Golden Sun - 20 Years and Shining Bright

#GoldenSun #GoldenSun20 #Nintendo
Exploring the Music of Golden Sun: • Exploring the Music of...
Fun fact, I actually had planned on making this video last year as a way to celebrate my channel's 5 year anniversary, but during that time I was considering deleting my channel. But hey, I'm still here. Look at me go.
Golden Sun is a game that I've talked about time and time again on this channel, and I wanted to do this game justice by pulling out all the stops and giving it my A game. I got in detail talking about every single thing I love about this game, so strap in and enjoy!

[@Tetasha]

Imagine a game where you play as Isaac's team during The Lost Age events

[@TheHeavieKiwie]

Spin off!

[@EdouardMulheim]

That sounds good.

[@zachindes]

I would play the heck outta that game!!

[@lem09able]

Also also, a prequel about the sealing of alchemy.

[@Shiwahime]

Literally the game that changed my childhood. I really want a fourth game, just for a better ending... ♥

[@jakecraftlawrance7206]

It changed my childhood too

[@somerandomguy4281]

Mine was not the same after I finished both games.

[@malcolmisgee]

Same my dumb young mind could barely understand the battle system but the cool summons kept me tweaking my djinn composition and the cool puzzle kept me guessing I loved it tho it just took me FOREVERRR to beat the bosses 😭 so glad I played via emulation

[@neworldfool9625]

Or an actual ending and not a “to be continued…”

[@Shiwahime]

@@neworldfool9625 Yeah pretty much. They gave us a pseudo dino crisis 2 ending

[@LieLikesMusic]

Thanks for talking about Golden Sun. One of my all time favorite games! Fantastic gameplay, animation and music.

[@eriknorman1690]

I'd really like a 4th game where you band together with the 8 characthers from the first games and the 8 from dark dawn to finally take down Alex and get the ending this series deserves.

[@AnthonyGonzalez16]

I read a article a long time ago of the creators talking about how GS1 and GSLA were meant to be prequels that build up to the universe of GS. Dark Dawn was the beginning of the real story and that they had plans for 2-3 more games. Not sure if I’m sharing what I remember correctly.

[@westonmeyer3110]

I doubt they would do that. There are obviously new heroes and the kids of the Lost Age main four as well as Mia’s other kid, Nowell.

[@Propbase80XGem]

No Rief tho he sucks

[@AlexFarleyMusic]

​@@AnthonyGonzalez16I can see how it was an introduction to the world of "Golden Sun". I think they had grand plans for the overarching story, but waited entirely too long, and the fans grew away from the series. I think it would be cool to end the series with the original surviving heroes, who have aged centuries, be the team to save the world one last time.

[@salamandar259]

The golden sun will rise again !

[@SuperDjinni123]

This has always been my favourite jrpg ever and your videos on the topic make me so happy, there still are people who appreciate this game!

[@ArmaBiologica35]

I actually appreciate the simplicity of the story in Golden Sun. A lot of RPG's have extremely convoluted and pretentious storytelling ... I'm looking at you Kingdom Hearts. Golden Sun doesn't do that, and because of that it's more enjoyable on the whole. But at the same time that doesn't mean that the game world lacks depth in it's setting.

[@naruto5224]

Mannn I was on a Golden Sun Nostalgia trip for a few days and just subscribed you. And I see this video pop up😂 it's like it was fate. Kudos man, this game was my childhood.

