Tales & Tactics
Tales & Tactics
Game
Game2014
Summoner
Developer Volition
Summoner is a 2000 action role-playing game developed by Volition and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2. It was released as a launch title for the console and was subsequently ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS the following year. In the game, the player plays the role of Joseph and can assemble a team of compatriots and summon powerful monsters. The game has a world map, involved storyline, and unique… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
265 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 6, 2026 · last updated Nov 6, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
86
LovedLoved
156 positive · 26 negative
95% range 80–90%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 156 | 26 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 20 | 5 | 45 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
341 of 401 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
86% recommend · 157 yes, 26 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 183 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (465 of 550 positive).
Many note the game is dated, with poor graphics and technical issues on modern systems. [1][2][3] Some reviewers express a desire for a remaster or remake of the game. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [3]
Great game despite all the jank. If you're lucky you wont come across any of the following game breaking bugs that have a 50/50 chance of being resolved with the currently available solutions on the internet. -Fast Forward Bug: Cinematics run at 2x speed and completely destroy the story immersion. -Black Screen Cinematic Bug: Occurs during a random encounter after the Island of Iona. Unless the devs fix this (nigh …
- [1]
A neat but simple classic RPG. The graphics are dated and crunchy but the game feels rewarding and the story was actually fairly interesting. Plenty of interesting creatures you can summon to fight for you and the combat system was a neat little mix of turn based/action. Overall not a bad experience and for only five bucks it's definitely worth a play!
- [18]
TL; DR One of my favourite lesser-known RPGs, it does not have the complex narrative or interactability of a CRPG, but it is an adventure, and the over-the-shoulder view puts you closer to the world, and its people. And what a world, filled with biblical and borderline Gnostic inspirations, and demons of all shapes and sizes. Summoner is great for what it is, but it does suffer from a lack of encounter variety and …
- [7]
Writing this in SEP 2024 after beating it for the first time. I tend to stick to games from "my days" which is basically the late 90's and early 2000's. It's an old game, and I didn't play it back in the old days, but I enjoyed 90% of it. The story and the characters are great, however it takes 30+ hours of investment to start really enjoying it. The grind for experience is insane, but mostly worth it in the end. I …
- [2]
Summoner is an action RPG I first played on the PS2 shortly after its release. Although I didn’t finish it back then, I finally completed it on PC over 20 years later. The game requires some adjustments to run properly on modern systems though. It runs too fast, so I locked the frame rate to 60 fps using RivaTuner. You play as Joseph, a farm boy turned reluctant hero who can summon powerful creatures; something the …
Summarised from 34 of the 249 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Summoner talk about engaging story and characters; those who didn't talk about dated graphics and clunky mechanics. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The PC version received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2 version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Blake Fischer of NextGen said that the problem of the latter version "is that it was clearly shoved out the door prematurely, and doing so has all but killed this promising RPG." Uncle Dust of GamePro called the same console version "a good start for PS2 RPGs, but lacks the polish, artistry, and refined story line of some recent PlayStation RPGs. It delivers a deep story, however, and a unique game engine, and should give you weeks, if not months, of adventuring on your brand-new PS2." Jason White of AllGame gave the…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 265 · most liked firstI fantasise about making a summoner game often, and a porn game... "OH no, the battle is looking grim! Quick Summoner! call Ifrit!....w-wheres his pants?"
positive · AI labelView post →Celebrating the new Raidou game i'm reposting my old Devil Summoner art
neutral · AI labelView post →make a remaster
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#SUMMEROFBLOODXIV very happy to announce btw that the job for the final game of DAY 2 is... SUMMONER. "I don't know how to play summoner" bro me neither but I do know that I want to see 72 Bahamuts lay waste to seal rock. So get that shit unlocked and leveled to 30 for Friday‼️
positive · AI labelView post →THE SUMMONER arrives on the Patreon! I've long wanted to deliver on that classic Necromancer gameplay and I believed Draw Steel was the game to do it. Thanks to Willy's hard work and great design, I think we're there. We'll see what the Patrons think! www.patreon.com/posts/131314...
