AN : Golden Sun is such a gem
Saturday 1 Feb 2000
At the Triangle Soft offices, while the release of ZAGE's Digital World was being talked about everywhere, Hironobu Sakaguchi didn't pay it much attention. To be fair, he did care about it a little, but he currently had more important matters to focus on. Right now he was busy writing the script for Triangle Soft's next project, an idea that came to him after playing one of the ZGBA launch titles, "Golden Sun." Sitting beside him was his trusted right‑hand man, Tetsuya Takahashi, helping him review ideas and notes.
Tetsuya sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. "Boss… did you really have to call me in on the weekend? And besides, I wanted to try YouTube and those other new ZAGE websites, you know?" He rubbed the back of his neck with mild frustration. "Everyone is talking about them right now."
Hironobu chuckled softly while holding the ZGBA cartridge between his fingers. "Hey, you were the one who said you wanted to accompany me, so don't start whining now, Tetsu." He gestured toward the screen where the game was running. "Besides, look at this game—Golden Sun. I honestly didn't expect a handheld RPG on the ZGBA to reach this level."
He leaned forward slightly, clearly impressed. "And remember, this is one of the launch titles for the system. A launch title, Tetsu. Usually those games are simple demonstrations, but this one already feels like a fully realized RPG."
Hironobu shook his head with a half‑amused smile. "They're really showing the industry something with this. ZAGE is becoming a completely different beast compared to companies like us."
Tetsu sighed and crossed his arms. "Boss, ZAGE has always been a completely different beast compared to other game developers. At some point you have to accept that. Honestly, it feels like you admire them more than you admit. And besides, you're also giving the ZGBA too little credit. That handheld machine is a monster too. I still don't understand how ZAGE managed to build something that powerful and sell it for only 11,000 yen. That price still doesn't make any sense to me."
Hironobu's eyes widened slightly. "I may admire what they do," he said calmly, "but I love Triangle Soft too. I built this company with my own hands. I'm not going to just abandon it and join them." He let out a quiet sigh afterward. Building Triangle Soft had not been easy—he started it almost alone—but because of financial struggles over the years, the company was no longer entirely his. Some shares had gone to investors just to keep the studio alive. It was a compromise he still wasn't entirely happy about.
Tetsu grinned mischievously. "Who said anything about joining them? Hehehe—you just said that yourself, boss." He leaned forward slightly as if sharing a secret. "Think about it. Remember those discussions we had about ZAGE in private meetings before? What if we did something… bold. We approach them quietly, outside the attention of our investors, and ask them to fully acquire us. If that happens, our entire team could integrate directly with ZAGE's development network."
He chuckled under his breath. "Imagine it. Our storytelling and RPG expertise combined with ZAGE's technology and scale. That could create something truly terrifying for the rest of the industry."
Tetsu grinned widely, clearly enjoying the thought. "Imagine working with the great Zaboru Renkonan himself. Just think about it, boss. With their technology and manpower combined with our storytelling—and with Zaboru's leadership instead of incompetent greedy investors—what kind of worlds could we create? How far could we grow under someone like him? Hehehe."
He leaned back in his chair, letting the idea linger in the air. "ZAGE already has the resources, the hardware knowledge, the distribution networks, even the global reach. But what they always appreciate is strong storytelling and good games developer. That's exactly where we shine as we have name on our own ZAGE will never reject us."
Hironobu stared at him in silence for a moment. He gulped slightly as the possibilities began forming in his mind. For a brief second he imagined what their studio could accomplish with ZAGE's behind them without greedy investors and budget holding him back with Zaboru Renkonan leading them what can Triangle soft do?. After a long pause he exhaled slowly. His eyes widened again, this time more from surprise than shock at his own thoughts. "That's…" he paused and rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh. "That's a dangerous conversation to have, Tetsu."
He looked down at the ZGBA cartridge still resting in his hand as if grounding himself back in reality.
"Ideas like that can easily spiral out of control," he continued quietly. "And once people start thinking that way, it becomes hard to walk it back."
After a moment he waved his hand dismissively as if pushing the thought aside.
"Let's talk about that later, okay?"
Hironobu sighed. "Alright, enough of that discussion. What we should do now is take reference from this. Aside from our current ZEPS‑3 projects, we should also create something for the ZGBA—and it has to be a JRPG."
That decision was not surprising. Triangle Soft was already famous for its JRPG titles, so creating another role‑playing game was the most natural direction for them. Recently, Hironobu had also become deeply fascinated with Golden Sun.
When he first heard about the graphical capabilities of the ZGBA, he never expected the handheld to reach this level. But Golden Sun proved him completely wrong. The game was not just "good"—it was beautiful. The environments were detailed, the character sprites were expressive, and the spell effects looked impressive even on a small handheld screen.
For a handheld title—especially one released alongside the launch of the system—the visual quality was remarkable. In some moments the presentation even reminded him of games running on the ZEPS‑3. That alone said a lot about how far the hardware had been pushed.
