...Sigh.
Yeah. Just "...Sigh."
Okay, so a little personal backstory with the Golden Sun franchise. I FREAKING LOVE IT. If I could play only one series for the rest of my life, it would be this one. Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age are my two most favorite video games of ALL TIME. When it came out it had kickass graphics, a great storyline, an innovative battle system and an awesome soundtrack by one of my favorite video game composers, Motoi Sakuraba. Seriously, this game was the best. It was challenging, it was creative and it remains to this day one of the ONLY turn-based battle systems that I will actually play with WILLINGLY. And if you know me, that's really saying a lot.
Anyway, the first two games were AWESOME. I even think I enjoyed the second one (The Lost Age) more than the original, which is really unusual for me as I tend to dislike sequels. AND SINCE THEY ARE AMAZING MASTERPIECES OF VIDEO GAMES, I will include the following spoiler warning for those who have not played:
HELLO I AM PROOFCAT'S OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING. I have intended this review for those who already know the Golden Sun franchise and its storyline. If y'all don't want to have anything ruined for Golden Sun or Golden Sun: The Lost Age, I suggest you don't read through my review covering any of the series. While I don't reveal EVERYTHING in the games, I have to give some major plot points away to explain Dark Dawn. So if you don't want to be spoiled, turn away now. Now that that's out of the way, LET US RESUME.
The Golden Sun franchise covers the adventures of Isaac and Co. as they try to save their world Weyard from being destroyed by the threat of Alchemy. Isaac and Co. are people known as "Adepts", people who control an ability known as "Psynergy" with their minds. Sort of like...really elemental-specific mages...who are vaguely psychic. Or something. THIS MADE SENSE IN MY HEAD, I SWEAR. Anywhoo, they are tasked with preventing the lighting of four elemental lighthouses -- one for each main element: Mercury (Water), Venus (Earth), Jupiter (Wind) and Mars (Fire). If they are lit, the power of Alchemy will be released upon the world through a catastrophic event known as "the Golden Sun." LONG STORY SHORT, you learn that you actually need to unleash the Golden Sun or the world will eventually die. Your party does so and the world is saved! Hoorah!
...Orrrr so you'd think.
The Lost Age ends with a super cryptic scene of the series' main antagonist possibly absorbing most of the Golden Sun's energy and basically becoming God.
Well damn.
However, he is rendered immobile at the top of a mountain peak as it sinks into the earth. The game ends with the question of whether he lived or died, a question that remained unanswered for years -- SEVEN years to be exact. All that fans were left with was the revelation that Isaac received a piece of the Golden Sun as well and became sort of a savior of the world. What happened afterward? Did your nemesis survive? How would Alchemy now affect the land? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? I didn't know, and neither did anyone else. And I don't know about them, but I was fine with not knowing.
And then...seven years later, Camelot released the third installment, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.
When I heard that there would be a possible sequel nearly a decade ago, at first I was like:
Camelot made The Lost Age after all and it kicked ASS. Even though I thought the story was pretty self-contained, I felt I could trust the developers of my favorite series to make the third game just as good.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA
...
Well, my excitement was BEFORE I found out what the sequel would actually entail. As the development was shelved for a while, I sort of figured, "Hey, I guess it was just a rumor. And it's been almost SEVEN YEARS. Why would they release a sequel now?" WELL. They did.
I got all hyped again when I heard they would actually continue the story and that Isaac and Co. were set to appear again. I was like, "WHOO. My favorite heroes!" And then I learned this:
That the game would center not on Isaac and Co. but their kids.
...
wat
AND NOT ONLY THAT, but apparently Isaac and Jenna got together and popped a baby. Actually, each of the original characters had a kid somewhere in the 30 years (UM HEY THERE GRATUITOUS TIMESKIP) between the events of The Lost Age and the events of Dark Dawn. Riiiiight, Camelot. Oh, and when I say each of the original characters, I mean the ones who are FREAKING MENTIONED. Seriously, WHERE ARE THE MAIN CAST? Sure, Isaac and Garet are on board, but what about Ivan? HE DID JUST AS MUCH AS THEM. Piers? HE WAS BANISHED FROM HIS HOME LAND AND WILL NOW NO LONGER BE IMMORTAL. Sheba? SHE FELL FROM THE FREAKIN' MOON AND CAME ON THIS JOURNEY. No, instead of our main heroes, we get basically the equivalent of fanbabies. Fanbabies and nearly no mention of the original characters.
CAMELOT STOP RAPING THE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES I HOLD SO DEAR. ;A; DRAMATIC TEAR ASKS YOU WHYYYYY?
So yeah. This is going to be Dark Dawn, folks. Maybe I'm wrong and somewhere one of the ACTUAL heroes will make a drive-by cameo (like Piers on his sea-hobo boatmobile), but I have a sinking suspicion that they will use the "OH YEAH HE/SHE IS ON A JOURNEY OF MILD IMPORTANCE WE THINK LOLOL" cop-out.
Sigh. Just, sigh.
This, ladies and gentlemen, marks the start of my Golden Sun: Dark Dawn playthrough.
...Wish me luck. And sanity.
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