It’s been a long time waiting for a Golden Sun sequel but it’s finally here! Ever since Golden Sun the Lost Age came out I’ve wanted a sequel to it. It’s almost like a Zelda game. As soon as one comes out and I play through it, I immediately want another one.

For those who have waited since then, your wait has been worth it. Golden Sun Dark Dawn picks up about 30 years after the events of the ‘Golden Sun’ event. The original heroes from those games are back, but this time you’re playing as their sons/daughters. It makes it simple for us playing the game because all of the children follow in their parents’ footsteps as to what elemental adept they are. The plot centers around bringing balance back into the world since the Golden Sun event which apparently didn’t solve all of the world’s problems. And Djinn are back and more prevalent than ever and are used for special attacks and summons.

The core gameplay remains unchanged, the battle system has evolved a little bit but it’s mostly a graphical change. All characters and enemies are now fully rendered in 3D as well as the environments. Both the overworld and dungeon worlds are all 3D and fights happen at random like in the previous games. The graphics are a great new improvement for the game, but I, like some people might’ve been hoping for this DS game a little sooner. If this one came out 2 years ago, we might be talking about another Golden Sun coming to the 3DS and having incredible graphics and new gameplay. That’s not to say Dark Dawn isn’t a great game, because it is. It just seemed a very strange time to release Dark Dawn and I feel people have under-appreciated it with all the ramp-up to the 3DS release, myself included.

Overall though, if you loved the first games and are looking for an incredible RPG on the DS, look no further than Golden Sun Dark Dawn. It’s added stylus controls and sharp graphics make it an instant must-buy for DS owners.

Golden Sun Dark Dawn gets a 9.4/10