released under different names in some regions, is a 2002 role-playing video game for the Game Boy Advance, developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo, as well as their last game released before Hiroshi Yamauchi retired as President of Nintendo. It is the second installment in the Golden Sun series and was released on June 28, 2002, in Japan, and through 2003 in North America and Europe.
Picking up the story during the events of the previous game, The Lost Age puts the player into the roles of the previous games' antagonists, primarily from the perspective of magic-attuned "adepts" Felix and his allies as they seek to restore the power of alchemy to the world of Weyard. Along the way, the player uses psynergy to defeat enemies and discover new locations, help out local populations, and find elemental djinn which augment the characters' powers. Players can transfer their characters and items from Golden Sun to The Lost Age by means of a password system or Game Link Cable, and players are rewarded for fully completing both games.
Upon release, The Lost Age was positively received by critics and audiences. IGN ranked the game as the eighth-best Game Boy Advance title of 2003 and the 22nd-best GBA game of all time. It has sold over 680,000 units. It was eventually followed by a third installment, titled Dark Dawn, released in 2010 and set thirty years after the two original games.
Like its predecessor, The Lost Age was re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console service via the Nintendo eShop. It became available first in Japan on July 23, 2014, and later in North America and PAL regions.
Gameplay
The Lost Age presents a similar traditional role-playing video game formula that its first half pioneered. Players guide a cast of characters as they journey through a fantasy-themed world, interact with other characters, battle monsters, acquire increasingly powerful magic spells and equipment, and take part in a building, predefined narrative. While many actions the player takes are compulsory and central to the story, The Lost Age allows the player to complete many objectives in the order of their choice; visiting previous locations to advance story elements and complete gameplay objectives are given a stronger emphasis than in the previous game.
Much of the time spent outside of battle takes place either in the game's overworld or within dungeons, caves, and other locales with puzzles integrated into their layout. Unlike the original game, in which the overworld was explored on foot except for a brief, non-navigable boat ride, a large portion of The Lost Age's gameplay involves navigating a magical ship across a large sea, visiting continents and islands. To complete puzzles, players must either push pillars to construct negotiable paths between elevated areas, climb up or descend cliffs, or obtain a special item to progress through the story and game world. Many of these puzzles revolve heavily around the usage of the game's resident form of magic spells, Psynergy, requiring the player to find items that grant the bearer new forms of Psynergy in order to accomplish tasks. Acquiring new Psynergy spells gives players access to new locations and secrets hidden within the game world.
Whereas many role-playing video games limit the usage of their forms of magic to battles as offensive and defensive measures, Psynergy spells are also heavily used in puzzles and exploration. Some types of Psynergy can only be used in combat; conversely, some spells are only used in the game's overworld and in non-battle scenarios. Still other Psynergy can be used for both situations; for example, the “Frost” spell can be used to damage enemies in battle, or to transform puddles of water into elongated pillars of ice as part of a puzzle. The player gains more and more Psynergy spells as the game progresses, either through levelling up or acquiring and equipping, or using, special items, and with each "utility" Psynergy spell the party gains access to more locations and secrets hidden within the game world. Players will be required to return to previous locations in the game to finish off puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of specific Psynergy spells.
Battle
The Lost Age contains both random monster encounters and compulsory battles that advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up where the enemy party is on the opposing side and the player's party is on the battling side. While a battle being is conducted, the characters and background swirl around and change positions in a pseudo-3D effect.