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I can't believe it's over!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: January 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought the first Summoner game and loved it, so I was looking forward to Summoner 2. Well, I really enjoyed Summoner 2 as well, except for the fact it's already over! Never have I completed an RPG in so short a time. I even embarked on several side quests, and I was NOT up all night playing this game! At least the game has replay value, due to all the side-quests. However, I was disappointed to discover you can only re-play the game with your ... "newbie" stats. Too bad it can't be like "Chrono Trigger" or "Chrono Cross", where your stats are higher the more you re-play the game. So what's the point of the "save" function at the very end of Summoner 2? Just so you can see Maia's final battle over and over again? It seems so pointless.

Like I said, I did enjoy the game. The storyline is excellent (as was the first Summoner plot), the characters are well-developed, the fighting is greatly improved (I've been waiting for years for another "real time" fighting rpg, like "Zelda" and "Alundra"!!), it's one of the hardest rpg's I've played in a looong time (Battle-wise I died many frustrating deaths, getting crushed by non-stop foes! FFX was a easy by comparison!), and I liked that several of the characters from the first Summoner appeared in Summoner 2! Yago is a playable character and Rosalind has a "cameo". The graphics are greatly improved as well. Nothing like FFX, but a big leap from the first Summoner.

I noticed Summoner 2 has the same annoying tick as the first game. You get to an exit, then can't leave because a party member is trapped in some far-off room you left ages ago! I'm looking forward to a Summoner 3, and hopefully this will be corrected by then! I really liked the characters being "interviewed"! That's original!
I just wish the game had been longer! Example: if you played Legend of Dragoon for 2 weeks, perhaps you made it to the 2nd disc by then. Play this game for 2 weeks and you'll complete it!

An actual review!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: November 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well, unlike most the other reviewers, I will try to actually review the game, not just say "it wasn't that good" and give it one star.

I played the first Summoner, and thought it was OK at best. My favorite thing about the first one was the movie you got after beating it.

Coming from Sommoner, you will be in somewhat familiar teritory. You are no longer a summoner -- and you are no longer a peasant starting off like you were with Joseph. As the Queen of Hallasar, you believe you are the one from the prophecy and all that stuff -- and you get to transform (shapechange) into guardians to help you fight. No more summoning dog-demons to help you in your battles.

Gameplay is pretty good and easy to learn. There are 8 total playable characters (7 for most the game) -- And you will learn to love and not-so-much love some of the characters. The "hit the d pad to do a combo" thing from Summoner is gone, which I was glad for. S2 has moved to the more classic button/direction combos.

The storyline is pretty good. It's not of FFX quality, and definately not as long, but it's an engrossing and well done story.

You can only play 3 characters at one time. The developers did a pretty good job at getting all of your characters some play time, even though can get somewhat unrealistic at times (your guys always "split up" in the story line, convienantly) -- but overall it's not bad.

The characters are all pretty well done and balanced. I had hoped for a bit more of armor/look diversity, but it's still cool to see them in twilight armor and such.

Not a bad game over all -- and for those that liked the movie at the end of the first, the second one is a bit different, but still funny as hell :)

This will be a great sequel worth of the name Summoner

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I played the demo of this game and it really is looking better
than the first one. Graphically this game looks very good the
special effects look fantastic. The new battle system allows you
to get more involved in combat where you need to press the button
to swing your sword rather than just issue commands to your characters ans sit back and see what happens like in the first Summoner. This game has a feature similar to Final Fantasy X in that you can switch between characters during a fight since you can only have up to 3 characters, you can plan some strategy and see which character is better for a particular situation. The voice acting is still top notch as it was in the first game. The story and mythology of this game is rich and in depth and makes you wanna know more. This is a fabulous rpg game with tons of hours of game play. You don't need to have played the fist Summoner in order to understand and play this game but for those who have played Summoner 1 they will enjoy some of the references Summoner 2 has of the first game and there are some characters from summoner 1 appearing in Summoner 2. I definetly recommend this game to any hardcore rpg gamer or casual gamer. Buy it!

