To say that The Lost Age is the swan song of Camelot would be misunderstanding the drive behind its storytelling and purpose. I believe in Golden Sun being the most charming, exquisite example of an handheld RPG duology and this review will NOT cover everything there is to say, because frankly I don't have the words to express just how much I adore this franchise and what it means to me.
Sakuraba's soundtrack is simply the cherry on top this beautiful cake, made out of incredibly well designed puzzles, clever battle system and class roles rigorously dictated by Djinn management. You want to unleash the Megiddo out of your party? You'll want to explore every crevice of Weyard, even more astonishing and jaw dropping in lore tidbits and ambience: the new temples are the best addition to the Lighthouses we know already from the first game, adding a little more context behind the world's religion and myths. It's a win-win scenario: battling is fun, you'll get stronger, you'll want to become stronger, you'll want to explore for Djinn and equip, you'll see more of the world and you'll battle even more enemies, a deceptively clever gameplay loop.
If you played other Camelot games you'll see some resemblances to events and characters from older games ... you'll also see how the storytelling and the plotlines converge to a world-ending finale, as usual, yet a bit limping along the way. Yes, The Lost Age does a lot to mitigate the padding and meandering of the original game, in part thanks to the urgency of the mission, the exquisite plot twists and the conflict between Golden Sun and The Lost Age heroes, being fundamentally enemies in purpose, but sometimes you'll just keep reading these exchanges between characters that go on and on, sure they are charming, but relevant? In hindsight, I'm not so sure anymore. Still it was funny playing through Shining Force II and seeing the same issues with characters talking a little bit too much. Also, weird how like in Shining Force III, The Lost Age makes us play from the other perspective, it's also got some weird purple guys with ulterior motives and Machiavelli like characters scheming and not explaining what they're doing.
Wait, have they been making Golden Sun since the 90s? I'll let you decide on that.
A bit too much prose is a small price to pay for what I'd wager it's the quintessential GBA JRPG experience and the culmination of Camelot's storytelling. Is it the end though? I don't think so. I'm sure, while developing some more Mario sports games, they are working on something else. I cannot imagine otherwise, for what I've played and what I've seen, Camelot's vision is great, purposeful and inspiring to say the least. Verbose as well, but at this point it's just the Camelot I love and respect.
Sakuraba's soundtrack is simply the cherry on top this beautiful cake, made out of incredibly well designed puzzles, clever battle system and class roles rigorously dictated by Djinn management. You want to unleash the Megiddo out of your party? You'll want to explore every crevice of Weyard, even more astonishing and jaw dropping in lore tidbits and ambience: the new temples are the best addition to the Lighthouses we know already from the first game, adding a little more context behind the world's religion and myths. It's a win-win scenario: battling is fun, you'll get stronger, you'll want to become stronger, you'll want to explore for Djinn and equip, you'll see more of the world and you'll battle even more enemies, a deceptively clever gameplay loop.
If you played other Camelot games you'll see some resemblances to events and characters from older games ... you'll also see how the storytelling and the plotlines converge to a world-ending finale, as usual, yet a bit limping along the way. Yes, The Lost Age does a lot to mitigate the padding and meandering of the original game, in part thanks to the urgency of the mission, the exquisite plot twists and the conflict between Golden Sun and The Lost Age heroes, being fundamentally enemies in purpose, but sometimes you'll just keep reading these exchanges between characters that go on and on, sure they are charming, but relevant? In hindsight, I'm not so sure anymore. Still it was funny playing through Shining Force II and seeing the same issues with characters talking a little bit too much. Also, weird how like in Shining Force III, The Lost Age makes us play from the other perspective, it's also got some weird purple guys with ulterior motives and Machiavelli like characters scheming and not explaining what they're doing.
Wait, have they been making Golden Sun since the 90s? I'll let you decide on that.
A bit too much prose is a small price to pay for what I'd wager it's the quintessential GBA JRPG experience and the culmination of Camelot's storytelling. Is it the end though? I don't think so. I'm sure, while developing some more Mario sports games, they are working on something else. I cannot imagine otherwise, for what I've played and what I've seen, Camelot's vision is great, purposeful and inspiring to say the least. Verbose as well, but at this point it's just the Camelot I love and respect.