Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age - game review

LONG overdue!~ I can't believe I have not been updating this blog for a while enjoy!

Game play
Role playing game
Action/Adventure, Fantasy with puzzles
Sequel to Golden Sun 1
Maximum level reached: 40-45
Duration: Approx. 40 hours

The game is rather easy to follow and it is not difficult, though if you are a serious gamer, you may like backtracking. Personally, if you don't spend consecutive days playing, you may forget the map or your challenges quite easily. Its a long-winded story that requires the obtaining of certain powers to get you through different puzzle courses; not to mention upgrading of equipment and collecting monsters etc. This is one of the best role-playing series that I have played with a good story plot divided into 2 sections. SO you will need to play Golden Sun 1 before 2 and not the other way around. Click to reveal more!



Puzzles is the foundation of this game. You need to obtain certain powers in order to complete your quests.

Hmm...puzzling!

Battle

Your team of characters are pretty well-balanced and average. 2 powerful fighters and 2 powerful mages each with strong definitive stats. Determining the best way to use them is no problem at all!! You use what is suited to your tastes. Battle screen is shown below.

Across the top from L-R: 4 elemental powers - ready to summon the God's powers, and the status of your 4 key characters.

Bottom from L-R: Character's instructions - Attack, Magic, Djinn, Summon, Items and Defend.

Djinn are monsters that you collect along your quest and there are 4 elements: fire, wind, earth and water. Djinn can be found in towns, caves/dungeons and the world map, but it does require you to solve the puzzle in order to reach them. Some will involve a battle in order for them to join you. Each character within your team belongs to each element and by collecting these monsters, you can enhance your status. Obviously, by setting the same elemental Djinn with the person's elemental specialty, it will greatly enhance their stats.

Djinn can be used in battles where each has a different power. If you use that Djinn to assist you in battle, your stats will decline; however in doing so, you can gear up a few Djinn and summon a mighty God to attack your enemy. One by one, the Djinn will return back to the character and the stats goes back up. Note: using certain Djinn in battle will prevent you to use the most powerful magic skills since your stats declines. It is only fair that way. So whether you want to approach the battle using only Djinn or just magic, it is up to you. I used a combination of both but tend to rely more on Djinn than magic since I have lots of healing items.

Here is an example of a summoned God attacking.


Magic is attainable when you level up but it also depends on the number of Djinn you collect. Obviously as you advance into the game, more Djinn can be picked up along the way and you can learn new and more powerful spells. Different combination of Djinn set to a character will allow different spells to be learnt. However, it is give or take - certain spells will not be usable and different Djinn can contribute towards the decline of stats.

Pros:

• Very interesting puzzles and keeps you on the roll....I personally like it.
• The scope of the puzzle is much larger than your GBA screen! Sometimes it requires going all 4 corners of the puzzle domain before being able to complete it and move on - its exciting!
• Easy to follow storyline and it is one of the most captivating as well
• I am sooo fired up to retrieve all the Djinn...the use of Djinn in battle is innovative!
• Combat battle is actually quite fair; well-balanced
• Awesome graphics and combating style

Short sequence of attack from a God.



Cons:

• The map is huge!!! I sure got bored trying to get "around" areas because that is the only way to travel. I was sooo tired of it already. This was the most painful one.
• Some Djinn are hidden in the most odd places of the big map that it is not possible to find unless you had the help files with you!
• Occasionally while tackling puzzles, you tend to forget something, ending up in being stuck at a puzzle or you cannot move forward. With the help files on the other hand....
• While characters talk and the story is shared, they always insert little emoticons for the atmosphere...blah...I can already detect it from the way they speak, no need for so many smiley faces, angry faces, exclamation marks, or droplets...haha.

Music
I don't have any particular feelings or opinions about the music except that I look forward to boss battles as I enjoy the 'fighting spirit' music haha...though I concentrate more on battling bosses rather than enjoying the music. Still its worth listening to compared to other gameboy advanced games out there. Well that's all from me! Hope that you enjoyed my funny review!

More information - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=613538

3rd game of the series - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Sun_DS