The second chapter (or "book", as the game puts it) of the Golden Sun series, The Lost Age switches from the point of view of Isaac, who is trying to stop the elemental lighthouses from being lit, to Felix, who is trying to see that through. This game picks up where the first left off.
Story:
The story of this game is fairly familiar if you've already played Golden Sun, because The Lost Age starts where its predecessor left off. In recap, Isaac and his friends are chasing after Saturos and Menardi, two members of the Mars Clan, in order to stop them from relighting the four elemental lighthouses to give way to the rebirth of alchemy. (Ages ago, the elemental stars used to power the lighthouse were locked away in Mt. Aleph's Sol Sanctum, and our antagonists of the first game snuck in and stole them when Isaac, Garet, and Jenna sensed a "disturbance" in the sanctum.) However, if you played the first game, you know that this ends in tragedy, for after the defeat of Saturos and Menardi, and the lighting of the Venus Lighthouse, a cataclysm occured which threw one of their captives, a wind adept named Sheba, off balance and off the lighthouse. The main character of The Lost Age, Felix, jumped off the lighthouse and into the ocean to rescue her. This starts the basis of the game, where Felix's sister Jenna, a scholar named Kraden, and a mysterious water adept named Alex, in search for the missing "lighthouse jumpers." By the end of the intro, you will have caught up to them, (miraculously) and your quest to light the remaining two lighthouses continues.
You'll find that this is only really a basis of the story, and that there is much more to it than what I've written above. However, in all due respect to those who haven't played it, this is much as I'm going to say. I will say, however, that if you're looking for a semi-deep storyline, this is the game for you.
Story rating: 18/10
Graphics:
I normally don't care about graphics very much, but as you can see from the game, Camelot did a superb job on making this game look snazzy. Some graphical elements, such as the 3D-looking world map, and the amazing graphical content of battles, from the wind blowing under a character's cape to summoning the dragon Eclipse, puts the icing on the cake. Camelot's graphic artists deserve a huge pat on the back for their amazing work.
Graphics rating: 5/5
Play control:
Now, play control doesn't really matter in an RPG, but knowing which buttons do what is key. Camelot doesn't have any tricks or button combonations that you have to press, although it can sometimes be hard to put yourself in the proper place or face in the correct direction to unleash a psynergy on the field (such as move), since characters rotate when you change direction. (Ex. if a character was facing north and you wanted them to face east, they would rotate clockwise and face northeast, then east, where as other games they would immediately face east. This is also another good graphical aspect, but it does have its drawbacks) Also, there are times where there might be a box you want to check, but there's a person standing next to the box. Sometimes, even if you're facing directly at the box, the game will still take it you want to talk to that person. This makes checking some objects very frustrating. One very helpful control option would be the option to use "psynergy shortcuts", which allow you to assign a commonly-used psynergy to your L button and another to your R button.
Play control rating: 7/10
Gameplay
Now, this is what it all comes down to: gameplay! If you want to think of two games that cross paths in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, think "Lufia meets The Legend of Zelda." The game combines elements from both games, (well, you can place any RPG game besides Final Fantasy (since FF's are unique in themselves) in place of Lufia, so you get the picture), so you have an RPG with a great storyline, but also has some tough puzzle elements to it, also. However, there are times in the game, such as trying to get through the ultra-long Air's Rock, that you might just want to pull your hair out. Also, if you haven't played the first game in the series, you'll find yourself wandering around lost most of the time because you can't figure out where to go or what to do next. (The perfect example of this is trying to get to Lemuria. They just tell you that you have to get through the "Sea of Time," which is that foggy place near the centre of the map. Nobody ever says that you have to battle Poseidon at the end of that sea, or that he's protected by a force field that can only be broken by the Trident of Ankhol. Not only this, but you wouldn't even know that you have to go to hell and back to find the three prongs of the trident, then have to find out where to get it put back together. Oh, and there's a certain pattern for getting throguh the Sea of Time, too.) If you're up for the challenge, though, it shouldn't be much of a problem.
One thing that many RPGers will like about this game is the VERY fast pace of battles. Well, battles are turn-based, but one turn of battle will play out in the time it takes you to snap your fingers. (Unless you cast a summon) In that light, you won't have to go through long and tedious battles to level up your characters so many times.
One of the cool features of GS: The Lost Age is the ability to transfer your game clear data from GS, either by link cable or by password. This allows you to carry your GS stats for Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia over from the first game and, depending on the password you choose (which can be up to 260 characters long!) their items, too. But, why would you want to do that? That's because Isaac's party will join Felix's party in the late stages of the game, and if you really love the stats or equipment of your characters, you'll punch that extremely long password into your game.
You'll probably want to make use of the battle arena, too. This is where you can link up to a friend and challenge him to a 3 on 3 battle to see who's better. If you don't have anyone to battle with, then you can try to survive as long as you can against normal monsters. However, as you progress through the game, you'll probably start to find the single-player battles annoying when all you get are boss monsters...
The only downfall to this game would be the numerous cutscenes, which are all extermely long . Enough said, this is probably not a game that someone with ADD will want to play, nor will anyone with a short attention span.
Also, on a side note, your party will also come across psynergies and Djinn (the little creatures that enhance your character's stats and use summons) that were not available in the first game.
So, with the challenge of puzzles and trying to figure out what to do next, to the quick battles and data transfer from the first GS, it makes this game completely unique, and even first-timers to the series will love it.
Gameplay rating: 27/30
Sound:
Let me just say this, the music in this game, especially the battle themes, are AWESOME! I always find myself going into the sound test (go to the link arena, then talk to the lady in the southwest corner while holding L and R) just to listen to the battle themes (which include a chockful of new themes, and even the battle theme from the original GS). You'll want to invest in headphones just to get the most out of every note. My only complaint about the sound would be the cheesy voice-like sound effects you get when talking to people. It just gets annoying sometimes when you hear "weeweewooweeweeweewoowooweewee" as you're trying to read the text.
Sound rating: 13.5/15
Replayability:
Well, I can't really say much here. Unless you have a friend to battle with often, you'll probably play this game and put it away if you're not a seasoned RPGer. However, most hardcore RPG gamers will want to play this game again and again, just for the challenge.
Replayability rating: 12/20
Final thoughts:
When I first bought this game around Christmastime, I was excited. The first part left me bored, mainly because I didn't play the original game and was having a tough time getting started. However, after downloading a FAQ and buying the Prima guide, (which turned out to be hella confusing) I was easily able to indulge myself in this game, and now it goes down as one of my favorite RPGs of all time, along with Lufia II, FFTA, and Fire Emblem 7.
Also, it's great to see the line of great games coming from Camelot continuing on. (For those of you that remember Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, both in their N64 and GBC forms) I have a simple formula to help you understand:
Nintendo + Camelot = Great games
Anyways, that's it. And now for the moment you've all been waiting for!
Final rating:
Story: 18/20
Graphics: 5/5
Play control: 7/10
Gameplay: 27/30
Sound: 13.5/15
Replayability: 12/20
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OVERALL: 82.5/100 - Rounded to a GamingMoz score of 8.3/10
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