A proper Summon Night makes its western debut: Summon Night 5.

In 2015, the last thing on my gaming mind was a new PSP game. Especially a game in the Summon Night series. Up to that point, only a few niche gamers like myself were aware of Summon Night. Games like Swordcraft Story and Twin Age gave an idea of what the series offered: tons of conversation, multiple worlds filled with their own lore, and characters that were easy to connect with. None of those could have prepared anyone for the magnitude of a mainline Summon Night. Especially the fifth entry in the series. Gaijin Works was able to acquire localization rights to the last PSP game released stateside, and let me tell you, it’s massive. I’d say it’s almost too massive. It’s also unbalanced. And grindy. And repetitive. Is Summon Night 5 too much, too little, and too late?

You might be thinking, “Wait. What? Summon Night 5?! Don’t I need to play the first games to even consider playing this?” The answer is no. Summon Night’s lore has remained unchanged since the start. Summon Night takes place in Lyndbaum, a multidimensional hub of sorts that connects to other worlds. These other worlds are where a vast array of monsters exists. Some of these monsters can resonate with humans and become their partners. They form a bond and usually work together for a greater good. That’s the case here in Summon Night 5. You start the game by selecting either Folth (the male MC) or Arca (the female MC) and, depending on your first in-game decision, you will meet one of four spirits dubbed Crosses. Now, if you’ve ever played Swordcraft Story or Twin Age, then this should sound familiar. With Summon Night 5, your selected MC and their partner work for Eucross. Eucross serves as a peace keeping brigade and observer over other worlds.

Summon Night 5’s narrative is typical good versus evil, but with extra personality due to Gaijin Works’ handiwork. You will be reading A LOT. Calling this game a slow burn would be generous. One feature that I’ve always liked about the series are the nighttime conversations. After certain events, your MC can select someone to spend time with and get to know them on a deeper level. Doing this will build affinity. I won’t break the math down, but keep in mind that there are two MCs, four potential summon partners, and a bucketload of supporting characters. If you really, really wanted to see all of the dialogue, then you’re looking at up to 200 hours even with multiple save files. If you like reading and reloading, then you’ll gobble all of Summon Night 5’s dialogue right up.

Otherwise, Summon Night 5 follows a standard formula. Divided into chapters, you’ll be moving around a mini-map interacting with various folks and objects to advance the story. There’s also shopping for new equipment and allocating skill points for a variety of abilities. I won’t get into the finer details because, again, it’s a lot. There is a lot of “menuing”. Your next story destination is always clearly marked on the world map. When you arrive, you’ll have more dialogue to read. Or, you’ll have enter a battle.

Summon Night has been a grid-based strategy RPG series since the start. So, those looking for something with a quicker pace like Swordcraft Story will be in for a surprise. At the start of a battle, you’ll see victory/defeat conditions and deploy your characters on the grid. It’s mostly basic stuff from there. The combat uses a familiar player turn/enemy turn format. Both sides will exchange blows while moving across the map. Characters can use special skills and summon abilities to pile on more damage than a standard attack. As combat drags on, unit MP increases steadily. While we’ve seen stuff like this before, the issue with Summon Night 5’s combat is twofold. Not only is combat slow, but it’s poorly balanced. You need to grind a fair amount to keep up with the level curves. So, you’ll be going through the same slow motions over and over in the same battle arenas.

Summon Night 5 is a pretty game. It’s a reminder of how capable the PSP was at showing polished graphics. Graphics combine 2D character art with 3D environments and arenas. There’s a lot to see, too. There are tons of monsters, spells, skills, weapons, and more. A few animated cut scenes were thrown in. The music is whimsical and cheery. It fits the lightheartedness of the setting. I’d go far to say that the opening theme is too lighthearted. Otherwise, the music is just there. Combat features Japanese voice acting.

While (likely) available for download elsewhere, playing on a PSP is challenging. By now, we’re in the Switch era and mobile gaming has come a long way. I’m not sure if anyone else aside from me has tried lately to back to a PSP game. The process isn’t enjoyable. So, if you are still interested in playing Summon Night 5, I suggest trying to play it on another device. Sadly, even if that were an option for me, I wouldn’t bother. There were too many little flaws that came together to make the game unpleasant to play. I do sense a small market for this and for Summon Night 6 (review coming at some point) so if all of the above sounds good, then you’re going to enjoy the 200+ hours offered. As for me, I can comfortably say I’m eager to move to the next game with the hope that it’s a bit more streamlined.

Overall, 6.5/10: Summon Night 5 is massive game compressed into an impressive product. It’ll appeal only to dedicated fans of story heavy, strategy RPGs.