A Colorful Explosion of Confusion and Fun...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'd like to start by saying it's amazing that maia can run around and fight as much as she does without getting any back problems because her upper torso is disproportionately endowed to her waspish waist. I almost feel bad for making her run so much. Also, what sort of deformity is sangril hiding under that veil?... does she have some sort of snaggle tooth or moustache? Don't be afraid Sangril... I'm not here to judge... I'm here to manipulate you into destroying the enemy! You so sneaky!

Boy are the interior enviroments in this game colorful! It's like a multi-ethnic interior decorators acid flashback!

I didn't play the first summoner so I feel a little left out as far as the story which seems to me almost, in some parts, a little rushed... like a bunch of executives sitting around a table with a pot of coffee and a deadline... "hurry up guys the game ships in three weeks!" but overal it's above par for a game of this type.

the things i like the most about this game: the battles are fun and theres some strategy involved beyond hitting X a bunch of times. Who's the best charachter to controll in which situation. keep your eye on _everyones_ health. etc. good good good. I also like the change of pace offered in the in-between castle parts where you have to do some minor 'ruling' of your kingdom and make, decisions... "what shall be done with them your majesty?" "off with their heads!"... this and other things keep it from becoming a dry hack-and-slash-and-kill-so-i-can-get-the-key-to-open-the-door-to-see-the-next-cut-scene type of game... good good.

it's fruity colors, and strangely deformed mutant heros, are pretty fun... will they keep me engaged through the whole game? I will play and play untill I understand why I have nothing better to do than puppet little colorfull video people into killing other colorfull video people.

Better than I expected

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: June 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I gave the first Summoner two thumbs down: lets face it, it sucked. I thought I might as well give this a try, since I could buy it for only 2 bucks. I began to play, and was amazed at the difference. Much more colorful, better looking characters, with lots of diversity and many ways to attack, instead of just constantly hacking at something in front of you as if it was fire lumber! Spells weren't much different. Music stunk, basically made of bongos. :( :( But the voices fit the characters, and the story line was interesting. The only thing that really bugged me was the fact you could only summon four summons, whereas in the other Summoner, there was multiple summons, such as the Blue Imp. But you might just want to pick it up for the weekend and try it out. The game wasn't terrible...but it was lacking a lot also.

Great, great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: October 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I played the first Summoner and loved it. (Had some flaws, but still great.)
The improvements to this game are outstanding. The spell / item / quest item menu is a great improvement. I was beat by the first Boss, but that is why I liked it. You have to change your fighting style to kill the Boss. I went all the way thru Baldur Gate without dying (That is why I think that game was graphically great, but game play just does not cut it.) Summoner 2, the HUGH amount of quest is great. I like that you can stop the "Storyline" and get a break with some other quest. The choice of 8 different characters might be a little negative, due to you have Eight characters to "level-up", but that is small in my book. I like the VAST difference of each character. They are not just a `little' different, but completely different. Do not get me wrong, there are certain abilities that run between some, and others have very unique abilities. This game is not a hack and slash game, but a "thinkers" game.

First time I've finished an RPG and not replayed it.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: March 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It's prettier than the first one, the battle system has a lot more variety, the characters are well-drawn and capable, and enough of the original approach was preserved that it still feels like a "Summoner" game.

But I never got excited about this one.

The first one didn't really grab me until a plot twist about a third of the way into the game, but that twist really ramped up my desire to play the game, to finish it, to explore every corner available to me. Summoner 2 has nothing like that--there is no truly compelling plot, very little real drama among characters...it's all pretty standard fare. The most exciting things in Summoner 2 were the hints dropped about Rosalind and Flece (characters from the original Summoner), and the appearance of a mysterious, chilling woman who was once a mysterious, chilling little girl (anyone who thoroughly played the first game knows who I'm talking about).

Maia's story just doesn't thrill me that much.

Maybe it's just that the game has so much in it and I don't have the patience to do it all properly. The business of sitting on the throne and running a kingdom is great, and good decisions result in character-boosting events, but you can only run the kingdom X amount each time you go there. Generally, you have to finish the next big plot point before the home scenario will continue.

