Summon Night 2 DS review

I played and finished this long ago, right after I finished Summon Night, but I jumped right into several other games, so I never got round to writing about it. Well, there wasn’t much to write because Summon Night 2 is very much a direct sequel to Summon Night 1. The storyline is different, but a lot of the characters show up again, the battle system is exactly the same, almost all the summon creatures are carried over from the previous ones, the music sounds the same, etc.

The first thing I noticed when Summon Night 2 started was the improved character designs. Not vastly improved, they’re still rather ugly, but much, much, much better than the horrible things in SN1DS. It’s especially noticeable when you see characters like Mimoza and Gibson from the previous game (they play a big role in this one too but aren’t playable), and even the newer characters are cuter to look at, particularly the girls.

The other thing different, obviously, is the story and the main characters. I chose the girl named Triss. She’s a member of the Blue-something Summoning Guild [I keep forgetting the name, but it’s the same thing Gibson & co. belong to] but they treat her like trash for no good reason. The story starts with Triss qualifying as a full-fledged summoner and then immediately being cast out of the guild to “make a name for herself”, i.e. “GTFO and don’t come back.”

On her way out of town, she gets involved in an attempt to heal a girl with amnesia and finds herself in a village with a girl who can supposedly work miracles. This village is immediately attacked by mysterious Black Knights, and the story begins: Who are they? What do they want? Why does this girl have special powers? Why do Triss & co. throw everything away to protect a girl they only met five seconds ago? And will the girl with amnesia ever get her memory back?! (Shockingly enough, the answer is no.)

And…that was about it. It was pretty boring, to be honest. Fight random people, fight black knights, fight random people, fight black knights, long talking sequence, meet new characters and immediately bench them, etc. I bench every character after the first 8 or so because after every level up you get points to assign to stats. That means your homegrown characters are almost always stronger then new, pre-leveled ones, even if they’re the same level. While we’re at it, I should warn you not to bother trying to boost your MC’s magic. If she’s anything like my Triss, she will always be a crappy summoner in a party with three other better, stronger magicians. Her physical stats will be great through, so if I had to do it again, I’d make her a mighty warrior and call it a day.

The nice thing about Summon Night 2 is that the shops are slightly less expensive than those in SN1, or maybe you get more money from battles, I forget which. Either way it was easier to outfit your party properly without too much fuss as long as you didn’t get greedy. I still had to go for every other upgrade in order not to break the bank, but I managed quite well. The new mini-games are also more fun than those in the first one, especially the cake delivery and scratch card games, which I could play all day.

Since I was used to the system already, I blazed through the game with ease. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t really stick in my mind all that much. It’s not a bad game at all, in fact in many ways it’s much better than SN1. So I don’t know why I felt so bleh after finishing it, but somehow it’s put a damper on my Summon Night fever for now. Just for now. One day I’ll get Summon Night 3 and 4 for the PS2, and then we’ll talk again.

Angelique Special 2 – how to win

Well, actually I haven’t won yet, but I’m getting there. I found a very good Japanese strategy site on Angelique Special 2, the URL of which I have sadly forgotten, and I used it to ensure that I now have 6 hearts to Rachel’s 4, and two guardians (Julius and Randy) at my beck and call. Right now they love me so much they’re building the universe for me on their own, while I focus on raising stability at the academy. I’m going to chat up Oscar, Victor and Olivier as well in case I ever need them to vouch for me at the monthly review (doubt it will be necessary at this rate) and before too long the universe will be mine! *evil cackle*

Anyway, for the benefit of anyone who’s been playing this game and getting whupped by Rachel, here’s how to do it.

1. At the beginning, ask her to go easy on you. This is only necessary for the first playthrough, after that you can play it hard mode. It’s the first option on the third question she asks at the start, but if you don’t understand enough Japanese to know that much, you should probably stop now.

2. Pick a good zodiac sign and blood type. Check Marfisa’s compatibility guide to know what the best ones are.

3. Find out who the hardworking guardians are. “Hardworking?” you ask? Yeah. In this game, not all guardians work equally hard. If you ask two different guardians to put energy into your planet, they might put in different amounts. This ranges from 2 all the way to even 7 for “a lot” of energy. Each stat needs 10 energy to form a planet. If you ask a hardworking (7 energy) guardian for “a lot” of energy, you’ll get 2 planets in 3 days. By contrast a lazy (2 energy) guardian will take 10 days to give you the same results. You have a limited number of hearts and days to work with, so naturally you need to maximize your results.

