Ninety-Nine Nights demo

By Tom Bramwell Published 28 July, 2006

On Live now.

A demo of Ninety-Nine Nights has popped up on Xbox Live Marketplace, according to Xbox Live's Larry Hryb.

The game's due for release in the US and Europe later this year and is already available in Japan.

There's no word on what the demo includes or how big it is (and it's far too sunny to close the windows, turn on the box and find out, you know), but, you know, you can always whack it on to download while you do something else if it's huge.

Ninety-Nine Nights, produced by Q Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi, is a vast hackandslash with an impressive combo system, supposedly hamstrung by a few basic technical problems - like cut-scenes interrupting vast combos.

We haven't reviewed it yet, mind - and are still sort of looking forward to getting our hands on it.

There's still no word on an official European date (although retail points to September 1st), but the game's due out in the States this August.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 6 years ago

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

  • EmiliasHorse #1 6 years ago

    Bugger still at work.. Must try this out.

  • mojo_x #2 6 years ago

    w00t. Hopefully this wont have the inconsistent difficulty levels that plagued the Kingdom Under Fire games.

  • optimusprym8 #3 6 years ago

    ooo something to play until SFII :)

  • toy_brain #4 6 years ago

    587.43mb in case anyone was wondering.
    No idea whats in the demo as I've only just started the download.

  • Totoriko #5 6 years ago

    Played like Dynasty Warriors to me

  • kissthestick #6 6 years ago

    game is repetitve

  • Xerx3s #7 6 years ago

    (and it's far too sunny to close the windows, turn on the box and find out, you know)

    We have hail storms with 30 c here. :\

  • Zero Beat #8 6 years ago

    As Itagaki would put it: "who wants to play a game where you fight a bunch of mindless drones that are unable to fight back?" or something like that. FREAKS! That's who. Miz, you've let the side down.

  • KillahSouljah #9 6 years ago

    How long does it take to download a 360 demo on Live?

  • KillahSouljah #10 6 years ago

    kissthestick said: game is repetitve

    i say game is shit...

  • jiveguy #11 6 years ago

    So does it only take 53 seconds to download play and form an opinion on it? :\

  • Kuma #12 6 years ago

    I am a fan of the Dynasty games and this is an improvement over them. Tighter controls more fluid gameplay and bigger more controllable combos. Fans of this type of game will be happy but I guess any Mizuguchi fans will be disappointed. Crap story and voice acting again, when will they just have English subtitles and Japanese speech as an option. I never watch dubbed films and don't want to play dubbed games.

  • jlaakso #13 6 years ago

    I don't understand why we have to deal with crap stories these days. Just give us the bloody game and cut to the chase.

    Anyway, looking forward to this. Too bad I'm away for the weekend.

  • Cityhunter #14 6 years ago

    Kissthetick can you tell me 1 Game that is not repetitve.

    I think every game is repetive in way.

  • zozart #15 6 years ago

    Whoa, I want this game /now/!

  • login_name #16 6 years ago

    It's ok, I wouldn't buy it but it's worth a rent or something.

  • JonFE #17 6 years ago

    Thanks jiveguy, took the words right out of my mouth :|

  • Nostromo13 #18 6 years ago

    hrmm, i like it, something tells me that by the time you finish it you will have arthritis, but other than that i may consider purchasing it. But if it comes out at the same time dead rising does there will be no competition.

  • Zero Beat #19 6 years ago

    They didn't bother to indicate in SOME way that you're hitting the guard towers. No sound, no woodchips, no inanimate object 'life' bar. It doesn't really feel like you're hitting anything.. but the title screen music's nice!

  • darkbhudda #20 6 years ago

    But the main question I want answered is does it have giant enemy crabs?

  • Cityhunter #21 6 years ago

    No Crabs.. only giant Turtles.

  • NthSimulachum #22 6 years ago

    Never played Dynasty Warriors, I enjoyed this once I got the hang of the combos/orbs/tactics/secret weapons/power ups, and realised you can take out the towers (best with X-YYYYY very fast)

    Plus it's not all soldiers who can barely fight against you, there's also intelligent guys who block, dodge your attacks, and also spellcasters. Couple of physics based traps as well. Music's nice, story looks a little generic, and the American accents really grated. British dubbing may have been more interesting, if not as good as simple subtitles.

    Still, I doubt I'd buy this till it plummeted in price, mostly due to financial woes.

