Thread: Ninety Nine Nights II - Xbox 360

N32- Ninety Nine Nights (N2, also called Ninety Nine Nights II) is an action/crowd-clearing combat game developed by Q Entertainment and published by Konami for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to Ninety Nine Nights, released in 2006.



In the world of N2, the Lord of Darkness has sent forth his vast armies of subhumans (goblins, kobolds, centaurs, ogres, demons, etc) to conquer the peaceful lands of men. Kingdoms are razed to the ground, vastly outnumbered by the armies of darkness. On the 92nd day, a powerful warrior comes forth and joins a ragtag group of resistance fighters to combat the threat. The ancient prophecy says that if the Lord of Darkness seizes the Orb of Light before the 99th night of his existence, the world will forever be engulfed in darkness as daylight will cease. If he fails or is killed before the 99th night, he will die.

The sequel's story differs greatly from it's predecessor. None of the characters from the first NNN are seen, which I cannot understand. The series is clearly inspired by some Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons.

The original NNN was the very first Xbox 360 game I had, I bought it alongside my 360.

I really like the crowd-clearing combat sub-genre of action games, where it's you against mobs of opponents at once so I was ready to get this. The Dynasty Warriors series by Koei has popularized this genre since the release of DW2 way back as a PS2 launch title, and it revolutionized the beat-em-up genre into something once unimaginable. I have played DW 2-6, it's expansions, and many others. With now over 20 different iterations of Dynasty Warriors in one franchise or another and many more planned by Koei using the DW engine, there was always complaints. Low draw distance, slowdown, horrible voice acting, slow moving characters, etc. My biggest was a lack of blood and gore.

N2 changes some of this but the results are mixed at best. Fans of the genre will find some to like here and there and those new to the genre will definitely find it interesting and possibly even addicting, but some may find it monotonous, flawed and insanely difficult.

The gameplay in N2 has been completely redesigned. One complaint I had with the original was your character and the enemies looked so tiny and you moved so slow. With a top-end developer like Konami now overseeing the game, great enhancements were made. The game looks 100x better. Your player and the enemies have much greater detail and are larger. You can run faster across the map. Environments are much more varied.

There can be 100 enemies on screen at any one time, sometimes I saw up to 250 (judged by my KO counts). They arent all that smart (ala Dynasty Warriors) and too often they simply stand there waiting to be mowed down, but they will circle you and stab you in the back. Larger enemies such as giants, bosses and higher ranking enemies take more strategy to take down.

One of the better additions I liked was the inclusions of blood, gore and dismemberment. You can lop off heads, arms and sever torsos as you deal death to your many foes. This was one of my criticisms of Dynasty Warriors, that it was too tame.

Another great addition was equippable special moves, where you have more control over your characters powers (KOEI, take notice on these please).

The graphics in the game are generally good. The engine never even blinks as it puts 100s of enemies on screen at any one time or crazy-sized bosses. The framerate doesnt seem to be toned down to accomodate this feat either. There are some pretty nice effects in the game. The lip-synching is good in the FMVs (except one scene that is awful at the end of the game) to the story, but it serves as only a background to drive you to kill the legions.

Most levels and maps are quite large and a level can take over an hour, not including the boss fight at the end of each level. Sometimes you are forced to backtrack but since your movement is pretty fast, it's not that big of a chore.


Yes, that's you.

The sound is quite the upgrade too from the original, as the music gets dramatic when it needs to. The slices of your blades as they cut through flesh and blood splattering the screen is incredibly satisfying.

There are some pretty awesome combos, magic, fantastic special moves to take down the legions that are occasionally awe-inspiring.

Sounds great right? It is fun... But now for the weak spots and there's a LOT.

First and foremost, the game is incredibly difficult, even on normal. I consider myself a damned good gamer. Im nasty sick in games or genres I play, but it's CRAZY HARD. Prepare to want to throw your controller. There's a lack of checkpoints, so it's like 'See how far you can go before you die.' Most levels have one checkpoint midway, and one at the boss.

The game is a button-masher. You'll be slamming the same 2 buttons over and over, using your special attack modifiers, dodge and block over and over and over and over and over again. It's all about combat against ridiculous amounts of enemies.

As I said most enemies, the common grunts anyway, will just stand there as you act as a scythe in a field of wheat. It does get repetitive after awhile.

The framerate holds up well but there is occasional screen-tearing when you swing around the camera.

The boss fights are frustrating. Not because they're overly difficult, but they're drawn out. The final boss is impossible. I dont see how it can be beat even on normal.

There are a few platforming elements involved, but the main character Galen, who you'd use more than any other, is more like a bulldozer as opposed to a nimble warrior, so it is sometimes frustrating when you miss jumps. Not a gamekiller, but it feels tacked on.

Sometimes, it's easy to get lost in the waves of baddies as youre nearly constantly surrounded, but that's the case in all games of this genre.

The game is simplistic to hardcore gamers. Kill these guys, complete the simple objective, kill these guys, etc. If you're expecting Ninja Gaiden or God of War you wont find that here. But Kratos or Ryu Hayabusa never faced 300 enemies at once either.

The 5 playable characters is a complete waste of time.

The omission of offline coop is disappointing, and online coop is a waste.

N2 can be thrilling at times. Few games give you the feeling of being an all-powerful warrior laying waste to entire armies, and ranking up 500+ (I got as high as 1400+!) hit combos is satisfying. But, it it isnt for everyone, even fans. If you like the genre as I do this was a no-brainer, and you were probably ready to get it on release but it maybe even took a step back. If you never tried the crowd-clearing combat game, this isnt the best place to start. Maybe worth a rental, but if this is your first forray into the crowd-clearing combat genre, I still must recommend Dynasty Warriors 6 (Shin Sangoku Musou 5 in Japan) first.

4.5

Rated M for Mature - Blood and gore, intense violence, partial nudity

I loved Dynasty Warriors 2. First game I bought for my PS2. I may check this out once the price drops.

Koei has a new 'Warriors' game coming this fall called Warriors of Ancient Greece where you can play as Achilles and other legendary Greek warriors. It's the same as DW, you vs. 1,000 men, but with a more adult theme, including graphic violence and nudity. I'll get it when it comes out.

At first I really liked this game. I even made a good review about this game, but the more I played it and reached completion, the more I saw glaring problems in it. So I have revised my review. Even if youre a huge fan of the genre as I am, dont bother. If you want a good introduction to the '1 vs. 1,000' gameplay just get any Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors.

I'll have 360's Sniper - Ghost Warrior up in a few days and I promise I'll be more accurate lol