"To much of a (fairly) good thing is bad"

Summon Night is pretty much a rip off the "Tales of" series of action RPGs. While sharing similar linear battles, unfortunately this is a strictly solo outing with only a little magical support from an overseeing guardian beast. This game has been out in Japan for quite sometime now, and finally it has come to Atlus to bring us an English translation of this relatively unknown series. Was it worth it though?

GRAPHICS - 8/10
I really like the anime style presented here. There is certainly some artistic flair present and the whole game looks a lot like the SNES Chrono Trigger and Mana games. Battles aren't as great as the overworld though, with limited spell effects and super-deformed characters taking the stand. Overall it's a very fine production.

SOUND - 7/10
The tunes are very pleasant to the ears, but as with many other GBA RPGs, limited in quantity. The main town's theme reminds me of Chrono Trigger (yet again!) and the others are just as well composed. Sound effects are alright, but it does appear that the exclamation samples imitate a certain portly plumber?! Not bad quality at all.

STORY - 7/10
The developers have put forward a very interesting background covering the universe of Craftlords and their weapon creations. The main story is however brief, but it does set itself up well for future episodes (a lot like your run-of-the-mill Japanese manga). Some parts aren't as fleshed out as I would have liked, and as you near the abrupt end, several plot holes present themselves. But as I've said, it makes for good sequels eh? The translation is top-notch, as good as it gets here really, with all character quirks intact. The various sexual references were quite surprising, but it fits the whole game well.

GAMEPLAY - 6/10
Here's where it has many ups and downs. The linear action battles (like in the "Tales of" games) are fun to play through. They are simple button mashing affairs for the most part, with a couple of support abilities thrown in to enhance attacks or to provide aid to the 1 playable character. Unfortunately the "Tales of" games, which this title is based upon, has done it much better with more combinations, more strategy and more characters. As it is, they are executed well, and tops marks go to the team who implemented them with minimal loading times before, during and after to give us some very fast-paced action!

But just like the oldie-RPGs, Summon Night has a ridiculously high random encounter rate. This primitive way of initiating battles makes navigation annoying, aggravated by the way you're interrupted after every second(!) or so. It's good then that you can easily escape most battles, but then isn't the point of these games to actually fight?

The battles occur mostly in the labyrinth, which is a massive dungeon spanning 50 floors. The look is the same all throughout this area, and with few teleport points scattered throughout, always being irked by the overwhelming number of battles, it really does feel like you're stuck in a dungeon. There's some enemy variety, but definitely not enough. Time for a positive note: the bosses are interesting to battle against as you do have to pay some attention to what's actually going on. Fans of dungeon crawlers will lap this up much more than the casual RPGamer.

When inevitably compared to the "Tales of" games, Summon Night seems very much so to be a 'lite' copy. Levelling up attributes is very limited and does not have an impact on how you will 'strategically' go about fighting later monsters; once past the learning curve, winning is very easy.

Upon completion (which can easily be done in under 10 hours real time!), there is still some more game to be had with more floors of the labyrinth unlocked (*sigh*) and a boss time attack mode (which doesn't include the beast battles!) Additionally you can play as another character with slight changes in plot progression as well as unlock various endings. So if you really enjoyed the repetitive battles, you're definitely getting a bang for your buck.

OVERALL 6/10
So I hear that Atlus are already making good progress with the translation of the sequel. And apparently the game is longer, more involving and with further enhancements made to the battles. While this title is by no means mediocre, it has nothing which makes it stand out from the rest (apart from the crazy dialogue I suppose). I eagerly await the return of our Craftlord and may he/she show us the true power of linear action RPGs akin to the renown "Tales of" lineup.

Fair Game - with a relentless encounter rate!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/06