[@cfewLW74]

GS is the only game that gets me on nostalgia trips every now and then. No other game has achieved that and I've played a lot of games 😁

[@Mian98]

I watched almost each and every review or retrospective of this game there is on YT, even your older ones so i can safely say that this is the best Golden Sun retrospective i've seen so far! I loved every part of it. You've covered everything that makes this game special to me, and even covered the negative parts. From the one of a kind soundtrack to the unique overworld puzzles and the battle system to the variety of side quests and side things you can do like reading the minds of the characters. All these things make for a game that has a charm that could never be replicated. I always wanted remakes of the first two games as one big game but with time i realised that Nintendo doesn't seem to be interested in reviving the series even with the great fan demand. And even if a remake will ever be a thing which i still believe might happen someday it might leave me dissappointed because of all those big and little things you said in this video that make the first games so great in my opinion. A remake could never replicate that at least in my opinion. There are so many small touches that make this game great that i don't see anyone ever replicate. The sound font for example. Of course there are awesome ways to reimagine or remaster this games ost but it will never be as epic and energetic as it sounded on the original GBA. There is just something about this sound font that makes those themes so magical to me. I also don't thing they will be able to do this games graphics justice. I'm actually scared of them giving GS the gen 4 remake treatment with the character designs. Even though i like chibi characters i think in this case they would ruin the overall epicness and atmosphere of the game. I mean the characters in GS do look chibi-like but it fits because of the pixelated look. The animated enemy sprites would also lose there charm when replicated in a more modern style i think. Of course i'd love to be proven wrong about all this. Those are just my thoughts on the matter. Overall i'm just happy about the 3 great Golden Sun games that we have. Although flawed i can enjoy them (the first two games) with every playtrough as if it was me first one. I think you really have to feel the charm and sense of adventure these games provide in order to fully enjoy and love them the way we do. That's why the Golden Sun community is so full of lovely people. We know about the flawes of these games but we can look past them and emerse in this fantastic world that is Weyard. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continuing support for the series in all these years! I really care for your opinion, Ryan. You put your heart into everything you do and it shows

[@MatthewCobalt]

Funny story about the Forest Maze: I was one of those that didn't get the the Force Gem that gives you the "Force" psynergy. So I essentially just pushed myself through the whole thing and just memorized the proper path. The only reason I did this was because I didn't understand that the shadow path was actually a shadow of the invisible path. I was not an observant 8 y.o.

[@Tushii]

Same lmao I got it on another playthrough though

[@zakerdoodle]

I never found out about that until I read a walkthrough many years later in my 20s 😆 I was like bruh...

[@BalboaBaggins]

Same here. Just like the Lost Woods in OoT just try every path. Probably a lot of people who do it this way.

[@antenna_prolly]

It's only a problem if you want to get all the Djinn in _Lost Age...._

[@MatthewCobalt]

@@antenna_prolly …which I did. Damn it all.

[@AdeptCharon]

Thank you for making this

[@ForeignWerewolf]

This video is beatiful, thank you...

[@maximecrepin1756]

So glad I found such a quality video about Golden Sun ! I love this game so much I did multiple rom hacks of it (balanced age, etc...), and many runs like Isaac Solo, Ivan Solo, (Pavel + Ivan duo...), Djinns/summons only... And still, every run I do, I learn new things about the game, it's endless !

[@Jackthewolf]

This video is incredible! Amazing how we used almost the same musics in the same order in our GS reviews hahahah

[@turboDrowsy]

First Jeb, now Ryrule. What a great week this has been.

[@Grangolus]

My man still at it, keep it up mate. Wanted to add that your intro in this video is touching, heartfelt.

[@bocrer]

There is somtehing wrong about not having our proper encounter with Alex in 3 games, we deserve a good ending to this saga. -oping for Nintendo/Camelot to realize that there is a lot of fanbase behind Golden Sun and make the right call sometime...

[@paskizephyr]

Agreed. We need a proper battle with Alex. I do hope, if and when the 4th installment comes, the battle with Alex is 2-3x harder than Dullahan’s.

[@Darthdaddy_66]

I can’t tell you how hard the nostalgia hit when BOTH OF THESE GAMES released on the Nintendo switch recently. I hope for either a 4th or a hard remake. The fanbase is there.

