Arrived at Gondowan Passage, where the party was to meet Babi’s man servant (named Imogen, or something abnormal like that). I then got to Suhalla, a little podunk desert town with a purple stream running through it. The residents complained of sandstorms. Some said they were brought there by said sandstorms... Looked like I’d be dealing with sandstorms - :P. Either way, it was nice to be able to stay at an inn (first time in a while).
Suhalla Desert was the next stop/dungeon on the adventure. I assumed this is the place that had sandstorms that would apparently return people to town (Zelda-stype gimmick). It was indeed the case, and I will admit it took me for-goddamn-ever to figure out what the fuck to do there. Turns out you’re supposed to use the Douse psynergy on them as they pick you up to throw you. Jesus. It was like one of the stupidly improbable puzzles that plague some computer adventure games. I was pissed by the time I got it. Almost turned the damn game off. The funny part is that someone in the last few towns probably told me the answer to that riddle, and I didn’t pay attention. Had to be the case.... Yeah.
Any-friggin-way, each time a whirlwind was subdued, a fight with a Tornado Lizard ensued. I would consider them mini-bosses, cuz they packed a bit of punch. The regular enemies of the desert were no joke, either. Some of them had some pretty powerful attacks. Experience pay outs were worth it, though. I quickly gained a few levels, netting group attack buff and group healing spells. Along the way, I saw an inaccessible giant pink tornado by itself... Strange.
I came across a gap that looked traversable, but was missing something in the middle. Saw no plants or rocks, so I tried Reveal. WOULDN’T ya fuckin know it!! A hidden stepping log right thar! I couldn’t believe that worked. I rarely find secrets on my own.
Came to a cave opening with a Mars djinni, which Dude needed badly. He was always behind on djinni stock. I decided to check out the rest of the cave, which was pretty straightforward. I came out of an opening right next to the giant pink tornado I saw earlier.... There was obviously some reason that was there, but I was apprehensive as hell. Maybe an optional warp, or boss? Since the game has a save-anywhere feature, I decided to try both methods. First, I played it SMB style and see if the ‘nado took me anywhere. Wasn’t a huge deal if I had to start the dungeon over again.
Sure enough!!!! I got dropped somewhere else! I was striking gold on secret shit!! WOO HOO!! No kidding. I was giddy as fuck when I stumbled onto that. It was total pay back for the whole desert tornado riddle. I felt like me and Golden Sun were cool again.
So, I came to a dungeon called Crossbone Isle. Immediately, it looked like it was puzzle central. I had a good feeling I stumbled upon an optional dungeon. Sure seemed like it, anyway. I worked my way to a cave, and noticed there were no random encounters in- or outside (at this point, I was saving my game every few minutes in a secondary slot, in case I was getting into something that was going to surprise and destroy me). Went down some steps, and got to a door that ended up with the party in a fight that was playing boss music. It pretty a pretty easy battle, actually, and I walked through the door to a big puzzle room with a treasure chest or two in it.
~After getting through that first puzzle, I descended down another flight of steps, and came to a set of doors just like on the first floor. Seemed this was a repeating pattern. I won the fight at the second door, which was a bit tougher, but still easy enough. It had another puzzle room behind it. It was a big ass log rolling puzzle, with a bunch of treasure chests peppered throughout. One of which had a weapon called a “Mystery Bladeâ€, which absorbed HP, as it turned out. IMO, an invaluable type of weapon, as long as the attack power is good (which it was, in this case).
This place had several signs of being an optional dungeon. One with increasing difficulty on every floor. As far as I could tell, I could easily go back up the stairs and ride the pink tornado again at any time (sounds excellently dirty). So, I got through the second puzzle room, and decided to try the third floor/door. Seemed the rewards were getting better on each subsequent floor, so I wanted to see what else was in store. I had the taste!!
~The 3rd door fight was a bit tougher than the last, so by then I was more confident that I was right about the nature of the dungeon. Now, it was just a matter of getting as far as I could. Took me a bit, but I figured out how to solve the third puzzle room, which was a bunch of keys that had to be grabbed with the Catch psynergy.
~Went on to floor/door 4... which a couple of griffons were guarding. They were only marginally more difficult than the door 3 fight. Mainly because they attacked only once per round. If they could have made 2 moves per round, it may have been a different story. The puzzle on this floor... The one with statues pushing you back from advancing... I couldn’t figure out at first. I eventually discovered that I could keep the statues that moved horizontally at bay with the Halt psynergy. As for the statues that moved vertically... I finally figured out that the Cloak (Ball) psynergy turned me into an outline in the shadows (as per it’s description), and the statues couldn’t detect me. Got an awesome armor upgrade for MyAss in the process of making it to the next floor.
~Floor 5: I was getting apprehensive at this point, cuz I knew the fights were just going to get more and more difficult. Thank the gods for this game’s save mechanic. The fight at door 5 was indeed pretty tough. Dude and MyAss were both wiped out in the very first round. Good thing I had some revival items saved up. One of the most devastating attacks was a kamikaze one, which thankfully increased my chances of winning in the end. The main enemy, the Lizard King, had a shit ton of HP, and some fairly strong AOE attacks. I came out the victor, but it was admittedly close. The puzzle room was easy enough to figure out. Didn’t require any special psynergy. It was one of those that had rolling logs in a basin. You flooded or emptied said basin after pushing the logs around, so that you could log-leap from one edge to the other.
