Izuna 2: the Unemployed Ninja Returns
9
10
2
2
Get it!
I bought this game about 3 weeks ago randomly because of the cover design and im glad I did! I brought this game home and at first I was kinda bummed at the graphics but, you get used to it and im actually kinda glad its the way it is! It makes the game unique and different. I havent beaten the game yet so im sure that means that theres ALOT to the game. I like how you can explore dungeons and caves and get weapons and spells and everything. The game kinda reminds me of Onimusha. I think this a GREAT game, I can play this game for hours and never get bored with it.
9/16/11
You'll either love it or hate it
What I had heard a lot about this game is that you either love it or you hate it. That is definitely true. Personally, I love it, but I could see how some people could hate it. It has a high level of challenge, and you will die a lot. No doubt. I found this challenge to be fun, since it takes more thought and less mindless button mashing. But my brother got frustrated and gave up on the game. I gave it an 8 for challenge. As far as Controls/Interface goes, it's a mixed bag (I gave them both 5). There's no cool touch screen control, or any touch screen control, and only one opportunity to use the mike in the game. But this may be a plus, since give that this was a low-budget game, the control would probably have been inaccurate, making the game more frustrating. At least when you die, it's not because you couldn't get your commands to Izuna. I gave Sound a 8 and Graphics a 4. The sound isn't anything to write home about, but it's nice Japanese style music which fits the mood, and sound effects at least get the point across. What pushed it to an 8 are the Japanese voice overs, which really added to the game. I would have preferred some English voice, but Japanese voices are better than none. The graphics were a bit of a let down really. I disagree with a lot of reviews that say the Game Boy Advanced could have achieved these graphics. It uses more colors than the GBA could achieve. But it's just barely more. The only thing that pushes the DS at all are the Tag Attacks, which admittedly are cool. And there are some cool hand drawn pictures in your gallery, but I don't really count those. Character customization is... meh. I gave it a 6. You do have about a dozen different characters to choose from, all with unique strengths and weaknesses, who are great with some weapons and can't use others (except Mitsumoto, who stinks with any weapon), and all who get along differently and have different tag attacks depending on their partner. And the game manual has charts detailing all this to help you make strategy decisions. However, one key flaw messes it up. By the time I unlocked the gods (6 fairly good characters), I had leveled Izuna and Shino to about level 25. But all the gods were at level 1. So to use a god I would have to train them from the beginning dungeons. I definitely wanted Izuna on my team, but most of the gods hate her, so in the end I never really used them. Another problem was that Shino left my party for a good part of the game, so when I got her back Izuna was a lot stronger than her. The tag system is neat, but still has bugs. Length got an 8 from me. Because you die a lot, you're really playing the same levels over and over, but they're randomly generated so it's a new challenge each time (A note about dungeons: Talismans allow you to make kick-butt weapons, but since you lose them when you die and great weapons are lying on the ground in dungeons, I find it easier to just pick up a good weapon and lose it than to protect it with special talismans). Ah, the storyline. This is the best part of the entire game, and got a solid 10. The plot itself isn't what's so riveting, but the witty dialogue that occurs whenever Izuna's around. It's hard to describe really, but its good. Really good. I would go so far as to say you might want to pick this game up just for the story. It would make an excellent TV show. So, if you like RPGs at all and have a moderate bit of skill to get through the dungeons, I would say get it. If you're the casual gamer who stumbled on it, this might be fun, or it might be an exercise in frustration. And if you're looking at it because of the hot babe on the cover... keep moving. There's one scene in the entire game where Izuna is partially nude, and it's near the end of the game. I guess you've got those awful pre order posters Amazon gave out, but I would be ashamed to hang those. I like Gamestop's poster a lot better, which shows Izuna swinging a sword. Sweet (it's not pre order either. It's hid
1/17/09