Let's Play Golden Sun

[ElFailzalot]

Otherwise known as "what the actual fuck are you doing, Adam?" Except not because I'm fairly sure no one would actually say that. But enough about hypotheticals about what my crushing self-loathing makes me imagine people might or might not be saying about me (AHAHAHAH SELF DEPRECATION FOR COMEDY ahahaha.....) let's get on to the meat of this whole thing, eh?
Note: May not be any actual meat. Apologies for my blatant lying.




Golden Sun was a fantasy RPG (Which is, for those wondering, of course a Role Playing Game, not a Rocket Propelled Grenade. That would be awfully hard to play.) released by Camelot Software Planning for the Game Boy Advance, as can be seen from the lovely image just above, on August 1, 2001 in Japan, with the subtitle "The Broken Seal", which was apparently lost or just dropped altogether in translation. It was later released on November 11, 2001, in North America and yet later, on February 22, 2002, in Europe. It was fairly well received, getting universally high scores and appreciation at the time of its release (Indeed, it scored very impressively, with scores ranging from as 'low' as 8.5/10 to as high as a 9.7/10 and several other rankings within that range.) It sold well enough, for its time, moving over a million units worldwide (Approximately 740,000 copies in the United States and approximately 338,000 in Japan, as general figures.)

Golden Sun had an unusually long development time for a handheld game, lasting somewhere between 12 to 18 months. This may be because this game, and its sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Released only a year after this game was.) were originally intended to be one, much larger, game. Development originally began with design documents and very early planning to release the game on the Nintendo 64 console, but that all changed when it became apparent that the Nintendo Gamecube would soon enough be superseding the N64, their focus shifted to developing it for the Game Boy Advance. Even at this point, Golden Sun was still intended to be a single game, but due to hardware limitations of trying to put the game onto a single cartridge, this was eventually set aside to better realize the vision in mind for the game, and expanded to become two separate, connected games.


That's great and all, but...why should I care?
Short answer: you shouldn't. 

The game was great for its time, and is still respected to this day (heck it even got a re-release on the Nintendo Wii's virtual console in 2014!) but it isn't the shining example of joy and wonder it once was. It's aged, for lack of a better term. Does that mean it isn't still fun and delightful to play? Of course not! It's wonderful! But it's also kind of silly. Extremely silly. 

Also none of that has much at all to do with the game itself. So let's put that aside for now, eh?


Okay, okay. So what's this all about?
I continue to thank you for asking questions that need to be answered, dear reader of non-determinate name and origin! What I am going to do is be playing through this here game (and eventually its sequel) in the form of what is known as a 'Screenshot LP'. That is, a Let's Play accompanied by images captured directly from the game, and with commentary (which may or may not, in fact, be witty!) from yours truly. I will be endeavoring to show off everything the game has to offer as I do so, and offer some insights into things which are just odd or silly (of which there are many) and do my best to explain things which the game glosses over. Important things will mostly be presented in screenshot format, but vital things (of which there are probably few) and boss battles now and then may get a video just to show off how they go.

As for the format of things...

Regular text will be serious notes about the game, transcribing events from the game, or narrating and describing things that happen. 
Actual dialogue from characters will be in "quotation marks" to differentiate it.
Text in bold will be important announcements or specific things to note, to draw attention to itself.
Things in italics will be little additions of mine. Whether witty banter, sarcastic comments or just additions/minor changes to dialogue and events for the sake of (attempted) humor, it'll all be there. For better or worse.


I think I've played this game before...
Well hey, that's great! Then you can enjoy reminiscing with me. Or blame me for dredging up old memories. Either or. I won't judge you. :frogbon:

That said, though, if you have played this before, do make an effort to not mention too much about the game, won't you? Spoilers are bad, even for a 16 year old game, especially for those who haven't played/heard of it before. (If any of you exist and/or actually read this horrid abomination I am about to produce.) That said, do feel free to talk about the game, ask/answer questions about things that have already happened or which you think might happen. Now and then, when there's some choices to be made (of which there are a couple) I might leave it open to let people decide the whimsy of fate and in which order I tackle things, but thaaaat remains to be seen.


