Siliconera: Not too long ago, I picked up a copy of Atlus' recently released DS RPG, Summon Night: Twin Age. The first time I went into my item menu, I noticed that I had 50 high-level HP recovery items, along with the same number of high-level PP recovery items. While this struck me as odd, considering I never picked up any of said items, I didn't really think much of it.
Later, while browsing messageboards for the game, I noticed that others had discovered not only the items, but also the fact that the two main characters both start out with a high-level skill that they shouldn't have at level one. Interestingly, it turns out that these skills and items were not present at the beginning of the Japanese release of the game. In the Japanese version, you start out with an empty inventory and no skills at all.
Michibiku's Jenni Lada writes, "North America and Europe’s Summon Night track record is an odd one. Our first exposure to the main series only happened last year, with Gaijinworks’ localization of Summon Night 5. Prior to that, the strategy-RPG never made an official appearance outside of Japan. Instead, Atlus picked up three of the spin-offs. Given that the ice has been broken with Summon Night 5 and Summon Night 6 is coming to Japanese PlayStation 4s and Vitas later this year, now seems like as good a time as any to go over all of the entries in the series that an English-speaker can actually play."
Hardcore Gamer: As consoles evolved over the years, so too did the games that were offered on them. Consoles became more powerful and 2D gave way to 3D, with every game attempting to push the visual envelope ever farther. 2D games did not disappear, however; they just found a new home on handhelds. The Gameboy Advance was perfect for SNES style visuals, and the DS carried on the 2D tradition quite well with many JRPG’s finding their home on Nintendo’s two screen juggernaut.
"One thing that I enjoy about some RPGs is how some of them try new ways to handle the game play. An RPG doesn’t always have to be turn based and instead can be more action filled and have more to the style of their gameplay. Summon Night follows a specific and age-old formula for RPG’s, though it’s the solidarity of knowing exactly what the game has to offer that actually helps create one epic adventure."
Nothing new to this type of localization. Heck US never got the actual Mario 2 because it was deemed to hard for the West. What can you do :(