Robot Summoner Kite

Kite the Summoner, also known as Robot Summoner Kite (ロボットサモナーカイト Robottosamonākaito), is an action-platform video game developed and published by Namco for the Playstation 2 and Nintendo Gamecube. It follows the protagonist Kite, a robotic young boy who possesses the ability to create magical summons out of "azure" energy. Kite arrives on Neo-Earth, near Techno City, when his spaceship crashes there. He quickly befriends a human girl named Val and an anthropomorphic panda simply known as Mr. Panda.

Gameplay
The overall playstyle is similar to most 3D platformers, where the player guides the character to the end while using various natural abilities and occasionally items or power-ups and defeating enemies along the way.

Levels are made up of a series of large "spaces" rather than the single long corridors and the doors between these spaces act as checkpoints returning the player to the beginning of a "room" when they die. Players traverse several different environments to advance through the game. For most of the game, players control Kite—a robot boy with the ability to absorb "azure" energy and create summons out of it. The players can also play as Valli, a girl whose parents designed many gadgets, and Mr. Panda, a grumpy anthropomorphic panda that carries a hammer. The players can walk, jump, punch, kick, fly, shoot, and use weapons, the latter three can be used for only a certain few characters. They can also capture objects and enemies, absorbing them (as Kite) or throwing them as projectiles.

While playing as Kite, the player has the ability to summon beings out of the enemies' azure energies. These beings are known simply as "Summons," they are mostly humanoid and act like the Stands from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the Personas in the Persona series. The player can also capture another enemy to replace their current Summon with a different one, as well as discard said Summon at any time (this happens automatically whenever they take damage), sending it bouncing behind them as a small ball of azure for a short time. The player can regain the Summon by capturing and absorbing the ball before it disappears.

Story
Long ago, in a distant galaxy, the future syndicate "Olympus" has discovered a new source known as "azure." The "azure" has been used as a power source for their latest project: Umbris. But once it was activated, Umbris developed her own self-consciousness and destroyed the ship. She then took on a new identity, "Despair," and went on to create her own life-forms. Meanwhile, a surviving member of Olympus used the last of his remaining strength to give the final amount of azure to a robot named "Kite." Kite was eventually placed in a pod where his creation will begin before Olympus was no more...

Meanwhile, on the planet Neo-Earth, in Techno City, Mr. Augustus Justin, the founder of the city, has discovered different variants of "azure." Rumors say that he is working with a mysterious associate to create creatures out of these materials. Valli, the daughter of inventors, knew this has to be stopped and decided to confront him. But as she was doing this, Kite's pod crashlanded into a bamboo forest, where Mr. Panda, a grumpy anthropomorphic panda, resides. Kite's creation is complete and he begins to familiarize himself with his surroundings. However, the sensors on his cap detected danger somewhere and flew off to where the signal was coming from...

After completing the prologue level, Kite arrives to the area where the signal was resonating. He finds Valli confronting Mr. Justin, who has a creature made out of the "azure" variant. Kite flies in to help the girl and tries to fight the creature. After a few seconds of fighting the monster, a cinematic scene plays where Mr. Justin commands his monster to attack, but Kite responds by holding out his hand, which drained the monster's energy. He then used this energy to create a "Summon," a light jester. The Summon defeated the monster and Mr. Justin angrily escapes, leaving Valli in awe of what this gifted boy can do. Little did the two know that Mr. Justin and his "secret associate" are creating more monsters...

Main characters
Kite (カイト): the main protagonist of the game, as well as the series. He is a humanoid android created by an extraterrestrial scientist, built to create Summons. He crash-landed into Techno City because his shuttle detected several monsters in Pulsare. At that point, he has the potential to defeat Despair and other outer-worldly monsters. The main games always have Kite with the same basic abilities; he can walk, run, jump, punch, kick, shoot, fly, and capture and throw or absorb his enemies. Kite is able to create Summons out of the enemies he absorbed, such as the Flame Sorceress, Swordsman, Fighter, and Cutter Robot. Kite also can shoot aqua rings while underwater.

Valli (ヴァッリ): the daughter of two scientists. She has lived in Mr. Justin's building her entire life. She's very intelligent for her age, with much of her interest being in the environment. She can also be short-tempered and definitely speaks her mind on things, especially when she thinks Mr. Justin is up to no good. Valli is the only one who can activate Kite's jets when he is in danger. While Valli is responsible for Kite, most of that role goes to Mr. Panda. She wields dual blasters.

Mr. Panda (パンダさん): An anthropomorphic panda with a grumpy personality. He was the one who found Kite's shuttle near his home and, much to his chagrin, took care of him. But despite his negative personality, he actually grows to love Kite as if he was his son. He is also no stranger to certain types of magic, as well as technology. Mr. Panda is also the one who takes care of most of Kite's summons for future use.

