E3 2010: Hands on with Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

Beloved by some hardcore RPG fans, despite the original being released on GBA back in 2001 with a sequel in 2003, one of the higher profile plain DS releases at E3 (as opposed to 3DS) is Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

A typical Japanese-style RPG, it mixes pastel-coloured 2D sprite graphics with a cutesy style that may seem old fashioned to some, while happily nostalgic to others.

In terms of action, the E3 demo was split into two options.

First up was the Adventure mode that, acting as a tutorial, gave you five minutes to solve some puzzles and open up a dungeon for some more testing activity.

The tutorial elements taught you how to use the fireball and move spells that were located on the right and left sides of the screen respectively. You could tap on either or select using the shoulder buttons.

Each spell had a range outside which they couldn't be used with objects.

Using fire was done by tapping on it, then rotating a dotted line from the character - Matthew - to the target. Tapping on Matthew then fired the fireball, which was used to burn up various paper items, and in turn set a blaze along a fuse that operated other devices, such as a drawbridge.

Moving items was different as any moveable object within range would display an arrow demonstrating in which directions it could be move by swiping your stylus.

Some of these objects were employed in puzzles, such as rolling tree trunks around to make a path, or later in the dungeon, triggering platforms to rise from the floor so Matthew could jump to the other side. Jumping happens automatically.

The other mode demonstrated was Battle, in which Matthew and two friends were in a group, fighting enemy groups.

The turn-based set up was very similar to any Final Fantasy game, with the player setting the moves of each character - fight, defend, use magic (psynergy), summon djinns etc - at the start of each round. These then played out, in conjunction with the enemies' moves, until all the characters in one group had run out of health points.

One area where the game is different to the competition though is the use of djinns, or imp like spirits, which once used are stored in standby mode, and can then be used to summon more powerful spirits. In the demo, this included Kirin, a flame demonhound, who made short work of the Ogre Titan boss I was fighting.

Of course, over 20 minutes of this sort of demo, you only get to see a tiny amount of the game - in fact, these elements won't be in the final version, having been created specifically for E3.

Still, it's easy to tell that although Golden Sun: Dark Dawn won't be revolutionary in terms of jRPGs, it does appear to be a well put together game, and one that's certain to find favour with plenty of hardcore fans when it's released later this year.