Laharah walked the desert of thirty suns. And in a stone she trapped them all but one. In the sand she sowed the seed from which the Tree of Eleh grew. Aosi is the wind that blows through its branches. (...) The wind grew fierce. A storm rose up that broke the Tree of Eleh. Laharah wept as the long night fell, and darkness devoured her children. How to heal the broken tree? How to mend the branches?
Far from the kingdoms of Medeva and Orenia lies the empire of Galdyr, and its province of Halassar. Halassar is said to be the birthplace of the goddess Laharah, and it is foretold that some day she will be reborn. Twenty years ago, the priestesses of Laharah declared newborn Maia to be the goddess reborn. Armies led by the Emperor's brother rose up in Maia's name, and Halassar became independent from Galdyr. Now, twenty years later, a grown up Maia sails to an island in pursuit of the tome of prophecy that can guide her to fulfill her destiny - ascend as a goddess and bring forth a new golden age to her people via re-creating the Tree of Eleh. However, the powers that long ago shattered the tree are at work. And back in Halassar, an invasion of crusaders from Medeva threatens the kingdom.
Summoner 2 on the PlayStation 2 (later ported to the Nintendo GameCube as Summoner: A Goddess Reborn) is the sequel to Summoner, released in 2002 by Volition. Gameplay-wise, this was made to be more of an Action RPG. Like its predecessor, it contains a rich original world filled with a complex history. It is also remembered for the large Cosmic Retcon it applied on its predecessor.
This game contains the following:
- A God Is You: Maia, as well as Morbazan and Iari, though they're more Precursors that are worshipped as gods by the Munari. So, basically, that's three gods as playable characters.
- All Myths Are True: Subverted. Myths have their basis in truth, but the reality is different.
- Arbitrary Headcount Limit: You are generally only allowed three party members. Everywhere except the Arena and the Tome of the Nuvhasarim, one of them has to be Maia.
- Back Stab: Sangaril's shtick.
- Butt-Monkey: Krobelus. From being possessed by the Tempest, to being captured and tortured in the most horrific prison in Galdyr, to being transported to the twilight realm and placed in suspended animation, to being the only one not saved from suspended animation, to being possessed by the Tempest again, to finally being killed permanently at the end of the game. Also in the short time he's in your party, it's evident that everyone hates him on top of all this. Poor guy never catches a break.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Maia to Joseph from Summoner 1. Maia is in fact the complete opposite of Joseph. Where he was meek, and shunned his power and destiny, she was raised to embrace it, making her strong willed and even rebellious, while Joseph was more willing to listen to advice.
- Cosmic Horror: The Tempest.
- Cosmic Retcon: A BIG one, compared to the first game. Laharah is an evil goddess, and her followers, the Nuvasarim, feed on agonynote . This is thoroughly retconned in the sequel, in which Laharah is the protagonist. Except that neither Laharah, nor Urath, nor any other gods exist. They are all merely parts of Aosi. What's that, you say? Vadagar's giant three-headed corpse? We didn't walk through any giant three-headed corpse!
- Dual Boss: Taurgis vs Azraman.
- Downer Ending: Maia defeats the Tempest, and then transforms into the tree of Eleh.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Rosalind from the first game
- The Empire: Subverted. Except for his obsession at re-annexing Halassar, Azraman's Galdyr is not depicted as particularly evil or a terrible place to live.
- Gladiator Subquest: The Munari City Arena.
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Good Bad Bug: An interface oversight can be used to gain theoretically infinite money from the arena. By examining the area where one finds the Amok's Bane during the Survival mode in Munari City Arena, all enemies will stop moving as long as the examine box is open. However, the timer will keep going, and waves will continue to be registered as survived. You can survive thousands of waves simply by leaving the game on for as long as you wish with the examine box open, and be rewarded with enormous amounts of cash once you close the box and get instantly killed by the incredibly high level monsters that will have spawned. - Guide Dang It!: Paludal is a debatable example. If you go into the fight with Neru or Taurgis, the fight is practically unwinnable, as the duplicates of them the boss transforms into will constantly fully heal themselves.
- Healing Spring: the Pool of the Healing Twins on the Isle of Teomura.
- Interface Spoiler: Early on in the game you can obtain rings as a common drop from a common enemy which blatantly advertise themselves as being equippable by certain playable characters, some of which come as a surprise. Particularly Neru, who at that point was known only as the boss of all the mooks attacking you, and Krobelus, the much discussed defiler of a sacred tomb and leader of a crusade against you.
- Jack of All Stats: Maia, who has good combat skills and a wide selection of magic powers. She also has access to skill trees which enhance her physical defense
- Point of No Return: You can return to the Realm of Twilight at will in the second game, although not to the wasteland, the Seige Engine or the Tomb of Githiran until the end.
- Pressure Point: Iari's aimed attacks, most specifically the ability to paralyze enemies by shooting them in the spine.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Krobelus, who despite being a bishop is stronger than any of the armored crusaders he commands.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Maia herself - you have a whole bunch of quests in your palace to prove she doesn't JUST adventure that involves giving money to improve various functions of her kingdom and hearing petitions from her people. Taurgis when he was still prince of Galdyr. Azraman II also counts.
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear: Krobelus. There are warning signs. Nick all his stuff before you reach the portal, and don't sell the wooden staff - you'll need to give it back to him to get the better weapon back, since you can't just disarm him.
- Summon Magic: Maia turns into the creatures she summons.
- Unwanted Assistance: You run into a man named Osuke in Munari City, who is constantly belching up slugs due to a failed experiment. You can feed him more experimental serum to try to cure him. The first vial sets him on fire, the second turns him inside out, the third causes him to fade in and out of existence, and the fourth causes his body to constantly disintegrate into energy particles and reform. As you might guess, he starts longing for the days when he was just belching up slugs (that is, until the fifth vial cures him).
- Violin Scam: one of a few scams pulled on you in Munari City.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: Maia's summons work this way.
- You All Look Familiar: Particularly obvious with the pirates, Galdyran soldiers, and the gladiators.
