Summoner 2
Volition and THQ's second Summoner fares far better than the first, but is that saying much?
Published: October 27, 2002
I was a complete split on the first Summoner. To be perfectly honest, the graphics, animation, sound - the very presentation - was utter shit. It did have, however, a rather solid, engaging storyline, but you had to sit through all the crap to really enjoy it. The second Summoner remedies nearly all the problems from the first game, but it still lacks a few key things that keep it from being the next great American RPG, something to show that not all the big-name console RPGs need come from Japan.
If you've played the first game, you'll get a lot more out of the second, but Volition was wise enough to realize that few have played the first game for any significant stretch. The sequel takes place 20 years after the first game, where the summoner Joseph called forth the god Urath to finally end the conflict surrounding the kingdom of Medeva.
The interesting flip side to the story is that Summoner 2 acts almost as the complete opposite storytelling of the first game. You play Maia, a snooty queen of the land of Halassar and the apparent goddess reborn. Halassar is the opposing nation to Medeva, and as such most of the Mythology (of which there is tons, but more on that in a bit) is completely opposite of Medeva's. The religion and lore of Joseph is seen as evil, and it makes for an interesting play on what appeared to be a very cut and dry painting of the world of Summoner.
Summoner 2's story is far, far, far, far, FAR too complex to get into in the space of a review, but suffice it to say that the folks at Volition have spend more than enough time fleshing out Maia's world. The mythology, lore and information on the different characters you come across in the first 5 hours of the game alone are enough to fill an encyclopedia. The entire game would fill several volumes. If you're into reading many, many, many pages of text, you'll find yourself quickly sucked into the world Volition has created.
Maia's apparent reincarnated divinity is something that's hammered home every second of the game, and serves as the main foil for most of the game's character introductions. Maia is constantly accompanied by Sangaril, her servant and an assassin that was sent to kill Maia when she was young, but failed and decided to join her. Most of the other characters are cycled in and out throughout the game, including a smarmy pirate, a soul devouring beast, a female robot powered by gems, and a knight in Maia's army.
Each of these characters possess unique abilities in the areas of combat, magic, and special skills. For instance, Sangaril is an assassin and has the ability to cloak herself from view. Interestingly enough, you control one character at a time, and the other two in your party are driven by A.I. The computer-controlled characters do decent enough job of watching your back and keeping themselves alive, so the only time you really need wrestle control from them is when you need to call upon their particular skills. That's not to say their behavior isn't problematic at times, but more often than not, it's solid enough to let you watch your own back without having to worry about theirs.
When it comes time for blows, the combat system has been completely overhauled from the first game, and it's a welcome change. Combat is real-time this time around, rather than the pseudo-turn-based approach from the first game. It's still rather bothersome, though, and too often fights boil down to a handful of enemies surrounding you and lambasting your back with a flurry of slices or punches. Worse still, the magic system is almost completely busted. Whenever a character casts a spell, they're left immobile and vulnerable while the animation cycles, leaving that character open to a flurry of attacks. There's nothing more annoying than running from a pack of enemies when weakened, then kicking in a healing spell only to have them mug you while you're going through the spell animations.
When you're not fighting, things are kept interesting by a deep, twisting storyline that quickly uncovers a number of conspiracies and a couple dark secrets regarding Maia and her apparent "goddess reborn" status. Granted, with the exception of a smattering of side-quests for things like building temples and libraries, the game is horrendously linear, but the story is good enough that you don't mind. Besides, FFX was doubtlessly the most linear in the series and it's widely regarded as one of - if not the, best games in the series.
Summoner 2 is light years beyond the first game in presentation, especially graphically. Some of the worlds you'll visit border on the breathtaking, though the artists at Volition still need to learn a thing or two about proper lighting and texture pairings. Sometimes things are horrendously oversaturated with reds or purples or greens, and the texture work can be overly detailed for their resolution. Still, some of the vistas offered up are impressive, and show plenty of attention to detail. This is, of course, a judgment made ignoring the fact that the game gets positively WEIRD in some parts later on, but overall it's impressive and wildly original in design.
The engine tends to kick things out with little to no effort for the most part, though there are certainly instances were things choke, and when they do, it's usually in combat where it directly affects the gameplay, something that's particularly bothersome.
The audio is also a mixed blessing. Some of the music is plenty moving, stirring up a handful of odd instruments into a cross-cultural smorgasbord, but the majority of the soundtrack is average, and some of it is just plain annoying. The voice acting is solid, though, and while none of the characters is particularly interesting to listen to, their lines are delivered with plenty of conviction and passion. The banter between Maia and the different characters is especially amusing, usually because the denizens of the world have issues with a girl being called queen of an empire simply because of a prophecy.
Summoner 2 isn't a bad game. It isn't a great game, either, though, and while the lengthy story and twists it carries help elevate the game above the mire of mediocrity, it still feels a bit unpolished in final execution. The combat system is leaps and bounds above the first game's, but things like pausing for spell animations and disjointed, eye-watering lighting and texture palettes keep the interest level down. I'd encourage a rental of the game to see if it floats your boat, but you'll need at least a couple rentals to finish the game, so if it does, a purchase may not be a bad idea. Let's hope there's a Summoner 3, and that Volition can finally stamp out the last of the series' roadblocks. If they can, we may be looking at a very promising RPG series.