Sounds like it...it's gonna be something, I guess.
Something is indeed what it will be. Whether it will be something good, something bad, or just something that exists...well. Only time will tell!



So let's get on with this shindig!


Chapter 0: The Intro

[spoiler]

Classic Nintendo title screen. It pops up as soon as the game starts, with that delightful little ding sound we all know and experience in our nightmares.




Camelot Software Planning. King Arthur's done good for himself, to have a (somewhat) successful software and game development company. He sure adapted well to the modern era, eh?




And there it is. The title screen. Take a look at it. Behold it. Bask in it. Oh, and also.



The title theme. That is some majestic ass title music. Sure does set the tone of the game to come!

.....oh, if only.

And from the title screen, we go straight to the name input screen. That's right, you need to actually play the game and save it first to even go to the main menu and get the usual 'New Game' or 'Continue' or 'Options' and such. It's kind of bizarre, but okay. Camelot knows what they're doing, I guess.




And here we are, at the name input screen. It's kind of neat, that even in this name input screen, you get to hear the Main Menu music, even on your first run of the game when you don't actually go to the main menu.



It's...kinda of soothing and peaceful. Or at least it is to me. Ah, well. NAME INPUT. And that means actual choices ALREADY. GASP.

Like with many games of the time, we have access to 8 spaces for inputting names. Capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and even some punctuation. It's pretty neat, even if it is pretty standard. So let's see what we're dealing with here.



In the image above, we have the chance to input the name for our main character of this game. His default name is Isaac. In the Japanese version of the game, his default name is Robin. He will be our silent protagonist (barring when I provide some 'witty' inner commentary for him), and is generally a decent fella.

Now, normally, you're only allowed to name the main character. But with some shenaniganry involving secret codes, you can rename the rest of your party, too! And with further shenaniganry, you can even name some other characters of marginal or substantial importance to the plot! Let's see who we've got here.






Here's this fella. His default name is Garet. In the Japanese version, his default name is Gerald.  He does things. He may or may not be too bright.  But he's cool. Or not. You'll see!






Then we got this guy here. His default name is Ivan. In the Japanese version, his default name is Iwan. He's pretty chill. And kinda spooky, but he's generally another pretty alright dude.






Up next, we got this girl. She's pretty dang cool. (HAHAHAHAHAHA) Her default name is Mia. In the Japanese version, her default name is Mary. She's a bit of an...interesting one, I'll say. But not saying much just yet.






Then we got this dude over here, who is not part of our party. His default name is Felix. In the Japanese version, his default name is Garcia. I dunno. He's just kinda there or something. WHATEVER.






Then we got this girl. She's something else. Her default name is Jenna. In the Japanese version, her default name is Jasmine. She is ALSO not a part of our party! Except I may be a liar WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.






And then we got...this girl. She's also kinda out there. And maybe a little spooky. Them eyes, yo. Her default name is Sheba. In the Japanese version, her default name is Shiba.



And that's where we leave off for now. Yes, before we even get started, I know. If you are of a mind to care about such things, feel free to vote on the regular or japanese names for the characters here, or suggest ones of your own, within the 8 character limit. Ones that get the most votes will be the ones I go with, or just the default english ones if no one gets any votes, or if there's a tie or some such.

No real timeframe, as this'll be updated whenever I have the time. Probably (read as: hopefully) at least once every week or two, with any luck. But we'll see![/spoiler]


Table of Contents
Chapter 0: The Introduction-ing
Chapter 1: oh god everything is dying

[Crocodile]

I've played and beaten all three Golden Sun games. They are enjoyable.

