Ninety-Nine Nights 2 (Xbox 360)

N3II is far better than the original.

The Overall story revolves around a Entity called The Lord of the Night's conquest of the world, leaving the country of Orphea one of the last standing. While the first game's story was merely connected by chance meetings of few characters, N3II story is about 5 individuals who unite under Orphea's banner to fight back against the Lord of the Night (reminds me of power rangers). While each character has their own narrative which shows their part in the game's events, the flow is disjointed. You learn about the Lord of the Night mainly in Galen's side, while Sephia's does not reveal a thing and only serves expand her character(that's when i learned of her very one-sided crush on Galen). One could play each missions in chronological order with out beating any character final mission. All 5 characters are unlocked by Galen's 4th mission. 3 1/2 stars

Graphics

The game has nice detailed graphics, it's not AAA gorgeous, but it's still good. Unlike the first game which can show hundreds of troops, N3II has just two hundred at most, no slowdown. The setting feels akin to Lord of the Rings, Color Range varies for each level, From dark and gritty to Arctic blue. The levels are huge and have diversity, You will fight in Forts, castles, caverns, forests, caves, and N3 II version's of Hell/Purgatory. Animation is smooth, though enemy movement seems a little too fast. Each weapon has their own design and each character has extra costume colors, both reflect the chosen character in cutscenes. Camera can freak-out when fighting to close to walls and a FEW graphical hiccups. blood effect are average and could be turned off, while gore is mainly separation at the torso and waist, as well as one arm for giants. Partial nudity, because some people don't understand, is at most a Bikini, which is what Zazi wearing, and when the cut-scenes focus on Sephia tattoo some cleavage. Strangely enough every character basically dual wields 4 stars

Sound

I don't recall hearing music in certain cut-scenes, though none of it is memorable to begin with, it does fit the mood. Combat sounds are as expected, but may drown out the in game chatter. The voice acting for the most part is decent, and most fit the lip sync. Maggni is the only one I'm bothered by for the sole reason that I think he's an idiot. The Lord of the Night doesn't sound menacing enough. Japanese VA is available. 3 1/2 stars

Game-play

Anyone who enjoyed Dynasty Warriors 6 or 6 Empires will feel at home. Just like DW6, N3II does away with branching combos and basically uses DW6 Empire's Renbu and Skills. While the X Combo is not endless, the Y combo is slower, but is a stronger and wider set. X can flow to the Y set but just continues and finishes the Y combo, holding the Y button during a short combo will add a slam while holding Y near the end of the chain will add a few more hits followed by a launching attack. Characters special called Orb Attack (Super Combo) and Orb Spark (Area Attack)which can be activated by either a tap or holding down the button respectively, and the power depends on how many section the bar is filled out. Plus the 2 air attacks, a dash attack, and the murderous counter attack (Block then YY, or break a block YY)that's all characters have. The Skill System is like DW6 Empires, while holding a button you can activate a skill map to the buttons, these skill vary and range from physical attacks, magic of all types and stat buffs. you can dodge as well, which can cancel most attacks. Again, if you enjoy DW6, you will enjoy this game.

One thing N3II does differently is something i call " Devil May Cry Lite" focusing on strategic combat, very lite (sometimes horrendous) platforming, and small puzzles. Characters play the same, but they have an exclusive action. Other than Zazi's action, most are very useless in combat. Levels are long (some linear) and checkpoints are placed at the halfway point and the boss battles

Co-op is limited to Xbox live, and serves more as a challenge mode. You aren't really missing out much other than a few skill and very crappy "legendary" weapons

Fixes the first game's problems, in N3II it seems like every character except Maggni was trained in ninja running, difficultly has 3 settings, Recovery items are more common (the game still expects you not to get hit), length is, varied prepare to spend 30-45 minutes on most missions (most have a boss to finish). Boss only missions take 10 minutes tops. Galen took me round 7 hours, while Sephia was 4-5.

4 stars

DLC is planned for those who care.

and don't expect the manual to have any information (Honestly five pages of the basics- rest is the same 5 in different languages.)

All in all, this game while a step back regarding combat, takes many steps forward as an 1 vs 100 game.

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This game bears little resemblance to the original and plays more like Dynasty Warriors now. Everything that was unique about N3 has been removed. The over-the-top orb spark attacks have been nerfed and are no longer very impressive. All characters play EXACTLY the same, including the same available spells, unlike the first game where everyone had their own moves and abilities. Cut-scenes, levels and boss battles are reused between characters, and you can play down any the characters' paths in whatever order you want, which seems like an okay idea but really undercuts the narrative. Voice acting is pretty bad on like half the characters.

All that aside, the game is fine for what it is -- a Dynasty Warriors clone. If you go in expecting it to be like the original Ninety-Nine Nights, you'll be disappointed. If you just want to play something like DW but with different characters then this game is pretty good.

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