Ritual Summon is a 2D Action game set in a world divided by both a holy and evil religion. They are hardly on speaking terms and are often in conflict. With neither able to gain enough of an upper hand to destroy the other, the right to rule for a century is given to the sect that can summon a hero. That is where our character, Pella, comes in. Against her will, she is called into another world and is all but forced to lead a crusade against the evil cult. This all sounds generic on paper, but the thing to note here is these are merely labels. The holy sect we have been forced to champion is easily as detestable, if not more so.
For us English-speaking gamers, it is a bit vague how to change the language from Japanese. You simply need to select the second to the last option in the main menu and enter the middle tab from there. Before leading the attack against the evil cult, those who want to use a gamepad throughout this journey will discover how awkward the controls are. It is nothing short of game-saving to gamepad users that we can rebind the buttons. After that initial hurdle, we are officially free to experience all this title has to offer. The first thing immediately noticeable is how appealing the artwork is. It captures the dark fantasy feel perfectly with animations that are just as good. Some tiny details impressed me, such as our character’s cloth physics. She doesn’t wear much clothes, yet it is still tastefully classy in a lewd sort of way.
As we explore the intro location of the cathedral, we will run across our protege. Everyone you will ever meet is a massive douche, including yourself. This is not the type of title that wants anyone to be loveable. It is not necessarily a flaw, but even grim dark settings could benefit from something relatable to latch onto. With nothing left to do, we are forced to leave the relative safety of the cathedral and into this unknown world. We need to use the statue to teleport out, as this starting section is the only area not interconnected with the rest of the map. One loading screen later, I was once more blown away by how lovely this title looks. It has so much detail, and the purple hue to signify a sense of unease was just icing on the cake. On top of that, it goes one step further in explaining the heat and humidity of this world, i.e., the lack of much clothing.
I don’t want to misinterpret the game into believing it has an engaging narrative. The story is sparse and not at all the focus. It just has a knack for making strong first impressions and initial world-building. From that point on, most of our time will be spent in a life-or-death battle with this planet’s inhabitants. We have two weapons at our disposal to get out of alterations alive. The first is a small-sized sword for rapid strikes, and the other is a massive broadsword. Both can be freely switched between, though as you may tell from the pictures, I have a strong preference for the broadsword. This is mainly due to the massive amount of health enemies have. You may as well be trying to slay a bull with a fly swatter when using the smaller sword. This does not go away from leveling up or finding stat boosts. All of your foes will remain unpleasantly damage spongy. Our character is the same. I never felt in danger of dying, more so the further you improve her stats.
The last of our attacks is an underwhelming-looking magic spray. It does not deal a ton of damage, yet it really adds up over time as you gain a higher amount of mana. With how fast it recharges, you’ll always have at least some to cast each encounter. All of these offensive options are available from the get-go and are not expanded upon. There are no further spells, fighting stances, or anything of that sort. It may be clear by now, but I was not a fan of the gameplay. On top of all that I have stated, combat is both clunky and floaty. About the only aspect of it that works well is the dashing ability. It can animation cancel, is snappy, and can be relied upon to avoid damage. If I had to offer an easy fix to all of this, it would be to significantly increase the damage given and taken. That would allow battles to be over before all of the surrounding sluggishness takes center stage.
Ritual Summon is largely a linear game, though it often offers branching paths. Your reward for exploring off the beaten path will either be stat-boosting potions or coming across sexually abused women to rescue. The latter awards many souls, which can be used to level up. It is ultimately the same reward given in different ways. Our real benefit comes from unlocking their sex animations in the Gallery Mode. Speaking of the hentai, this title does something rather interesting. We do not need to be defeated by an enemy to view and unlock their H scenes. All that needs to occur is for them to knock us down and abuse us however they please. That can range from stomping on our stomachs and then jamming a dildo into us, or choking us out then wildly thrusting into our thighs. Some sexual animations don’t involve a beatdown during the act, such as the goblins gently caressing Puella’s breasts.
It is clear where much of the focus went. While the combat animations are stiff and awkward, anything involving hentai is top quality. Much like the cloth physics I mentioned earlier, sex is hypnotically fluid in its movement. Unfortunately, there is no way to unlock them other than by triggering them in-game. I’d strongly suggest letting each enemy knock you down at least once. Our character is built like a tank, so death will be unlikely at the low damage rates enemies dish out. After going around and collecting them from each foe you see, you may notice some that have yet to be unlocked once you’ve finished the campaign. This is due to the final boss fight and the good ending being locked to the now-unlocked Hard Mode. There is no new game plus, so you must start from scratch. I’m not going to lie. That is a tough sale. After the nonstop combat that makes up this game, it asks us to go through it all again.
Luckily, Ritual Summon is on the short side. It ranges around an hour and a half of your time. Double that once we acquire, then play through the Hard Mode. If you are wondering, no, it does not fix the damage output or other combat issues. It remains on the easy side and just felt like an artificial way to extend the play length. The gorgeous visuals come at a cost. There needs to be more background variety or enemy types. I found it lacking even while going through my first playthrough, as pretty as it was. Moving on from the negative aspects, let’s talk about something strange. It is called ‘Ritual Summon’ on Steam and in its own exe file, meanwhile the title is ‘Faux Saint’s Heretic Hunting’ over at Dlsite. I don’t know which is correct.
Something I’ve yet to mention is the music. There is not much of it, but all of the tracks are appropriately moody and fit in well with the overall setting. I’ve experienced no glitches or crashes. Everything worked as it should in the technical sense. I won’t rag on the combat again, but it did let down all the surrounding elements, like the art and atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay is functional, but sometimes being tedious is just as detrimental as being flat-out bad. If you’re here for the hentai, you will have a field day with all of the quality content on offer there. The same goes if you want to explore a moody, dark fantasy world with a gorgeous character. Functional, stylish, and sexy are how to best describe Ritual Summon. It won’t blow your socks off, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your time. Check out the demo first if you’re curious to try it.
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