neutral · AI labelView post →Level 1 of the Beastheart and Summoner classes are *available NOW* in the Draw Steel Codex! They are zero cost because they are (or soon will be) in the open license. The in-game shop is coming soon™️ and will allow you to buy cosmetics, eg. animated tokens for the Beastheart. Stay tuned!
neutral · AI labelView post →Portrait for Kuro, the Summoner Crow: the Chaos. It has been an honor and pleasure to work for @rjaki.bsky.social on his game project Dice Legends. This has meant a lot to me as my first experience in the video game environment and I will remember it with happiness. Link in the comments
neutral · AI labelView post →Korris, a Kobold Summoner for an upcoming Pathfinder game. He's an artist that uses magical paints to summon a dragon to assist him in combat. #kobold #pathfinder #ttrpg #oc
neutral · AI labelView post →For this #RandomGameSaturday, I have Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner, a PSP RPG produced by Kouji Okada of SMT fame that also apparently had a ridiculously stacked composer list. Shinji Hosoe, Yoko Shimomura, Kenji Ito, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Yasunori Mitsuda! ...I remember it being a fine enough game
neutral · AI labelView post →Graptoveira (Grim for short). A Naga Cleric for a friend in the same Pathfinder game as my Kobold Summoner. #pathfinder #naga #ttrpg
neutral · AI labelView post →Shin Megami Tensei Pinball: Judgment was a pinball game released in 2006 by #Atlus for keitai. Based on Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner, you can acquire demon allies to give you multiballs or score doubling. There are 70 demons total. This game is currently lost to time.
neutral · AI labelView post →Still in the holiday mood, this #RandomGameSaturday brings: 🕹️ Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, Atlus, Saturn, 1995 “How’s this a Christmas game?” Glad you asked: Atlus released it on Christmas day in 1995, 30 years ago. Sadly, it’s still exclusive to Japan, with no translation project so far.
neutral · AI labelView post →For the first time, actual in-game images of Tube Racer, a title Volition worked on after Freespace, ultimately getting cancelled for Summoner and Red Faction.
neutral · AI labelView post →Flying Summoner in Mechwarrior 5 Clans (I love the smoke and jumpjet effects in the new game)
positive · AI labelView post →Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch for my Silver Tower game. I believe I think this is my favourite mini ever. Just the model itself, the character, the design, love it. #AgeOfSigmar #PaintSlam26
positive · AI labelView post →Summoner grows in Power for each ally she has on the field. You start the game with no teammates, so she's in a tough spot, but she can get going by summoning some minions #godot #gamedev #indiedev #pixelart
neutral · AI labelView post →I guess Koji “Cozy” Okada is finally making a new game. What the hell has he even been doing these past 20 years? Also, speaking of games no one remembers… Jewel Summoner, lol
negative · AI labelView post →A neat but simple classic RPG. The graphics are dated and crunchy but the game feels rewarding and the story was actually fairly interesting. Plenty of interesting creatures you can summon to fight for you and the combat system was a neat little mix of turn based/action. Overall not a bad experience and for only five bucks it's definitely worth a play!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I GROW POWERFUL
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When my son was ten, we played a game of #BattleTech. I ran a Trial of Position and let him pick the Clan and 'Mech. Like his namesake, he picked a Summoner, although he wisely chose the Ghost Bears. In honor of his high school graduation today, I have presented him with a new Summoner.
neutral · AI labelView post →Hey Everyone, this is my indie game, I am working on Summoner Tale, New updates and footage are coming Stay Tuned #GameDev #IndieDev
neutral · AI labelView post →Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, a remastered version of the 2006 PS2 Devil Summoner game, is coming on June 19!
