Since March 6, players from Europe, America, and Japan can play the MMORPG Summoners War: Chronicles on Steam. It is well received there. Over 35,000 players have been simultaneously online so far – with a rising tendency – and it received 73% positive reviews overall. According to MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch, the game is more geared towards monster and hero collectors rather than hardcore MMORPG players.
What kind of game is this? In Summoners War: Chronicles, it revolves around collecting monsters that you can summon. You unlock these monsters through summons. While you can earn them to some degree, primarily you buy them. The monster obtained is then random – a typical gacha system like in Genshin Impact.
The players of Genshin and especially the other parts of Summoners War are much more the target audience than typical MMORPG players. The game features a bright anime graphics style, many upgrades, and a lot of randomness. There’s also a lot of autoplay, especially for the story and questing. No wonder, as it is primarily a mobile game.
Summoners War: Chronicles starts off doing everything that hardcore MMORPG fans hate
Summoners War: Chronicles impresses with its numbers. It recently recorded over a million active players per day in Asia + Europe (via Summoners War). So, it was a must for me to check out the MMORPG.
During character creation, I have the choice of three characters:
- Cleave is a tank and fights in melee
- Oriba is a ranged DPS
- Kina takes on the role of a healer
In the editor, I can adjust some options regarding appearance, so I don’t look like every other Cleave on the server. The cutscene at the beginning (voiced in English) and the graphics make a positive impression right away. But that changed quickly.
Already in the tutorial, I am guided as if I had never opened a game before. Every click is marked, every single step explained. Freedom and the urge to explore are immediately suffocated – also because you only follow a main quest for the first few hours.
In addition, the overcrowded interface, constant pop-ups for the shop, and far too many rewards are off-putting. I start off with 22 messages in my mailbox, all containing loot that I can’t do anything with yet.
The controls are also somewhat unfamiliar at first. I rotate the camera with the left mouse button and attack with the right. Intuitively, it should be the other way around for me. Fortunately, I can at least set it so that the camera will now rotate with the right mouse button.
The battles at first feel somewhat lackluster. I quickly get two monsters to summon, but they cause hardly any damage. I have three attacks and one auto-attack, but these don’t feel particularly impactful. I have the feeling that an action-packed combat system is just an illusion. Perhaps a turn-based combat system like in Summoners War: Sky Arena would have been better at this point.
What annoys me the most, however, is that I cannot jump or sprint. Both feel absolutely necessary, especially in uninspired running and kill quests. I especially miss the jump. However, a dodge roll is assigned by default to the space bar.
It’s really annoying that I often finish a quest, then have to click on “Continue Quest” on the right in the interface, to then immediately speak to the NPC where I previously turned in the quest. That feels like an unnecessary intermediary step.
Quickly, I find out why questing was not particularly varied. Starting from level 5, there’s auto-questing and auto-fighting. So, I no longer play myself, but let the game play itself. Here, the mobile game finally comes to the forefront.
Collecting monsters and the cool element system
Over time, while the MMORPG plays itself, more and more systems are explained. Essentially, it revolves around collecting the right monsters, creating a solid 3-man team from them, and constantly upgrading and equipping them with runes.
There’s also personal equipment that can be upgraded as well. Here comes the first ray of hope. My character wears a weapon, which can represent various elements. Each element slightly changes my abilities and is crucial for dealing different amounts of damage to enemies. Water beats fire, fire beats nature, and so on.
However, during the battle, I can switch between all different weapon types. So, I have access to several skills from my weapon, along with two abilities per monster in my team. This brings some variety.
In addition, there are times when I do have to play myself, such as in solo dungeons and group raids. You experience the first raid at level 14, and it’s admittedly very simple. However, it’s supposed to get significantly more complex in the endgame. The correct team of monsters and players, as well as the right element for the weapon, will play a crucial role.
Gacha and expensive prices in the shop, yet still many good reviews
Despite the existing group content, I only felt a little MMORPG feeling in my first 6 hours of play. At many points, I was reminded of Genshin Impact, likely due to the gacha system, the element system, the graphics, and the photo mode.
Of course, there are dozens of Easter eggs and content that one already knows from Summoners War: Sky Arena. This is an online game from the same developer Com2us, which has a very similar game principle but focuses on turn-based combat.
However, I find the intensity with which rewards and pop-ups are presented to me to be even more exhausting here. There are automatic rewards for:
- The daily and monthly login
- Daily playtime (5, 15, 30, 60, and thereafter every 60 minutes)
- Various seasonal events
- Various achievements
- A second achievement system (for whatever reason)
- Level-ups of my character
- Level-ups of my account
- Daily and weekly challenges
- A battle pass with free and paid tiers
- A second free and paid battle pass
Basically, I’m constantly dismissing rewards of which I don’t even know what I actually need the loot for half the time. You can get even more through the codes that can be redeemed.
However, amid the pop-ups, there are also repeated hints about the shop. Because there, I get extra rewards for each day that I spend money. New items and offers are also highlighted in bright red. Some packages are only available for a few hours and then change.
The shop is not cheap either. There are several packages for $26.99, $47.99, four packages for $99.99 (which you can buy three times a month), and both battle passes for $9.99 each.
Despite this, Summoners War: Chronicles currently enjoys a lot of players, both on smartphones and on Steam. Looking at the reviews, four things become clear fairly quickly:
- The shop is regarded as problematic even by positive reviews. However, it’s said that everything can eventually be achieved as a Free2Play player. ScarletHeart writes: “Pay2Win if you want to sprint, Free2Play if you like to run a marathon.”
- The constant upgrading of monsters and your character is very satisfying. There’s a constant feeling of progress.
- The boss fights are said to be rather challenging in the endgame.
- The game is primarily played by fans of the Summoners War series.
Although Summoners War: Chronicles strongly focuses on multiplayer elements, it does not seem to cater to traditional MMORPG fans, but rather to those who enjoy gacha and hero collectors. With over 100 monsters that can all be leveled up, enhanced, and developed, it does a lot right.
It seems that the 73% positive reviews are justifiable. Nevertheless, it does not meet the level I expect from mobile MMORPGs:
Mobile MMORPGs are the future of the genre and that’s great
What do you think of Summoners War: Chronicles? Have you played it yourself? Will you give the game a try or does it simply not suit you? Feel free to share in the comments.
