Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Encyclopedia
is the second installment of a series
of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning
and published by Nintendo
. The game was released in April 2003 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
, being a sequel to the Game Boy Advance Golden Sun
. Players can transfer their characters and items from Golden Sun to The Lost Age by means of a password system or Game Link Cable, and players are rewarded for fully completing both games.
Picking up the story during the events of the previous game, The Lost Age puts the player into the roles of a magic-attuned "adept" named Felix and his allies as they seek to restore the power of alchemy
to the world of Weyard. Along the way, the player uses psynergy to defeat enemies and discover new locations, help out local populations, and find elemental djinn
which augment the characters' powers.
Upon release, The Lost Age was generally praised, although many publications found that the game was not as good as Golden Sun. Nonetheless, IGN
ranked the game as the eighth-best Game Boy Advance
title of 2003 and the 22nd-best GBA game of all time. It has sold over 680,000 units.
and equipment, and take part in a building, predefined narrative. While many actions the player takes are compulsory and central to the story, The Lost Age allows the player to complete many objectives in the order of their choice, visiting previous locations to advance story elements and complete gameplay objectives is given a stronger emphasis than in the previous game.
Much of the time spent outside of battle takes place either in the game's overworld
or within dungeon
s, caves, and other locales with puzzles integrated into their layout. Unlike the original game, in which the overworld was explored on foot except for a brief, non-navigable boat ride, a large portion of The Lost Age's gameplay involves navigating a magical ship across a large sea, visiting continents and islands. To complete puzzles, players must either push pillars to construct negotiable paths between elevated areas, climb up and rappel down cliffs, or obtain a special item to progress through the story and game world. Many of these puzzles revolve heavily around the usage of the game’s resident form of magic spells, Psynergy, requiring the player to find items that grant the bearer new forms of Psynergy in order to accomplish tasks.
Whereas many role-playing games limit the usage of their forms of magic to battles as offensive and defensive measures, Psynergy spells are also heavily used in puzzles and exploration. Some types of Psynergy can only be used in combat; conversely, some spells are only used in the game's overworld and in non-battle scenarios. Still other Psynergy can be used for both situations; for example, the “Frost” spell can be used to damage enemies in battle, or to transform puddles of water into elongated pillars of ice as part of a puzzle. Psynergy comes in four elements: Venus
(rocks and plants), Mars
(fire and heat), Jupiter
(wind and electricity), and Mercury
(water and ice). The player gains more and more Psynergy spells as the game progresses, either through levelling up
or acquiring and equipping, or using, special items, and with each "utility" Psynergy spell the party gains access to more locations and secrets hidden within the game world. Players will be required to return to previous locations in the game to finish off puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of specific Psynergy spells.
The Lost Age contains both random monster encounters
and compulsory battles, which advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up where the enemy party is on the opposing side and the player’s party is on the battling side. While battle is conducted, the characters and background swirl around and change positions in a pseudo-3D
effect.
Gameplay in relation to The Lost Age's battle mode is similar to traditional console RPGs. In each battle, the player is required to defeat all the enemies using direct attacks with weapons, offensive Psynergy spells, and other means of causing damage, all while keeping their own party alive through items and supportive Psynergy that restore life and supplement defense. If all the player's characters are downed by reducing their hit points to zero, it is considered “Game Over”, and the party is returned to the last village that the player visited and suffers a monetary penalty. The successful completion of a battle yields experience points, coins, and occasionally rare items.
In addition to the main game itself, there is also a competitive battling mode accessible from the menu screen, where players can enter their currently-developed team from their saved game files into an arena where they can battle increasingly difficult CPU-controlled enemies or other players head-to-head to see which of their team setups are stronger. In both cases there are no experience points or coins to be earned.
(singular: Djinni), and The Lost Age features a host of new Djinn. They can be found scattered in hiding throughout the game. There are eleven Djinn for each of the four elements (not counting the ones that can only be found in the original Golden Sun) that may be allocated to each character. Djinn form the basis of the game’s statistics enhancement system, and Set djinn dictate the character’s Psynergy capabilities. Attaching different Djinn to different characters modifies the characters' classes
, increasing maximum hit points, Psynergy points, and other statistics, and also alters the available Psynergy that the characters can perform.
