Polygonade
Bio
- Playing games since c. 1994
- The L in LGBTQ
- I have an eclectic taste, but like narrative games better
- My scores reflect how much I enjoyed a piece, not necessarily their ~objective~ quality
- Languages: PT-BR π§π·, ENG πΊπ² and a bit of SPA πͺπΈ and FRE π«π·
- Playing games since c. 1994
- The L in LGBTQ
- I have an eclectic taste, but like narrative games better
- My scores reflect how much I enjoyed a piece, not necessarily their ~objective~ quality
- Languages: PT-BR π§π·, ENG πΊπ² and a bit of SPA πͺπΈ and FRE π«π·
Badges
Loved
Gained 100+ total review likes
Popular
Gained 15+ followers
Replay '14
Participated in the 2014 Replay Event
Donor
Liked 50+ reviews / lists
Liked
Gained 10+ total review likes
Pinged
Mentioned by another user
Elite Gamer
Played 500+ games
On Schedule
Journaled games once a day for a week straight
Gamer
Played 250+ games
Best Friends
Become mutual friends with at least 3 others
Noticed
Gained 3+ followers
N00b
Played 100+ games
Favorite Games
670
Total Games Played
051
Played in 2024
004
Games Backloggd
Recently Played See More
Recently Reviewed See More
I'll just get this out of the way: I hate that this ends in a cliffhanger; in fact, this made me extra-appreciative that 99% of the games are reasonably self-contained experiences. I suppose this might be justified by an (arguably) stellar second installment, but in all honesty I don't think Golden Sun's world, characters and plot are engaging enough to own a TO BE CONTINUED.
And yet, with all that said...
I really enjoyed my time with Golden Sun, way more than I thought I would! It was one of those big blind spots in my gaming repertoire that I was dying to fix and I'm glad it was an actual fun experience. It's an early 2000s JRPG, with all the stuff that comes with the package: a somewhat stiff turn-based combat (until it's not), lots (LOTS) of random encounters, big overworld with no fast travel and the occasional lack of guidance that might be a bit annoying to the 2020s mind. But the game rewards your goodwill by being too damn charming (seriously what a crisp pixel art, holy shit), with a nice variety of enemies and areas and, the star of show, the djinn system.
Not gonna lie, it took me a while to figure out exactly how they worked, but when I did it was eye-opening. Basically, the djinns always affect a character status and moves simply by being with them. Calling their special effects into battle instantly debuffs your stats, but their elements might be stacked up to a bigger summon that makes a LOT of damage. And doing so the djinns return to your "hand", affecting passively your stats once again. This happens in the heat of battle, which means moves are always appearing and disappearing mid combat and lots of changes in resistance and attack stats. This gives a very dynamic sway to battles, making even the most uninteresting random encounter a chance to try some new strategies to better cover your party's strengths and weak points. I love it!
All and all, I think this almost-twenty-five years old game still worths your time. Sure, it could use some quality of life upgrades, but it has no shortage of stuff to love, especially for those who might be looking for a more old-fashioned experience.
And yet, with all that said...
I really enjoyed my time with Golden Sun, way more than I thought I would! It was one of those big blind spots in my gaming repertoire that I was dying to fix and I'm glad it was an actual fun experience. It's an early 2000s JRPG, with all the stuff that comes with the package: a somewhat stiff turn-based combat (until it's not), lots (LOTS) of random encounters, big overworld with no fast travel and the occasional lack of guidance that might be a bit annoying to the 2020s mind. But the game rewards your goodwill by being too damn charming (seriously what a crisp pixel art, holy shit), with a nice variety of enemies and areas and, the star of show, the djinn system.
Not gonna lie, it took me a while to figure out exactly how they worked, but when I did it was eye-opening. Basically, the djinns always affect a character status and moves simply by being with them. Calling their special effects into battle instantly debuffs your stats, but their elements might be stacked up to a bigger summon that makes a LOT of damage. And doing so the djinns return to your "hand", affecting passively your stats once again. This happens in the heat of battle, which means moves are always appearing and disappearing mid combat and lots of changes in resistance and attack stats. This gives a very dynamic sway to battles, making even the most uninteresting random encounter a chance to try some new strategies to better cover your party's strengths and weak points. I love it!
All and all, I think this almost-twenty-five years old game still worths your time. Sure, it could use some quality of life upgrades, but it has no shortage of stuff to love, especially for those who might be looking for a more old-fashioned experience.
GOTY for 90's kids who used to play Solitaire on their old Windows 98 and thought it was missing some power-ups.
I forced myself to keep playing for a while, because I really respect the team's efforts in crafting a whole game with claymation. I wanted to love this game, but the whole experience was not particularly engaging to me. I think this is more of compatibility issue than necessarily something the game does poorly, but yeah, it felt kinda boring? It doesn't help that I found the characters (Harold himself especially) more annoying than charming.
Not for me.
Not for me.