So how do you find out who works hard and who doesn’t? Well, as soon as you’ve set everything up in the game, save at the table in your room. Then for the next couple of days, visit all of the guardians in turn and ask them to put in a lot of energy. One day, one guardian, until you’ve visited all 9. Then go to your planet and check the new chart. You’ll see who put in more energy, and who put in less. Note it down somewhere. By the way 6 and 7 energy guardians are rare, and you’ll most likely have only one or two 4-5 energy guardians per game, most of them will be 2-3. That’s okay, but you need at least one hard worker.

Also note down which elements the universe needs most of. at this early stage it’ll probably range from between 7 to 15. Any element (and accompanying guardian) which requires less than 10 energy should be ignored. Because no matter how much energy you pour in, it’ll never grow your egg (shining ball of energy) so don’t bother. If those are the guardians you like, consider restarting because it’s completely random. Strictly speaking you can still go ahead and use that element if the guardian is hardworking, but I believe you get better results with the elements you need more of. What I really need is more research on this matter.

4. Before you reset after finding out who works hard, visit the fortune-teller and check who you’re most compatible with. With any luck you’ll be most compatible with the ones who work hardest AND your planet will require >10 of their energy. But even if you’re not, don’t re-start unless they’re completely lazy (2) and/or the planet requires less than 10 energy from the hardest working ones. I mean, you can go for it, but you’ll be fighting uphill all the way. Anyway, reset now and start afresh from day one, focusing only on those worth your time.

5. Your next task is to grow your egg twice, using your hardest working guardian(s). It should only take a few days if you’re doing it right. Just grow it twice, because apparently if you go up to three Rachel starts hurting you. So grow it to two.

6. Next ask two guardians for energy until you reach 9 for each one. You might have to use “small” infusions of energy for it. No problem. Just make sure that you can maximize both in one night, two at most.

7. Good, now hang in there while Rachel goes ahead and raises the egg as well. She should contribute her lot too. Let her get about two growths for now.

8. While this is going on, start charming one or two of your most compatible guardians. Your days will go like this – talk to them about yourself, then visit the fortune-teller to raise compatibility until it’s at 100. If it’s at 100, raise compatibility for the next guardian. Date them on weekends. If you’re using an emulator and can reset easily, take them to the park and try to answer their questions. Otherwise stick to your room or the lake for a safe date.

9. A day or two after Rachel gets 2 growths (make sure she doesn’t get 3), step in immediately and raise those last 2 growths (the ones at 9, remember?). Ta-daa, you’ve got 4 to her 2, and the queen will instantly award you with your first extra heart.

10. After that, play the game as normal. Keep raising your guardians’ love till it’s at 175+, at which point they’ll start helping you on their own. Occasionally ask them to pour in energy for you, but keep the focus on raising stability at the academy. If you outstrip Rachel too far she’ll try and hold you back, so just stay a little ahead of her, maybe 3 or 4 planets, not too many. Be sure to keep up the guardians’ love, and to keep studying.

And that’s it! Not so hard, so long as you don’t let her get that first heart, and make sure you get the second heart too. Here’s a tip if she’s got a guardian on her side: visit him and ask him to work for you. Either to hurt her (not recommended ‘cos she can take revenge), or to help you. If he’s working for you that day, he won’t give her any bonuses.

Have fun!

Busy busy!

Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned this blog yet! I’m just busy playing games instead of writing about them, but once I get some downtime (read: once I stop playing Harvest Moon: Twin Villages), I’ll write a few posts on what I’ve been doing since I last wrote. Later!

Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 3rd Story – Konno GET!

Konno-sempai is mine at last, tra la la la! I thought he would be harder than that, but I just used my usual method and it worked out fine. I identified Academics as his most important stat and raised it like crazy, and then I raised all the other stats normally and got him in the end. I had something like Ac – 238, Sp – 160, Soc – 260 etc, etc by the end, but since I didn’t raise my Charm that high, I wasn’t elected Rose Queen. Doesn’t matter though, ‘cos I got to be in the school play twice, first with Konno as my prince and then with Miyo and Karen (who looks super spiffy as a prince).

