Summon Night: Twin Age review

Top-down monster hacking has just enough flair to be worthwhile

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Tappy

  • +

    slashy combat is fresh for awhile

  • +

    Graphics are cute and splashy

  • +

    Swapping characters on the fly

Cons

  • -

    Gets tedious

  • -

    Story isn't terribly unique

  • -

    Buddies can be dumb

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See if you've played this one: it's a role-playing game with real-time battles and a top-down, slightly angled view. You're slogging around one dungeon after another, alternately hacking baddies into little bits with handheld weapons or just pummeling them with elemental magic like fire, ice, and the like. Of course it sounds familiar.On the surface, Summon Night: Twin Age is a lot like dozens of other games - specifically, literally any action RPG from the original Zelda toDiablo. But that doesn't mean it's not worth a play.

The key gameplay element of Action RPGs - namely, wallowingfrom point A to point B andgenocidally slaughtering every living thingyou meet - is here in full effect.ButSummon Night: Twin Age does knowsome uncommon tricks.

You control not one, but two characters at once: the brawny, sword-slinging Aldo and the more maidenly spellcaster Reiha, and can swap from one to the other at will. And you execute your attacksby tapping, slashing, and swirling your stylus around the DS' touch screen. It's a bit more active than the typical battle system and stays fresh longer. There are also additional characters who will accompany you from time to time, though you don't get direct control over them, and short-lived monsters you can summon to do your brain-bashing bidding on the battlefield.

There are some positives and negatives to this combat system. For instance,acustomizable frame that runs along the screen's edges functions almost like a drop-down menu, sojust tapping the iconof the weapon or spell you want to use switchesto it. That's good. Trying totouch an ally to heal him- but failing because there are so many bad guys crowding around you can't actually lay your stylus upon him - is bad.

Continuing that thought, having one of your computer controlled buddies actually doing things to help you is good. Watching them get stuck in a doorway or stare at a wall,though admittedly more rare, is bad. But overall, the good overwhelms: You cancraft new weapons, armor and items; the extra characters and summonable beasts are cool, and there'sa huge pile of additional skills each character can learn as they level up. Every game should have this level of customization.

The story spins a tale about humans andnon-humans fighting over how to treat glowing, firefly-like "spirits" that power the world. These spirits seem to spontaneously exist as part of nature, and they're now apparently going haywire for some reason your crew seeks to discover. It's enough to keep you interested even if it's not quite Gone with the Wind. And the graphics are actually quite nice - as in, they're politely colorful, artistically pleasing and often cute, if notalways technologically impressive.

Summon Night: Twin Age isn't going to set the world on fire. However, if the world happens to already be on fire, you might find yourself just distracted enough by this game that you won't notice the flames until your dog comes in bald and smouldering. And who doesn't like hot dogs?

Sorry about that. But yeah - try this game out.

More info

GenreRole Playing
DescriptionTwin Age is a lot like dozens of other games - specifically any action RPG from the original Zelda to Diablo. But that doesn't mean it's not worth a play.
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.
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