top down Nintendo DS games (mostly Zelda and Golden Sun)

[Thunder-squall]

Games like Legend of Zelda, Golden Sun, and Disgaea all have similar but distinct top-down views.  I was thinking of why or why not those different things could be built on the same platforms, and well... I was just thinking about it.  So this is sort of just a general topic--I'm not sure what exactly it's about, but the stuff's on my mind.

Zelda and Golden Sun both basically have a square grid (at least that's how the screen's oriented), and this means that click-to-move (Zelda-style) could be pretty easily implemented.  Would Golden Sun DS have been a better game if players could move by tapping on the screen, or does GS require precision (for puzzles) rather than action-fluidity, the way Zelda does?

The jumping (off of edges) in Zelda and GS both seem to work similarly, though.  Or at least they could.  In Zelda, you can roam around freely, but once you've been trying to go off an edge for long enough, the player enters into a jump-animation.  And of course there are moving blocks in Zelda as well.  So at the moment I can't think of any reason why Golden Sun DS couldn't be implemented in a Zelda framework.  GS seems to be Zelda but without the touch-interface action, and with more 'switch' stuff.

Though Golden Sun DS doesn't *always* have free movment, i.e. when jumping between pillars or panels.  At least I don't think players can move freely on them, or jump off of them unless there's a safe place to jump to.

But either way it seems the first phase to building a modern Golden Sun game is basically building a free-roaming Zelda type environment, right?

I initially brought up Disgaea, and I suppose it features the ability to completely rotate a field or map.  Golden Sun and Zelda are really only built to be seen from one angle, and so you don't have issues where players walk behind a large pillar and can't be seen.  But I suppose all engines can do the same stuff, in terms of cut-scenes, or whatever.

But Disgaea also features multiple player characters on screen, whereas Golden Sun and Zelda feature just one.  Would Golden Sun be benefited at all from having puzzles which require a party to split up?  Or would it benefit from having a tactical style battle map?

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Would Golden Sun be benefited at all from having puzzles which require a party to split up?

Like a game series called The Vikings? (On the SNES) Except, those were platformers.

There was only one scene I remember where the characters split up like that, but it was a small minor thing. (In GS1, The Colossus in Tolbi.) ; So what would that make, only Sheba and Piers didn't get any playing time from the GBA games whatsoever? (Not counting GS3, since I never played through the whole thing.)

Isaac = GS1 Hero
Garet, Ivan, Mia = Only at The Colossus in GS1.
Felix = GS2 Hero
Jenna = The Intro of GS2.
Sheba, Piers = ?

[Thunder-squall]

yup, exactly like the vikings.  Also like Day of the Tentacle, if you've ever heard of that.