[@DaegdaGames]

Dragon Quest 3 is getting a snazzy new remake, imagine Golden Sun getting that same treatment. Imagine climbing the waterfalls of Mercury Lighthouse in a stunning 2D/3D model. Exploring the deep depths, cliffs and unground death lake where a legendary skeletal pirate awaits your challenge. The high platforms and traps that later await in Jupiter lighthouse, The hollow halls of Air's Rock. Imagine how glorious it would be to relive those nostalgia days with a remake the we, no the world deserves. The music.. imagine a fully orchestrated version of all the music from Golden Sun. I'll keep my fingers crossed and visit that world in my dreams until then.

[@flyingbrosnl6656]

Golden Sun love it so much!!!

[@GardoGamer]

Best underrated review for Golden Sun so far... I'll wait for your Golden Sun 2 review...

[@gafferman3256]

Great video! Golden Sun was one of my absolute favorite games from my teenage years. I do agree that the first game has a sudden ending, but having a sequel that picks up right where the first one left off makes this completely okay in my mind. I guess they were going for the same thing in Dark Dawn, but instead it left fans of the series almost as blue balled as fans of Shenmue...

[@nickstrife8312]

I loved this video! I hope to see more of videos on your channel, Ryrule. And I can't wait for your TLA new review and TLOZ SS review. Anyway, keep up the good work, man!

[@GenmaTheSamurai]

SPOILERS I believe the part about the stone of the sages is supposed to be more a concept molded by legends. Since this is based on Alchemy, the ultimate goal of alchemy is the philosopher's stone, or basically the Golden Sun. Now I don't think stone of sages is specifically said again, but I think that's the idea.

[@clearandsweet]

Couldn't agree more about the identity comment near the beginning of the video. Great script for this one, loved it!

[@boromi03]

Great job!

[@pointerariza]

Brother you are the only youtuber who gives a f about golden sun and im happy there is somebody on this world who shares that sentiment about this game like me, i never played dark dawn but i did played the first two. I decided to search golden sun in your channel and there are easily more than 15 videos about it. Thank you for existing!

[@LeBingeDoctor]

TandA is also a youtuber you should check if you like GS' music : he has made the most incredible orchestral arrangements of the first two games (I recommend especially his 2020 version of the beloved Venus Lighthouse theme) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/raewaaOlqrBmec0

[@pointerariza]

@@LeBingeDoctor will check it, thanks!

[@Maverick.D.]

I love all three games, cant wait for a fourth one.

[@warpgate6386]

It's great to see that people still care about this game, I remember picking Dark Dawn up on a whim when I was 11 or 12 because the box art was cool. I fell in love with all three games but was so sad when Dark Dawn left off on a cliffhanger because I thought there was never gonna be a fourth game... Here's hoping they make one though

[@hansgretl1787]

I played this game a couple years ago, and liked it decently well. But I could never get into TLA. Now you inspired me to play this again.

[@RazaeltheOrigin]

After every Mario Tennis/Golf game, came a GS Game. So, Golf and Tennis are on Switch, next up is GS4

[@jodurand6613]

I hope you are right

[@GauFntastic]

I never noticed how Garett is just kinda chilling under the bridge at 11:01 when the boulder falls

[@GenmaTheSamurai]

LOL the part about the GBA soundchip made me laugh. I'm happy you noticed what I did on this playthrough about the stones. I think it's this game's way of communicating the danger of alchemy's release as just stones caused that, and if it is released it could cause all sorts of chaos (and we know where that goes.) This was a great video dude. These games really were something special, and heck I wouldn't be the person I am without them for better or worse. It was a pleasant surprise seeing this and happy it turned out well. Excited for that Lost Age vid whenever that happens, and the Zelda vids too.

[@greensmurf221]

Outside of GS1+2, Shining Force 1+2 are some of my favorites. Pretty awesome that they're made by the same company. I had no idea until like 5 years ago.

[@sirlionheart4614]

never played the first game but I knew about it growing up. i remember seeing the second game in a magazine and asked for it for christmas, long behold i got it. also played the third. beloved series.

[@ForeignWerewolf]

15 minutes?! The prologue always takes me like 1 hour xD

[@peacocca190]

My favorite gba game and one of my favorite games period.