~I was even more nervous getting to floor 6‘s door. The fight (2 Griffons) was actually a bit easier than the one on the previous floor, but it did take a bit more strategy. Mainly because the Griffons had strong poison attacks. In the end, the fight was doable for the same reason as floor 5: Enemies only attacked once per round. There was a djinni in floor 6's puzzle room. Easy enough to get at. This puzzle room was also one that didn’t require any special psynergy. Just some good ol’ fashioned puzzle solving skills.
~Went onward, to floor 7. Two Earth Lizards guarded the door. They had some strong AOE attacks that had a side effect of lowering defense, so they had the potential to do some damage. Thankfully, between Dude’s ability to raise the group’s defense, and Vieja’s strong healing psynergys, it was manageable. I tried everything I could think of in the puzzle room, but it seemed like I was missing some psynergy/power that was needed there... Begrudgingly, I turned around. It’s not like there wasn’t main story stuff to do, anyway.
*I decided to keep a save of the party on the island in the 2nd save slot. Just in case I couldn’t come back, and didn’t yet figure out something I could have done all along.
Hopped onto the pink tornado at the beach, and it dropped the party back at Suhalla Village, just like any of the other tornados. After trekking through the desert again, I saw the pink tornado, and was relieved I could go back and try Crossbone Isle again later. The upgraded equipment I got from there was proving to be effective in battle as it was, so i was happy and proud of myself for getting as far as I did - lol.
On my way out of the southern portion of the desert, a damn giant (regular-colored) tornado started chasing me! I tried to get away, but it snagged me. I didn’t want to potentially go through the damn desert again, and I doubted that a tornado that was actively chasing me was going to take me anywhere special (lol). So, I Doused the sumbitch. Boss fight music, ahoy! It was what looked to be a stronger version of the Tornado Lizards - a Storm Lizard. It was a decent challenge, but nothing worse than what I had already fought back at Crossbone Isle.
Made it out of the desert. Arrived at Suhalla Gate, the next dungeon/pass. Some guards there got knocked-the-fuck-out by Felix & his gang. The party definitely had to hurry to the lighthouse (as if it was at a leisurely pace before).
The enemies here had high defense and attack power, so battles were more fun and challenging than usual. It seemed that battles in the overall game were becoming more challenging at that point. Nothing to get too excited about, but more strategy and consideration was required, so it made me feel more involved, ...which is all anyone ever wants. ;P
Anyway, getting to the djinni here was a game of Fall Off of the Cliff at the Right Spot. In regards to changing battle difficulty, djinni fights had become a cakewalk. In the early game, they were some of the toughest. Maybe it just hand’t scaled yet... I snagged the li’l booger after putting a boot to it’s ass.
Coming out of the other side of the pass through a cave, the party and Imogen[sic] discovered what they thought was Babi’s ship, destroyed in the bay. Imogen tried to get Boner to use the newly revealed Black Orb to control the ship remotely. No dice. All agreed to come back later, after taking care of the lighthouse bizz-nizz.
Coming out of the real exit to the pass, the party pressed on to the Lighthouse. Felix’s crew really roughed up the people there, even the weak-ass scholars. Shit was gettin’ real, yo! Inside, I found puzzles similar to the one with which I had trouble over at CI. Seemed we lacked a psynergy called Carry... I read the engraved wall, which basically said everything short of “use Revealâ€. Doing so revealed a doorway. Through said doorway I found the Carry Stone. No explanation needed at this point, I’m sure.
After a few puzzles, the party got to a large statue of a woman, which uttered (in their minds)cryptic words about the real entrance being far away.... Okayyyy... There were lights on the floor that would light up in one of two possible combinations each time the statue was “spoken†to. I had no idea what any of this meant. After trying different things in different rooms of the lighthouse, and eventually getting frustrated, I decided that maybe the statue meant I had to leave through the lighthouse’s other (eastern) entrance and find a far away entrance...? Couldn’t hurt. Still had no idea what the lights on the floor dealie was...
Arrived at the next town, Lalivero. Some injured guards there spoke of some ruins under Babi’s lighthouse. I assumed this was the “far away entranceâ€. Anyway, Lalivero had some awesome weapons in the artifacts section of the shop. I was able to upgrade everyone’s weapons to some powerful magical ones. They were damn expensive, but I don’t mind saying I had a ton of money at that point. It literally pays to rarely run from fights.
Townsfolk spoke of Sheba, who was apparently some local kid, who was kidnapped by Felix’s party. Apparently, she had great powers, and people were surprised that she could be taken hostage. Interesting... People also spoke of a connection between the aforementioned ruins and the lighthouse. Guess I was headed in the right direction. The town also had a guarded stash house of Babi’s. Of course, I could not enter. Juicy! There was a djinni on a rooftop in the northern section of town, but it looked like it was only accessible from the inaccessible safe house... Dang.