Collected Djinn can be assigned to a character of the player's choice and can be Set, on Standby, or in Recovery. When a Djinni is set, that Djinni exerts influence on its corresponding character’s class, statistics and Psynergy collection depending on both the character’s innate element and that of the Djinni. In combat, the player can choose to have a character use a set Djinni during that character's turn. Each Djinni has its own special effect when invoked during combat. These effects include enhanced elemental attacks, buffing or debuffing, healing, and other effects. After using a Djinni, its status is changed to Standby. While on Standby, Djinn do not contribute to a character’s class, but can be used for Summon Sequences, where the player summons a powerful elemental spirit. This is the game’s most powerful method of attack, and also the riskiest, as it requires Djinn to be on standby and therefore not available to bolster the statistics of whichever character the Djinni is equipped to. Once a Djinni on Standby has been used for a Summon Sequence, it takes a number of turns recovering before it restores itself to Set position on a character. There are a total of 29 Summon Sequences in The Lost Age; 16 from the previous game can be used alongside 13 new sequences, each of which must be earned individually; they are usually acquired by completing optional dungeons.
There is a total of 72 Djinn encompassing the four elements which can be arranged in almost any evenly distributed manner to the eventual eight characters, making for a large array of possible class setups for all eight playable characters, allowing a variety of combat options.
idea of the world. It is a flat, vaguely circular plane whose oceans perpetually spill off the edge of the world's entire perimeter into what seems to be an endless abyss, although no one knows what is over it. However at the end of the game in the very north of Weyard is a huge black void. The plot progression of The Lost Age spans many continents, islands, and oceans around the two main continents where the previous game takes place. All matter on Weyard consists of any combination of the four base elements: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury; magically-attuned Adepts can manipulate these elements.
. He is generally not shown to speak, although he does say "...", "!" and "Why?" at points in the game. His younger sister, Jenna, a seventeen-year-old Mars Adept also from Vale, and a fourteen-year-old girl and Jupiter Adept named Sheba, as well as a sharp-witted elderly scholar named Kraden, are all hostages that Felix was forced to take with his now-deceased masters, the Mars Adept warriors Saturos and Menardi that served as the previous game's antagonists. In this game the player takes the role of Felix as he strives to complete Saturos and Menardi's original objective to restore Alchemy to the world of Weyard, and joining them early on is a Mercury Adept named Piers, a mysterious young man whose ship Felix's party uses to explore the world throughout their journey.
Several groups of characters serve as Felix's antagonists in The Lost Age. He is at odds with the heroes of the original Golden Sun, led by the young Venus Adept warrior Isaac, who pursue him across the World, Weyard under the belief that Alchemy would potentially destroy Weyard if unleashed. One of Saturos' original companions, a powerful and enigmatic Mercury Adept named Alex, allies himself with a second pair of powerful and imposing Mars Adept warriors, Karst and Agatio. They keep the pressure on Felix to ensure he proceeds with his quest as he is supposed to.
The antagonists of the previous game, Saturos and Menardi, have been slain in battle by the game's protagonists led by Isaac, but not before the pair succeeded in activating two of four great lighthouses situated across the world of Weyard, the Elemental Lighthouses. But now Saturos' remaining travelling companion, Felix, has taken the rest of Saturos' group and now sets out on a journey of his own to complete Saturos' original objective to activate the remaining two Lighthouses, for lighting all four will achieve the restoration of the powerful force of Alchemy to Weyard. Sailing the oceans of Weyard on a ship with their new companion Piers, Felix and his party embark on an epic expedition while pursued by Isaac's party.
Eventually, Felix's party is able to achieve entrance into a legendary, secluded Atlantis-like society named Lemuria
far out in the ocean. When they convene with Lemuria's ancient king, Hydros, they learn about Alchemy's true nature; it has always been the sustenance of Weyard's very life force, and its absence over the past ages has caused the world's continents to decrease in size and parts of the world to collapse into the abyss. Knowing that restoring Alchemy is what must be done to actually save the world, Felix sets out to climb and activate Jupiter Lighthouse. But when Isaac's pursuing party enters the lighthouse, they are trapped and ambushed by the vengeful Mars Adept Warriors, Karst and Agatio. Felix comes to assist Isaac to defeat Karst and Agatio.
