Nintendo: June 2011

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (Video Game)
By Nintendo

Buy new: $24.00
75 used and new from $13.79
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Review & Description

Offering a planet-sized world of adventure to explore and conquer, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn puts the raw power of the elements in players' hands. Each of the game's playable characters is capable of carrying Djinn, spirits that imbue their owner with unique and powerful abilities. Players can collect more than 70 unique Djinn, granting them the ability to summon mighty deities who unleash devastating attacks that fill both Nintendo DS screens. Djinn powers can also be used to navigate puzzling dungeons and overworld environments that will have players flinging fireballs to burn away obstacles, freezing water to raise platforms, or summoning whirlwinds to create bridges out of floating objects. Taking place 30 years after the events of Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age for the Game Boy Advance system, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn introduces a new generation of heroes that are struggling to survive in a radically changed world. What begins as a simple journey to rescue a lost friend turns into a dramatic quest to save the land from catastrophe as players are drawn into a world full of magical energy.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is a single player role-playing game (RPG) for Nintendo DS and DSi that continues the Golden Sun adventure begun in the original two games in the series published for Game Boy Advance. The game features randomly occurring, party based combat in which descendants of characters seen in the original two games utilize elemental powers to alter the game environment in a quest to save their world. Additional features include: improved graphics, touchscreen and D-pad controls and the ability to consult non-player characters regarding relevant events of the first two games in the series.

It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is a classic role-playing game that branches out on the DS and DSi with a new look, countless adventures and heroic battles. The game picks up 30 years after the first two games in the series left off. At the end of Golden Sun: The Lost Age, the heroes succeeded in bringing the world-healing power of the Golden Sun back to the world of Weyard. In the years since, the immense power of the Golden Sun has changed nearly everything. Continents have shifted. New countries have emerged. New species have appeared. But the world is now imperiled by a new threat. Psynergy Vortexes, which suck the elemental Psynergy from both the land and power-wielding Adepts alike, are spreading across the world. The new generation of heroes – the children of those from the previous games – are drawn into the mystery behind the vortexes, as they cross a chaotic world that is succumbing to a new evil.

Adept party combat characters from Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

The classic GBA RPG series comes to the DS.
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Gameplay

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, like earlier games in its series, is a turn-based RPG featuring randomly generated party combat. It supports a single player. Players assume the role of one of four characters known as "Adepts," who are descendants of characters from the two previous games in the series published on the Game Boy Advance handheld platform. Each Adept is associated with an elemental force and are classified as such.

Although in a sense the gameworld is threatened by Psynergy, this force, which can be understood as a kind of mana, is also the basis of Adepts' powers. Again, as previously seen in the series this allows the player to manipulate Psynergy to alter the world around them and to summon anthropomorphised elemental forces known as Djinn who unleash forces related to their element. Djinn can be carried along with the character and used at will as long as the character possess enough energy to maintain their attack. Djinn can also facilitate movement through the game, for example freezing liquid to create bridges, melting and blowing away obstacles, etc. There are 70 Djinn available in-game, whose combining alters player's stats and strategy when facing enemies. Additional features include: updated graphics, touchscreen control and the ability to question non-player characters for information related to the events of the previous two games.

Key Game Features

Classic single player turn-based RPG party combat gameplay.
Amazing graphics and beautifully animated summoning abilities that span both Nintendo DS screens let players experience the Golden Sun game universe like never before.
The story takes place 30 years after the final events of the second game, when the Golden Sun Effect occurred. The main characters are the descendants of the previous game's heroes.
Intuitive touch-screen control has been implemented throughout the game, controlling character movements and the release of Psynergy – magical abilities with powerful effects over people and the environment. Touch control also streamlines battle commands and gives players a stronger tactile connection to the action on the screen.
Players will explore a vast and beautifully rendered world where they will find many treasures, encounter dangerous creatures and manipulate objects blocking their path.
Players will also hunt for and collect Djinn, mysterious elemental creatures used to summon powerful spirits in battle and boost player stats.