Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner
Encyclopedia
Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner is a turn-based role-playing
video game developed
by Gaia and published
by Sony Computer Entertainment
and Atlus
for the PlayStation Portable
console
. The game was released in February 2006 in Japan
and in February 2007 in North America
.
The game takes place in a world where monster
s and human beings once lived in harmony. The monsters were hunted and many of them were eventually imprisoned in devices called "jewels". Once trapped in a jewel, a monster becomes tame and servile to the owner of the jewel, allowing human warriors, called Jewel Summoners, to use them in combat against other monsters. The story of Jewel Summoner revolves around the quest for vengeance of one such warrior, Vice, whose mother died at the hands of a monster.
Jewel Summoner received mixed reviews from the gaming press. Its monster-collection theme and turn-based gameplay was often compared to Nintendo's
Pokémon series. The game's audio and voice acting were praised, but its story and gameplay were criticized as uninspired and monotonous.
There are over 100 different types of monster in the game, and each possesses traits in the forms of "elements" that dictate its strengths and weaknesses. The element system is similar to a game of "rock-paper-scissors"; for instance, water-elemental monsters have an advantage over fire-based monsters, and fire-based monsters have an advantage over ice-based ones. A monster can only be captured within a jewel that represents the same element. Monsters earn experience in battle and subsequently level up, learn new abilities, and evolve into different creatures. Jewel Summoners can also influence their monsters' growth by fusing them with specially refined items and pieces of quartz
, or by increasing their stats with "Ability Points" earned in battle.
In combat, each Jewel Summoner can bring out one monster at a time. Every turn, each monster (both enemy and ally) can activate one attack or elemental ability. Each monster initially has four slots available for abilities. Monsters can quickly learn abilities of their own element type, but can also pick up abilities from other elements. A fire dragon
, for instance, can learn snow-based attacks. Using an ability requires the expenditure of a monster's "Jewel Points", a mana-like
energy of which each creature has only a finite amount. When a monster's Jewel Points are depleted, it becomes inaccessible to the character and another monster must be selected to fight. Monsters can return to battle when their Jewel Points have been restored at a save point.
Jewel Summoner has two options for multiplayer, using the PSP's "ad-hoc" local wireless feature. Players can trade monsters with each other or fight 1-on-1 battles. The game also includes a browser mode that players can use to connect to the Internet and download wallpapers and game trailers.
Jewel Summoner's story centers around a young Jewel Summoner named Vice. Vice's mother died at the hands of an Abomination named Shina years before, and Vice has been searching for the monster ever since. Before she died, Vice's mother gave him a jewel containing a monster, Schatten, and he subsequently discovered that he had the ability to summon and control Schatten despite not having been trained at the Jewel Summoner Academy. Vice traveled for some time, hunting and destroying Abominations, before drawing the attention of the Order. He eventually enrolls at the Academy and is joined by several other Summoners. The rest of the game follows Vice's journey with his Order teammates and his quest for revenge.
role-playing game series, commonly referred to as"MegaTen" in the West. Okada continued the game mechanic of collecting and raising creatures in Jewel Summoner, altered from MegaTen's concept of "nakama": player-controlled, friendly demon
s.
Okada's goal with Jewel Summoner was to create an original game "that goes back to the basics of gaming". At the Akihabara Entertainment Festival in 2005, Okada explained that the Japanese gaming industry was full of game series and he was interested in developing new ideas. Shortly after Gaia was formed, the new studio learned that Sony was interested in finding developers for its upcoming handheld game console
, the PlayStation Portable
. Gaia developed Jewel Summoner exclusively for the PSP, including visuals tailored to its screen and a creature development system that would utilize the console's internal clock to continually train monsters, even when the unit was not in use.