[@KooriGraywolf]

Man, seeing that Vale boulder scene made me choke at my throat

[@KalaamNozalys]

Well, isn't the Stone of the Sages/Philosophical Stone just the product of the Golden Sun, or that you can create one with the Golden Sun ? At least in the french version that is what is implied, especially with Dark Dawn. The encyclopedia entry says that the Wise One is powered by a stone of the sages/philosophical stone. (so basically it's a golem created to protect the sanctum)

[@isaac3000]

This is how I got it from the german and english versions of DD as well. So the Golden Sun effect might have created a second stone of sages aka Wise One...

[@ariellefigueroa9128]

THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY IS ON A SUNDAY. EVERYONE RIOT NINTENDO

[@Sheepy765.]

Golden Sunday

[@cirotron]

amazing game

[@solidsnake1113]

Not going to lie one of my favorite games. We need a remake of the games, you would think with all the games getting remakes this game would get some love.

[@ThatsCk]

Golden Sun Fans: "Camelot come on and give us the next Golden Sun game!" Also Golden Sun Fans: *Start crying* "Or at least a remake. Please. Something." :,(

[@polytrashed]

Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there - if you don’t ever mix-and-match djinn on adepts then you never gain access to some of the most powerful classes in the game like Ninja, White Mage, Samurai, etc. as well as crazy psynergy like Annihilation or Helm Splitter! It really is awesome seeing the basic roles you’ve “assigned” to your party members completely change as well as the way you play them and approach encounters… I DEFINITELY recommend at least trying it out.

[@cirotron]

to me would be nice an option to dismiss dialogs when it doesn't lead to any point regarding history, but to me people chatting is something that gives gs the edge regarding history and character building. I really enjoyed dialogs, even when I played it for the first time. Every piece of this game is sublime

[@josesuarez1711]

13:37 and goosebumps nostalgia in 3, 2, 1...

[@ScootsLounge]

Golden Sun was the game that got me into RPGs, and I love it to pieces. I hope so much that it gets a continuation, because both The Lost Age and Dark Dawn have such underwhelming endings.

[@AshXXMayftw]

Honestly, just give the franchise to Monolith Soft. When it comes to JRPGs they're one of the best and could even improve on the series. For instance, instead of making it a series with a huge overarching story, each game would be its own self contained story within the same world. So we'd have Isaac's tale for the first, then for the second it would be passed off to a different set of main characters. I feel the downfall of GS can be traced back to this concept if I'm honest. Having to write a huge narrative using the same characters, world, etc can lead to burn out, which in turn leads to less enthusiasm. As a writer this is a very real thing. So in my eyes switching up the main cast every game would help alleviate that.

[@Maverick.D.]

NO.

[@AshXXMayftw]

@@Maverick.D. Yes. If Camelot isn't up for making anymore games for the series give it to someone else who knows how to make fantastic JRPGs.

[@TheRyanSucksAtGames]

I actually agree to an extent. I think, after TLA, the series would have been much better off doing it's own thing as opposed to continuing the story and doing nothing with it. But as for giving the rights to the Xenoblade guys... I'm not sure. Their JRPGS tend to have a lot going on in terms of gameplay mechanics and part of what makes Golden Sun special is that it's simple. So as long as they keep things relatively simple then sure. I don't want to play a GS game where I get ten hours in and still get tutorials popping up, you know?

[@Brisk855]

Golden Sun will be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online.

[@ExoParadigmGamer]

Ryan, I love you, but the Super Mario Advance 2 music isn't "screech in agony" bad. But I also have a weird affinity for the Sappy audio engine. Interestingly, Golden Sun actually does use a variation of that engine, though I believe they modified it in some way.

[@Mian98]

[@ProtoUnleashed]

I start to wonder if the video for lost age or a new game entry releases first

[@Final_Flash1]

Lost Age & Dark Dawn reviews next! Love these games, I traded some kid in school a couple games for this and Lost Age, best decision I’d ever made!

