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Summon Night: Swordcraft Story Preview

Standard-fair RPG, or something more? We take a look...

I've been excited about Summon Night: Swordcraft Story for some time now. Not necessarily because I'm expecting the game to be amazing, or even removed from the standard RPG cliches. The truth is I'm just a sucker for old-school RPG's, even with all their faults. Luckily, Atlus seems to have a game with enough depth and creativity to impress not only me, but everyone else as well.

Summon Night opens as can be expected, the hero awakens from bed late for his test to become a "craftlord." Upon beginning the exam, the player can choose to play as either a male or female, and they are offered a series of questions that will determine their guardian creature. Nothing so far sounds like the basis for a Final Fantasy epic, and it should be said that as of yet, I haven't actually been able to discover any underlying story to Summon Night at all. The hero of the game is attempting to master all the weapons and participate in a "craftlord" tournament. If there is in fact some story apart from that, it's apparently not worth noting. Even so, if the story isn't so groundbreaking, then it's in the gameplay where this title is trying to leave an impression.

The game offers an overwold map setup that is reminiscent of any SNES-era RPG. Dungeon crawling makes up the core of gameplay, and the standard cities, shops, and AI characters are present as well. Nothing here really screams out of the ordinary, and while stale for many players, these elements seem much like a throwback to the heyday of RPG's. However, for all the players that aren't interested in nostalgia, the depth of the title soon becomes apparent in the crafting and battle systems.

Hence the "craftlord" title, Summon Night offers players a chance to craft their own weapons as they go. Materials to create weapons can be either purchased or won from battles, and the diversity of weapons will have players choosing whether a particular battle can be best won with a sword, axe, ... or ladle. Not only can players craft weapons, they can even change their weapons mid-battle to suit particular situations where that ladle might not be so effective. Changing weapons doesn't simply alter the attack power of any blow; it also changes the entire style of combat. There are five categories of weapons within the game; sword, axe, spear, knuckle, and drill; and each can be upgraded and mastered to suit a player's style.

Battles are fought in a 2D side-scrolling display, and are similar to those in the Tales series. The battles allow free movement and the ability to attack multiple enemies at one time. The enemies can be present on all sides of the player, so relying on a catalog of creative weaponry, and on the abilities of the guardian summon is necessary. From the time of the "craftlord" exam, players are accompanied by one of four possible guardian beasts. The guardians can be called upon to cast spells within the games numerous battles. They also receive new abilities and level up as gameplay progresses.

Numerous seems the only way to describe the battles in Summon Night. Random battles have long been the bane of RPG players, and Summon Night doesn't seem to have an issue with hurting anyone's feelings on the matter. Random battles seem to occur on average every couple of seconds in the games dungeons. With battles happening so frequently, hopefully the chance to gain materials and the creative battle system will keep fighting from feeling tedious.

It's hard to determine yet if Summon Night will be more than just another cliche-filled RPG. It has the potential and creativity to become a highlight in the GBA's catalogue, but its depth seems to be present mostly to counteract the issues that most players already have with the genre. It's a tough thing to sell an RPG these days, but offering players the chance to do battle with a ladle always helps.