Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
Encyclopedia
is an action role-playing game
by Banpresto
for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance
system. It is part of the Summon Night series of games. Atlus
handled the English translation of the game.
.
Apart from the story quests, there are multiple side-quests, offered by re-occurring NPCs. The rewards of these quests are usually enchanted weapon techniques. Often, they are simple fetch quests.
Summon Night divides materials into four elements: fire, water, lightning, and wind. Materials can be obtained by sacrificing items or weapons. The amount and type of materials received will depend on the items being used. Also, any weapon sacrificed will only return half of what was used to forge it. When the player has the technique, as well as the materials necessary, they may forge the weapon at their workshop.
Weapons can also be enchanted. Depending on what guardian beast was selected, different types of weapons may be enchanted without having to obtain the enchanted technique. Creating an enchanted weapon will require that the original form of the weapon was already forged. In addition, the player must have the proper amount of mystic ores. Mystic ores can be obtained by defeating a special group of enemies, which take the form of possessed armor and equipment. When the player selects to create the weapon again, the option of using mystic ores will be given. Enchanted weapons have increased statistics in comparison to their original form, and they are also endowed by one of the four elements. The weapons that cannot be enchanted by the guardian beast will require the completion of a side-quest.
Battles in Summon Night take place inside dungeons. They are initiated as random encounter
s. On the battle scene, the player will be placed into a small side-scrolling area with one to four opponents. They are able to walk, run, jump, guard, attack, summon their guardian beast and use items. Up to three weapons can be equipped, and up to four different items and spells can be placed onto the guardian beast. This must be set up before a battle begins. If no weapon is available or equipped, the player will be forced to battle with a hammer. During the battle, the player can switch freely between their equipped weapons and use any of the selected items and spells. A battle is won when all opponents have either fled or have been defeated.
The character has three statistics which determine his or her ability to fight. Strength controls the amount of damage they inflict. Defense controls the amount of damage opponents will inflict. Agility controls speed while moving, and jumping height. These stats can be increased by equipment or leveling up. The game also uses a health point system, which will be increased automatically upon level up. Hit points are also gained in varying amounts depending on which stats were selected to increase.
Each weapon also has a score akin to hit points, called duration. Each attack will decrease the duration of the weapon very slightly. If duration of a weapon hits zero, the weapon will break and will no longer be usable. When a weapon breaks, it leaves behind a weapon shard and cannot be restored. Duration is refilled after every battle. The rate which a weapon's duration decreases is proportional to the weapon's TEC score. TEC can be increased by fighting with the weapon more often.
: Main female character of the story. A cheerful, yet kind normal girl. She has a dream of becoming a wonderful Craftlord like her father, who died 3 years ago. Her father was one of the 7 Craftlords, the Craftlord of Iron - Shintetsu. Not remembering what her father was like, she follows in his footsteps to find out the meaning of becoming a Craftlord.
is a fairy type creature who is intent on marrying her master, regardless of gender. Her full name is Sugarette, and she is the princess of the "Spirit World" Sapureth. She falls in love easily, and can be very jealous of others. She specializes in water type spells, and has a bonus in healing. Upon her joining you discover that she was once your fathers summoning as well. Later she develops a sense of frustration about revealing the mystery of her former master to her present one.
is an oni type. He is the "demon king" of the "Oni World" Silturn. He is very respectful of the hero's mom, and has a bad mouth, though that is just to hide his shyness. He specializes in fire spells.
is a mechanoid type who originally came from the "Machina World" Loreilal. Zantek speaks in stars, literally similar to R2-D2. His master can understand him despite this. Being a machine, he specializes in electric spells.
is a beast type, who makes his home in the "Phantom Beast World" Maetropa. He has a hard time being with humans other than his master. He specializes in wind spells. Kutty only speaks his name.
: Razzy is Bron's niece. Early on the game, the main character is given the task of finding Razzy who once said she became lost in the Labyrinth. Razzy hopes to become Craftlord for one thing only: to fill Wystern with flowers. While Razzy's gender is highly disputed among English speaking fans (partially due to the intentional confusion of Razzy's gender by characters in the game), it's later confirmed that Razzy is, in fact, a girl. Razzy likes to use Knuckles.
: Varil is the heir of the Gold Guild. Although he is called a genius child and considers himself above most people, his arrogance hasn't reached the level where he refuses to admit he can make mistakes. His delusions of his superiority take a severe blow when he is beaten by the main character. His preferred weapon is the spear.
: Sakuro was once Shintetsu's student, who fought alongside him in protecting Wystern. He is also one of the main plot holders of the game.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
by Banpresto
Banpresto
is a Japanese toy company, best known in America for game development, headquartered in the Shinagawa Seaside West Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was founded April 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd. The company was renamed Coreland in 1982, and during the 1980s it worked mainly as a subcontractor for...
for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
system. It is part of the Summon Night series of games. Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
handled the English translation of the game.
Story
Three years ago, Shintetsu, the Craftlord of Iron (one of the seven Craftlords), gave up his life to protect his wife Amariss, their son/daughter (dependent on which gender the player selects at the beginning), and the whole of Wystern. He was recognized as a hero. Three years have passed and the remaining Craftlords have organized a tournament to replace him. In this tournament joins the child of Shintetsu. However, the foreign nation of Deigleya have plans of their own, as well as a thousand-year-old forbidden secret that was the truth behind the tournament.Field
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story progresses through the story on a day-by-day basis. The entire game consists of 10 days, where the player traverses through the town of Wystern and the Labyrinth Dungeon. Each day, more levels of the Labyrinth are unlocked and the player is required to travel deeper to complete mandatory quests. A day normally ends after a tournament or boss battle. During the night, the player can choose who to spend the night with, which will control the following cutsceneCutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
.