Next Stop: Road to Babi’s Lighthouse. Injured bodies were strewn around here, too. Damn Felix and his boyz weren’t fuckin around! After a few puzzles, I stumbled onto another djinni for MyAss. Further into the ruins, Boner had to prove his synergy power to Faran and his group (people affiliated with Babi, or just locals, I assumed), who were trying to figure out how Felix and his peeps got through what seemed like an impassable door. Using Reveal showed a switch which opened the door. Everyone in attendance was understandably WOWed. The catch was, the door wouldn’t let non-adepts through. Naturally, it was up to Boner’s crew from there.
Went through the door, and into the Tunnel Ruins. Immediately noticeable was a statue just like the one in the Lighthouse. The lights on the floor here corresponded to how I left them in the lighthouse. Guessed they were different paths...?
Some puzzles here were a bit of a bitch. One involved filling a tall fountain with water, moving it, and THEN freezing it to use as a tall stepping stone. That shit took me longer to decipher than I’d care to admit. Another one was the colored statues that have to be put into the correct order. I didn’t think to read their minds nearly soon enough. (The dialogue mentions that “it seems they speak to your soul†when you “talk†to them - obvious clue that I missed,).
I entered Venus Lighthouse through a small path, which confirmed the stupid statue’s riddle. There was a psynergy stone by the entrance that reappeared every time the room was re-entered. This was starting to feel like final dungeon territory to me, based on the aforementioned stone, and the fact that enemies there had words like “Kingâ€, “Lordâ€; and “Mage†in their names. Usually, those are late game type enemies. I wasn’t that close to the end of the game, was I? It felt like there was still a lot to do yet. The music even sounded like final dungeon stuff...
After a whole bunch of fun (and a few frustrating) puzzles, I made it to the top of the lighthouse. Along the way, I gained some nice equipment. Some of which seemed like real endgame items, like the Gaia Blade, which sometimes unleashed the beauty that is Titan Sword in battle.
The 2 main bad guys, Saturos and Menardi, were arguing with Felix about letting the girl Sheba go. Ultimately, it led to Felix challenging them. A fight did not transpire though, as Boner’s party interrupted it. Saturos then struck a deal with Boner’s gang about surrendering the Sham’s Rod for Sheba’s safety. Of course, being an evil bastard, Saturos ultimately did not honor the deal. He and Menardi then attacked Boner’s group. The fight was damn easy. Although, I was sure it was the first of the traditional JRPG multi-stage last battles.
After the baddies fell, Felix would still not give up Sheba, and stated that he was determined to light the lighthouses himself. After a fight almost happens between the two sides, Saturos and Menardi arose to go through the whole “Now face our TRUE power!!!†dealie. Even that scene managed to be long-winded... Felix used the distraction to get away with Sheba. Of course, it all led to the two Wonder Twins merging.. into....
The Fusion Dragon!! Dah-nah-nahhhhhhhhh!!!
It was not much of a final battle, honestly. The dragon had some very strong attacks, and managed to take out MyAss one time, but overall, it was not that challenging. Part of what helped is that I never needed to use my best healing items (included revival; full PP recovery) until then, so I had plenty. Still, I’m sure the fight would have been winnable without that added bonus.
Afterwards, Felix was revealed to be hiding in the sidelines during the battle. He showed himself and mentioned that if Boner’s party could take out the dragon, he (Felix) would be no match for them. As Felix still recklessly insisted on lighting all of the lighthouse beacons, the Venus Lighthouse started crumbling. Sheba fell to her death, even though Felix tried to save her. Felix recklessly dove after her. All that could be assumed is that both were dead..
Mysteriously, the lighthouse fixed itself after Felix’s dive. Weird. That’s some unexplained shit right there (at least as of yet). Anyway, the party eventually made it back to Lalivero. They could not find Jenna after an exhaustive search... In Lalivero, it was revealed that Babi’s special ship was docked in the guarded stash house. Boner’s party was to take the ship to find Lemuria.
So, I used the Black Orb to raise the ship, and then the party got on the ship...
And the fucking credits rolled!!?? Seriously, they leave it on a sort of a cliffhanger like that? I suppose Golden Sun Part Deux was intended from the get-go. Bastards!
A post credit scene showed Jenna and Kraden passed out on a newly created and moving island. Alex (one of the bad guys that I had completely forgot about) walked up, and showed them Felix and Sheba, alive but unconscious on the beach.. then... “To Be Continuedâ€.
Horse shit! Guess what Camelot, I’m not taking the bait and playing GS2!! One GS was enough for me. Sowwee!
***So there you have it, folks. Not really much else I can say at this point, as I revealed my opinions on the game and such as I wrote the journal. The abrupt ending was crap, but I guess I understand if Camelot wanted to play it that way. I sure as hell don’t, though...
Well, I will say one thing: IMO, the game’s battles were too easy. Some of the puzzles were damn challenging, but only a handful of the battles could be considered as such. I guess that’s just how the GS cookie crumbles.
It is a nice, if not simplistic, JRPG.
Thanks for reading!