[Miranda Frost]

mmm defintely will be following along ^_^

[ElFailzalot]

Both because it appeals to my sense of laziness in regards to not having to rename anyone, and because I just kinda want to get to playing this, gonna just go ahead and do the thing, sticking to regular ol' English names. Update coming soon. :frogpipe:

[ElFailzalot]

Let's Play Golden Sun: Chapter 1
"Oh god everything is dying"

[spoiler]Last we left off, we were deciding what to name characters. Out of sheer value of Laziness, I decided to just leave them be and stick with the default/English names. And so here we are, time to get started! We carry on from where we last left off, at the title screen, confirm that our lovable silent protagonist will be named Isaac, aaaaand....




....RIGHT INTO CLICHÉ CENTRAL! GOOD JOB CAMELOT!

Before I forget, this is kind of the music for this area. It's...not bad, I guess. Give it a listen, maybe?



ahem

So, it seems we are currently asleep. Or trying to be asleep. But some unknown person is trying to not let us continue to be asleep.




Now, personally speaking, the number of people who call me 'dear' is extremely small, and I don't know how I feel about this without context. Who is this? Why are they calling me dear? I DON'T KNOW KING ARTHUR NEVER EXPLAINS THIS TO ME :froggonk:




I am a small child asleep in bed and there is some woman watching me sleep and trying to wake me up while calling me dear. :frog:

....this is either some kind of bizarre family ritual we've stumbled in on at a bad time or there's a real loose sense of what 'dear' means around this place.




Okay, I don't know what a Mt. Aleph is, or why it has a specific boulder named for it, or why it's falling and why that's a bad thing, but OKAY LADY




STOP FUCKING RUSHING ME I'M TRYIN TO SLEEP :rage:

Isaac does eventually get out of bed. In a smooth movement that I totally forgot to capture he just hops directly from laying down to standing up beside his bed. Smooth as hell, kid. Smooth as hell.




Oh, uh...did we? I mean I just kinda--










Soooooo.....that just happened. This lady is apparently like some kind of...crazy magic jedi or something? Like???? NOT EVEN GONNA MENTION WHAT THAT WAS CAMELOT?

No, no, no, it's fine. Let's just...let's just go...

So this strange magic lady then just kind of...puts our tunic on. Withotu even asking if any help was needed, just kinda...does it. It have no images of this because I AM SKILLED, YOU SEE.

We then head over to the other side of the room, near the stairs.




: I mean....uh....maybe? I just kinda woke up like ten seconds ago and--




: I didn't even answer. :wat:

This lady is awful. MOVING ON.


So we head downstairs. We get like FIVE FEET and then some dude barges in the front door. HELLO RANDOM STRANGER, PLEASE DO COME IN AND MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME. WHY, I HEAR THERE IS A BOULDER FALLING BUT APPARENTLY THAT WON'T STOP HOME INVADERS




Oh, so this dude knows us. And the lady is Dora. Cool. Information, facts, revelations that Camelot picked forced-natural ways to reveal. Awesome. Super. Let's carry on.

Dude also tells us something we already knew. Boulder's falling, yeah we know.

He then runs outside and we go to follow him. Notice the lamp on the table is lit.




Notice how now it is not. Isaac and Dora are shocked by this, and had an amusing reaction. Mostly consisting of a bright red ! popping up over their heads. I do not have an image of it because I AM SKILLED AND HAVE GOOD REFLEXES

So we go outside and have things start happening again. Or something.




: I don't think so... Not for long, anyway.
: You two go on ahead and take refuge in the plaza.
: Aren't you coming?
: I need to help evacuate the other villagers.
: Let me help you, Kyle!
: It's too dangerous, Dora. Please, just take good care of Isaac!
: Isaac is old enough to get to the plaza on his own.




: I...I dunno, mom... It's kind of...storming. There's rain, and, and wind, and like lightning and and--




: But...but mom, it... :|







: :frown:




: Well...at least the plaza should be just down this way...




: Uh...what?




