Registered: Oct 2002
Location:
Posts: 25

Okay. I finished the game. I didn't get the 13th summons since it seemed like a really difficult goal. But, I did run into the tower and tried to finish the game. It took a few trys at the final boss but I finaly figured it out. I seem to keep doing the most stupid thing over and over when it comes to final bosses before finaly do the right obvious thing. But in any case.. here's my few words on the ending.

Overall Rateing = eh.

For me, 'eh' equals to something between 'barely playable and 'a fun and interesting game.' Summoner 1 was 'Grade A' which is about 3 steps above that. Basicly It they took the good stuff with Summoner 1, keeped that and then changed everything includeing the stuff that really didn't need changeing that much. End result, A little bit of good, a little bit of bad. So the end results for me lies somewhere in the middle of it all.

The main thing is, I didn't like how the plot was going, Maia wasn't the goddess reborn, she was the Tree reborn, she was the universe/world reborn to defend itself from it's enemy. She was everything... And while that's a really cool concept, I don't like it in the over all context of the first game.

Ya see, the first game was about reforming a god, but in the second game, that reforming not only seems minor it also doesn't make sence anymore. How did Urath really get broken up like that? The Tempest? Since it's never explicitly spoken it doesn't make sence. Why was it Urath broken up and not Laharah? The game doesn't make sence anymore.

To me it seems me that the second game was just created in effect to make a sequal and everything was done from scratch A new plot that was lously created to bind with the first one. Takeing only simular elements from the first game to make it reconizable in the second. It's almost like how all the Final Fantasy games have almost all the same basic elements but have nothing to do with each other.

Oh and before I forget it, let me just say, who though it would be a good idea to go Evangelion at the end of hte game?!?!?! No I didn't like it because it wasn't fun imho. I was getting specific characters ready for hte big final battle and I end up being forced to play with with Battle Suit Maia?!

No sence in really going on for that much more. My main issue is simply this. I loved the game play, didn't care for the story.

But at least I did have fun.

Sentack

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: The Cold Northland!
Posts: 8392

And since rating the story element is even more massively subjective than gameplay mechanics, there may be nothing wrong a'tall with Summoner 2 as a game. You just didn't like how the story went.

How about the control scheme...how about some of the mechanics and the features? How about the graphics or the environments?

Any comparison to Final Fantasy is good in my book. I was a bit disallusioned to a different location and place with Summoner 2 until I realized how much it expanded the overall concept of the story. New lands to discover and people to understand. I have not played it yet and I am waiting for the GameCube version...but I still have plenty of faith in Summoner 2.

Still...thanks for a well thought out critique of the story to be sure!

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location:
Posts: 25

Oh for the most part, game mechanics wise, I love the game. The battle system, magic, everything was leaps and bounds ahead of the original game. Specialy load times, THANK god they fixed load times.

Now it's time to play the game thru with a FAQ this time.

Now if I go away from the story, and such. The game is truely a classic. The textures, modeling and level design are good to excelent. It's almost difficult to make things look bad on a PS2 imho. As for combat, sometimes sections of the game where REALLY difficult. For instance, in the Realm of Twilight when your trying to stableize the bridges, that section could be a NIGHTMARE if your not carefull. That point in the game really pushed my idea that you have to be really carefull when it comes to forceing players to use all there characters, because a lot of them will be MUCH lower level then the main.

One thing that annoyed me was that while the 'lightning' spell line was great, the 'buffs' (Haste, Empower, Energy Shield) Where way way too short. They barely lasted a fight before they faded. And unless you where controling the casters, often they would run out and never be recast, or only one would be react when you wanted all of them. Eventually I just stoped using them all together.


Well, While Final Fantasy is a good series, I tend to think that it also symbolizes the most basic of console stereotypes. Basicly it's because it created them or enhanced on them. For instance, mini-games, almost totaly universaly hated are common in Summoner 2. I'm also a believer that western, or maybe just American rpg's tend to have a diffrent flavor that I like as well as the Japanses style as well. Sort of like how Most american games have 'save anywhere' and Japanese use 'save points'.

But in general, outside the story the game is really fun. I think perhaps the spells could use a retooling, more of them, and with more info back to the user on there purpose, strength, etc. It also seemed odd there was no 'universal item listing' because sometimes you wanted to check all your inventory and sort thru the junk.

But in the end, I give the game play a grade A. A big jump ahead of Summoner 1 in nearly all respects. I just wish I could have had more characters in my party. :-) Or at least had all my characters be equal level to my main character.

Sentack

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location:
Posts: 6

how many hours did it take ya? with or without all the quests?

-coonka

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location:
Posts: 25

27 hours, Doing a vast majority of the quests but after a while I was looking to 'the' faq for some hints. I think I could have killed a good 5 hours if I didn't do the sidequests but it would have been much much harder.

