Summoner Review - PAGE 1

You play Joseph, born with the mark of the summoner. Destined to bring havoc and misery to the land with a power that rivals the gods. When Joseph was still a child, he conjured a powerful demon to protect his village from raiders. But he was weak and lost control of the creature, and it rampaged through and slaughtered everything in its wake. Only Joseph, his friend Jekhar, and a priest-turned-beggar named Yago survived. Yago wanted to help Joseph master his power, but Joseph renounced his ability and Yago both, and lived as a lonely exile in a remote farming village. The ring of darkness, which he used as his summoning conduit, was cast down a well. Jekhar went his own way, vowing to slay his friend who destroyed his village and family. Now, years later, fate has caught up with Joseph, and he can no longer deny his power. The emperor of Orenia invades the kingdom of Medeva, searching for the summoner foretold to doom him.

This is where the story begins. At first, the plot does sound familiar to most other RPGs: you are the one destined to fulfill an incredible prophecy to usurp an emperor. Yet this story stands out from among the rest. Throughout the game there are twists and turns to the plot with a liberal dose of political maneuvering that keeps you guessing on what will happen next, and whose side you and your so-called friends are really on.

Characters

The game begins with only Joseph in the party, but as the story progresses other adventurers will join his quest: Flece, a thief from Lenele; Rosalind, an initiate of Iona (the spellcaster); and Jekhar, a soldier of Lenele and your sworn enemy. There is no concrete class system in Summoner. Whenever a character gains a level, 2 or 3 points are earned to distribute to the character’s pool of skills to enhance their effectiveness. These skills range from proficiency in weapons and magic, to defense skills such as dodge and parry to character specific skills like backstabbing and summoning. Skill level ranges from 1 (which end of the sword do I use?) to 10 (I own Drizzt), and there are items that can boost skill points beyond 10. Skill pools start small at the beginning levels, but increase in diversity with experience. Points can also be hoarded for later levels, when more powerful skills become available. So while a character cannot become a master at all things, the player gets to define the character’s traits and play style. Rosalind can be a master of fire, ice, or other magic, or she can master the staff and tank it (at least she thinks so... you’d be scraping her off the pavement soon enough). Joseph can swing a sword, or hide behind Jekhar and rain arrows into enemies.

Party characters each have their own goals and reasons for joining the party, instead of being a bunch of lemmings who just follow you and lend a hand in battle. Whereas other RPGs develop the side characters with short side quests, Summoner masterfully weaves the lives of the main and side characters together into the folds of the main story. There is no option for self-initiated or random interaction between characters, but relationships are developed through the game during conversations with NPCs. These interactions almost always involve Joseph, and as far as I can tell the other party members are neutral to each other. While this allows the story to focus on Joseph, it is a missed opportunity to develop the characters further. At the very least, some petty squabbling (like in BG) would be interesting.