If you were like me and didn’t play Summoner, don’t worry; it will not affect understanding the sequel. Summoner 2 takes place in the same world as the original, but 20 years later on a completely different side of the map. In Summoner, players guided Joseph, a child born with a mark of prophecy, to unleash the power of Urath. In Summoner 2, Maia, Queen of Halassar and also born with the mark, is the Goddess Laharah reborn. Not all believe her tale, however, and Maia must struggle to rule her kingdom and fulfill her prophecy as her enemies do all they can to stop her.

Previous American-made console RPGs have had real trouble matching the storylines and writing of its Japanese friends, but this really isn’t the case in Summoner 2. Starting off as a quest to defend the kingdom of Halassar, Maia and her friends become wrapped up in destroying the root of the planet’s evil to fulfill the Maia’s mysterious prophecy. The writing does have a habit of overwhelming the player with massive amounts of information about the world’s history that is never later addressed (readers of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings can relate), but otherwise, the writing is solid.

Battles are crucial to any RPG, but in Summoner 2, there is nay a moment where you aren’t locked in some fight. With that type of gameplay, it was crucial that Volition developed a battle system that didn’t fall to repetition. In some ways, they succeeded. Imagine a third person, team-based 3D version of Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo series. If you didn’t enjoy Diablo’s hack ‘n slash style of gameplay, Summoner 2 will induce feelings of loathing, especially in the game’s beginning. It isn’t until later your party earns high-level magic and until then, fights are a repeating loop of attack and block ad nauseam. Adding to the frustration is a slow camera with real trouble aligning behind the player. To combat this, many times you must blindly attack in the hopes the camera eventually falls into place.

As the game progresses, however, the combat becomes more interesting as Maia learns new summons, magic-users evolve into powerful mages and the weapons members yield are bigger their bodies. Gamers who can stand hack ‘n slash will find plenty to keep themselves busy with, while haters will find themselves cracking in the disc in half. It simply depends on your taste.

Though Summoner 2 managed to avoid a writing pitfall, it certainly doesn’t when it comes to its arts and visuals. On the technical side of things, Summoner 2 runs at a sub-30 frames per second frame rate all throughout, many times dipping far below, depending on the amount of activity on-screen. The game engine could have used some serious optimization; it would have made dealing with the low-polygon model, very American-style lackluster artwork combination a bit easier to bear. In comparison to other RPGs on the market, Summoner 2 looks pitiful.

By no means has Volition crafted a perfect role-playing experience. What they did manage to do, however, is push all the right buttons. Despite the many faults of Summoner 2, I can’t stop playing. Given the several other RPG options available this fall, however, checking out Summoner 2 might fall on taste alone.