I love the large number of quests, but they frequently got in the way of the story--if not for the Quest sub-menu, I don't think I'd have known which assignments were main story quests and which were sub-quests...some of the sub-quests really skate the line in terms of their apparent importance.

In the end, I felt as though I was meandering through the whole thing, not entirely sure of what I was doing, often having to go on solo missions without any support from the other player characters, which is probably my biggest complaint about the game.

I love having to think my way through battles rather than just hacking and slashing, but a lot of the solo missions put you in the middle of large groups of enemies with little to get you through but your sword and your store of health potions (I always keep at least 50 on hand). The combat system felt innovative at first, but quickly deteriorated into an exercise in button-mashing: the game includes many, many special maneuvers for the characters, but a well-timed hit from an enemy can interrupt the maneuver prior to completion. I found that so frustrating that I never bothered with anything but the most basic attacks, meaning I rarely pressed anything but the square button. Hack, hack, heal...hack, hack, heal.

After my wonderful experience with the first Summoner, I'm finding myself wishing I had enjoyed this one more. In fact, take the first game and upgrade the graphics to Summoner 2's level, tweak out a battle system that combines the best from each game, and you'd have one of the greatest RPGs ever released.

Summoner2 is the reason I bought my PS2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game! I was heart broken after playing Summoner 1 to learn that Summoner 2 was only going to be released on Playstation. So I saved up and bought one, played Summoner 2 and loved it.
You know all about the plot the graphics and the stlye of play. All I can add to it is that's it's not as bad as some have portrayed it. The graphics are kewl, the music is magical, the characters are stunning in their own right and the story is one of the best I've encountered. The plot twists and turns and leaves you wondering, right to the end.
The choice of characters can be a little daunting, but you can soon pick up which character is suited to what task and under what conditions he/she is best suited. Again, I liked the stealth and backstab ability of the thief character Sangril.
Like Summoner 1 there're side quests aplenty and they all add xp, so by the time the Boss Battles come you're ready to give them a challenge. The side quests do actually tie into the plot, and they're not the usual fed-x type of go there, speak to 'Name', get 'item' and return to beginning. You visit some amazing places and talk to some interesting people(?).
Like Summmoner 1, each character is suited to a particular part of the game and you'll often find your character alone or in the company of one other who sometimes don't get along, which I thought was a good touch.
Again, the chain combat system came into play, which I liked. The challenge of getting a good rhythm going is a hard one, but once mastered you should be able to defeat most enemies before they get a chance to hit you.
I'll be playing Summoner 2 again this summer and as I'm still trying to figure out the story, so I'll probably be going back more than once.

The Difference in Gamers, and a good Game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First if all, this is my first game review so please give me a bit of slack. After seeing a few of the reviews for this game, I was quite simply appalled. True, the camera is a bit odd at times, and a few minor clipping issues do get a bit annoying, but this is a very good game. As for awkward combos' and pausing, I often do not get hit for many battles straight with the character I'm controlling, and I think it's more of a matter of skill than a simple hack n' slash. I myself have yet to complete this game, but one review mentioned losing on the first stage, all the while calling it a hack n' slash. Quite simply if you "hack n' slash" you will probably not get very far into this game, certainly not far enough to be reviewing it. I think the very fact that this game has a bit something for everyone, and a very extensive, and ever evolving world, with a beautifully told storyline make this game a must buy. The details such as buying and battling gladiators, gambling, and political decisions make the world in which the game takes place seem both "real" and "intriguing." Each hero character is completely unique, in both appearance, and in combat style. Be it stealth, massive melees, spell casting, or even the devouring of souls, you can do it in this game. And one last thing to rap-up this review, camera angles and gfx do not make a game they only help it. Prince of Persia 2, and Phantom Dust are two good examples of splendid games, with sub par camera control, and Summoner 2's camera handles better than either of those games.

Great, great, great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I loved the first Summoner (despite having some flaws), so I rushed out and got Summoner 2 the very day it was released, and I don't regret. The graphics are sharp and clear, the voice acting is just as good (if not better) than the first, the spell system and ability system remains relatively intact, and the battle system is great (much better than the first). The story is very interesting and draws you in immediately, and it hasn't let me down yet. I highly recommend!

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