This was mainly because Zaboru had enhanced the original Golden Sun graphics. Compared to the GBA from Zaboru's previous life, the ZGBA was far stronger in almost every aspect, allowing the team to push the visuals much further than before. Character sprites were more detailed, spell effects were richer, and environments looked far more alive. But the improvements were not limited to graphics alone. Zaboru had also added several optional dungeons for players to discover, along with many new Djinn to collect and experiment with during gameplay. Some of them were even hidden as playful easter eggs—such as the "Zabo‑man," Djinn.
Hironobu said, "Still, this game is really something else. The story is good and the scale of the world is huge. I always expected handheld JRPGs to have shorter stories and simpler gameplay—something closer to Pokémon—where the main adventure is relatively brief and players extend their playtime by taking detours to collect things or complete optional tasks. But look at this. Golden Sun completely proves that assumption wrong. The game has a large, well‑developed story and it's beautifully presented too. There are many towns, many characters, and so many locations to explore. Honestly, it feels closer to a console JRPG than something running on a handheld system. Hehehe… seeing a game like this really makes my blood boil with excitement. Doesn't it, Tetsu?"
Tetsu sighed. "Anything related to RPGs always makes your blood boil with excitement, Hironobu‑san. But still… they really used something similar to our Jewel System, didn't they? That Djinn system feels quite close to our Jewel mechanics."
Hironobu chuckled and shook his head. "Well, it's only similar. They're not copying anything directly. Even our own Jewel System was inspired by some of ZAGE's early JRPG designs. Zaboru has always said that inspiring other creators is a good thing for the industry."
He pointed at the screen again. "Besides, the Djinn system is actually quite unique. Look at how it works. At first the Djinn stays in the 'Set' state, which means it's equipped and passively boosting the character's abilities. Then, when the player activates the Djinn's power, it shifts into an 'Activated' state, giving strong temporary effects or stat boosts."
Hironobu continued explaining with growing enthusiasm. "After that, the Djinn enters a 'Recovery' state, meaning it can't be used again immediately. That cycle forces the player to think carefully about when to use each Djinn. It's very different from our Jewel equipment system in the Jewel Sword series."
He smiled thoughtfully. "But honestly… it's a brilliant way of designing gameplay depth. Instead of the party depending entirely on equipment, players must manage the Djinn they utilize. That kind of layered mechanic makes the combat system far more strategic and interesting."
He paused for a moment, clearly impressed by the design philosophy.
"Even better," Hironobu continued, "if you use a specific sequence of Djinn, the player can summon powerful spirits. Those summons are not just flashy attacks—they depend on how the Djinn were used and what elements were activated beforehand. That kind of layered system encourages experimentation."
He tapped the table lightly with growing excitement.
"Players will constantly think about combinations—whether to keep Djinn equipped for stat bonuses or activate them to trigger stronger abilities and summon spirits. It creates a constant strategic trade‑off. Honestly… it's a really clever system."
Tetsuya nodded slowly, still staring at the small ZGBA cartridge in Hironobu's hand. "That's correct. It's a really cool system… but honestly I still can't understand how ZAGE managed to fit all of this inside a cartridge like that. Sure, they're using a new type of cartridge, and I heard it can hold around 512 MB—almost like a CD. But even then it still feels impossible."
He leaned forward slightly, clearly baffled. "Golden Sun is huge. The towns, the animations, the battle effects, the music, the dialogue… everything feels massive. It's almost the scale of a ZEPS‑3 RPG. A game like this should require gigabytes of storage, shouldn't it?"
Tetsu scratched his head, still trying to make sense of it. "I mean, just the spell animations alone feel like they should take a ridiculous amount of memory. And those layered battle backgrounds, the character portraits, the scripted events… how did they compress all of that into something this small?"
Hironobu smiled knowingly. "And that," he said calmly, "is exactly what makes this game so special. It's not just a great game—it's also a perfect lesson in how to manage game development properly."
He gently turned the cartridge between his fingers.
"ZAGE always says that even if you have powerful hardware, you should never forget the creativity behind optimization. Hardware alone doesn't make great games. Smart design does."
Hironobu tapped the cartridge lightly against the table.
"That's why they were able to create something like Golden Sun here. Every asset is carefully planned, every system optimized, every piece of data used efficiently."
He then grinned at Tetsu.
"And I'm willing to bet we can do the same thing too, Tetsu."
Tetsu laughed. "Alright then, boss. Let's get to work." With that, Hironobu and Tetsu immediately began examining the Golden Sun cartridge more closely, studying how the game might have been structured internally. They discussed possible compression methods, asset reuse, and clever data management techniques that ZAGE's developers might have used. At the same time, the two of them started brainstorming ideas for their own JRPG project on the ZGBA, sketching rough concepts, gameplay mechanics, and story themes on nearby notes while the Golden Sun game continued running on the screen beside them.
Meanwhile, at the ZUSUGA offices, the situation was very different. Zanki Zagashira had just received a harsh reality check from his own game development team.
To be continue
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