One of the launch RPGs for the PS2, Summoner was promoted on TV, but in the end didn't seem to generate the huge sales, or even hype, that the publishers must have hoped.
You are Joseph, a young man born with the power of summoning. As a child, you found a magic ring, which summoned a demon, which in turn killed everyone you loved, and all of their neighbors. You threw the ring down a well, and lived with the survivors and immigrants, as an orphan.
Now, you are 19 years old. The Orenian army has invaded your quiet town, and you're in the middle of a small battle zone (not exactly a war zone, considering you're in a dinky little village). This is where the game starts off. You run around, talk to the people who are still alive, kill some soldiers, and escape the town. Why did the Orenian army attack the town, though?
To find you.
Yes, you, who has the power to summon huge, powerful demons. This innate power of yours is the reason for just about everything you do in the game, as far as the main storyline goes. Any further explanation would require spoilers.
The gameplay system is a cross between Vagrant Story and Baldur's Gate, but oodles better than either. When on the world map, you walk around and get into random encounters a la Final Fantasy; when in a dungeon, encounter map, or the like, you walk around from an isometric viewpoint, and don't enter a separate screen to battle.
The battle system works like this; when a fight begins, it's due to either your character attacking an enemy, or an enemy attacking your character. Usually, the person to start the battle gets two attacks, then you go into a sort of duel, trading attacks. You can, however, extend the number of attacks per ''turn'' by using the chain system. When making an attack, a small symbol appears over your character's head. If you press one of the directional buttons while this symbol is there, you extend the attack by one more move (there are several moves). When your character does this move, you get the chance to do it again. By extending your ''turn'' through the chain system, you can continue to do damage and prevent the enemy from attacking. However, it should be noted that these chain moves are simple things, like extra attack, kick, and the like; no huge limit-style attacks for you.
If you aren't engaged in a duel, or if you decide to break away from the duel, you can use a skill or cast a spell. The spells are very useful, and well balanced.
The characters can be built as you please, to an extent. You can't build a brave warrior to be nothing but a healer, and you can't build a thief to shove fireballs down the throats of your enemies. However, you can choose what style of spells your magicians learn, and you can choose what weapons your fighters become proficient in (and these choices are very important, trust me). This is a nice medium between the Final Fantasies and the Fallouts, and it's done very well.
The graphics are great. The characters themselves are poorly designed, but everything else is superb. The environments are incredibly detailed, the uses of light and shadow are exquisite, and in a showing of PC RPG roots, the spell effects are dazzling.
The sound is poor. Sound effects are near absent, and the music is simply adequate. Fortunately, you can always mute your TV and pop in some 6-Gig (whose lyrics graced the synopsis of this review).
The well-constructed medium between Squaresoft-style linearity and Fallout-style open-endedness gives this game a great replay value, without sacrificing the elements a console RPG fan consider to be the core of an RPG.
The challenge presented by this game is as close to perfect as you can get. Never is the game too easy or too hard; the open-ended style ensures that.
