Gamernode writes: "The Summon Night franchise has undergone a significant amount of metamorphosis over the years, trying its hand at a number of RPG sub-genres, and achieving mild success with each. The latest from the folks at Flight-Plan taps into the unique input options of the Nintendo DS, and delivers a somewhat novel, but unspectacular gaming experience.
The game begins with themes straight out of role-playing 101: normally peaceful spirits overrun by darkness; an isolated, semi-human society that maintains an intimate relationship with nature; tension between races, propagated by fear and manifested in hatred; an orphaned brother and sister who must revisit their past; and magic. It's as if every RPG in history threw their individual plot elements into a hat, and Summon Night: Twin Age reached in to grab a handful. This doesn't necessarily mean bad things for the storyline, it just makes the player feel overly familiar and slightly used."
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."
