Golden Sun is a JRPG that is absolutely astounding. It uses GBA graphics that were thought to be impossible at that time. The soundtrack is simply sublime and only a few aspects of the game are letdowns.

The story of Golden Sun is really nice but it has several holes in them. Holes that are filled with its sequels, thus adding value to playing through the games.

The battle system is your typical one with magic replaced by psyenergy. What is different is the inclusion of the Djinni system, something that's ingenious and what makes the game unique. The game is criticised for not having a "smart" battle system; meaning the game doesn't automatically set your characters to attack another opponent if the previously selected opponent, and instead sets them to defend, thus wasting a turn. While this is a flaw, its plus sides outweigh the downsides.

The adventure itself feels incomplete, but its sequel followup makes it entirely better.

A must play on the GBA, especially if you're an RPG fan.

“Golden Sun: Dawn of Djinn” is a remixed version of the first game of the Golden Sun series. Battles are drastically different from the original between the updates to enemies and your own abilities. Plus, this adventure takes quality of life improvements from mods like the Golden Sun Randomizer and builds off them to make travel outside of battle more enjoyable. Mod also features item to adjust the difficulty of the mod via equipping to your party members, via the "causal key" & the "brutal key".

This mod features stronger enemies and bosses with new move pools, even occasionally running into brand new monsters. In return, you'll have a variety of updated and new abilities to use against them. Djinn play an even bigger role as you'll run into brand new Djinn along your adventure. You may even meet some that have yet to fully awaken in the form of Djinn Charm. Equip these to an adept, and you can wield them as Psynergy. But watch out for the Djinn Mimics, powerful enemies exclusive to Dawn of Djinn that guard some of them. In addition, weapons have been readjusted to make each type of weapon have its own pros and cons. For example, axes hit harder but slow you down and maces are more likely to crit. Play around with each type of weapon to find one that fits your playstyle. In addition, two new types of weapons have also been introduced. New healing and battle items will also be at your disposal.

Various new Psynergy are scattered through your use in various forms. They may be hiding in a new piece of equipment, in one of the updated tri-elemental classes, or the brand new "Jack Adept" line. This Quad-elemental class requires an adapt to have a Djnn to have a Djinn of each element beyond their own. They are very weak classes, but in exchange, they have special perks no other class has. This includes access to Psynergy of each element, the ability to use Utility Psynergy without items, and some battle Psynergy unique to this class. Plus, each adept has a slightly different version of this class so it's worth experimenting with this class on all party members.

Play through the adventure with more conveniences than ever. Including being able to use Retreat in the Overworld for fast travel, toggle encounters on and off with Avoid, the ability to sell and rebuy previous key items for better item management, and more.

Disclaimer: Dawn of Djinn is incompatible with save transfer to The Lost Age or any currently existing mods of it. If you do wish to play The Lost Age following Dawn of Djinn, use Bronze or Silver passwords to avoid unintended consequences to your item inventory while still keeping levels and Djinn.

Database match: Golden Sun (USA, Europe)
Database: No-Intro: Game Boy Advance (v. 20210227-023848)
File/ROM SHA-1: 5C4695205413DF7DB52B9A184815A07783999971
File/ROM CRC32: E1FB68E8

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