Felix is finally able to explain to Isaac why Alchemy's release is a necessary thing for everyone, and that Saturos and Menardi were aiming for this goal merely for the sake of the survival of their home colony of Prox to the far north, located near the Mars Lighthouse. Felix and Isaac's two traveling parties join forces to form one unified group that sets out north to activate Mars Lighthouse; however, when they reach the tower's top, the Wise One, the entity responsible for originally tasking Isaac to prevent the breaking of Alchemy's seal, confronts them. He warns them that mankind could very well destroy Weyard themselves if they had possession of such a power, and when Isaac insists on breaking the seal regardless the Wise One summons a giant, three-headed dragon for the party to battle in the final struggle.
When the party of Adepts have slain the dragon, they discover that the Wise One had transformed Isaac's father and Felix's parents into the now-dead beast." After a short period of mourning, they gather the resolve to finish their objective and activate Mars Lighthouse; with all four towers across Weyard lit, the process that heralds the return of the force of Alchemy to Weyard ensues at the mountain sanctum Mt. Aleph. Alex is there, however; he took advantage of everyone else's quests so that he would gain immense power for himself from the light of the Golden Sun, a manifestation of Alchemy itself. Unfortunately for him, though, the mountain collapses and sinks into the ground with him still on it. The Adepts, in the meantime, find that their parents have actually been revived by Alchemy's return, just as the Wise One originally planned. They are able to recognize that the reason the Wise One appeared to play that cruel trick on them before was to test their resolve as Adepts, and therefore test their ability to handle a great new responsibility: To ensure that throughout the world the newly released force of Alchemy is not abused by Weyard's populace like it was in the ancient past. The game ends as the Adepts and their parents return to their hometown of Vale to find that it has been destroyed by the energy let loose by the breaking of Alchemy's seal, but that their families and the other townspeople have survived because the Wise One warned them of the impending danger in advance.
being the first publication to review the game. The Lost Age was highly anticipated; it topped IGN
's list of Game Boy Advance
"Most Wanted" games for 2003. The North American version of the game was playable at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2002, and IGN noted that the opening of the game did away with the notoriously boring opening sequence of Golden Sun, introducing the characters in between the action. GameSpot
previewed a localized copy of The Lost Age in February 2003, and noted that the game built on its predecessor's graphics engine, with "the environments in the game featuring rich detail with little touches— such as birds that fly off as you approach."
On Metacritic
, The Lost Age has an 86% aggregate rating, compared to Golden Sun's 91%. Likewise, GameRankings gives The Lost Age an 87% overall rating, slightly lower than Golden Sun's 90%. Conversely, The Lost Age was ranked 78 on IGN
's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever, higher than its predecessor. It was also rated the 69th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power
's "Top 200 Games" list.
IGN gave the sequel high marks, noting that even though the game is not a sequel in the traditional literary sense, it was still an excellent game. While most of the game mechanics remained unchanged, the addition of more complicated puzzles was welcomed. The Lost Age subsequently became IGN's "Game of the Month" in April 2003. Shane Bettenhausen of Electronic Gaming Monthly
argued that though The Lost Age is "not going to win any originality contests (this looks, sounds, and feels nearly identical to its predecessor), but when more of the same means more top-notch roleplaying, I can't complain". Other publications singled out the graphics and audio as particularly strong features.
Some publications found fault with complaints which remained from the original, including the combat system. IGN and GamePro
took issue with the lack of "smart" combat; if an enemy is killed before other party members attack it, those members switch to defense instead of intelligently attacking the remaining enemies. Ethan Einhorn of GameNOW
felt that the only elements that set the fighting system above "typical RPG fare" were the graphics. GameSpy
felt that Camelot could have added more features, and criticized the long opening sequence which either alienated players of the previous game, or confused new players by swamping them with unfamiliar places and characters.
The Lost Age sold 96,000 units in its first week in Japan, being the best-selling game of the period. The game sold a total of 249,000 copies in Japan and 437,000 in North America by November 21, 2004.
Golden Sun (series)
is a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and produced by Nintendo. Golden Sun follows the story of a group of magically-attuned "adepts" who are charged with preventing the potentially destructive power of alchemy from being released as it was in the...
of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning
Camelot Software Planning
is a Japanese video game developer established in 1990 under the name Sonic! Software Planning and to date is best known for partnering with Nintendo on many of Nintendo's spin-off franchise games such as Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, as well as the role-playing game series Golden Sun...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. The game was released in April 2003 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, being a sequel to the Game Boy Advance Golden Sun
Golden Sun
Golden Sun, released in Japan as , is the first installment in a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. It was released in November 2001 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and was followed by a sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, in...
