels like a random spell to get past a certain point which is not explained in game. Most people will probably take twenty to thirty hours on a first playthrough, which is perfectly alright for a GBA game but is unfortunately not quite enough to leave the story with any kind of resolution.
A cliff hanger or teaser ending is fine but Golden Sun leaves off right in the middle of the story at a point which barely feels like even a good breaking point aside from a few boss battles. Those who are engaged in the plot are forced to continue on in its sequel The Lost Age, which can be linked to your current save either by connecting two GBAs or entering a lengthy password. Thankfully, while it be nicer to have something that stands alone as a game, Golden Sun is good enough that being enticed to continue on on another cartridge feels like an opportunity rather than a burden.