Summoner

Overview

Summoner is a 2000 action role-playing game developed by Volition and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2. It was a launch title for the console and was ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS the following year. The player takes the role of Joseph and can build a team of companions and summon powerful monsters. The game has a world map, an involved storyline and a combat system that mixes real-time and turn-based play.

Beyond the main story there are more than twenty side quests. In combat, characters take turns attacking during real-time play, and a chain attack mechanic lets the player extend a turn by timing special melee attacks, which can add status effects or extra damage. Abilities and spells cost action points. Summoning lets the player call a monster as a fifth party member, but a summoned monster turns on the party if Joseph is defeated.

Joseph is a peasant farmer who is also born a Summoner, able to control the rings of Summoning. As a child he summoned a demon to drive off an invasion, and it killed his family and his village as well. He is joined by Flece, a bandit, Rosalind, a monk in training, and Jekhar, a knight of Lenele's king. Their enemy is Murod of Orenia, who wants to destroy the Summoner and prevent a prophecy that ends the Emperor's reign, and they also try to restore the power of the air god Urath against the followers of the fire and death goddess Laharah.

Summoner was developed by twenty-three people. Scott Lee was the main composer and senior sound designer, with Dan Wentz helping on the soundtrack near the end of development and Wally Shaw doing sound design. It came out in North America on October 26, 2000, and in Europe on April 6, 2001.

The PC version received generally favourable reviews and the PlayStation 2 version received average ones. Critics found it a decent first effort that looked good and offered many hours of play, but felt it was released before it was fully polished. The PS2 version won Best Story at one outlet's 2000 awards and Role-Playing Game of 2000 and Storyline of 2000 at another's. About 120,000 copies were sold for the PlayStation 2 in 2000.

A sequel, Summoner 2, came out in 2002. When THQ went bankrupt in December 2012 the series was sold to Nordic Games, now THQ Nordic, which released the PlayStation 2 version of the first game on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in July 2024.

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Action role-playing

Developer

Volition

Publisher

THQ

Series

Summoner

Composers

Scott Lee, Dan Wentz, Walter Shaw

Designers

Sandeep Shekhar

Writers

Jason Scott, Michael Breault

Modes

Single player

Yes

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Trophies

Total

0

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	PS2	74	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	8.3	10
GameSpot	7.7	10
Game Informer	8	10
Eurogamer	8	10
Edge	4	10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	4.83	10
GameSpy	78	100
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	3	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Designer	Sandeep Shekhar
Programmer	Mark Allender
Programmer	James Hague
Artist	Adam Pletcher
Writer	Jason Scott
Writer	Michael Breault
Composer	Scott Lee
Composer	Dan Wentz
Composer	Walter Shaw

Notes for collectors

• It was a launch title for the PlayStation 2 in North America.
• Only twenty-three people made the game.
• The credits include the comedy sketch known as Summoner Geeks, from the group Dead Alewives.
• Europe got the PS2 version about six months after North America.

Credits

Publisher

THQ

Developer

Volition

Released

2000-10-26

Region

US

Time to beat

about 26 hours