Summoner Review

One of the most irritating things in the game are the annoying loading screens, which tend to appear frequently throughout the game. Beats me why the developers have inserted so many of these screens (the game sections were probably divided so that they can function more efficiently). It is possible that this also somewhat decreased the hardware demands. Oh yeah, and there's the significant fact that also has to be mentioned - this was initially a PS2 game.

Still, both of these facts will not ruin the atmosphere one bit. Spells, incantations, summonings, and all other similar features are superbly animated. One small flaw though, the combat areas (where you slash creatures in order to get some experience) are repetitive and sometimes they contain the same monsters you've encountered a dozen times before. This little drawback could have been avoided if the developers considered putting in a wider variety of combat sections and consequently making the whole game more alluring. Plus, a larger number of enemy units would be in order. Nonetheless, the locations in Summoner, like the Iona Monastery or Lenele, bring an impressive level of geometrical complexity. The characters could use a bit more polygons, although they do have an imposing array of nicely animated combat moves (both enemy and player-controlled characters).

Likewise, the soundtrack is absolutely superb (just to remind you, there were 150 music pieces made exclusively for this game). Every theme corresponds perfectly to every section of the game, particularly when you find yourself in the Iona Monastery. The visual details and the stunning music tracks create an almost perfect ambience, which kind of portrays the special tranquillity of a distant monastery isle.

Unfortunately, the great atmosphere cannot make up for certain gameplay drawbacks. Although it's nothing serious, the game does tend to have a few quirks with the camera movement. It seems there's no way of lowering the angle of view when your character is engaged in close combat, therefore making it very difficult (or rather, impossible) for you to see if any enemies might be approaching from a distance. If the player had the option of putting the camera behind the characters, then he could easily position his team according to the foes near by. Which also brings me to an interesting point; when you're in combat mode some of the monsters simply won't see you and your summoned entity (even when you place it within a walking distance). This could be attributed to the lousy AI routines.

Overall, this doesn't happen too frequently, hence it won't be that bothersome. In contrast, the opponents may sometimes detect you when they have their backs turned at your characters. Fortunately though, I may be wrong, cause these occurrences are there to add a dose of realism to the RPG gameplay, in terms individual character abilities and experience (meaning, some adversaries may be stupid and poorly experienced, while others may have had more practice, and are, naturally more skilful).

Players who enjoy taking part in quests and slashing monsters in a 'Diablo' kinda way have to have this game. Even if you have an aversion to such games, you might consider playing Summoner, cause it would be a shame that you miss some of the beautiful locations, excellent gameplay, and, basically quite a good RPG.