If you've played the first game, you'll get a lot more out of the second, but Volition was wise enough to realize that few have played the first game for any significant stretch. The sequel takes place 20 years after the first game, where the summoner Joseph called forth the god Urath to finally end the conflict surrounding the kingdom of Medeva.
The interesting flip side to the story is that Summoner 2 acts almost as the complete opposite storytelling of the first game. You play Maia, a snooty queen of the land of Halassar and the apparent goddess reborn. Halassar is the opposing nation to Medeva, and as such most of the Mythology (of which there is tons, but more on that in a bit) is completely opposite of Medeva's. The religion and lore of Joseph is seen as evil, and it makes for an interesting play on what appeared to be a very cut and dry painting of the world of Summoner.
Summoner 2's story is far, far, far, far, FAR too complex to get into in the space of a review, but suffice it to say that the folks at Volition have spend more than enough time fleshing out Maia's world. The mythology, lore and information on the different characters you come across in the first 5 hours of the game alone are enough to fill an encyclopedia. The entire game would fill several volumes. If you're into reading many, many, many pages of text, you'll find yourself quickly sucked into the world Volition has created.
Maia's apparent reincarnated divinity is something that's hammered home every second of the game, and serves as the main foil for most of the game's character introductions. Maia is constantly accompanied by Sangaril, her servant and an assassin that was sent to kill Maia when she was young, but failed and decided to join her. Most of the other characters are cycled in and out throughout the game, including a smarmy pirate, a soul devouring beast, a female robot powered by gems, and a knight in Maia's army.
Each of these characters possess unique abilities in the areas of combat, magic, and special skills. For instance, Sangaril is an assassin and has the ability to cloak herself from view. Interestingly enough, you control one character at a time, and the other two in your party are driven by A.I. The computer-controlled characters do decent enough job of watching your back and keeping themselves alive, so the only time you really need wrestle control from them is when you need to call upon their particular skills. That's not to say their behavior isn't problematic at times, but more often than not, it's solid enough to let you watch your own back without having to worry about theirs.
When it comes time for blows, the combat system has been completely overhauled from the first game, and it's a welcome change. Combat is real-time this time around, rather than the pseudo-turn-based approach from the first game. It's still rather bothersome, though, and too often fights boil down to a handful of enemies surrounding you and lambasting your back with a flurry of slices or punches. Worse still, the magic system is almost completely busted. Whenever a character casts a spell, they're left immobile and vulnerable while the animation cycles, leaving that character open to a flurry of attacks. There's nothing more annoying than running from a pack of enemies when weakened, then kicking in a healing spell only to have them mug you while you're going through the spell animations.
When you're not fighting, things are kept interesting by a deep, twisting storyline that quickly uncovers a number of conspiracies and a couple dark secrets regarding Maia and her apparent "goddess reborn" status. Granted, with the exception of a smattering of side-quests for things like building temples and libraries, the game is horrendously linear, but the story is good enough that you don't mind. Besides, FFX was doubtlessly the most linear in the series and it's widely regarded as one of - if not the, best games in the series.
Summoner 2 is light years beyond the first game in presentation, especially graphically. Some of the worlds you'll visit border on the breathtaking, though the artists at Volition still need to learn a thing or two about proper lighting and texture pairings. Sometimes things are horrendously oversaturated with reds or purples or greens, and the texture work can be overly detailed for their resolution. Still, some of the vistas offered up are impressive, and show plenty of attention to detail. This is, of course, a judgment made ignoring the fact that the game gets positively WEIRD in some parts later on, but overall it's impressive and wildly original in design.
The engine tends to kick things out with little to no effort for the most part, though there are certainly instances were things choke, and when they do, it's usually in combat where it directly affects the gameplay, something that's particularly bothersome.
The audio is also a mixed blessing. Some of the music is plenty moving, stirring up a handful of odd instruments into a cross-cultural smorgasbord, but the majority of the soundtrack is average, and some of it is just plain annoying. The voice acting is solid, though, and while none of the characters is particularly interesting to listen to, their lines are delivered with plenty of conviction and passion. The banter between Maia and the different characters is especially amusing, usually because the denizens of the world have issues with a girl being called queen of an empire simply because of a prophecy.
Summoner 2 isn't a bad game. It isn't a great game, either, though, and while the lengthy story and twists it carries help elevate the game above the mire of mediocrity, it still feels a bit unpolished in final execution. The combat system is leaps and bounds above the first game's, but things like pausing for spell animations and disjointed, eye-watering lighting and texture palettes keep the interest level down. I'd encourage a rental of the game to see if it floats your boat, but you'll need at least a couple rentals to finish the game, so if it does, a purchase may not be a bad idea. Let's hope there's a Summoner 3, and that Volition can finally stamp out the last of the series' roadblocks. If they can, we may be looking at a very promising RPG series.