. Players can transfer their characters and items from Golden Sun to The Lost Age by means of a password system or Game Link Cable, and players are rewarded for fully completing both games.
Picking up the story during the events of the previous game, The Lost Age puts the player into the roles of a magic-attuned "adept" named Felix and his allies as they seek to restore the power of alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
to the world of Weyard. Along the way, the player uses psynergy to defeat enemies and discover new locations, help out local populations, and find elemental djinn
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
which augment the characters' powers.
Upon release, The Lost Age was generally praised, although many publications found that the game was not as good as Golden Sun. Nonetheless, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked the game as the eighth-best Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
title of 2003 and the 22nd-best GBA game of all time. It has sold over 680,000 units.
Gameplay
The Lost Age is similar to its predecessor in that it is a contemporary presentation of the traditional console role-playing game formula. Players guide a cast of characters as they journey through a fantasy-themed world, interact with other characters, battle monsters, acquire increasingly powerful magic spellsMagic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
and equipment, and take part in a building, predefined narrative. While many actions the player takes are compulsory and central to the story, The Lost Age allows the player to complete many objectives in the order of their choice, visiting previous locations to advance story elements and complete gameplay objectives is given a stronger emphasis than in the previous game.
Much of the time spent outside of battle takes place either in the game's overworld
Overworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
or within dungeon
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
s, caves, and other locales with puzzles integrated into their layout. Unlike the original game, in which the overworld was explored on foot except for a brief, non-navigable boat ride, a large portion of The Lost Age's gameplay involves navigating a magical ship across a large sea, visiting continents and islands. To complete puzzles, players must either push pillars to construct negotiable paths between elevated areas, climb up and rappel down cliffs, or obtain a special item to progress through the story and game world. Many of these puzzles revolve heavily around the usage of the game’s resident form of magic spells, Psynergy, requiring the player to find items that grant the bearer new forms of Psynergy in order to accomplish tasks.
Whereas many role-playing games limit the usage of their forms of magic to battles as offensive and defensive measures, Psynergy spells are also heavily used in puzzles and exploration. Some types of Psynergy can only be used in combat; conversely, some spells are only used in the game's overworld and in non-battle scenarios. Still other Psynergy can be used for both situations; for example, the “Frost” spell can be used to damage enemies in battle, or to transform puddles of water into elongated pillars of ice as part of a puzzle. Psynergy comes in four elements: Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
(rocks and plants), Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
(fire and heat), Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
(wind and electricity), and Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
(water and ice). The player gains more and more Psynergy spells as the game progresses, either through levelling up
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
or acquiring and equipping, or using, special items, and with each "utility" Psynergy spell the party gains access to more locations and secrets hidden within the game world. Players will be required to return to previous locations in the game to finish off puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of specific Psynergy spells.
Battle
Random encounter
A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby encounters with non-player character enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random...
and compulsory battles, which advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up where the enemy party is on the opposing side and the player’s party is on the battling side. While battle is conducted, the characters and background swirl around and change positions in a pseudo-3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
effect.
Gameplay in relation to The Lost Age's battle mode is similar to traditional console RPGs. In each battle, the player is required to defeat all the enemies using direct attacks with weapons, offensive Psynergy spells, and other means of causing damage, all while keeping their own party alive through items and supportive Psynergy that restore life and supplement defense. If all the player's characters are downed by reducing their hit points to zero, it is considered “Game Over”, and the party is returned to the last village that the player visited and suffers a monetary penalty. The successful completion of a battle yields experience points, coins, and occasionally rare items.
In addition to the main game itself, there is also a competitive battling mode accessible from the menu screen, where players can enter their currently-developed team from their saved game files into an arena where they can battle increasingly difficult CPU-controlled enemies or other players head-to-head to see which of their team setups are stronger. In both cases there are no experience points or coins to be earned.
Djinn system
One of the most important features in Golden Sun: The Lost Age is the collection and manipulation of elemental creatures called DjinnGenie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
(singular: Djinni), and The Lost Age features a host of new Djinn. They can be found scattered in hiding throughout the game. There are eleven Djinn for each of the four elements (not counting the ones that can only be found in the original Golden Sun) that may be allocated to each character. Djinn form the basis of the game’s statistics enhancement system, and Set djinn dictate the character’s Psynergy capabilities. Attaching different Djinn to different characters modifies the characters' classes
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
, increasing maximum hit points, Psynergy points, and other statistics, and also alters the available Psynergy that the characters can perform.
