Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Summoner 2

Written by Chris Reiter on February 11, 2002

First Impressions: Hopefully, we'll get to see another Dungeons & Dragons bonus skit.

In the fall of 2000, amongst the many titles the PlayStation 2 launch had to offer, possibly the most hyped out of all of them was an RPG game that had an entirely new concept for players. As the game was more of a PC rendition of Diablo II, rather than a traditional console game, you were a 19 year old man named Joseph, who was born as a Summoner; someone who can harness the power of bringing forth powerful beings to aid you in battle. Now, THQ is revisiting this world with the help of developer Volition once again, to hopefully revamp the first title (which wasn't as good as was first thought to be), and in the end, have a future title people might actually like.

Summoner 2 will be set in the same world as the original title once was. The lead character this time is a woman, who is of the same nature as Joseph from the first game. However, her story is vastly different, as her powers are much more advanced than Joseph's ever were. Pava (short for "Pavakhasija," meaning "child of prophecy"), born with the mark of the Summoner, was brought up from early childhood knowing her powers were welcomed...unlike Joseph's, which were shunned. In fact, at the age of 4, Pava became queen of Halassar after the priestesses who discovered her abilities had led her into conquering that very city with a grand army behind her. The story takes place 20 years after the incident, and the former rulers of Halassar, who now live in an empire named Galdyr, seek to take back what was once theirs. The armies of Urath, Joseph's kind, also seek to destroy Pava in fear that she will eventually transform into the goddess of death, Laharah. As it's discovered that traitors lie within the kingdom of Halassar, Pava's suspicions push her onto an epic quest to try and discover more about her powers and to put a stop to those who seek to destroy her.

While the story remains in the same world as Joseph's, the settings are actually placed on the opposite side of where Joseph's hunting grounds once were. All the same, though, the adventure should remain as similar in style and elegant beauty. Pava will venture through new locales such as the empire of Galdyr, the reckless city of Munari, and even an offshore island called Isle of Teomura. Like the first game, each of these separate locations will boom in open areas so huge, with elaborate and distinctly used details that really make the game glamour in a world of such stylistic RPG textures.

In the new game's world there will also be a new cast of characters to support the leading lady Pava. Characters will range from Morbazan; a muscle bound spell caster, Taurgis; a martial arts master, Iari; a machine that has the ability to wield magical powers, Sangaril; an assassin with various skills, and even Yago; Joseph's teacher of the summoner powers from the first game. Amongst the list of many characters Pava will associate with, there will also be again a huge difference in each character from which their abilities resonate from.

For each character's abilities, the gameplay system, remaining similar to the first game's order of operation, will be improved upon for a much better feel in battle. Since the first game's battles were very repetitive -- where in a subsequent order you had to set abilities to your directional pad to press any direction for attacking, healing, defending, and the like -- this time, Volition intends to change the order so that you will actually remain playing throughout each battle. How Volition will remake their battle system is a mystery at this point, but it is to be expected that the second game will turn around what was once bad into something that's good.

The most interesting part of the second game is in its gameplay aspect. Where in the first game Joseph was able to summon a creature that became one of your party members until its demise, Pava will also be able to summon creatures, only this time the effect will change her into the monster itself. Through the game, you will be able to collect tablets called runes. There are to be 12 rune stones in total to collect throughout the game's storyline, so you can expect a lot of exploration to be done throughout each of the game's many areas.