Dark Dawn takes place in the ever-changing world of Weyard, 30 years after the events of the first two Golden Sun games. You fill the role of Matthew, the son of Golden Sun protagonist Isaac and a budding Earth Adept to boot. The rest of your party is comprised of the offspring of the main cast from the previous games, and many familiar faces return to help you on your journey. Dark Dawn sees Matthew and his friends travel around Weyard to investigate the sudden spread of Psynergy Vortexes, mysterious portals that suck the power not only from Adepts, but the land itself as well.
Fear not though - if you haven’t played Golden Sun or The Lost Age, Dark Dawn is still very accessible, due to the lengthy cutscenes that really go into detail with the games’ backstories, although players of the first two games may find them to be a bit tedious. In an attempt to hold the player’s attention though, the game allows you at certain points (often several times in a single cutscene) to choose an emoticon for Matthew to display when other characters say certain things. While it’s an interesting way of allowing players to ‘get in touch’ with Matthew, it’s not entirely clear at times what each emoticon really means. For example, while you may intend for a smile to be kind and understanding, NPCs may reprimand you for not taking the situation seriously. Furthermore, there are no repercussions for choosing one emoticon over another, and the result is a feature that is feels tacked on and unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.
Shut up dad, I want to go battle things!
Dark Dawn uses the same turn-based gameplay as its predecessors, with standard attacks and Psynergy available to each character dependant on their weaponry and class. Your characters’ classes are determined by the Djinn (element-based creatures) they are currently assigned. Djinn have two modes – ‘Set’ and ‘Standby’. Setting a Djinn is a double-sword; while some Djinn can boost various statistics such as health and Psynergy points, they can decrease them as well. This is also true for each character’s Psynergy, and it can take a little bit of swapping Djinn between all your characters in order to find a party configuration best suited to your needs. By Setting a Djinn, you are also able to use its ability, which can provide offensive or support capabilities.
Upon using one of these abilities however, Djinn are placed on Standby and can be used to summon powerful monsters, complete with elaborate and dazzling summon sequences. Each monster costs a certain number of Standby Djinn to summon, and once successful, Djinn are taken out of commission for a few turns before reverting to Set mode.
The rest of Dark Dawn’s gameplay, however, will feel immediately familiar to any Japanese RPG fan. Players of the previous games will also be pleased to know that the most common complaint of Golden Sun and The Lost Ages has been addressed as well. In Dark Dawn, party members will now choose a new enemy to attack, should your previous target die. Certain Psynergy can also be used outside of battle to solve various puzzles and to explore new areas. It’s here that Dark Dawn makes full use of the Nintendo DS’s touchscreen, allowing you to manipulate the Psynergy as precisely as you want. The puzzles are just the right difficulty level too, retaining enough challenge to be interesting but easy enough so as not to frustrate younger players.
The Djinn will be your trusty companions in battle, allowing you to summon awesome beasts.
Dark Dawn also pushes the DS’s graphical capabilities to the limit, featuring detailed character models, colourful environments and, as previously mentioned, some absolutely gorgeous summoning sequences. Special mention must also be made for the Djinn, as while there are over 80 of them in the game, they each have a distinct appearance. The music is also very impressive, with the soundtrack composed by Japanese RPG music legend Motoi Sakuraba. Some of the tunes are sure to make some players nostalgic too, with Sakuraba opting to reuse some of the music from the previous titles.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is a perfect example of how Nintendo can continue building their franchises regardless of the timeframe in between games. It works well for old fans and newcomers alike as well – old fans will find that there are a lot of nostalgic qualities to the game, while those picking up the Golden Sun series for the first time will find this instalment very accessible and straightforward to get into. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is a great addition to the Golden Sun mythos and an excellent starting place for those trying to get into RPGs on the DS.
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