Collected Djinn can be assigned to a character of the player's choice and can be Set, on Standby, or in Recovery. When a Djinni is set, that Djinni exerts influence on its corresponding character’s class, statistics and Psynergy collection depending on both the character’s innate element and that of the Djinni. In combat, the player can choose to have a character use a set Djinni during that character's turn. Each Djinni has its own special effect when invoked during combat. These effects include enhanced elemental attacks, buffing or debuffing, healing, and other effects. After using a Djinni, its status is changed to Standby. While on Standby, Djinn do not contribute to a character’s class, but can be used for Summon Sequences, where the player summons a powerful elemental spirit. This is the game’s most powerful method of attack, and also the riskiest, as it requires Djinn to be on standby and therefore not available to bolster the statistics of whichever character the Djinni is equipped to. Once a Djinni on Standby has been used for a Summon Sequence, it takes a number of turns recovering before it restores itself to Set position on a character. There are a total of 29 Summon Sequences in The Lost Age; 16 from the previous game can be used alongside 13 new sequences, each of which must be earned individually; they are usually acquired by completing optional dungeons.
There is a total of 72 Djinn encompassing the four elements which can be arranged in almost any evenly distributed manner to the eventual eight characters, making for a large array of possible class setups for all eight playable characters, allowing a variety of combat options.
Setting
The Lost Age takes place on the same fantasy world as its predecessor, that of the world of "Weyard", a massive earth-like environment modeled on the old Flat EarthFlat Earth
The Flat Earth model is a belief that the Earth's shape is a plane or disk. Most ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period ...
idea of the world. It is a flat, vaguely circular plane whose oceans perpetually spill off the edge of the world's entire perimeter into what seems to be an endless abyss, although no one knows what is over it. However at the end of the game in the very north of Weyard is a huge black void. The plot progression of The Lost Age spans many continents, islands, and oceans around the two main continents where the previous game takes place. All matter on Weyard consists of any combination of the four base elements: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury; magically-attuned Adepts can manipulate these elements.
Characters
For much of the game, the player controls four characters: Felix is an eighteen-year-old Venus Adept from the village of Vale, who was an anti-hero in Golden Sun but serves as the game's new protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
. He is generally not shown to speak, although he does say "...", "!" and "Why?" at points in the game. His younger sister, Jenna, a seventeen-year-old Mars Adept also from Vale, and a fourteen-year-old girl and Jupiter Adept named Sheba, as well as a sharp-witted elderly scholar named Kraden, are all hostages that Felix was forced to take with his now-deceased masters, the Mars Adept warriors Saturos and Menardi that served as the previous game's antagonists. In this game the player takes the role of Felix as he strives to complete Saturos and Menardi's original objective to restore Alchemy to the world of Weyard, and joining them early on is a Mercury Adept named Piers, a mysterious young man whose ship Felix's party uses to explore the world throughout their journey.
Several groups of characters serve as Felix's antagonists in The Lost Age. He is at odds with the heroes of the original Golden Sun, led by the young Venus Adept warrior Isaac, who pursue him across the World, Weyard under the belief that Alchemy would potentially destroy Weyard if unleashed. One of Saturos' original companions, a powerful and enigmatic Mercury Adept named Alex, allies himself with a second pair of powerful and imposing Mars Adept warriors, Karst and Agatio. They keep the pressure on Felix to ensure he proceeds with his quest as he is supposed to.
Plot
Eventually, Felix's party is able to achieve entrance into a legendary, secluded Atlantis-like society named Lemuria
Lemuria in popular culture
Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The concept of Lemuria has been rendered obsolete by modern understanding of plate tectonics. However, it has still been used as a location and inspiration in a wide range of novels, television...
far out in the ocean. When they convene with Lemuria's ancient king, Hydros, they learn about Alchemy's true nature; it has always been the sustenance of Weyard's very life force, and its absence over the past ages has caused the world's continents to decrease in size and parts of the world to collapse into the abyss. Knowing that restoring Alchemy is what must be done to actually save the world, Felix sets out to climb and activate Jupiter Lighthouse. But when Isaac's pursuing party enters the lighthouse, they are trapped and ambushed by the vengeful Mars Adept Warriors, Karst and Agatio. Felix comes to assist Isaac to defeat Karst and Agatio.