neutral · AI labelView post →TL; DR One of my favourite lesser-known RPGs, it does not have the complex narrative or interactability of a CRPG, but it is an adventure, and the over-the-shoulder view puts you closer to the world, and its people. And what a world, filled with biblical and borderline Gnostic inspirations, and demons of all shapes and sizes. Summoner is great for what it is, but it does suffer from a lack of encounter variety and repeat dungeons, however, it more than makes up for its faults provided that you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Legit one of my favorite RPGs of all time. I wish THQ Nordic would revive this franchise or give us Summoner 2 on PC.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The “next issue” title made me smile. This is a callback to the author’s game design in issue 1 of the Summoner Wars comic book series. Summoner Wars has been a staple game for us, creating many gaming memories for me and my daughter. Congrats to @plaidhatgames.bsky.social on this new creative work!
positive · AI labelView post →OH ANOTHER ONE. You want to get better at the game? Go main Summoner. "BuT tHaT's ThE eAsY jO-" THATS THE POINT. Go play summoner, go learn summoner, until you can summoner in your sleep. Then. Pay attention to the rest of your party. Gain Awareness for your surroundings.
positive · AI labelView post →Great game despite all the jank. If you're lucky you wont come across any of the following game breaking bugs that have a 50/50 chance of being resolved with the currently available solutions on the internet. -Fast Forward Bug: Cinematics run at 2x speed and completely destroy the story immersion. -Black Screen Cinematic Bug: Occurs during a random encounter after the Island of Iona. Unless the devs fix this (nigh impossible) there is no point in wasting money on this even on sale.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Writing this in SEP 2024 after beating it for the first time. I tend to stick to games from "my days" which is basically the late 90's and early 2000's. It's an old game, and I didn't play it back in the old days, but I enjoyed 90% of it. The story and the characters are great, however it takes 30+ hours of investment to start really enjoying it. The grind for experience is insane, but mostly worth it in the end. I put 66 hours into one play through and most of it was spent grinding experience…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An underrated gem. The game can be slow at times, but otherwise it's still solid gameplay and story.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today 19 years ago Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army was released on PS2. An action RPG entry in the Devil Summoner series and set in Taisho-era Japan, the game have received a remaster available now on multiple platforms.
neutral · AI labelView post →I know Devil Summoner is a distinct game from Soul Hackers but just give me this.
positive · AI labelView post →I was one of the first players back when this game came out on Playstation 2. I was there at launch day and got a copy. I still have that old memory card with over 2000 hours of gaming. This is the exact same as it was then. just cleaner game-play. no skipping when the playstation got hot XD. Graphics are still clean, and the mechanics are easy enough to understand. you can grind and grind against all the enemies for hours and level up as high as you want. There are hundreds of random side…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I grow powerful
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An absolute classic. Definitely deserves an HD remaster, or an entire remake.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Classic, but dated. The soundtrack is the OG - I will listen to it til the day I die. Even if you don't plan on playing the game definitely do listen to the track. To say I enjoyed this game in its time would be an understatement. It was a hidden gem and even at that time, I knew it. Unfortunately, the things I liked best about it were the things that probably killed it. The huge yet aimless world to explore and very loose guidelines on how to get from point A to B in a quest left me very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My favourite game from ps2 era, still as good as I remembered.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Song: Go! Raidou Game: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army Release Year: 2006 Composer: Shoji Meguro
neutral · AI labelView post →Song: 2D Field Game: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Release Year: 1997 Composer: Toshiko Tasaki
neutral · AI labelView post →This game captures that magic of old games. Sure engine is clunky and graphics suck....but it has that x-factor that today's number chasing games seems to miss...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Summoner 1 was my first PS2 game. It's a diamond in the rough and not for everyone. The game is a unique take on RPGs. It's a great game if you give it the chance it deserves. So give it a chance! Unfortunately, I don't believe we'll get the 2nd Summoner on Steam now. Volition just shut their doors forever yesterday. I've always wanted a Summoner 3 being a big fan of Volition's first Summoner. Born and raised near Volition my whole life, it's been an odd back burner goal to become a designer…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Since you are in the official business of remastering these days... HOW about a right proper remaster of this childhood favorite :D As it stands, the PS2 version is superior to this, due to lack of aging well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rinh is, canonically, an accumulation of every single ability Scholar has had throughout the life of the entire game. And the same holds true for Summoner. And I am upsetti that I cannot have all those buttons. Yoshida please make my book classes difficult and complex again. LET ME FAIL DAMMIT.