Jewel Summoner borrowed several aspects from Okada's previous games, including Megami Tensei's concept of elements. Despite the similarities, the art style of Jewel Summoner is more in line with traditional RPGs, instead of MegaTen's darker, more adult theme. An important design component of the game is its "rensei"; the monster training system, which is a staple of Okada's work. The game's soundtrack was created by Shinji Hosoe
, Hitoshi Sakimoto
, Yasunori Mitsuda
, Yoko Shimomura
, Kenji Ito
, Masaharu Iwata
, Tsukasa Masuko, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Ayako Saso, and Takahiro Ogata. The game is fully voiced with over 5 total hours of dialogue, which took Gaia a week to record.
Jewel Summoner was released on February 23, 2006 in Japan and February 19, 2007 in North America. Gamasutra
reported that at the time of its North American release, it was listed at #7 on GamerMetrics, an IGN
program that monitors fan anticipation of video games by tracking wish list requests, e-mail notifications, and other Internet-based game data.
and released by Sony in 2007. Gaia assisted Game Republic with Folklore's monster-creation system, and its original title was Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms. Another Gaia game, Coded Soul, was released in 2008 and also has gameplay elements in common with Jewel Summoner.
series of games. The gameplay itself was considered generic and unoriginal. IGN
stated "All too often the same battles happen again and again", and Game Informer' s
reviewer said the battle system "is as boring a turn-based snoozefest as I’ve seen in years". GameZone
called Jewel Summoner "prototypical" and said the game "does not stray too far from the formula. You fight, you level, you unlock new skills." The process of improving monsters was described by GameSpot
as too long and needlessly complicated, and IGN declared "for the most part it's not even worth it."
Reception of the game's audio was generally positive, with IGN referring to the music as "top-notch" and GamesRadar
commenting "The tunes are varied, catchy, match the settings, and show off the PSP's sound system." Comments about the voice acting were lukewarm, however, especially regarding the amount of dialogue in the game. GameSpot referred to the dialogue as "dull" and IGN said "the script itself is a mess." The game's beginning was described as especially slow. The game's art style and visuals were praised. X-Play
said "The monsters [sic] designs here are creative, detailed takes on all kinds of different well-known fantasy archetypes." GameZone's reviewer said "The monster details are very good, as is the majority of the artwork", and IGN noted that "Each of the characters also gets nice, crisp art for the conversational scenes." Game Informer, however, mocked the character design, stating "...each of the major heroes has some kind of glaring aesthetic blunder to make fun of. From the biggest faux-hawk in history to tan lines that Itagaki
would be ashamed to put on one of his characters, there’s at least some shallow amusement to be had by mocking these hapless digital rejects."
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
video game developed
Game development
Game development is the software development process by which a video game is developed. Development is undertaken by a game developer, which may range from a single person to a large business. Mainstream games are normally funded by a publisher and take several years to develop. Indie games can...
by Gaia and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
and Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. The game was released in February 2006 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and in February 2007 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The game takes place in a world where monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s and human beings once lived in harmony. The monsters were hunted and many of them were eventually imprisoned in devices called "jewels". Once trapped in a jewel, a monster becomes tame and servile to the owner of the jewel, allowing human warriors, called Jewel Summoners, to use them in combat against other monsters. The story of Jewel Summoner revolves around the quest for vengeance of one such warrior, Vice, whose mother died at the hands of a monster.
Jewel Summoner received mixed reviews from the gaming press. Its monster-collection theme and turn-based gameplay was often compared to Nintendo's
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Pokémon series. The game's audio and voice acting were praised, but its story and gameplay were criticized as uninspired and monotonous.
Gameplay
Jewel Summoner takes place in a third-person perspective with a top-down view. The player character's avatar moves around a static world map and can enter 3D dungeons. Inside dungeons, the player's movement will activate random battles against wild monsters; battles are represented in a split-screen format. Dungeons also contain save points that can be used to restore the health of the party. The player can have a party of up to three characters, and each member has a maximum of three monsters that can be summoned from storage receptacles, called jewels, to fight against enemies. Battles are turn-based and each monster has access to several attacks that it can execute each turn. Monsters do not have individual health bars; their controlling character's health is used instead. Enemy monsters can be recruited by weakening them in battle and then capturing them within a jewel.Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
, or by increasing their stats with "Ability Points" earned in battle.