Felix is finally able to explain to Isaac why Alchemy's release is a necessary thing for everyone, and that Saturos and Menardi were aiming for this goal merely for the sake of the survival of their home colony of Prox to the far north, located near the Mars Lighthouse. Felix and Isaac's two traveling parties join forces to form one unified group that sets out north to activate Mars Lighthouse; however, when they reach the tower's top, the Wise One, the entity responsible for originally tasking Isaac to prevent the breaking of Alchemy's seal, confronts them. He warns them that mankind could very well destroy Weyard themselves if they had possession of such a power, and when Isaac insists on breaking the seal regardless the Wise One summons a giant, three-headed dragon for the party to battle in the final struggle.
When the party of Adepts have slain the dragon, they discover that the Wise One had transformed Isaac's father and Felix's parents into the now-dead beast." After a short period of mourning, they gather the resolve to finish their objective and activate Mars Lighthouse; with all four towers across Weyard lit, the process that heralds the return of the force of Alchemy to Weyard ensues at the mountain sanctum Mt. Aleph. Alex is there, however; he took advantage of everyone else's quests so that he would gain immense power for himself from the light of the Golden Sun, a manifestation of Alchemy itself. Unfortunately for him, though, the mountain collapses and sinks into the ground with him still on it. The Adepts, in the meantime, find that their parents have actually been revived by Alchemy's return, just as the Wise One originally planned. They are able to recognize that the reason the Wise One appeared to play that cruel trick on them before was to test their resolve as Adepts, and therefore test their ability to handle a great new responsibility: To ensure that throughout the world the newly released force of Alchemy is not abused by Weyard's populace like it was in the ancient past. The game ends as the Adepts and their parents return to their hometown of Vale to find that it has been destroyed by the energy let loose by the breaking of Alchemy's seal, but that their families and the other townspeople have survived because the Wise One warned them of the impending danger in advance.
Development
The Lost Age was first revealed to Japan in early 2002, with the magazine FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
being the first publication to review the game. The Lost Age was highly anticipated; it topped IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's list of Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
"Most Wanted" games for 2003. The North American version of the game was playable at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2002, and IGN noted that the opening of the game did away with the notoriously boring opening sequence of Golden Sun, introducing the characters in between the action. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
previewed a localized copy of The Lost Age in February 2003, and noted that the game built on its predecessor's graphics engine, with "the environments in the game featuring rich detail with little touches— such as birds that fly off as you approach."
Reception
The Lost Age generally received positive reviews, but critics were divided on whether or not the game was better than the original Golden Sun.On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, The Lost Age has an 86% aggregate rating, compared to Golden Sun's 91%. Likewise, GameRankings gives The Lost Age an 87% overall rating, slightly lower than Golden Sun's 90%. Conversely, The Lost Age was ranked 78 on IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever, higher than its predecessor. It was also rated the 69th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
's "Top 200 Games" list.
IGN gave the sequel high marks, noting that even though the game is not a sequel in the traditional literary sense, it was still an excellent game. While most of the game mechanics remained unchanged, the addition of more complicated puzzles was welcomed. The Lost Age subsequently became IGN's "Game of the Month" in April 2003. Shane Bettenhausen of Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
argued that though The Lost Age is "not going to win any originality contests (this looks, sounds, and feels nearly identical to its predecessor), but when more of the same means more top-notch roleplaying, I can't complain". Other publications singled out the graphics and audio as particularly strong features.
Some publications found fault with complaints which remained from the original, including the combat system. IGN and GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
took issue with the lack of "smart" combat; if an enemy is killed before other party members attack it, those members switch to defense instead of intelligently attacking the remaining enemies. Ethan Einhorn of GameNOW
GameNOW
GameNOW was a United States-based video game magazine that was published by Ziff-Davis from November 2001 to January 2004. There are 27 issues of GameNOW in total. In addition to video game consoles like PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance, GameNOW also covered games for...
felt that the only elements that set the fighting system above "typical RPG fare" were the graphics. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
felt that Camelot could have added more features, and criticized the long opening sequence which either alienated players of the previous game, or confused new players by swamping them with unfamiliar places and characters.
The Lost Age sold 96,000 units in its first week in Japan, being the best-selling game of the period. The game sold a total of 249,000 copies in Japan and 437,000 in North America by November 21, 2004.