Now here is an underappreciated classic if I ever saw one; a great success considering it was the first RPG for the PS2.
We've all heard of and played great new games like Red Faction Guerrilla and Saint's Row/Saint's Row 2 - all games by a company known as Volition Inc. - and by a now famous publisher known for games such as Company of Heroes and Titan Quest, called THQ.
Before any of these new titles came to the media's attention, these two legendary [from my perspective] and at the time quite small companies, built a game by the name of Summoner, the first real - no, the first ever RPG to hit Sony's masterful PS2 technology; a lot of people ignored it as just another CRPG, even when it came to PC's in 2001, less than a year after it's original release - which was and still is a shame; because this title is to this day, one of the greatest classics ever made when it comes to the Role - Playing - Game market - even despite it's obvious and sometimes overwhelming [depending on how much patience you have] flaws...
The Bottom - Line:
Summoner is a tactical epic - scale RPG developed for the PS2 and PC systems and released in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
The story follows a young man by the name of Joseph, a cotter - a lowly farmer; with a deadly secret power, destined to change the fate of Medeva and Orenia [the two major continents in the Summoner Universe so far] for all eternity. This power encompasses the abilities to summon creatures from one's own life - force, which in turn are used to fight evil, as they have done for centuries under the command of the many summoners previous to Joseph's time; all bound by a strange skeletal mark on one's hand - the mark of the Summoner.
The game opens with Orenian soldiers burning Joseph's village in search of him - with malevolent intentions from their emperor. This event causes Joseph to escape the city in a violent breakout, and to eventually embark on a gigantic quest, over the course of which, Joseph will encounter both loyal and/or disloyal friends and enemies alike - who will either aid or hinder him in his journey to the very brinks of his reality.
Conclusively:
The gameplay present within summoner encases complex puzzles, engaging boss - fights, and many difficult encounters with the mythical creatures of the Summoner universe, in which you control a part of up to four characters - all of these features are unfortunately, while exciting, built around a rather frustrating combat and camera system, which basically pioneered both the wrong and the right aspects of 3D Console RPG's on the PS2.
The difficulty can get unbalanced, and the bugs present in the PC version are overwhelming to say the least - and yet, if you can get past these issues, there is one excitingly memorable Dungeons and Dragons style RPG there for the taking, and still - while not quite as accessible to people who are new to RPG's, it's a great classic game for dedicated players with a few shreds of patience for the ride...