In combat, each Jewel Summoner can bring out one monster at a time. Every turn, each monster (both enemy and ally) can activate one attack or elemental ability. Each monster initially has four slots available for abilities. Monsters can quickly learn abilities of their own element type, but can also pick up abilities from other elements. A fire dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, for instance, can learn snow-based attacks. Using an ability requires the expenditure of a monster's "Jewel Points", a mana-like
Mana
Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....
energy of which each creature has only a finite amount. When a monster's Jewel Points are depleted, it becomes inaccessible to the character and another monster must be selected to fight. Monsters can return to battle when their Jewel Points have been restored at a save point.
Jewel Summoner has two options for multiplayer, using the PSP's "ad-hoc" local wireless feature. Players can trade monsters with each other or fight 1-on-1 battles. The game also includes a browser mode that players can use to connect to the Internet and download wallpapers and game trailers.
Plot
Long before the events of Jewel Summoner, monsters and humans coexisted peacefully in the game's world. Eventually, a mysterious event called the "Great Disaster" occurred, and many monsters disappeared. Those that didn't were contained within "jewels" that became a source of energy that humans harnessed to provide power for their civilization, called the "Powered Civilization". Occasionally, rogue monsters called Abominations would appear and attack humans indiscriminately. The humans responded by developing a skill known as "Jewel Summoning", which could be used to fight and capture Abominations. Jewel Summoners are generally descended from a clan called the "Enchanters" and receive special training in the use of jewels. Trained Jewel Summoners work for an organization called the Order and collaborate to fight Abominations.Jewel Summoner's story centers around a young Jewel Summoner named Vice. Vice's mother died at the hands of an Abomination named Shina years before, and Vice has been searching for the monster ever since. Before she died, Vice's mother gave him a jewel containing a monster, Schatten, and he subsequently discovered that he had the ability to summon and control Schatten despite not having been trained at the Jewel Summoner Academy. Vice traveled for some time, hunting and destroying Abominations, before drawing the attention of the Order. He eventually enrolls at the Academy and is joined by several other Summoners. The rest of the game follows Vice's journey with his Order teammates and his quest for revenge.
Development
Jewel Summoner was the first game produced by Gaia, a studio formed by Kouji Okada in 2003 after he departed from Atlus. Okada was one of the co-creators of the Shin Megami TenseiMegami Tensei
, commonly abbreviated as , is a Japanese console role-playing game metaseries which was originally based on the novel series Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani and has gone to become one of the major franchises of the genre in its native country...
role-playing game series, commonly referred to as"MegaTen" in the West. Okada continued the game mechanic of collecting and raising creatures in Jewel Summoner, altered from MegaTen's concept of "nakama": player-controlled, friendly demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s.
Okada's goal with Jewel Summoner was to create an original game "that goes back to the basics of gaming". At the Akihabara Entertainment Festival in 2005, Okada explained that the Japanese gaming industry was full of game series and he was interested in developing new ideas. Shortly after Gaia was formed, the new studio learned that Sony was interested in finding developers for its upcoming handheld game console
Handheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
, the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. Gaia developed Jewel Summoner exclusively for the PSP, including visuals tailored to its screen and a creature development system that would utilize the console's internal clock to continually train monsters, even when the unit was not in use.
Jewel Summoner borrowed several aspects from Okada's previous games, including Megami Tensei's concept of elements. Despite the similarities, the art style of Jewel Summoner is more in line with traditional RPGs, instead of MegaTen's darker, more adult theme. An important design component of the game is its "rensei"; the monster training system, which is a staple of Okada's work. The game's soundtrack was created by Shinji Hosoe
Shinji Hosoe
, also known as MEGATEN and SamplingMasters MEGA, is a Japanese video game composer and musician most famous for scoring Ridge Racer, Keyboardmania 3rd mix and many early 1990s Namco arcade games. He also created the in-game music for Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse...
, Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...
, Yasunori Mitsuda
Yasunori Mitsuda
is a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...
, Yoko Shimomura
Yoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
, Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
, Masaharu Iwata
Masaharu Iwata
is a Japanese video game composer. After graduating from high school, where his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band, he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there, beginning with 1987's Bakusou Buggy Ipatsu Yarou, and...
, Tsukasa Masuko, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Ayako Saso, and Takahiro Ogata. The game is fully voiced with over 5 total hours of dialogue, which took Gaia a week to record.
Jewel Summoner was released on February 23, 2006 in Japan and February 19, 2007 in North America. Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
reported that at the time of its North American release, it was listed at #7 on GamerMetrics, an IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
program that monitors fan anticipation of video games by tracking wish list requests, e-mail notifications, and other Internet-based game data.
Future
Okada has revealed that the game was planned as the first entry in a series of Monster Kingdom games; its title was even created with this in mind. Gaia created a comprehensive timeline for Jewel Summoner to allow additional games to be developed within the same universe. Folklore is a PlayStation 3 game with similarities to Jewel Summoner; developed by Game RepublicGame Republic
was an independent video game developer based in Tokyo, Japan. The company, which employed just under 300 individuals before its closure, was founded on July 1, 2003 by Yoshiki Okamoto after he departed from successful Japanese game developer and publisher Capcom. Okamoto is seen as somewhat of a...
and released by Sony in 2007. Gaia assisted Game Republic with Folklore's monster-creation system, and its original title was Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms. Another Gaia game, Coded Soul, was released in 2008 and also has gameplay elements in common with Jewel Summoner.
Reception
Jewel Summoner received mixed reviews. Its gameplay format, especially the premise of monster collecting, elicited frequent comparisons to Pokémon, a long-running NintendoNintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
series of games. The gameplay itself was considered generic and unoriginal. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
stated "All too often the same battles happen again and again", and Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
reviewer said the battle system "is as boring a turn-based snoozefest as I’ve seen in years". GameZone
GameZone
GameZone is an American multiplatform video game website. GameZone's daily coverage includes reviews, previews, news, hints & cheats, and editorials. Additionally, GameZone offers downloads, a child-targeted website and in association with GameStop, hosts GZGameShop, an online retailer...
called Jewel Summoner "prototypical" and said the game "does not stray too far from the formula. You fight, you level, you unlock new skills." The process of improving monsters was described by GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
as too long and needlessly complicated, and IGN declared "for the most part it's not even worth it."
Reception of the game's audio was generally positive, with IGN referring to the music as "top-notch" and GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
commenting "The tunes are varied, catchy, match the settings, and show off the PSP's sound system." Comments about the voice acting were lukewarm, however, especially regarding the amount of dialogue in the game. GameSpot referred to the dialogue as "dull" and IGN said "the script itself is a mess." The game's beginning was described as especially slow. The game's art style and visuals were praised. X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
said "The monsters [sic] designs here are creative, detailed takes on all kinds of different well-known fantasy archetypes." GameZone's reviewer said "The monster details are very good, as is the majority of the artwork", and IGN noted that "Each of the characters also gets nice, crisp art for the conversational scenes." Game Informer, however, mocked the character design, stating "...each of the major heroes has some kind of glaring aesthetic blunder to make fun of. From the biggest faux-hawk in history to tan lines that Itagaki
Tomonobu Itagaki
is a Japanese video game designer who created the Dead or Alive fighting game and beach sport simulation series and also revived the Ninja Gaiden franchise in 2004...
would be ashamed to put on one of his characters, there’s at least some shallow amusement to be had by mocking these hapless digital rejects."