
As a few of you are likely aware, Nintendo has a small JRPG franchise called Golden Sun that's actually pretty good. It's developed by Camelot, a studio that also works with Mario sports spinoffs. Though there's only three entries in Golden Sun (technically two, due to how the first two were initially one game), the series nonetheless has a passionate fanbase that eagerly hopes it'll one day become a popular franchise.
Did You Know Gaming? – the popular video game trivia Youtube series – has just recently put up a video on the Golden Sun games. As can be expected, the video covers the whole series' production up to its possible future and there's many interesting insights into where the series came from. Check it out:

What do you think? Are you a fan of Golden Sun? What would you like to see out of a future game in the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 26
Would love another golden sun game
I remember I bought Golden Sun on the Game boy Advance and LOVED it! The art on the box got my attention and playing it was so cool! Great graphics, music, and character. Gameplay was awesome as well.
Aah Golden Sun. The once loved, now abandoned child of Camelot. Leaving the series on a cliffhanger was the worst thing they could have done after that huge wait, leading to another long wait -_- The only thing they do these days is churn out Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, with the latest iterations also quite behind the older titles. The same company who was behind the Shining Force franchise. They seriously can do so much better. Although I did know that a lot of the workforce had left so that explained the huge initial hiatus.
Still great that "Did you Know Gaming?" covered Golden Sun. Didn't know about Beyond the Beyond. Might have to somehow get my hands on it.
Now all we Golden Sun fans need to do is to send them some fine liquor, and a letter to tell them to get drunk and think of Golden Sun 4 Plus that there is fan demand!
We need Golden Sun 4! And hopefully if Isaac got decently placed in the ballot, a playable appearance in Smash might just be the bump he needs for making GS 4. #IsaacForSmash!
Off topic:
I thought I recognized that voice, turned out to be Smooth McGroove. Would love it if he made another GS acapella.
@Captain_Gonru
Please no. Plus I doubt that Nintendo will go for some relatively unknown franchise over their mainstays, even for mobile titles. RPGs just won't cut it much especially a turn based one.
I have both the first Golden Sun (VC) and Dark Dawn in my backlog....I need to get busy on my backlog of RPGs and also pick up Lost Age.
...I'm guessing none of these are exactly short, either.
@Trinexx
Well actually the Golden Sun games are not that long with the first game being around 20 hours with full completion and Golden Sun 2 lasting around 30.
Dark Dawn is roughly as long as the Lost Age so lasts for 30-40 hours.
Compared to other RPGs that can last from 50-100 hours, the Golden Sun games are short. Still great though as they never get that drawn out, plus you don't even really need to grind much with focus on the puzzle solving being greater. The length is short but really sweet.
@Captain_Gonru While I can see Golden Sun on mobile (the way you described sounds about what would be expected) I doubt Nintendo would bring a obsucure rpg series to the massive casual audience of mobile. I'm expecting more of the miitomo like games. Games featuring simple Nintendo icons that anybody can recognize like the miis, Mario, wii fit, Dr.Mario, and Kirby.
I think there's still one game left in this franchise, but I'm not sure if we'll see it this generation.
Still waiting on number 4.
Finishing Dark Dawn and finding out it ends in a cliffhanger just had me drooling for another. Camelot needs to finish this, you can't just end a game in a cliffhanger and not continue, it's as guilty as ending Shenmue 2 and not making Shenmue 3 which Yu Suzuki is now paying the price for when doing such a thing. You can't temp us gamers with a cliffhanging story and not give us the end. C'mon Camelot, if it's money you need then do Kickstarter, make a 4th one already and release it for Wii U, NX, 3DS anything.
Is fan demand really the deciding factor for a 4th Golden Sun game?
There is demand for a 4th Golden Sun game, just not a game that's as bad as Dark Dawn, which is generally disliked compared to the first 2 Golden Sun games.
And really, Camelot wanting to make a 4th Golden Sun seems irrelevant unless Nintendo is willing to green light and fund it, which seems unlikely based on Dark Dawn's perceived poor sales by Nintendo and its poor reception by fans. Nintendo probably looked at the sales and decided people don't like Golden Sun anymore, rather than people not liking Dark Dawn.
In addition, I have yet to see evidence that Nintendo has veered from its path of trying to appeal mainly to casual gamers (and not hardcore gamers), which the Golden Sun series definitely does not appeal to.
@DarkKirby Xenoblade X is a game that the developers have explicitly stated is being made for fans. All the same, I'm afraid Golden Sun's chances aren't too good.
I think the only chance Golden Sun has of getting a new game is if Isaac appears in Smash as a playable character. We've seen it so many times before, that a niche franchise has gotten character(s) in Smash and as a result largely created interest for said franchise leading to a new game (or Japan exclusive localized).
@Trinexx Golden Sun and The Lost Age are 2 halves of 1 large game, GBA cart restrictions forced it to be distributed in this way. So I'd recommend playing The Lost Age after you've finished Golden Sun and before playing Dark Dawn at all.
Golden Sun was the very first RPG I picked up (unless you count Pokémon which I only played as a Pokémon fan, of course) and I fell in love with it. It kick started a love of RPGs and the fantasy genre in general for me. The use of magic in the overworld to solve dungeon puzzles seems like a no-brainer for RPGs, yet you don't see any other series use it in the same way which is a shame.
