Comparing Final Fantasy and Golden Sun in 2024

RPG franchises draw immense love from their fans. As lengthy games with deep stories, engaging characters, and challenging systems, players naturally become invested in one over the other. Franchises like Final Fantasy are famous and known the world over, while some may prefer a less widespread series.

One such example is the Golden Sun franchise, encompassing three games for Nintendo's handheld systems. As a fellow turn-based RPG, it stacks up to Square Enix's franchise in some ways but perhaps falls short in others. Let's look at both and see what comparisons can be drawn.

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A Short Franchise vs. A Titan

It can be difficult to compare large IPs to smaller ones. As a big release for Nintendo's platforms, it may seem unfair to call Golden Sun a small IP. However, with only three games under its belt, it pales in comparison to the over fifty titles bearing the Final Fantasy moniker. This leads to one of the largest differences between the two series: Golden Sun and its two sequels take place in the same world, with a continuing story. The second game takes place right after the first, with the third skipping ahead a generation. In this way, fans of the franchise get to enjoy one continuous story, while Final Fantasy reinvents itself with each new main installment.

Despite the benefit this provides to Golden Sun in telling an ongoing story, it is also limited by its brevity. With only three games available and a fourth nowhere in sight, there isn't much to enjoy as a fan of the series. Final Fantasy has new installments each year in a variety of forms, from AAA releases to mobile spinoffs, not to mention remakes and ports. There's no denying that fans of Square-Enix's flagship IP have plenty to enjoy, while the lovers of Golden Sun are left in the lurch. Despite that, the love for the trio of games remains as fans eagerly hope for a modern-day port of the third game to accompany the recent Switch availability of the first two.

Systems Analysis

Golden Sun is a classical turn-based JRPG, taking its cues from the earliest Final Fantasy games and other siblings in the RPG space. While Final Fantasy eventually transitioned to the ATB system and more recently action-oriented combat, Golden Sun remained with a strategic system focused on planning and execution. You decide your entire party's actions for the round and watch as combat plays out. This emphasizes not speed of decision-making but rather making each turn count. Golden Sun showcases how this combat system is timeless, never falling out of style when the balance is just right.

The Golden Sun series also benefits from unifying themes. The story revolves around the four classical elements, assigning each character to one. They can wield power known as Psynergy to control not just those elements but also create other effects. This allows for techniques in combat and on the map. There is an emphasis on puzzle solving and dynamic maps, where objects must be moved and arranged to ensure the party can reach their destination. This feature feels rather unique to Golden Sun as a 2D RPG, and the Final Fantasy games with comparable art and resources feature less creativity on the map.

Dramatic Storytelling

Of course, these games are RPGs. Many will consider the story the top priority in cases like this. However, such analysis always falls into the land of subjectivity. Each mainline Final Fantasy game tells a new story, featuring a new cast and a new world with no direct connections to the previous one. References are of course drawn, recurring elements reused, but a new tale is woven. As such, it is easy to find a specific game in the series to appeal to an individual's taste. The other game, on the contrary, only has its three-game story to tell and nothing else. If the narrative featured there is not of interest to someone, then the franchise has nothing else to offer.

Golden Sun's continuing story does allow the player to experience some unique qualities. The second game in the franchise, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, allows you to follow a party of characters who were partly antagonistic in the first, flipping the story on its head. It also allows for the transfer of a save file from the first, eventually uniting the two parties and allowing players customization in who they want alongside them in a fight. An engaging story about the powers that make up the world and what must be done to protect people from themselves awaits those who play this trio of games.

Final Thoughts

As already stated, it is hard to compare these two franchises fairly. Golden Sun tells an engaging story across its three games, though the third left a disappointing taste in players' mouths with a cliffhanger ending they expect to never see resolved. The Final Fantasy franchise, on the other hand, is one of gaming's biggest titans with massive AAA experiences to always look forward to. Some of the games even have sequels or follow-ups, creating an experience not unlike the other game. Despite this, Nintendo's handheld RPGs feel distinct in the JRPG space and have fun and engaging design. For those looking for more JRPG goodness, Golden Sun is not a place where your time will be wasted.

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This article was written by Alex Dunn.