: ...what?




: :froggonk:
: Well...guess I gotta go the long way...

BUT BEFORE THAT LET'S GO BACK INSIDE AND DO POINTLESS SHIT :frogsiren:




BITCHIN' BARREL! WHAT'D WE--




CAMELOOOOOOT! :rage:

BACK UPSTAIRS




Oh, a bookshelf, huh? Let's see what this says...




:frogon:




.............
:getout:





So we head back downstairs to go back out into the storm of hell, and....

keptic:

Wait.




Who...who relit this lamp? :wat:

Fuck it I don't care.

We head back outside and go to FUCKING CHECK FOR LOOT AND STEAL EVERYTHING OF VALUE I mean check on the well-being of our neighbor. yes, that.

He summarily fucking judo kicks us eight feet through the air and barges out looking ready for a fight.



: :froggonk:




: Well, before you kicked me in the face...




: Apology...accepted, I guess?




And then dude just runs off, taking those stairs right there below his house. We try to follow him, like any sensible person would d--




: :wat:




: keptic:

So as I was saying we instead go in this dude's house and see what he has.




Nice place. But nothing of value. MOVIN ON




: keptic:

Heading on up around this house, we find...some other kid!




Who is having a real bad time of things, from the looks of it. You, uh...you doin' alright there, guy?




This guy...this guy may not be too bright. :frog:




: I should really just....just go...
: ....oh, bother...




: Uh, yeah. You can get more stuff.




: Well not in so many words, but...




And then kid just kind of...walks right on into Isaac, like RPG characters do.




And this is Garet. He's kind of dumb. But he's alright. :-)

So after absorbing Garet into our being, we continue on our way. Just a little bit on up the path, there's a little bit of a detour, leading to a bridge and some stairs. The stairs call to me. I must--






: Sigh.

: What?

: Train whistles, Garet. Train whistles.

:




BRIDGE-WARD HO, THEN!




But shortly upon crossing it, we are brought to a halt by mysterious forces.




: :froggonk:








Those sound vaguely like the sounds of someone very constipated. But I don't have crazy mind powers, so what do I know? :-)




I mean, it's a fairly large boulder but I think destroying anything except maybe a building or two is a bit of an overestimation here guys. And for that matter--




Oh, well, y'know...don't let me stop you. Hold back that boulder, guys. :frogpipe:








: It better not be, this game is only rated T!

:

We head down further along the only path we have, until we come to a split in the path. We need to go south, so--



: :wat:




: keptic:




: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1wy41Ezzf8

So we head left. Which I guess would be...west? I'unno, doesn't matter.






We soon come across more stairs. Blocked by more boulders.




And then this guy.




Isaac briefly considers a career in Metal Gear Solid before remembering he is a small child from a fantasy world and has no idea what a Metal Gear is or why it would be solid.




: I mean, I'm no doctor or anything but you look fine to me.




And then he just JUMPS SIX FEET IN THE AIR and lands on his feet.









: ...Garet?

: Yeah?

: That was weird.

: Yeah.




And then we're left to go and do stuff again. We embrace that opportunity and CHARGE AHEAD THROUGH THE FIELDS, ENCOUNTERING NO RESISTANC--

o shit random battle







And so we have our first random battle! I'll go into more detail about this business later, when we have some more options available, but for now suffice to say it...it isn't terribly complex.

We also get to attack first, in this instance! A very nice mechanic, in which you get an entire round for your party before combat starts as 'normal' with speed and such affecting turn order. It's pretty nifty.












PRAISE! :froggonk:



So yeah, that happened. Not a bad first battle. We continue on for a while and--



o shit

:









And that's what we call a critical hit, ladies and gentlemen. It's a beautiful thing.

Continuing on, we eventually come back out to...

To...