Suzy (スージー): A holographic girl who assists Kite whenever he has trouble. She offers information during tutorials, as well as shortcuts for otherwise complicated levels. She seems to know the fate of Olympus' downfall more than Kite, as he is still curious about where he came from. Suzy also has knowledge of the entire solar system.

Mr. Justin (ミスタージャスティン): the primary antagonist of the game and the archenemy of Kite, though he is considered an anti-hero. He is a 30-year-old human male who serves as the "founder" of Techno City, carrying a large rifle and is known to be self-centered; furthermore, Mr. Justin causes many problems for the inhabitants of Techno City through selfish mischief. Despite this, he is not truly evil and does care for Techno City. He is actually harmless for the most part, but his intense dislike of Kite compels him to create monsters and cause mayhem for the people of Neo-Earth.

Mike (マイク): an anthropomorphic fox that serves Mr. Justin. He originally left his mother's ocean home to become famous and make his mother proud, but ended up serving Mr. Justin instead as his personal assistant. He helps his plots by creating various inventions to help defeat Kite. Mr. Justin punishes Mike as much as he does Kite, but his loyalty never waivers.

Asli (アスリ): an enigmatic witch who also works with Mr. Justin, along with her followers Fire Mage and Electro Mage. She was once a veteran in the fight against Despair, being the only survivor among the dead soldiers. Asli appears as a sort of mentor, helping Kite and others, though only when she has to. She has a habit of appearing seemingly from nowhere, helping Kite and his friends in times of need.

Despair (ディスペア): the main antagonist of the game and the founder of Tartarus, a monster-creating syndicate formed from the ashes of Olympus. She only appears through disguises for most of the game, her full form is only seen prior to the final boss. She was previously known as Umbris, created by Olympus, but as she awoken, she developed a self-consciousness and destroyed Olympus. She thrives on suffering, creating monsters in her syndicate and use in her armies to begin her conquest of the universe in order to bring herself more azure power. She also gives off the illusion of being invincible, since she can open her mask and suck all attacks into the area where her face is.

Sub-characters
Vick (ビック): Valli's younger brother who also lives in Mr. Justin's building. He likes to get in many kinds of trouble, resulting in Valli becoming worried. He also has a liking towards Kite.

Tomos & Cassidy (トモス & キャシディ): The parents of Valli and Vick, who work and live in Mr. Justin's building and keep peace between their strong-willed offspring and their rambunctious employer. Tomos and Cassidy both work as scientists. Cassidy is usually the one out of the two who is suspicious of Justin's plots since they put her children in danger as well, although even Tomos gets suspicious sometimes.

Libro (リブロ): A weird-eyed alien who works in a bookstore.

Chief Vernon (チーフ・バーノン): a snake-like alien who works as a police officer in Techno City. He has dark gray scales and lives in his house/police station with his wife Buttercup.

Buttercup (バターカップ): the loving wife of Chief Vernon.

Pinn (ピン): an anthropomorphic penguin who is the shopkeeper of a toy store in Techno City and also a good toy designer. He would sometimes be seen with Batch. He carries a wrench at times.

Batch (バッチ): an anthropomorphic bull who is the shopkeeper of Techno City's grocery store which is one of a few places to get a steady flow of business. Batch would sometimes be see seen with Pinn. He wears a green scarf and apron with two star symbols in the bottom.

Stan (スタン): a half-human half-alien who is a skilled mechanic and the owner of a gas station.

Milly (ミリー): a human girl who is one of Valli's friends. She is the founder and leader of a storybook club at school. She is mostly stalked by Daniel.

Frances (フランシス): a dark-skinned human girl and one of Valli's friends. She is known for giving moral support to others and paying attention the most in any class.

Daniel (ダニエル): a stocky human boy who likes to act tough most of the time. One time, he picked on Kite while the latter was in Val's school. He has a crush on Milly.

Pelt (ペルト): a human boy who is mainly interested in studying, which lead to him being labeled as a nerd. His face is usually covered by a lion's pelt, which makes some people confuse him for a lion.

Harriet (ハリエット): a female alien who is Techno City's residential fortune teller. The citizens often go to her in order to have their future predicted or to help solve their woes. Later in the series, Harriet reveals that she really doesn't have any psychic powers, but still takes delight in helping the citizens solve their problems. Harriet simply listens to what Neil overhears at the bar.

Neil (ニール): an anthropomorphic leopard who is the owner and bartender of a bar in Techno City. Upon hearing the problems of the customers that visit his bar, Neil would relay them to Harriet. He was one of the few who knew she wasn't a true psychic, not that he minded.

Takada (タカダ): a young man who is the only doctor in Techno City where he is also a dentist. He runs a small, low tech clinic, but does not receive many bad cases aside from colds and toothaches.

