System: Game Boy Advance
Emulators: VBA
-------------------------------
Summon Night Swordcraft Story takes place in the town of Wystern, which is nicknamed the City
of Swords, where a tournament is being held to find the next Craftslord. You take control of
of a boy named Cleru, or a girl named Pratty, who takes part in the tournament. The protagonist's
father was the previous craftslord who mysteriously disappeared, and as the players moves along
the tournament, he/she finds out more about his/her father's past and experience several events
that happen during the tournament. To compete in the tournament, the hero/heroine needs to construct
his/her own weapon by finding raw materials in the dungeon with the help of a guardian beast.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
Controls:9/10
There are two sets of controls that you encounter while playing the game. First, you start off with
traditional "Overworld RPG" controls, which are simple to learn. Basic movement controls as well as
easy to navigate menus. So nothing really special nor complicated here. The second set of controls
are set in battle since the gameplay has a battle system similar to "Tales of Phantasia". The controls
and moves are easy to master and usually, you won't find yourself furiously jamming a button because
your character didn't move out of the way or block an attack. (If you do, it's cause of weapon delay)
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
Gameplay: 8.5/10
As I said before, the battle system is similar to "Tales of Phantasia". If you never played "Tales
of Phantasia", the battle system lets you control the character in real time battle. You get full
control of your character, able to move him/her around only in a two dimensional battle field. Your
character can walk, dash, jump, crouch, attack, guard, and call on a guardian beast during battle.
There are a total of five weapons you can craft: Sword, Axe, Drill, Knuckles, and Spear. Each has its
own advantage (with the exception of sword being the most balanced) as well as different attacks the
player can perform during battle. For example, the knuckles weapons is good for hitting enemies and quickly
running out while the axe is good for dealing huge amounts of damage. All weapons have a certain amount
of durability, meaning once they break in battle, you have to make another one. The durability is a good
idea to keep in mind when you fight in the tournament, and by simply breaking the opponent's weapon, you can
win the battle. You are also not limited to carrying only one weapon; you can carry up to four weapons and
one accessory, but you can only bring one weapon in the tournament itself.
Every event that occurs allows you to craft a new weapon, which is usually stronger. You can also gain new
weapon crafts by completing mini quests and breaking a bosses weapon (this defeats them also).
The Guardian beast is a pretty nifty idea. You can call your guardian beast up to 5 times during battle
depending on how much spells the guardian beast has. Your guardian beast can level up and learn more
spells as well as more spell uses. The great thing about this is that all spells are pretty much useful
throughout the whole entire game. When you call a guardian beast, you can sometimes move it around to
direct the attack into the opponent. Unfortunately, when your opponent calls his/her guardian, you cannot
block or move out of the way which is pretty lame, but neither can they. So in a way, the guardian is pretty
cheap in the tournament. You get your guardian beast (4 different ones) based on the decisions you make early
in the game. So choose wisely.
The dungeons serve as the main place where you get materials as well as gain exp for yourself. You can open barrels
to randomly gain materials and open chests. There are save spots as well as instant restore hp/mp points and guardian
spells (Cheap!). During the game, you usually get stopped at a certain point which is bizarre in my opinion. Soon enough
the dungeons get really repetitive and you'll find yourself just rushing through them in the latter parts of the game.
If the dungeons were repetitious, the gameplay was pretty repetitive as well. I used only two tactics every battle.
It was either equip the knuckles and run in and out, and then use the sword for heavier damage, or it was just calling
the guardian beast. I probably should have changed weapons at some point, but when you're trying to finish up 50 dungeon levels, I think
rushing through it is a better idea.
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
Sound:8/10
Not really sure what to say for sound. The music was ok, and sometimes intolerable due to being in the same dungeon for
almost the whole entire game. The same battle theme was used throughout the whole entire game as well, which wasn't that
fun to hear after my 821th battle. It'd be nice of them to include some more battle effects or different themes, but there wasn't really
much. Otherwise, not much here to say here.
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
Graphics: 8/10
The graphics features 2d sprites in the overhead view and the battle mode. Personally, I thought they were pretty well done.
Animations were pretty smooth for the most part. There were only some recycled sprites, but the enemies were usually new in
each dungeon.
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
Additional Comments:
Overall, I had a pretty good time with this game. The story was pretty in depth and well done, although some parts were predictable. One thing that was nice
that after every day, you can converse with your Guardian beast or the other sub-characters to learn some side story. I'm not sure if interacting
with them more makes them appear with you in the ending sequence, but its a good guess. The extras after the game which include beating 50 more dungeons levels,
an incredibly hard boss (High Hp and you weapon will break), and fighting in the tournament fighting every human boss in a time trial (which lands you a new weapon craft).
You can also play through the game with the other character and a different Guardian beast if you feel up to it.
Controls: 9/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Sound: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Overall Score: 8.4
Overall Grade: B
I give this game a
Fun Facts About this review:
-First Review of the Year
-I started writing this review on 10-15-2006
