Ninety-Nine Nights II Review

Hackneyed.

Version tested: Xbox 360

The problem is one of expectation. Players assume that Dynasty Warriors and its impersonators - of which Ninety-Nine Nights II is one - have to behave realistically.

Not in the sense that they will recreate the bleak and bloody realities of the ancient battlefield without embellishment. After all, this is a videogame and the spectacle of bodies cartwheeling into the air as you guide your spinning top of a warrior through insurmountable odds is to be expected. A thousand Bushido Blade face-offs per mission would be a grim, tiresome prospect for even the most ardent fan of historical authenticity.

No, realistic in the sense that the endless waves of soldiers coming at you are expected to behave like, well, soldiers. Because, if you allow your character a moment's respite during the action, then the hundred or so enemy soldiers around him will shuffle awkwardly, perhaps taking an infrequent, uninterested stab at him, but rarely causing anything like the sort of threat that their bulk and number suggests. Stop moving and the illusion breaks, revealing just how low the stakes of each encounter really are. The result for many players is disappointment. Why should I care about the enemy if they don't care about me?

But this is to misunderstand the role of enemies in the game. In fact they move as a virus on the battlefield. In formation they are clusters of hostile germs, individually impotent and unthreatening but, taken as a whole, a very real source of danger. They exist not to defeat you in a single devastating blow, but to bring about death by a thousand cuts.

They live to slow you down, to distract from the real mission, and, in making you late to the endgame, they hope to rob you of that A Grade performance rating. They exist to fuel the fires of the game's economy, releasing fistfuls of experience orbs into the air in their momentary death throe, currency necessary to increase your character's abilities in the next intermission. Yes, they are fodder. But they are precious fodder.

Approach Konami's latest without grasping this fact and your disappointment will combo upwards as quickly as your kill count. This is a game firmly within the Dynasty Warriors tradition, albeit with the pseudo-historical battlefield swapped out for a Japanese interpretation of Tolkien's Mordor. Problematically, however, even with a full appreciation of the game's aims and approach, Ninety-Nine Nights II fails to inspire in the way that it should.

At least the feel is nippy and engaging. Galen, the character you control to begin with, can race around the battlefield with pleasing alacrity. His sword strikes are quick and stringing together combos of fast and heavy attacks on both the ground and in the air is visceral and exciting. You race from pillar to post, cutting channels of air through the relentless waves of enemy soldiers as you spring towards objective markers on the map and clear the set-piece battles awaiting at each.

Four accessory slots allow you to equip four additional attacks, each mapped to a different face button, triggered in conjunction with another button, and each with its own short recharge time. This brings the basic number of offensive options to seven at any one point, an unusually generous number of tools for this style game. Additionally, as you're attacked a special attack meter charges, which can be used to execute a huge explosion around your character or, alternatively, to put them into a temporary rage mode, where attacks do far greater damage.

The wide range of interactive options helps maintain interest for the first few hours, obscuring the basic, button-mash nature of the interactions through variety. Not only that, but experience orbs collected from fallen enemies can be used to upgrade not only your character and his or her chosen weapon, but also any spells they've learned or abilities they picked up, and this RPG-lite element helps push you further into the game when the initial, visceral excitement begins to wane.

However, neither of these factors can distract from the pedestrian nature of the level design, the repetitive and uninteresting boss fights, and the slim range of mission objectives, all of which damn the experience in the long term.

After the first clutch of missions you'll have access to five different fighters, each with their own interweaving storyline and set of missions. Characters conform to fantasy archetypes. Maggni, for example, a giant blue-skinned Hulk-alike with shield swords strapped to his arms, is slow and powerful, while Levv is short, fast and lithe, with his low HP made up by speed on the ground. There's no shortage of content here, and with the majority of missions taking well over half an hour to complete it will be many hours before you finish a single character's storyline. But the story, such that it is, will provide no incentive to do so, and by the midway point of each the prospect of doing the same again is wearying.

Stages contain a number of key and optional objectives, all of which remain hidden until triggered by stumbling into the appropriate area of the battlefield. Your grade rating for a mission is dictated by how many of these objectives you complete and how quickly, and there is some enjoyment to be found in uncovering all of an area's secret corridors, even if they are unlocked merely by whacking at them with a sword. Nevertheless, it's unlikely you'll return to a stage to improve your score: the length of time it takes to work through just one is simply too high.

These guys are a friendly bunch.

