Dawn of Djinn: Second Mix Release

I think I'm ready to at the very least begin a soft-launch of Dawn of Djinn: Second Mix. So without further adue, here's Golden Sun Dawn of Djinn version 2.0 

As teased throughout previous updates this is a complete rework of Dawn of Djinn from the ground up to create a brand new experience. For example, not only is dialogue restored to the version 2 release, but certain parts have been readjusted to either streamline conversations or better fit into the Dawn of Djinn narrative. Enemies, classes, Psynergy, Djinn, and other skills, are practically brand new from the version 1 releases. Such as new classes for each Djinn alignment, including brand new default classes and stat spreads for those characters. 

To start, pick from one of the two patches (or download the ZIP file for a more advanced set up) "Casual" for difficulty closer to base Golden Sun or "Veteran" for a bit more of a challenge. And apply it the same way you would any version 1 release. They're both Dawn of Djinn, you you only need to apply one of the two. There's a read-me included with the advance set-up, so if you wish to have features like brutal key add-ons or cutscene skip. I would recommend reading the "Read-Me" file included in the ZIP for more detail set-up instructions.

Check out the trailer below for more details on this update.   I don't say it lightly when I say this update is so huge, that I was very tempted to rebrand it as a brand new Golden Sun mod, rather than just an update to Dawn of Djinn. 

I'm trying to keep expectations leveled to some degree, since it's still Golden Sun at the end of the day.  Even with some new NPCs and slight alterations to dialogue, it's still the overall plot and gameplay of Golden Sun at the end of the day. But it should at least be apparent why its been so long between updates once you actually get to see it in action, between the trailer and playing it yourself.

And I'll squeeze this on to the end. One feature that I don't really talk about is cleaning things up on the back-end.  Version 1 was very messy in terms of what items and skills replaced what, which would have made making a sequel Lost Age mod impossible, or at least very rough of a transition from GS1 to 2.   There currently isn't a Dawn of Djinn equivalent for the Lost Age, but with being much more considerate to what items are shared between Golden Sun 1 and 2, it should make that process much smoother if I go through with it some day.  

I want to empathize that I currently don't have plans to make a Lost Age follow-up, at least not right away.  I want to keep my focus in learning the Godot engine and game creation outside of modding for now.  But there is still some temptation. So, I want to keep the door open a little until have a chance to see if I'm still interested in modding after exploring more original avenues in Game Design.

I'm sure this version will at least get a couple updates down the line.  There were a lot of technical issues I had to overcome to get to this point, so despite the time I've spent reviewing, playtesting, and rebalancing I'm certain at least a couple things will have slipped under the cracks. If nothing else, a bit of post-release rebalancing is in the cards since as careful as you may be, the general audience will always be a better play test audience than just yourself.

 Plus I've been considering making a brutal mode proper, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish it before the end of the year so I settled with just rereleasing the brutal key for now. If Dawn of Djinn gets any more content updates, that's up there with things I have planned. But I already feel like I'm getting ahead of myself.  

For now, I hope you enjoy playing this new version of Dawn of Djinn.