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| | Title:
Ninety-Nine Nights
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
Action/Adventure
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
Q Entertainment
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Release:
08/15/2006
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
Mature (M)
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One of Microsoft's goals with the Xbox 360 was ensuring it had international appeal, especially in Japan. The corporate giant is still having a rough time selling Japanese gamers on the fact that their console is the one to own in the next console war. However, Microsoft hasn't completely given up on the land of the rising sun as they recently released Ninety-Nine Nights, a hack and slash epic that was created as a collaboration between industry legend Tetsuya Miziguchi (creator of Sega Rally, Rez, Lumines, among others) and the Korean game developer Phantagram (responsible for the Kingdom Under Fire games.) After Ninety-Nine Nights’ success in Japan, Microsoft decided to release the game in other regions. Although the game won’t be available in the States until sometime in August, Microsoft has given gamers an early taste of the game by releasing a demo on Xbox Live.
The demo kicks off with a cinematic that briefly shows the relationship between two of main characters of the game, Aspharr and his sister, Inphyy. These two heroes are both decked out in colorful armor as they rush into a large canyon with a quite a few of their fellow knights at their side in a following cut-scene. The siblings are separated as a rock-slide inconveniently occurs as they approach their rally point. Aspharr is left with no other option but to go around their original entry point in hopes of finding another one somewhere in the environment.
Shortly after the cut-scene, players gain control of Aspharr as a horde of ferocious goblins attack the heroes head-on. Ninety-Nine Nights is very similar to the Dynasty Warriors series, so when a group of enemies attack they usually come in about fifty at a time. Luckily for the players, Aspharr is at a convenient level at the start of the demo (level 4, to be exact) so there are a multitude of combos and special orb moves that can already be utilized. It wasn't long before the fun started as I was cutting through scores of foes at fast rate. The game managed to be surprisingly fast considering that there are countless foes onscreen simultaneously and better yet, the frame rate held up all throughout the carnage.
About two minutes into the experience, I was still having fun wielding the blonde haired hero's lance by executing both light and heavy attacks in every direction. Fallen foes release both blue and red orbs that float in the air until their collected by the players. The blue orbs fill up one of the two gauges located near the character's health meter and with the simple press of the B button; Aspharr can take out a little more than half of the foes on screen by lifting them high above his head and plunge them back into the earth they once stood on for massive damage. The other gauge is charged by accumulating red orbs and once it's full, players can unleash the main character's inner power as he fires energy blasts from the tip of his lance.
Speaking of lances, there were a few more that could be acquired by busting open a few floating treasure chests throughout the map. Equipping new weapons only takes a matter of seconds by pausing the game and checking on the character's status, which displays what they're currently wielding and what they're wearing for defense. A few empty equipment slots in the menu reveal that there's room for donning more articles of clothing, which hints that there may be more depth to this hack and slash title than you'd think. For instance, I found a cloak that would nullify a spell that would otherwise decrease Aspharr's speed in the heat of battle.
After eliminating a few more swarms of blood thirsty goblins, Aspharr was able to rendezvous with his sister at the rally point. Fighting alongside with his equally powerful sister made taking down foes easier, so there wasn't much a challenge when that time once again came to end the lives of the green colored savages. After the battle ended, Inphyy ran off on her own to meet with a group of allied forces from a foreign nation. Just as she decided to go her own way, a gigantic troll and his fellow goblins decided to show up in attempt to make things difficult for our hero. The battle took a bit longer than most considering the troll was keen on frequently slamming Aspharr and his group of knights (much like El Gigante from Capcom's Resident Evil 4), but I was able to tough it out by going to town with my flashy special attacks and simply hacking and slashing. After that bout with the biggest beast in the demo, Inphyy arrived with a few unfamiliar soldiers at her side. In front of them was a limping soldier from another land using his lance to keep him from falling to the ground. The foreign informant tells Aspharr that his homeland of Varrvazar was in imminent danger. Aspharr makes the decision to march with his soldiers to prevent anything from happening to the dying man's land. Inphyy scolded her brother because of his decision to abandon his main mission, but ultimately fails to convince him that he's making the wrong choice. After fading to black, I was shown the postgame statistics, which consisted of how many kills I had (3955!), my maximum combo (which was 1078) and other information, including my A ranking for completing the mission.
Ninety-Nine Nights is shaping up to be an enjoyable hack and slash adventure. If you're not a big fan of linear games (such as the Dynasty Warriors series,) then N3 may not particularly be your cup of tea. However, those who can appreciate a game for what it is instead of what it isn't could end up finding a lot to love in Miziguchi and Phantagrams's latest epic.
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Luke
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