Multiplayer modes, allowing players to co-operatively work through stages, are a welcome option, but reviewers were unable to test these ahead of the game's release, not least because they are not available locally but only over Xbox Live. The chance to take a character you've levelled in the single-player game out into the wilds of Xbox Live is appealing, even if the lack of visual customisation options makes it all the harder to showboat.

There's a sense in which Ninety-Nine Nights II is an easy target. It sits within a genre that has always been unpopular in the West, and some poor checkpointing and overlong stages do nothing to endear it to unbelievers. But there are flashes of inspiration here, clues to the competence and ingenuity of the developer. Sadly these are drowned out by unnecessary bulk and repetition, resulting in an experience that's flabby and uninspiring regardless of your appreciation of its aims.

4 / 10

Ninety-Nine Nights II is due out for Xbox 360 on 10th September.

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy

Comments (42) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ZuluHero #1 1 year ago

    Seems to be the month of 4/10s...
  • Gambit1977 #2 1 year ago

    A shit sequel to a shit game? I find it weird this ever got the green light.
  • woodnotes #3 1 year ago

    This was the most bizarre sequel commission since Genji 2.

    I just don't understand what Microsoft was thinking.
  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 1 year ago

    I only played the demo of the first one and it wasn't necessarily bad but I'm not a big fan of button mashers - at least I got the feeling that it was one; Can't really remember, it's been quite a while. It was a solid game though so I'm still a bit surprised the sequel does not hold up.
  • woodnotes #5 1 year ago

    "another fine 360 exclusive i see, next kinectimals and your shape"

    Clearly Halo: Reach.
  • telboy007 #6 1 year ago

    Don't diss Kinectimals, Mr Daniels. There can be a lot said about playing skip rope and playing dead with a tiger cub. Mostly awesome things.
  • mazzl #7 1 year ago

    whu are all Capcom games unablanced and stangly flawed
  • berelain #8 1 year ago

    See, I actually quite liked the first game. And I like this one, too. Which is odd because Dynasty Warriors bores me...

    *edit*

    @ Mazzl - what has Capcom got to do with anything?
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/10 @ 10:18
  • lasersrule #9 1 year ago

    Rule one of crowd melee games: the grunts don't attack you because YOU'RE THE BADASS and THEY'RE SCARED OF YOU.

    I loved NNN, even with its faults, as it was a hardcore grind and a half that, to max-level all the characters, meant you really honed your routes and combo effeciencies to a level of precision that you don't need in DW. One the characters hit max level, you could properly rape the stages too, with nailing the spark orb attacks being key to rinsing stuff really fucking quick. When done right, it was deeply satisfying and that more than made up for the lack of checkpoints, clunky stage designs and all that.
  • jonsaan #10 1 year ago

    I had the first game. Back in my 'I have a new console and I'm going to buy every game that gets released phase'.
  • coolbritannia #11 1 year ago

    As good as Mafia II then. Don't think it matters tbh, every decent 360 gamer is saving his or her pennies for Reach!
  • iamian #12 1 year ago

    I liked the first NNN too. Would have been nice if the review said something like "if you liked the first one then it's more of the same" or something along those lines, like they always do with the DW games.
  • LR100 #13 1 year ago

    EG overuses 4/10 as much as other sites/magazines overuse 8/10. Still, I didn't imagine this game would do well at all.
  • Masaroth #14 1 year ago

    Played the demo of this the other day and wernt too impressed, didnt seem too click for me even though i do like DW. If you liked the first one though im pretty sure youd like this one.
  • Nephirion #15 1 year ago

    Kayne and Lynch 2 4/10
    Mafia 2 4/10
    Ninety-Nine Nights II 4/10

    LOL????
  • Darren #16 1 year ago

    The demo was dreadful and actually worse than the original game, which was quite an achievement considering I didn't think that was very good either. Not surprised at the review score at all.
  • Hei #17 1 year ago

    And people put this in AAA list of 360's games lol
  • DarkMoon #18 1 year ago

    theres a demo? where?
  • Progguitarist #19 1 year ago

    Can't believe no one has said "one mirrion troops" yet.

    Extreeeeme!
  • Pastici #20 1 year ago

    One mirriorn troops?

