Atlus USA’s Zach Meston conducts a tour of Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
By Michael Lafferty

“If you can get through the first hour or two, you’ll be completely sucked in and totally unable to escape.”

The Craftlords act as both the city guardians and counselors, and in the city of Wystern, a tourney is underway to select the next Craftlord.

But this is more than just a tourney for one of the contestants. One of those vying for the position is the child of the legendary Craftlord Shintetsu, who met a mysterious fate three years earlier. The child is looking to uphold Shintetsu’s legacy but, as those who venture into this land will soon discover, there is much more happening than a mere tourney.

Summon Night: Swordcraft Story is the pending Game Boy Advance release from Atlus USA that features the artwork of famed illustrator Takeshi Iizuka. Other features include:

• Two main characters and four Guardian Beasts equals eight paths through the game!

• A combination of top-view adventuring and side-view real-time combat!

• Hundreds of weapons to be found and forged!

• Two-player Link Mode for battling and item trading!

Zach Meston, PR Manager, Atlus USA, took time to chat about this title.

Question: The game purports to have eight paths through the story - can you explain that a little more clearly?

Zach: Did we purport eight paths? Heh. Here’s the deal: at the start of the game, you choose to play as either a male or female lead character. Shortly after the start, you answer a series of questions that determines which of the game’s four secondary characters, or Guardian Beasts, you receive. Each primary/secondary-character combo has its own unique dialogue throughout the game. Hence, you can play through Summon Night eight times and get a different experience every time. It sucked for the editors who had to write every scene eight times, but it’s great for RPG fans.

Q: Does the game follow what has become the traditional RPG elements with pop-up mobs and instanced battles, or does it take a slightly different approach?

Zach: It’s a traditional RPG in that you get into lots of random battles; it’s non-traditional in that the battles are side-view and real-time, a la Tales of Phantasia.

Q: Tell us a little about the graphics design and how you integrated the visual and audio elements into the GBA platform's specs?

Zach: Summon Night’s visual design is relentlessly cute, which is kind of a bummer because it might turn off older gamers who’ll dig on the gameplay. We’re hoping that grown-up gamers who own GBAs will be open-minded enough to tolerate the cutesiness, just as they’re tolerating New Super Mario Bros. for the DS.

Q: What about the story do you think will surprise players and pull them deeper into the world of Lyndbaum?

Zach: The bad news is that the story starts out slooooowly; the good news is that it only gets better as the game progresses. If you can get through the first hour or two, you’ll be completely sucked in and totally unable to escape.

Q: What aspects of this game were the most challenging to realize?

Zach: The most challenging aspect of the localization was wading through the massive amount of dialogue. Summon Night seriously rivals any Super NES or Genesis game I’ve played in terms of the amount of chit-chat. 

Q: What do you think makes for a solid GBA title (especially when considering its competition in the handheld market) and how does Summon Night fit into that?

Zach: What makes for a solid GBA title? Better gameplay than graphics, and the ability to play for short spurts in the car or on the subway, both of which are categories that Summon Night falls into (though Summon Night isn’t ugly—just cute).

Q: Does the game use a mana system for the magic and can you give us more details about the combat system in general?

Zach: As mentioned above, the combat is side-view and real-time. There are five types of weapons you can use, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages: sword, axe, spear, knuckle, and drill. There are dozens of weapons in each category, and you can craft even more powerful weapons by using the materials you find in your explorations of the game’s primary dungeon. Each weapon also has a durability gauge, so you have to take care not to overuse a weapon, lest you break it into a million jillion pieces. The magic system is tied into the Guardian Beast, which you can summon up to five times per battle to cast various support and attack spells. The emphasis is on melee combat, however.

Q: Is becoming a Craftlord the end-game or just part of the game's resolution, or does that seem relatively inconsequential to the end of the game's story thread (not asking for spoilers, just general info on surprises that may await the player)?

Zach: The goal of becoming a Craftlord drives the story, but it’s much more involved that that. Don’t wanna spoil it, though.

Q: Is this a single-player experience or are there multiplayer options?

Zach: There’s a two-player mode in which you can trade items (of which Summon Night has hundreds) or pit your Guardian Beasts against each other.

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