My verdict on Konno? His route actually blew me away. The guy himself is on the dull side, but he’s a kind, decent, hardworking and respectful character without being a complete milquetoast like Sakuya in Girl’s Side 1. Even on the worst of dates he never gets nasty or snippy with you or tries to order you around. I mean, this is a guy who spends his Christmas Eve playing Santa for little kids in hospital! He’s like the model boyfriend, right?

Even better, his route appeals to the overachiever in me because even in games I hate getting bad results in exams. On Konno’s route you can study like crazy and get praised for it. Remember how Madoka in GS1 would get all cool towards you if you were too smart? I hated that. Konno’s end is good too: you both go to a first class university and keep dating, and with a stable guy like that, you might as well vote this “Ending most likely to end in a Wedding and Four Kids.” It’s an ending with a future, catch my drift?

More importantly, for some reason all his CGs are really easy to unlock. I mean, really easy, you just walk around town, bump into someone and bam, new CG. Or you go on a date, pick a certain store and bam, new CG. For most other guys you often need a FAQ: “Spring, Year 2, Affection must be XYZ, Go to store X and do YYY while holding ZZZ”, obscure stuff like that. I got all his school CGs except one, all his love CGs except one and all his (that other one) CGs, again except one. And I love getting CGs, so Konno’s path was the most satisfying for me so far.

On the minus side, he really is a bit of a bore. I mean, just a bit. They went a little overboard on the Mr. Perfect Guy thing (did I mention he’s totally hot without the glasses?), so even his attempts at angst and depth – the whole “nobody sees me for who I really am” bit – come across as a bit shallow and empty. And since he’s your senior you don’t get to compete with him on grades and you don’t get to go on the school trip with him, which is a bit sad. But he’s still a breath of fresh air from gruff old Kouichi or weird Ruka or playboy Junpei so I’ll take him any day.

What’s next? I’m trying to find some detailed Girl’s Side 3rd Story FAQs or walkthroughs because I want those secret characters! I ran into one at the bookstore, some old-looking guy, I’m sure there’s at least one or two others. And I hear you can date your teacher, which I do NOT want to do. I mean, that’s just wrong on so many levels! And he’s not even cute. Anyway, the search continues!

Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 3rd Story – Kouichi GET!

Nyeheheheh! Dun-dun-dun, another one bites the dust! I must say about Kouichi, if he wasn’t supposed to be one of the ‘main’ guys, he might be one of my favorites. It’s just that I have higher expectations of the “face of the game,” so to speak, so the idea that the game developers thought a rude, ugly, brusque, lazy, violent underachiever is enough to set my heart on fire really gets my goat.

Having said all that, Kouichi isn’t that bad. I mean, he stops being mean to you pretty quickly, and he doesn’t hit you like Saeki used to. The last few months of his game are really sweet, especially the part where he thanks you for making his three years of high school so wonderful, d’awww!

He’s really easy to get, too. I used a second-year save left over from when I dated Fujiyama. Digression: there seems to be a bug in this game. You know the picture frame on your desk? It looks like once a guy’s picture goes in there, it never goes out again, so I had to deal with Fujiyama’s mug staring at me all day even after I’d friendzoned him, and even now that I’ve started a brand new game to go after Konno-senpai (ZOMG, he’s such a bore), he’s still on my desk even though I haven’t even met him yet! Weird.

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, Kouichi. His requirements are really low. He likes the planetarium, the vintage motorbikes exhibition, go-carts at the amusement park, the Tongari Boys event at the Event Hall, the bowling alley, the medal games at the arcade, etc etc. Nothing you wouldn’t expect. For stats, I went overboard and had all my stats high enough to get elected Rose Queen by the end of 3rd year (all you get is a spiffy red robe), but later I checked some sites and someone’s stats for getting him: 【学力】137【美術】135【運動】128【気配り】206【流行】163【魅力】137.

I want to play something else to keep Girls’ Side 3rd Story fresh a little longer while tiding me over until Harvest Moon: Twin Villages comes out, but I keep coming to this again and again and again. Heeeelp!