    Damn you Progguitarist!
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/10 @ 11:27
  • Masaroth #21 1 year ago

    Demos out in the demo store on live, go to new releases and theres a demo with no picture called n3ii, didnt even know it was for this game at first.
  • oupe #22 1 year ago

    Too bad, I actually enjoyed the first one.
  • Pastici #23 1 year ago

    These are the kind of games I like to pick up for £5 and get a couple of weeks play out of them, not great but worth it for a low low price.
  • Pwnsweet #24 1 year ago

    Hi
    ...
    ....
    .....
    My name is Tak Fujii, I'ma the leader producer of Nine nine nightstwo.


    If you don't understand what the above means, you're missing out. Watch: http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=YtKMqdMWNec
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/10 @ 12:43
  • bloodflowers #25 1 year ago

    I love DW style games, but having played the demo (and the original N3) - these are just missing the important element of fun for some reason. Drab, drab, drab. The poor frame rate just magnifies the slow and uninteresting feel of the games generally. I'd buy another DW title in a heartbeat, even if it's just more of the same with different map layouts.
  • JahB #26 1 year ago

    but if press the XXXYYY will i get suck?
  • SheffieldSteel #27 1 year ago

    Yawn. Another game with a combo system.

    For originality, you should have a special move when you can drop a house on your opponents. At first it would just be a small shed or hovel, perhaps killing two or three guys at one time, but the longer you play, the more your power increases and the bigger the building you can attack with, until you can kill huge numbers of enemies at a time by dropping major residential buildings on them.

    So which developer is going to have the balls to develop a game with a proper condo system?
  • RM2KMaster #28 1 year ago

    ^^^^^^

    Give that man a medal.
  • Lord_Gremlin #29 1 year ago

    They certainly did a bad job with hordes. One of my favorite games is Viking: Battle for Asgard (PS3/360 game) and if you get surrounded by a horde of enemies in this game you die in 3-4 seconds. Ah, such precious memories - running aways from a huge horde in a dark forest...
  • udat #30 1 year ago

    That youtube video was great. Better than the game I reckon.
  • Remy #31 1 year ago

    21 posts until things got EXTREEEEME. :o

    Ah well, I still LOVE YOU GUYS.

    Edit: JahB, you got sucked!
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/10 @ 15:26
  • glaeken #32 1 year ago

    The first game was fun if you are into your button mashers. The over the top moves you could pull from collecting blue orbs were pretty amazing at the time. The differing perspectives on the same story were also very good I thought.

    It would have been nice to know how similar to the first game this is as the odd video I have seen made it look like it had barely changed.
  • mixpython #33 1 year ago

    It is ridiculous to give this crappy game the same score as mafia2.. sry eurogamer, jus cant trust your reviews anymore!
  • Davemanz #34 1 year ago

    i look forward to being sucked by one million troops
  • KDR_11k #35 1 year ago

    It's just terrible design. Look at how twin stick shooters or EDF do enemy crowds, enemies die fast and by the dozen but even a single enemy can still kill you if it gets to you so you have to make sure no enemies manage to break from the pack. EDF has a tiny budget and tons of levels without feeling overly repetitive yet these Musou games can't keep their campaigns interesting with the biggest budgets.

    At least the game was released at 30€ so if you're really looking for a game like that N32 is among the cheaper options.
  • HiredMan #36 1 year ago

    Hei, Oh, that'd be exactly..... you. Nice one!

    Personally, I'd put this in the category of....... shit.
  • bumgut #37 1 year ago

    Anyone played the Vanqish demo?

    ITS REALLY GOOD BLUD
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/10 @ 01:18
  • trip919 #38 1 year ago

    As good as Mafia 2 then?

    /hides
  • super_monty #39 1 year ago

    Kayne and Lynch 2 4/10
    Mafia 2 4/10
    Ninety-Nine Nights II 4/10

    Strange people keep telling me K anf L is fun!
  • pweidman #40 1 year ago

    Another reviewer who never really learned how to play the game correctly, and complains about difficulty, repetition, and lack of checkpoints. The first game was good and fun, and this game is better in every way. If you liked the first game, you'll really enjoy this even more. The online co-op modes are a great addition as well. How does underrating games make a site cool or attractive(referring to the run of low scores lately for recent games)? And not just a sadly jaded place for burned out journalists who've long since lost their love for gaming?

    And also, is every forum on every gaming website full of twits who pop off about games they've not played at all???
  • IMD1_Pk #41 1 year ago

    Give me another sequel to the xbox line of kingdom under fire instead of all this beat em up crap. It was ok as a rushed title at the xbox launch and even in the early carnations of the ps2 dynasty warriors. but it's seriously tiring now
  • Centrifugal #42 1 year ago