Apart from the story quests, there are multiple side-quests, offered by re-occurring NPCs. The rewards of these quests are usually enchanted weapon techniques. Often, they are simple fetch quests.
Smithing
One of the main focuses of the game is to forge weapons for fighting. To forge a weapon, the player needs the weapon technique and the materials to create it. Sword techniques are given once every day by Bron and are impossible to miss. Other weapon techniques can also be received from Bron, but the preceding weapon must already have been crafted in order for him to teach the next technique. Also, as with swords, Bron will add to the number of techniques by each day. After the main game is completed, the player will receive techniques by finding them in treasure chests or monsters, and completing special tasks.Summon Night divides materials into four elements: fire, water, lightning, and wind. Materials can be obtained by sacrificing items or weapons. The amount and type of materials received will depend on the items being used. Also, any weapon sacrificed will only return half of what was used to forge it. When the player has the technique, as well as the materials necessary, they may forge the weapon at their workshop.
Weapons can also be enchanted. Depending on what guardian beast was selected, different types of weapons may be enchanted without having to obtain the enchanted technique. Creating an enchanted weapon will require that the original form of the weapon was already forged. In addition, the player must have the proper amount of mystic ores. Mystic ores can be obtained by defeating a special group of enemies, which take the form of possessed armor and equipment. When the player selects to create the weapon again, the option of using mystic ores will be given. Enchanted weapons have increased statistics in comparison to their original form, and they are also endowed by one of the four elements. The weapons that cannot be enchanted by the guardian beast will require the completion of a side-quest.
Battle
Random encounter
A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby encounters with non-player character enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random...
s. On the battle scene, the player will be placed into a small side-scrolling area with one to four opponents. They are able to walk, run, jump, guard, attack, summon their guardian beast and use items. Up to three weapons can be equipped, and up to four different items and spells can be placed onto the guardian beast. This must be set up before a battle begins. If no weapon is available or equipped, the player will be forced to battle with a hammer. During the battle, the player can switch freely between their equipped weapons and use any of the selected items and spells. A battle is won when all opponents have either fled or have been defeated.
The character has three statistics which determine his or her ability to fight. Strength controls the amount of damage they inflict. Defense controls the amount of damage opponents will inflict. Agility controls speed while moving, and jumping height. These stats can be increased by equipment or leveling up. The game also uses a health point system, which will be increased automatically upon level up. Hit points are also gained in varying amounts depending on which stats were selected to increase.
Each weapon also has a score akin to hit points, called duration. Each attack will decrease the duration of the weapon very slightly. If duration of a weapon hits zero, the weapon will break and will no longer be usable. When a weapon breaks, it leaves behind a weapon shard and cannot be restored. Duration is refilled after every battle. The rate which a weapon's duration decreases is proportional to the weapon's TEC score. TEC can be increased by fighting with the weapon more often.
Characters
: The main male character of the game. A good boy but always moving ahead. He has a dream of becoming a Craftlord like his father, who died 3 years ago. Now he trains with his master, the Craftknight Bron. His father was one of the 7 Craftlords, the Craftlord of Iron - Shintetsu. Due to his title, he had great pressure on him but that was also the source of his strength. Following his father's footsteps, he realizes how he must protect those precious to him.: Main female character of the story. A cheerful, yet kind normal girl. She has a dream of becoming a wonderful Craftlord like her father, who died 3 years ago. Her father was one of the 7 Craftlords, the Craftlord of Iron - Shintetsu. Not remembering what her father was like, she follows in his footsteps to find out the meaning of becoming a Craftlord.
Guardian Beasts
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story features one of four "Guardian Beasts" that assist the hero with magic and items during battle. A Guardian Beast is acquired at the beginning of the game, where the player answers a series of questions that determine which beast they get. The beast is identified as the same one Shintetsu had, no matter which is received. The four beasts are:is a fairy type creature who is intent on marrying her master, regardless of gender. Her full name is Sugarette, and she is the princess of the "Spirit World" Sapureth. She falls in love easily, and can be very jealous of others. She specializes in water type spells, and has a bonus in healing. Upon her joining you discover that she was once your fathers summoning as well. Later she develops a sense of frustration about revealing the mystery of her former master to her present one.
is an oni type. He is the "demon king" of the "Oni World" Silturn. He is very respectful of the hero's mom, and has a bad mouth, though that is just to hide his shyness. He specializes in fire spells.
is a mechanoid type who originally came from the "Machina World" Loreilal. Zantek speaks in stars, literally similar to R2-D2. His master can understand him despite this. Being a machine, he specializes in electric spells.
is a beast type, who makes his home in the "Phantom Beast World" Maetropa. He has a hard time being with humans other than his master. He specializes in wind spells. Kutty only speaks his name.
Other characters
: Sanary belongs to the Silver Guild which many of the other characters as well as the heroes belong to. She cares very much for her sister. She has a dream of becoming the best woman in the City of Swords. However, she becomes jealous once she sees the main character ascending faster than she ever could. Sanary likes using swords.: Razzy is Bron's niece. Early on the game, the main character is given the task of finding Razzy who once said she became lost in the Labyrinth. Razzy hopes to become Craftlord for one thing only: to fill Wystern with flowers. While Razzy's gender is highly disputed among English speaking fans (partially due to the intentional confusion of Razzy's gender by characters in the game), it's later confirmed that Razzy is, in fact, a girl. Razzy likes to use Knuckles.
: Varil is the heir of the Gold Guild. Although he is called a genius child and considers himself above most people, his arrogance hasn't reached the level where he refuses to admit he can make mistakes. His delusions of his superiority take a severe blow when he is beaten by the main character. His preferred weapon is the spear.
: Sakuro was once Shintetsu's student, who fought alongside him in protecting Wystern. He is also one of the main plot holders of the game.