Final Glimpse: Final Impressions of the Upcoming DS RPG
Summon Night: Twin Age will be the first entry into the series to appear on the Nintendo DS and only the third game to hit North America, with the first two being Summon Night: Sword Story 1 and 2 on the GBA respectively. The series has only been able to conjure up a moderate success in both Japan and North America, but on the DS, Summon Night: Twin Age should be able to gather up quite a lot of attention.
The plot of the Twin Age follows a human girl named Reiha and her closely-bonded friend Aldo, who just so happens to be a Summon Beast, as they venture to find out the cause of corruption of the normally peaceful Spirits. The story will unfold over the course of 20 chapters, introducing new characters who will both join your quest and give you pieces of story information.
Naturally, Twin Age will make full use of the DS's stylus functionality by using it to pretty much do everything Ц moving, fighting, and conversing. Players will be able to switch between either Reiha or Aldo in combat with the A.I. taking whoever you do not choose. Since each character will have their own style of combat, players will have to use your judgment to determine which character best suits the challenge. Players will also have to work on relationships with the characters they meet along the way, because the better you are liked, the better those characters will fight for you. While most of the fighting will be automatic, players can use the Command Palette to place special moves that they will use the stylus to do, slashing moves and drawing paths, etc.
Visual aesthetics come from the heavy use of color in the game. There is certain no lack of it and it almost looks like a high-resolution Secret of Mana for what it is worth. There also seems to be an upbeat and happy atmosphere to add to the mix.