Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 20
  2. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. Swordcraft Story takes away all the daunting tedium and deftly delivers a fun, satisfying adventure enjoyable by both experienced and new players alike.
  2. But the fun of Summon Night: Swordcraft Story is feeling that sense of learning alongside the main character. Though we ultimately know he will win the day, he won't do it without us.
  3. 85
    Summon Night isn't the best role-playing experience ever created, but it still manages to be a fun time and one that you'll enjoy long after you're done playing it (literally, as there are two main characters to play as and a total of eight different paths through the game).
  4. 84
    All in all, it's the best control I've seen in an action-RPG for a handheld game. I'm serious.
  5. Pretty much a dungeon romp, and while the characters are entertaining, the story is a little light. The graphics and presentation are top notch for a GBA game. All together a great package from Atlus.
  6. After completing the main story, another 50 levels in the main dungeon are unlocked. Not to mention the dialogue changes from playing with different characters and summons.
  7. 80
    Even despite the aged look and simplistic nature of the game, Summon Night: Swordcraft Story is still an awesome addition to any hardcore gamer's collection.
  8. Nintendo Power
    80
    Summon Night: Swordcraft Story may not be the biggest, most revolutionary, or most challenging RPG ever to hit the GBA, but what it lacks in some areas it makes up for with plenty of fun, variety, and solid gameplay. [Sep 2006, p.82]
  9. Play Magazine
    80
    What absolutely makes the game are the addictive side-scrolling real-time battles. [Aug 2006, p.65]
  10. Let me put it simply; this is a fun game. It has a quickly developed plot with interesting characters and an exciting enough battle system that you'll never be bothered by the frequency of fights. However, it suffers from the curse of most great games; it's short.
  11. 80
    It doesn't take new hardware to crank out good-looking graphics, and you definitely don't need to buy a PSP or DS to find memorable handheld gameplay.
  12. Summon Night: Swordcraft Story is not the greatest RPG on the Game Boy Advance by any means. Its story is trite, the characters are generally archetypes, the graphics are dated and the audio is bland.
  13. 75
    While Summon Night has fairly intricate graphics, for the GBA anyway, the audio could have been better; it's reminiscent of the SNES era but it fails to fully live up to old standard. The storyline is somewhat lacking and a bit shallow.
  14. It's a basic dungeon crawler at heart, but Summon Night: Swordcraft Story has enough fun with the formula to make it worth playing for role-playing fans.
  15. A fun take on action role-playing games but ultimately ends up a little shallow, mostly due to the combat system.
  16. Game Informer
    70
    Summon Nights wants to be "Chrono Trigger", but it only really reminds me how awesome that classic is, and how much this game isn't it. [Aug 2006, p.92]
  17. 70
    It's not exactly a stellar game, but the capable story and unique battle system make it a solid addition to the GBA library.
  18. The backstory is light, the characters are sometimes charming (and sometimes goofy) and the world is everything you'd expect to find in a Japanese RPG.
  19. Even the presentation pales in comparison to the likes of Golden Sun and the other handheld RPGs we've grown to love or hate over the years.
  20. 60
    An enjoyable RPG thanks to it's excellent, intense battles and the ability to actually create and take responsibility for your weapons, instead of just buying them from a shopkeeper.

Awards & Rankings

6
6
#6 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2006
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 26
  2. Negative: 2 out of 26
  1. May 5, 2023
    7
    Entertaining little RPG that owes a lot to the Final Fantasy series. Not quite as good as its inspiration but well worth a look to fans of the genre.
  2. Oct 8, 2022
    9
    Un juego sorprendentemente adictivo. La historia no es gran cosa, pero tampoco resulta tediosa. Graficamente es bastante bonito, en especialUn juego sorprendentemente adictivo. La historia no es gran cosa, pero tampoco resulta tediosa. Graficamente es bastante bonito, en especial los combates. Lo mejor el sistema de batalla sin duda, bastante parecido a Tales of Phantasia pero infinitamente mas rápido y dinámico. Los combates aleatorios son MUY numerosos pero los combates son tan rápidos y las recompensas tan buenas que no resulta cansino en ningun momento, Se echan en falta algunos detalles típicos de otros RPG como encontrar objetos por el mapeado o mas misiones secundarias, pero aun asi resulta muy satisfactorio. Muy recomendable. Full Review »
  3. May 27, 2019
    10
    Très bon jeu. Avec une histoire entraînante, un gameplay plaisante, de très bonnes Ost, et des personnages attachants qui évolue au fil deTrès bon jeu. Avec une histoire entraînante, un gameplay plaisante, de très bonnes Ost, et des personnages attachants qui évolue au fil de l'histoire avec le protagoniste. Le jeu a une difficulté croissante qui reste ni trop simple ni trop dur, parfaitement modéré (si tu y arrives pas,c'est que tu as voulu avancer trop vite). Maintenant, j'ai hâte de faire la suite et les épisodes principaux. Full Review »