Fan-favorite series Golden Sun returns on DS
At this year’s E3 games festival, RPG fans of yesteryear learned the official title of the newest entry in the popular Golden Sun series. The game is titled Golden Sun: Dark Dawn and follows the children of the series’ earlier main characters. These children are responsible for ending the new phenomenon of Psynergy vortexes which have been appearing and sucking away magic.Earlier games in the series were critically acclaimed as some of the best Game Boy Advance games ever released. As a fan myself, I could cite a number of reasons for this popularity, from the gorgeous graphics which squeezed all they could of that little processor, to the ingenious gameplay mechanics which combined elements of Pokemon and Final Fantasy. Creatures called Djinn are located throughout the game, and once collected can be used both in battle and on the field to solve a variety of puzzles.The new title is the first in the series in six years, and the first to appear on the DS. The released screenshots look crisp and colorful, but are in 3D for the first time, keeping with the series’s theme of high-quality graphics. The DS features are scheduled to be used both for visual sequences, like Djinn summons and in-game movies, and also as a means of control for unleashing various magic spells.It’s been confirmed that some summons from previous games will reappear, but that leaves plenty of room for new monsters to appear. Previously, there have been Djinn in four elements, those of Venus (earth), Mars (fire), Jupiter (wind), and Mercury (water). Whether this title will include additions to these elements or completely new ones has yet to be announced. Still, the game looks to be a worthy successor to the original two titles, and will hopefully turn out to be well worth the wait.