[@Strawhat_Pirates3D2Y]

I would love it if we at least got an HD remake~

[@tea_fran]

Fighting just Felix atop Mercury lighthouse would've been a pretty cool twist. Then Alex could've still stepped in at some point to assist him and mopped the floor with the team, although then Alex could've just taken the Mars Star if so. Butttt the sense of dread and intimidation from the prospect of fighting Saturos again after the ass-whooping at the prologue is pretty unparalleled. Another opportunity could've been Felix as Isaac's last challenger at Collosso with a conditional outcome; if you lose the fight then Saturos and co are granted passage to Venus/Babi Lighthouse, but if you win the fight then Saturos and co force their way to the lighthouses the same way they already do in the original game.

[@nahamaha5576]

The title screen remix made me cry god i want a new game/remake

[@explosive_shart9405]

Once I beat Legend of Dragoon i'm probably going back to Golden Sun for the 20th time.

[@Nekrozys]

Pro tip: If you play on emulator and see trees flickering on the world map like we do in this video, from the quick menu go to Options, then go to Video and turn the "Interframe Blending" on "simple". (or whatever applies to your emulator) This will make the emulator mix half of the current and previous frame into each other to simulate the ghosting effect of the original GBA LCD screen. Effectively, this will make trees stop flickering on the world map and provide the anti-aliasing effect the programmers intended.

[@HeadacheCentral]

Re: the instrumentation in Golden Sun vs Mario Golf vs Pokémon gen 3: most of the instruments actually come from very similar sources, which could be traced back to the Roland Sound Canvas SC-88 Pro. The main difference is that for Golden Sun 2 and the Mario Golf GBA games Sakuraba used different drum samples which mostly seem to consist of drum parts from the Alesis DM5 drum module, which he also made heavy use of for most of his PS1/early PS2 era Tales Of game soundtracks. It's interesting to observe, for sure, but the clarity of Golden Sun's sound quality compared to other games on the system seems to have a lot to do with how the sound team at Camelot Software Planning seemed to have crafted a much more efficient sound driver than some other teams at the time did. Golden Sun: The Lost Age even had a faux reverb applied to a lot of its music, which is really interesting to take a look at.

[@ZedarShadow]

I actually got the game from my cousins when we were kids. They got stuck and I was trying to get past it, and since I didn't start the game a lot of it was a Mystery. I didn't realize there were multiple save slots for a while, so I could start fresh and know what to do

[@hykuzo]

Watching this to prepare for the E3 nintendo direct

[@TheRyanSucksAtGames]

Expect the worst but hope for the best.

[@fishofgold6553]

For the algorithm.

[@ErGujti]

H A R D N U T

[@cs16241]

The team behind Mario Rpg Remake, there's more work to be done with Golden Sun

[@BitZapple]

I like Dark Dawn!

[@Fjado]

I have a lot of hope for a revival after the Advance Wars reveal, all we as fans need to do is keep demonstrating our desire for a return to the series. Any Golden Sun fan who hasn't already should check out the subreddit and participate in Golden Sunday this year !

[@classyrobot5648]

Randomly, I'll whistle the tune the village children sang to Felix in The Lost Age as a hint. Can't remember which village it was for the life of me

[@kelm7908]

And now it’s on the Switch Expansion

[@hortchester1255]

The battle backgrounds look like layers. Overall the game has a effect that looks like a oil painting

[@Chakra1412]

I mean it's totally possible. Advance Wars is getting a total remake. So the chances of seeing Golden Sun are still there. It's just the chances are still more so open ended. I would absolutely LOVE to see the Golden Sun rise once more. Even if it were just a remake. We could probably see the true vision this way with Golden Sun and TLA in one game as they originally wanted. Then maybe. Just maybe see a new installment. Either way this game still shines in my opinion.

[@your_struly]

I wouldn't mind if they wouldn't bring out a new golden sun, but I do really hope that it will get somehow on the switch.