A few things I didn't know about the games from that video, especially the alternate ending. There is a huge demand for GS4, though. I know Dark Dawn wasn't as well received but it's by no means a bad game, it just had a lot to live up to. It's a solid RPG in it's own right. I remember reading them say DD was a "standalone game" which I took as meaning there would be no cliffhanger and no sequel that finishes the story like the original GBA titles. BUT they did leave it on a cliffhanger, and very much left so much open that I refuse to believe they didn't have another game planned. The mystery of the vortexes, the discovery of the Umbra clan and Light Adepts, Alex still being alive and the fact we never saw 50% of the new world created after the return of Psynergy all point to another story being planned. If I recall, there were several characters mentioned we never saw so the story could pick up with them (the other children and where did Kraden go?). It's just a bad place to leave the series.
On the subject of Smash Bros, I was annoyed to find Isaac wasn't an assist trophy and no trophies representing the series were found, but I'm grateful they included some music. I really hope we see him as a fighter or at least an assist trophy or Mii outfit. I'm that desperate for more Golden Sun I'd even settle for a mobile game haha
My longest, funnest, and most strategic turn based battles were with these games. It has been forever since i played the GBAs but I felt so freaking smart when you were barely hanging on by a few HP for like 30 minutes on the bosses. The stress and thought you put into the battle made you feel like a real hero when you finally won.
I regard Golden Sun as a masterpiece. The atmosphere the game creates is nothing short of magical with its rich visuals and astounding soundtrack. The narrative and characters are always intriguing and the Djinn system used in battles really adds a different twist on the traditional RPG fare. Lost Age only expanded it, and regardless of what some say, I thought Dark Dawn was great as well, even if it wasn't quite as good as the first two.
The fact that Dark Dawn was released was a surprise in itself, so who knows what we might get in the future. In a gaming world where Shenmue 3 gets a kickstarter, anything is possible.
I still think it's funny how Ivan got the most background out of anyone
@mjc0961
The 3rd game was by no means 'trash'. Sure the storyline was different from what was expected (introduced more questions than answers), the game was a tad too easy with too much hand-holding and the cliffhanger was just cruel, BUT the game was good. Really good in fact.
Sure the game might have taken a few missteps but it still retained the Golden Sun charm. I remember turning on the cartridge and being instantly transported to the world of Golden Sun, albeit 30 years later. With its lovable Djinn, puzzle solving, the Djinn based combat and psynergy! The points of no return were also quite infuriating.
I blazed through the game in 2 days, just to get a gamebreaking bug (which no one on the internet had -_-) with me getting stuck behind a late game npc with no previous save file and nothing could get me free. I restarted the whole game and finished it in the next 2 days. It was definitely gripping, and by no means a trashy game.
This is coming from a person who has played GS numerous times and I still love the original and its sequel the most (GS is one of my favourite video game franchises ever), but I don't think Dark Dawn deserves the hate it sometimes gets.
The marvel of the Golden Sun's games can easily be seen by the small but loyal fanbase it still has. Being a 14 year old franchise, with the last game released 5 years earlier, Isaac and his game still maintains a decent popularity, enough to place quite well on most smash fan ballots and hopefully the actual ballot as well.
If he becomes playable in Smash, I am 100% sure the series will get a sequel. Plus the playable appearance would be awesome in itself (psynergy powers FTW!). #IsaacForSmash
As for me and like everyone else on here we still want 4. Also we got to play as felix kid.
@TomJ Everybody hated that game cuz the entire story of that game was basically a side-quest just to get a stupid feather to make a vehicle fly. It never explain how the f**k those black hole things are or where they are coming from. The game ends in a cliffhanger but no "to be continue" message meaning Camelot probably may not know how to end it or just trolling the fans so to get hype for a sequel. Dark Dawn also took away a lot of good things about the first two GS games, no Arena battle and no backtracking to previous locations. It's such a linear RPG and there's various locations within the map of the game which you can't get to which are only there to temp you for a sequel even more.
As much as I'd love to have a fourth Golden Sun game, what I really want is for the series to get some love in Smash Bros.! Like seriously, Brawl had an Isaac AT and a trophy of him. Smash 4? Nothing. Not even a little trophy could you give it, Sakurai!? Just two songs? Okay, okay, Sakurai, I get it. But come on!
@retro_player_22 Yeah, cliffhangers that don't get finished are really annoying. Personally, I'm still waiting for a "Conduit 3." C'mon, High Voltage Software! The only FPS competition on Wii U is one Call of Duty game and an ink-splating turf war that doesn't have any real battles or Wiimote controls.
I still have my original GBA cards for my GBA Micro AND the Original Guide Book by Prima remember them? It is a combo guide for GS 1&2, I reallylike those types.. The item listings, dungeons and artwork is amazing. It's not really a walk through though, thank g-d. Man, I love this series.
@Churchy
Churchy said:
I regard Golden Sun as a masterpiece. ..
I could not have said it better.
@LasermasterA
I just knew you'd go nuts over DYKG covering Golden Sun!
@AlexSora89
It's always nice to see an underrepresented (golden) franchise like Golden Sun get more coverage like this.
Plus I was looking forward to see some details I didn't know about. Didn't know about the Beyond game as well as how the idea for GS 3 came out to be (maybe that's why sort of messed a golden chance to revive the series).
Golden Sun and The Lost Age are 2 of my favorite RPGs. Didn't really like Dark Dawn enough to even finish it though. If they make a 4th game as good as the first two, hell yeah I'm down for a new game.
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