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 35

i was extremly dissapointed with the ending of the game, but then thats not a new thing.

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location:
Posts: 25

The ending kind of started off really cool. But then basicly boiled down into nothing. I'm still not sure what exactly was the big secret or deal. Nothing special happened, Tempest was well, just some big bad ass creature that really wanted to muck with everything. It took Maia and the machines of the Unseen to help her finish the job. But it played out kind of strange. Battle Suit Maia looked cool, but It really didn't fly with me for the style of game I wanted to play.

Over all, it was okay. The best part was post credits 'Teomura Travel' stuff.

Sentack

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 35

it took me just over 21hrs to cpmplete the game, granted i did not do that many sidequests.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location:
Posts: 14

I am really dissapointed in the game. I just beat saddama kir and i am at 20hrs 15 min summoner took me sooooooooooooooooooooo much longer. thank god that i saved before entering the eye of the storm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Texas
Posts: 37

At first I went in wanting to be in the same world as summoner1, then I realized when I got to Munari city I was playing a differnt world altogather, so I gave up on that idea.....battle suit miai was pretty wierd, especialy since the 13th summon was much stronger

I kinda of agree that the ending was pretty lame ..but like it's been said THATS NOTHING NEW.......the only GOOD RPGending was Crono trigger (10 endings best one was moonlight parade)
the type of ending you get to PLAY through, walk around and talk to ppl etc.

it would have been cool to say: have miai drop from the tree as a blue fruit then come back to life with Iari...

then go walk the Hallassar city in celebration.....if you built castles and schools , and sewers, the armada you paid for would be sailing a tribute to your victory, cannons firinf fireworks into the air .Targus and Sangril make up there differnces, if you saved targuses brother he'd be ther thanking you and bring his soldigers to march for you. etc etc. then! you get to start the game with all your stats as they are!


NOW THATS an ending! whats up guys!

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Registered: Nov 2002
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Posts: 4

It was a mixed bag of pluses and minuses.

I think the actual gameplay was much better.

However, the story was fairly weak compared to the first.

Went we got to the Tamarith Citadel and they said we were at the end we were totally suprised. Some of it is just because, having played the first game, there is much less "learning" time and you get there faster. But still the story was rather ,,, well ,weak. We had no idea we were approaching the end!!!! In the first one it was clear that you were working towards the finalle. In this one it just kinda popped up all of a sudden with no warning. We were dissappointed in the story for sure.

Other disappointments. No cool levels like when Jakar and Rosie have to go throug the snow city and face the liches. A really tough level but the monsters you face were so perfect for those 2 to square off against. You had to silence the liches with rosie and hack away with jakar.
In this one, even when you split up its just basically hack and slash hack and slash.

No "happy endings" for the other characters.

Not much in the way of puzzles like there were in that one challange you are issued (can't remember their names but you had to like turn over a maze like looking device to make it across etc).

And no special suits of armor for everyone.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond, Va
Posts: 20

I think I pretty much agree 100% with sentack here.

From a technical standpoing, the game was excellent. The gameplay was cool, good graphics, and so on.

From a story standpoing, it was quite lacking. There wasn't nearly as much story as in s1, very little real background, and most of what is said just doesn't make sense or fit in at all with the information given in s1. This is all explained away with "Gods don't really exist, it's all myths for the humans", but this doesn't satisfy me because Joseph became a god, and in the game you even meet Urath... how can that be if the gods don't actually exist? It was a good concept overall, just bad execution. It either needed to be a totally seperate game or a little more accurate in how it ties in. I feel like what happened here is the creators said "ok, well, a lot of people thought s1 was too slow to get to the point, so we'll cut out a lot of the talk and have more ass kicking" then they played it and were like "man, now this seems like a totally unrelated game, lets throw in bits and pieces of the old history and explain what doesn't make sense away with the 'Gods are all myths' thing".

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Registered: Jul 2002
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 20

As far as the Summoner 2 ending goes, eh, it was good, it was bad, leaning more towards bad, since they killed off my 3 favorite characters in the series. ><

I hope in Summoner 3/4/5/Whenever the series ends, Maia, Iari, and Rosalind come back to life!

</wishful thinking>

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Registered: Jul 2002
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Posts: 7

what i think would be cool is if they made a different version of summoner 2, because on the other ending of summoner 1 he walks off and dissapears......i would like to go and finish it that way! imagine all the cool things that would happen! plus me being a guy that doesnt have alot of money i could relate more to joseph the poor farmer "GUY". then the rich warrior queen "chick" maia. heh just my thoughts.....not that anyone listens plus i would like to see what jekhar was doing he was one of my favorite characters.

Last edited by Infernus_35 on 11-11-2002 at 08:22 PM

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