Summoner 2
Score: 88% ESRB: Teen Publisher: THQ Developer: THQ Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: RPG
Graphics & Sound: Although the graphics in Summoner 2 are adequate, one would think that the graphical prowess of an RPG of this nature, on a two-year-old system, would be better. It's unfortunate that you won't get that 'WOW' factor you may be expecting, but instead will be bombarded with the same tired-looking visuals. Even the 'special' summons don't really do anything except brighten the screen with some lighting effects. It's always disappointing to have reality fall short of what turned out to be premature expectations. Along the same line, Summoner 2's sound quality could have been beefed up quite a bit. Special magical effects neither blow you away, nor leave you with a feeling of adequacy. Fortunately, however, most of the important dialog in Summoner 2 does contain voice acting, and isn't all that bad in quality. Even still, there are times when certain 'no-name' non-player-characters (NPCs) will talk, while other seemingly more important NPCs don't. Even more, sometimes characters in the game will move their lips when they speak, while other times (which is most of the time) they seem to be testing out their latest ventriloquist act.
Gameplay: As with most Role-Playing Games (RPGs), Summoner 2 revolves around a party system. Along your journeys you will continually pick up new members for your team, but will only be allowed to control any three at one time. And although you will be able to manually control each of the characters in your party, the computer's superb Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take over the characters that you are not. This is a great feature that is implemented in Summoner 2's real-time combat system, and allows the player to play a full-fledged RPG without draining brainpower with each passing minute. The developers at THQ did a fine job in allowing you to set up the non-player-controlled members of your party into different styles of AI. This is a great way to balance your party out with hand-to-hand combat, melee, and/or magical abilities. The real-time combat system in Summoner 2 is a blessing for gamers who don't typically get into the style of most RPG's turn-based systems. Instead, you will have to decide which attributes you want to increase each time you level up, as well as choose your equipment well, to find the perfect balance of speed, combat, and magic for each of your characters. If you try to beef up one stat or another without also increasing the others, you may find yourself stuck in a situation that will be next to impossible to safely get out of. For example, if you focus too much on juicing up your weapons for physical combat, but don't also focus on spells and magic, you will soon find yourself in situations that you just won't be able to overcome. You see, the story line in Summoner 2 tosses you back and forth from area to area in order to accomplish each of your quests that will eventually lead you to fulfill your underlying prophecy. But along the way, you'll find out that you won't always have your buddies around to help bail you out when you get into trouble. If (and when) you have to go it solo, and your character isn't balanced, you'll likely find yourself struggling to survive. But, eventually you will be back in your circle of friends, and Summoner 2's simple encounters become extremely easy to rule.
Difficulty: As stated above, the difficulty of Summoner 2 varies with each situation. On one hand, most of the combat in the game can be fairly easy when you have all of you party members around. But, as soon as you go solo, or have to fight a 'boss' in an area, you'll soon learn whether or not you've been doing a good job of balancing your stats and weapons with each level increase. Throughout the game, you will also have the opportunity to switch party members, and doing so may adversely affect your progress in each area. Choose wisely, and Summoner 2 will be at your mercy. Choose incorrectly, and you may struggle with some of the simplest of situations. All in all, Summoner 2 generally has a good balance of difficulty, but can get frustrating at times.
Game Mechanics: Summoner 2 has definitely got one of the better controller setups I've ever come across. It's true that every button on the Dual Shock 2 controller will be used, but controlling your characters' actions really isn't that difficult. Certain skills will require a combination of button presses, but again, these are fairly easy to remember and equally as easy to perform. And with a quick twitch of the D-pad, you'll have easy access to all of your items and magical abilities for use instantly. The nicest thing about this quick-menu system is that the game essentially pauses while you search for the item of interest. And anybody that has ever played RPG's can tell you that trying to search a huge list of spells and items while you're getting your butt pummeled makes for some frustrating moments. RPG fans, and atypical RPG fans alike, should enjoy all of the gameplay and options of Summoner 2. The game is surely worth a rent to find out if you like it enough to buy. The bad part about renting most RPG's, however, is that it can cost you an arm and a leg to eventually finish it. So if you like Summoner 2 from the start, you will probably want to hit your local gaming store and pick up your own personal copy.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
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