Title: Ninety-Nine Nights
Genre: Fantasy Action Adventure / Strategy
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Phantagram / Q Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: 1st September 2006
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If we could fight in epic battles, it would not only be extremely heroic, but also dangerous as we would not have any possibility to... save at checkpoints. Unfortunately, it won't be possible either sitting on the sofa with a game-pad in our hands...
Ninety-Nine Times
There are games that, more than others, fall within the definition of GAME. For example, Oblivion is, from certain point of views, more a second life, a second job as it was not so unusual to complete only one little mission per game-session, losing 2-3 hours free-roaming all along Cyrodiil world.
If in one hand, some games are not so "light" to allow just a quick game session; on the other, there are also titles that can be enjoyed even playing at them for only 5 minutes. Ninety-Nine Nights, Phatagram last effort, belongs to this second category, a Fantasy Action Adventure similar to Dinasty Warriors but without the same strategy depth. Well, to be completely honest, nothing can be described as strategic in Ninety-Nine Nights a part from the possibility to give very simple orders to our useless army: however, we'll return on the point in a while...
The number Nine seems to be a real obsession in the game, as we'll find it repeated thousands of times, from the game title to the maximum available character level which, however, can be gained in a particular way. Along with the classic method of completing missions and during the story line having the level to grow, we can also decide to reach the 9th level directly re-playing any mission and completing it several times; thus, for example, we will be able to re-complete mission #1 with a level 7 character maintaining all the previously acquired items.
Black & White!
One of the beauties of N3 is certainly its story. Usually, games like N3 have a very poor plot that barely explains the reasons behind our massacres: on the contrary, N3 succeeds in being always involving and is able to motivate us before the starting of every mission.
For example, after a video in which a city has been attacked, we couldn't wait to join the fight and let the enemy know who is the greatest! Unfortunately for non-English native speakers, dialogues are in English and only the subtitles (hard to read without a HD-Ready television) have been localised. Moreover, even if some movements are caricatural and enjoyable (Myfee is simply beautiful in her first video), others are too exaggerated and grotesque.
The above feelings are even more enhanced thanks to some scenes directly from "The House of the Dead". A child, with the usual nagging voice, is chased by some ogres and, after having thanked us to have saved her, a 80ies music starts and she informs us that her mother needs some help (Save my Mum please!).
The two-coloured fall
N3 is a title with a lot of Blacks and Whites...but, probably, negative stuff prevails.
Starting with some coloured notes, we can see and appreciate the amazing and shining combos, powerful as well as simple to execute (two are the buttons to use... three at most): with no fear to be belied, if our character will ever meet with Tolkien's Legolas and Aragorn, he/her will definitely be able to look at them from up to down (also thanks to N3 enormous...really...weapons). Unfortunately, some of the possible combos are so elaborated that they are almost useless as they leave the character exposed to enemies. Practically, it would be possible to play even only using the same unique gamer-pad button.
However, the real game sweeties are the Orb attacks. Defeating dozens and dozens of enemies will see their red-souls filling one of our power bars: when the red-bar is full, pushing the B button the character will perform a devastating Orb attack. Every enemy killed by this attack will fill the blue-souls-bar and when this latest bar is fulfilled... we will assist to the ultimate Orb Spark attack: thousands of ogres will fall and, after that, the game-screen will appear incredibly neat and we'll feel almost unbeatable.
Unfortunately, we've arrived to the game grey tonalities that come from some catastrophic choices. First of all, there are some annoying penetrations among characters polygons: for example, during cut-scenes, it won't be rare to assist to some team-mates who "live" one inside the other. Moreover, some times the health bottles happen to appear inside the body of a dead enemy, thus they are unreachable. But...this is nothing compared to lack of applicable strategies and the woe of death.
In fact, the only element dimly strategic is the choice of the type of army to use during the battle: the problem is that whatever your choice is, your soldiers will be more of obstacle than of help, and often happens to see one goblin defeating 4-5 of our soldiers at the same time!
Besides the unpleasant feeling of a cross to bear, there is also the dilemma and the distress of death.
N3 has a strange and (maybe) good peculiarity: every mission lasts for at least 20-30 minutes. A joy for long-longevity-games fans! Unfortunately, here it is the great issue with this Phantagram game: we won't able to save during a mission and, if we die...well...we'll have to re-start all from the beginning! And this is true even if only 1 hit was separating us from the end of the mission.
Now, even if every gamer loves to play, I think no-one will appreciate to restart a 40 minutes mission after having been one step from victory. Unfortunately, this defect, the fact that options reset going from a character to another and that every character has his/her own file-save, makes the game very frustrating, at times.
Ninety-Nine... polygons!
Nothing to say from the graphics point of view: main characters and enemies are really detailed and accurate. Also combos and orb attacks are very well-realised.
On the contrary, more could have been done for the sets, which are very poor-detailed and monotonous: even if they are not the main part of the game...it is something like playing at Dead Rising with always the same 3 shops inside the Mall...
Furthermore, the soundtrack seems encouraging at the beginning, but after a while, musics becomes incessant and repetitive, without taking into account the fact that some of them seems from a Manga-Hentai episode.
Final Comment
Eventually, the game is sapped by its heavy and annoying defects and some scenes are spectacular only the first time we see them, certainly not after the 5th time we've died a step before victory. In the long run, the developer choice to remove checkpoints can be felt by the gamer as a leg-pull.
5.9 seems to me the correct answer to their decision, not because it is a near-pass mark, but because it is a low mark.
Evaluation
Presentation: 6
A touch of novelty in the falling drop at the "start" pressure and a reassuring music make the menus appreciable. During the game the interface is easy to understand, but nothing more...
Gameplay: 4.5
Although the epic tone of combats, after a while they become monotonous. The impossibility to save at checkpoints during the missions and the lack of strategy give the finishing stroke to the game.
Graphics: 6.5
Spectacular but it is a pity that sets are so poor-detailed. Special effects are good and different from character to character.
Sound: 5.5
Good but repetitive.
Longevity: 6
For every main character there are a good number of missions and the longevity is guaranteed by the length of the missions. Well...there is also the fact that every time you die, you have to restart the mission, but this cannot be called longevity!
Overall Evaluation: 5.9
Unfortunately the great occasion to create a masterpiece in the genre has been wasted. N3 seems the classic giant with clay-feet.
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Original article by Davide Ambrosiani, XboxWay Staff