Tartarus Hostess (タルタロス・ホステス): One of Tartarus' main employees, who sells monsters to Mr. Justin via Internet. She speaks politely, but still doesn't pass up a chance to insult customers. The Tartarus Hostess answers to Despair and often tends to overcharge Mr. Justin for his purchases. She bears a slight resemblance to Cortana of the Halo series.

Summons
Flame Sorceress: A sorceress that uses mostly fire spells.

Golem: A rock monster that attacks with its fists and can throw boulders.

Swordsman: A man graced with the natural abilities of the sword.

Slashbot: A yellow duck-like robot that can throw a metal boomerang.

Lady: A polite woman carrying an umbrella.

Storm Monster: A gray monster that can call upon storms.

Light Jester: A jester who has control over light and can form a whip out of this light.

Porcupine: An anthropomorphic porcupine that attacks with his quills.

Fighter: A man taught in martial arts.

Ice Mage: A young mage that can use special ice spells.

Ninja: A man trained in the arts of ninjitsu.

Race Car: A robot that can shift into a race car.

Bomber: A boy that can summon multiple bombs.

Hammerer: A muscular man that wields a big hammer.

Electromancer: A young man that specializes in mostly lightning-based attacks.

Destroyer: A weak alien which will become stronger once activated.

Thrower: A robot resembling almost Kite, but instead of absorbing enemies, he catches them in his hand.

Laser Cyborg: A cyborg that can fire laser beams through his eye.

YUFO: A yellow UFO robot that almost resembles the Slashbot.

Bosses
Calamoero (カラモエロ): A fire-breathing octopus that appeared as the first boss. Calamoero first appeared as a small octopus and ended up growing upon devouring most of the wildlife. Calamoero can summon fiery meteors to attack.

Rockers (ロッカーズ): A walking boulder monster. Mr. Justin orders Rockers from Tartarus and sends it to attack Kite at the time when Valli and Mr. Panda are finding him a place to live. Rockers can spawn small versions of it, which can be used by Kite to attack the boss.

Genbranch (ゲンブランチュ): A 1000-year-old tortoise and the guardian of the Sacred Forests. He is very wise, though he has a bit of a temper. He's very kind to his friends, but shows no mercy to those that threaten his home. At first, he believes Kite and his friends are intruders when they build a campfire around him, but this was a setup by Mr. Justin to build some acres around the forests. Genbranch attacks with earthquakes and branch throwing.

Sketch Skater (スケッチスケーター): A drawing monster purchased from Tartarus by Mr. Justin. He is an artist on the go, and always wears a pair of roller skates to travel at high speeds. His body is an purple square with large round eyes and wears a hat atop his body. He has a giant pencil that can make any drawing come to life. Sketch Skater used this ability to make the graffiti of Techno City come to life.

Eclipse Sisters (イクリップス・シスターズ): Sister monsters that create deadly eclipses. One controls the Solar Eclipse while the other deals with the Lunar Eclipse. Even after one of the two is defeated, they still work as a team (to an extent) to fight against the heroes.

Raijo (ライジョー): A powerful thundercloud monster purchased by Mr. Justin. It created a severe thunderstorm that created a blackout in Techno City. Raijoe resembles a yellow monster with a white mustache, with a cloud covering its bottom half. It is capable of summoning electric monsters. It is loosely based on Raijin of Japanese mythology.

Windillo (ウインディロー) - Windillo is an armadillo-like monster with propellers at the end of its shell which it uses to create tornadoes. It created a tornado that stranded Kite, Valli, and Mr. Panda on an island that was the home of Sir Hiruna. Mr. Justin and Mike arrived on Sir Hiruna's island and unleashed Windillo on Hiruna. Windillo can unleash strong winds that can blow Kite away.

Shirotokage (白トカゲ) - a ninja from Olympus' Shinobi Forces until he betrayed them to Tartarus as experienced by Asli. Mr. Justin ordered him from Tartarus to steal back Kuroinu's "failing" report card (which was believed to be a ninja scroll). Shirotokage nearly killed Kuroinu until Kite arrived. After his defeat, Shirotokage retreats, vowing to come back and get revenge on Kite and Asli.

Blood Saber (ブラッドセイバー) - a garnet saber toothed tiger which is said to have been born from the blood of dead monsters. Blood Saber was one of Tartarus' most powerful creations yet he doesn't take orders very well and has a weakness to bullets or any pointy projectiles. Blood Saber once fought Asli in the past and was defeated when it fell on a bed of spikes. Mr. Justin orders Blood Saber in his latest plot to destroy Kite. When Asli came to Kite's aid, she fought Blood Saber until one of its attacks paralyzed her, causing Fire Mage and Electro Mage to fight it. They were able to drive Blood Saber into a nearby lake and Kite ended up destroying it. Blood Saber fights by creating weapons formed by its own blood.