negative · AI labelView post →Finished Raidou, it holds up very well. Hopefully they do the same treatment for Devil Summoner 2 (the games were named Devil Summoner, at least here in the states on PS2). Funny, I'd never played this first game, but have the collectors edition of 2--came with this plushie. Great game. 👍 #blutoid
positive · AI labelView post →Plaid Hat Games is excited to announce we have partnered with @battlequestcomics.bsky.social to bring the world of Summoner Wars to comics! We've worked closely with BQC for months now and can't wait for you to see the results! screenrant.com/summoner-war...
neutral · AI labelView post →I love this game but I hold onto the pipe dream that they'll port the superior (in my opinion) Summoner 2. Regardless, absolutely solid, worth your five american sheckles.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner is hiding a secret debug mode that needs a patch to be re-enabled — so that's just what @bbayles.bsky.social did, of course! He examines all of the debug mode's functions in today's Under the Microscope: www.segasaturnshiro.com/2026/10/29/u... #sega #saturn #セガ
neutral · AI labelView post →Gah. Another AI translation of a classic game - Devil Summoner. Fighting for my life in the comments. I played through the sequel, Soul Hackers, on the Saturn, despite not knowing much Japanese. Even wrote one of the earliest guides. I'd love a proper DS translation. www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comme...
positive · AI labelView post →Summoner is an action RPG I first played on the PS2 shortly after its release. Although I didn’t finish it back then, I finally completed it on PC over 20 years later. The game requires some adjustments to run properly on modern systems though. It runs too fast, so I locked the frame rate to 60 fps using RivaTuner. You play as Joseph, a farm boy turned reluctant hero who can summon powerful creatures; something the world fears more than it celebrates. As the story progresses, three companions…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great little gem ported to Steam, one of the first two games i got as part of a bundle on PS2's launch day, once upon a time ago. Big open world with a lot of hours required to explore. Great combat with chain based attacks. Summons, as one would expect with such a title, with a range of tactical effects and attacks. Community guides have some mod lists. It didn't detect my graphic card properly, so, in vast need of a an actual patch. Not sure if it's playable on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →since my last upload was found archived on the dev's website that was somehow still up, lmao, here's a new attempt at dumping something that hasn't been available before: a card battle game called Shuumatsu Kyoudan Summoner Girls. i'm laughing already in the intro, so looks very promising 😹
positive · AI labelView post →Isa is staying Paladin for Evercold. And Ill be Summoner for everything else post game wise like usual!
neutral · AI labelView post →Song: Battle -Raidou- Game: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army Release Year: 2006 Composer: Shoji Meguro
neutral · AI labelView post →I love the second edition of Summoner Wars from @plaidhatgames.bsky.social so much that ever moment spent thinking about the game runs the risk of another expansion impulse buy 😅 #boardgames
positive · AI labelView post →It's a good game. It's obviously very outdated, the graphics and the movement are the worst parts of the game. But the story is still pretty fun, and the music is good too. If you can look past the potato graphics then I think you'll enjoy this game. Hopefully this gets a remake one day, this game with modern day graphics would be epic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Classic game from my childhood both this and the second one were amazing I would kill to get either or both remastered.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Your Favorite Game Army
neutral · AI labelView post →this is an old school game i use to play this a long time ago i really enjoy it someone should re do this game it would make lot of money for who ever did it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a TERRIBLE LOOKING ancient game if fantastic but i warn you dont be fooled this game is damned hard complex and deep its not for dummies oh and yes i went to the shops and bought a physical copy of this game on the day it was released and i was old back in those days 21 years later i still think this is an awesome game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a relic of an RPG. I played on both PC (Disc and Steam) and PS2. Its story is unique, combat is an odd combination of CRPG and Click Timing Mechanics for chain attack bonuses. You can control all parties members individually during battle. The story has nice turning points which keeps you peaked in interest. There is a nice Easter Egg video at the end of the credits. Rating 7.5/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →*staring out the window* they should make another Devil Summoner game...
neutral · AI labelView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
