Each weapon can be equipped in both overworld exploration and during combat, but during combat the weapons quickly begin to wear down. Players create these weapons one at a time by forging an element they've picked up (like ore) with a shapestone. There are six core weapon types: Sword/dagger, axe, spear, knuckles, drill and the reliable (but underpowered) hammer. The hook of the game is that players must forge and constantly re-forge their weapons. Surprisingly, gameplay gets just as much of a facelift as the visuals. They don't resemble the cutscene portraits much either. Sadly, the overworld character sprites haven't changed much at all and look a bit dated now compared to the backgrounds. There is a huge amount of incidental animation in the game, from wavering lake images and splashing waterfalls to flags fluttering in the wind. Trees and wilderness are lush and believable, dungeons are gorgeous (although they still don't vary much dungeon to dungeon) and Aera and Edgar's home town is filled with little details that really make it feel inhabited.
This new game features colorful pixel art that's on par with the best from Nintendo's first party games. The first Summon Night was plagued with bland, murky, over-tiled environments that were boring to look at and somewhat confusingly-designed. The in-game visuals are a huge step up from the last game. A few hours in, it's hard not to fall in love these characters. The detailed cutscene character portraits feature constantly-changing expressions and elevate each scene to anime wackiness. The English translators obviously had a ball with this one although the story is a bit light on deep, heartfelt moments, it's consistently funny and engaging. Although it deals with Aera or Edgar looking for the legendary Deamon Edge in order to reseal a demon that's threatening their town, most of the dialogue revolves around the two selected characters getting annoyed at being stuck together, and becoming stronger minded by reinforcing one another's decisions. The story itself is very tongue-in-cheek and a lot of fun. Oddly, the story doesn't change much depending on the selection of the lead character, which makes for some awkward moments (like female Aera getting excited about a kiss from female Lynn). Depending on which lead character and which creature are selected, the story changes pretty drastically, since the bulk of the story deals with the two characters learning to get along together. Each of these companions is a Summon Creature and called be called upon at any time for assistance (although this features much more heavily in the plot than during gameplay).
Players select one of two lead characters (male Edgar Colthearts or female Aera Colthearts) and one of four companions: Exeld, a combat mechanoid warrior, Arno, a nature-minded female, Loki, an adventurous oni warrior and Dinah, a girly devil/angel with split personalities.
And those wondering if the second game lives up to the first can now rest easy it's better than the original in just about every way. The latest must have title, Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 comes just three months after the previous game in that series, which scored a respectable 8.0 here on IGN. It seems like we can't go a month without some amazing new title coming along and pushing the system in terms of graphics, gameplay and presentation, refusing to let Nintendo's little system die. The Game Boy Advance just won't stop with these swan songs.
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