[@crystaltriforce64]

i honestly wouldn't be surprised if they remake the first two games as a one game with an HD touch up like they did with advanced wars

[@rialvita7141]

Also I always wondered how no one questions why Weyard seems fractured after the Golden Sun event and never recovered, dividing the world in supposedly various sea levels.

[@isaac3000]

19:40 read the mind of that guy, he is gay. The gay representation in the frist game (Lost Age might have a gay couple as well). As a gay guy myself, I like this albeit in this case it's a humorous one but still impressive!

[@tjsvanaria]

I wish Camelot would remake Golden Sun & The Lost Age from the ground up. A full remake as one huge title the way it was intended to be

[@retrorobert8102]

Ein Spiel wie Golden Sun einfach und überall heute spielen zu können ist einfach ein Fest grossartiges Viedeo Golden Sun 4 oder Ff7 Part 2 was kommt zu erst

[@LordApoca]

I grew up playing the golden sun games, beat them both with all Djinni and really wish the 3rd one was equally as amazing as the first 2

[@chuck_jotsugaming6755]

Coming to Switch soon , oh yeah

[@BalboaBaggins]

The battle music is always the worst because you simply hear it too often.

[@ManOutofTime913]

"Stone of the Sages" is just a poor translation of "Philosopher's Stone." It's meant to contextualize what the power of Alchemy can do and why it's so important that the Elemental Stars don't fall into the wrong hands which is demonstrated by the rest of the game where Alchemy spreading throughout the world causes the sudden mutation of animals into monsters and basically every major problem that happens. It's also a great setup for why the plot is happening. The original alchemists harnessed this power because of the rumor that the Philosopher's Stone could transmute other materials into gold. It was a purpose fueled by greed, with dire consequences for the rest of the world, which is also the final motivation of our villain, Alex.

[@BinaryDood]

Favprite game before I played Chrono Trigger. I have 160 hours on it and think most of it is from the colliseum lol.

[@paskizephyr]

I just realized that after all these years, the Adept protagonists are training Psynergy under a non-Adept person (Kraden)…huh…

[@culleysteiner8966]

Real talk can we get a new golden sun game before I die?

[@Tyrarl]

I had no hope for golden sun returning. It was a flawed JRPG in aspects of its story and delivery (especially Dark Dawn) but it's such a cult classic for so many including myself (though again, Dark Dawn failed for me in many aspects especially the sound and particle effects during battle). However with the announcement of the Mario RPG remake this year, I have hope. If we can get the smrpg remake we've been asking for for 20 years, we'll get golden sun one day I'm sure of it.

[@jmpiedmonte]

It upsets me so much that nintendo hasn't told Camelot to make another golden sun.... they need to atheist green light a remake and fold the lost age and the og GS into one game

[@Zeusx1944]

The only way possible that this game will have a "revive" if it's theres a playable character in smash. Look at pit for example... Maybe next smash games? Maybe next expansion in smash? Who knows but i'm still confident

[@ShotokanEditor]

14:40 Yes thank you for someone finally saying THIS! Everybody loves this twat and he didnt even had the guts to explain to his childhood friends what was going on while Isaac and co had tied hands

[@Sheepy765.]

Splitting this video into two parts? Sounds familiar…

[@ericquiabazza2608]

People: backtracking is a chore! Me with emulator: Turbo goes Brrrrrrrrr

[@popculturepausescreen1522]

No matter how many times I try to enjoy this series, I can never get into it. It is the one series I can never explain as to why and even after watching this, I get reminded of all those emotions. It looks great, sounds great, plays great but I just get this overwhelming sense of "long-windedness" that makes me shudder. Camalot's games seem to be more enjoyable for me when they don't have the time to put everything in them. Like Shinning the Holy Arch, when they are given too much freedom, they just go on and talk way too much.

[@luckyhammerorthor]

I just started playing this because It came out for NSO gba. I'm really enjoying the game except the constant talking. I decided to use an emulator on my computer and use 400 times speed for any big chatting points 😅😅

[@animatorbroman3710]

FURST

[@highmarshalbalian680]

Wow your intro just dragged on