....right on the other side of where we were. :wat:




MUSHROOMS! :frogsiren:




MUSHROOMS HURT ISAAC! :froggonk:




Mushrooms terminated. :frogpipe:




Recognize this? It's the boulder right in front of Isaac's house.

seriously fuck this part

So we try to carry on and head down the path there, since it should lead right to where we need t--




I'M NOT EVEN SURPRISED ANYMORE CAMELOT




So we fuck off and go the long way around again and head down some stairs. Business as usual.




GASP! SHOCK! A FAIR MAIDEN IN DISTRESS! QUICKLY! ISAAC, GO BE HEROIC! GARET, DON'T BE AN IDIOT!




Trouble's the other way, Garet.


: Felix will be all right. We'll find a way to save him...




Felix (the kid in the river) just kinda dunked his head under the water there. Probably not intentionally.






:ohdear:




Oh, he's fine. :frog:




Brown Haired Dude: I've used all mine up. What about you, Kyle?
: I'm drained from helping the other villagers...






: Can Felix hang on long enough for us to find help?
: There's nothing else we can do for him here, is there?




*crickets*

: Then go get help, but be as quick as possible!
Brown Haired Dude: Jenna, can you go too?
Purple Haired Woman: You'll go find help, right?
: Your brother's counting on you, Jenna.
: All right, let's get going!

They head off through the house and come out on solid ground.




: Yes, ma'am. We're looking for anyone with any Psynergy left, right?

And they part ways, with Jenna heading down south and Dora heading up our way.






: Isaac!




: Yeah, we saw. Kinda hard not to...
: I have to go get help before Felix drowns!
: Drowning would be pretty bad, yes.




: Well, I guess so.
: Jenna has gone to the plaza to get help. Go join her.
: Well alright, if you sa--




Wow, rude. :wat:




Well. This is not lookin' too great, all things considered.




Pretty nice place.






Fuck you too, Kyle. :crossedarms:






So we continue on our way, heading down toward the plaza.




o shit



: :froggonk:




: :froggonk:




:frogpipe:




Plaza.




Yea-huh.




:wat:

Whatever.


:

WHICH WAY?! :woah:






YOU DON'T FUCKINY SAY










: Yeah. Real great, kid.

We carry on to the little gathering over there and see what's going on.












And so the brothers Rando trundle on off.




: Garet, Isaac... You came to help me?


















So the party all joins together and we head on back to where Felix is hanging on for dear life!

Absolutely nothing happens on the way. Not even random battles.














Muscledude McRando steps out where Dora can see him.










AND SO THEY DO!






Wait, what's going on now?






oh shit :froggonk:




:frogsiren:




:frog:




:frog:











:poop:




He tries to get up, but almost immediately flops back down.













Isaac is in agreement. After checking on everyone's assorted mental states, he heads off, back toward the plaza where everyone else is.








The scene jumps back to Isaac, who runs along the bottom of a cliff, right along his way back to the plaza to get help. There's no time to stop, clearly, he mu--




Who's this?








: It's a miracle that even the two of us were spared...
: That switch... It must have been a trap...
: But to think it could conjure a storm this powerful!
: ...Another demonstration of the awesome powers of Alchemy.
: Regardless, we must not fail the next time we challenge Sol Sanctum.
: Next time, we shall certainly...
: Isaac! Wait!

DAMMIT, GARET






We tell him no, out of a frantic desire to not have horrible things done to us.



: Isaac, they look scary...
: Are you sure you should be talking to them?
: You must forget everything you heard.
:Don't worry... We'll help you forget!




These two weirdos then jump down from the ledge and attack us!

oh god why






: HA!



One critical hit and 10 damage later...




: :froggonk:








: oh dear god why




: everything is pain




: oh good lord what




: i have burns in places that don't exist




:frogsiren:




And then those two mystery weirdoes just kind of...fuckin' Mario hop off, leaving us to die or whatever.




: world...going dark...there is only burns...and rain...

: hhhhgh....hello darkness...my old friend...




:ohdear:[/spoiler]