  • Nostromo13 #23 6 years ago

    Yeah, that is also another point, the dubbing is horrendous.

  • Darth_Flibble #24 6 years ago

    does it feature real time weapon changing?

  • NthSimulachum #25 6 years ago

    Darth_flibble:

    Of course not, its not the real next gen:)

  • Darth_Flibble #26 6 years ago

    to NthSimulachum:

    /crosses game off list,

    all games should feature this ;)

    I was reading on xboxyde, that the japanese version of the game has some bad gameplay, eg takes 45 minutes to get to the boss and it can kill you in 2/3 hits

  • JackB #27 6 years ago

    "There's no word on what the demo includes or how big it is (and it's far too sunny to close the windows, turn on the box and find out, you know)"

    Why does it not surprise me. that Tom Bramwell is too lazy to turn on his Xbox 360 to see how big the Ninety Nine Nights demo is... He also seems to barely play the games he reviews. Thanks for putting in the effort... :-(

    This isn't my genre, but I'll always give a demo a try and it looks pretty enough...
    Edited by 2 at 28/07/06 @ 17:54

  • bloodflowers #28 6 years ago

    Dynasty Warriors with a different setting. I'm a huge fan of those games, but can someone tell me why the 360 version is managing 30fps (most of the time), when my old PS2 and Xbox ran the originals at 60?

    Sick and tired of the graphical travesty that the majority of 360 games are. The makers clearly don't give a stuff about frame rate, it's all about textures - which means they're either a) not gamers, or b) simply aiming at what a dumb market wants. If the PS3 games appear and generally push better frame rates, I'm going to be jumping ship - which hurts, because I really didn't /want/ to buy a PS3 - the Xbox was a storming console, the 360 (aside from a few notable titles) has been a letdown, both titlewise and technically.

    Still - at least it achieved one good thing, I've been playing games /far/ less since getting the machine, the addiction is on hold.

  • Lex_Luthor #29 6 years ago

    "But the main question I want answered is does it have giant enemy crabs?"

    No, but ironically, some are saying it's very repetitive.

    I know this has gotten some shitty reviews, but I still want to play it. Sure it may not look as excellent as Dead Rising, but how bad can it be really?

    I'll be there come release for one.

  • ilmaestro #30 6 years ago

    I'll be buying the game, but this thread has me remembering why I don't read the comments that frequently.

  • brombeer #31 6 years ago

    @Bloodflowers: You took the words right out off my mouth. I too don't play games that frequently anymore since getting the 360. It could be old age (35 already), but I suspect it's the lack of any innovative games. I expected a lot more of the next gen console games, not just the fancier graphics. The 360 and it's games are an utter letdown and I really can't see why people are still so happy with theirs. Only Oblivion was worth playing IMO, the other 10+ titles I bought have already left my shelves to annoy and frustrate someone else. On the positive side: I have more spare time with the kids now!
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/06 @ 07:07

  • SIDEARM #32 6 years ago

    mmm innovation innovation innovation. We cant just click our fingers and expect a gaming revolution. Generally the history of videogames has been one of evolution rather than revolution which makes it all the more fantastic on those rare occasions when something truly innovative does appear.

    90% of the games you play (if your a regular games purchaser) are always going to be pretty derivative and unmemorable (though still hopefully fun) - that is going to be exactly the same this generation as the last, and the one before that all the way back to Space War!
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/06 @ 08:30

  • Hunam85 #33 6 years ago

    My armies keep dying, not the best game around, needs a check point system too.

  • Ak1ra #34 6 years ago

    It's 'just' a fun game, maybe I'll buy it

  • brombeer #35 6 years ago

    @Sidearms: In a way you are right, but the quality of the games seems to be regressive rather than progressive. Not mentioning all the bugs in the gamecode, which seems to be exponentially rising on the 360. But that's common for all Microsoft products, really. (No I'm not a Sony troll). Took a look at Prey. 11 years in the making. You'd expect to be entertained to the last bit. I sure as hell wasn't. I found Quake 4 to be much more entertaining for some reason. Why all the tedious load screens? Why all the framedrops? I get the feeling the QUALITY isn't taken seriously anymore. Just the pressure to get the game out on time. I stuck LOTR: BFME II in the 360 for the first time and got an instant update. This doesn't boost my confidence in the game, to be honest.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #36 6 years ago

    The possibility of updating games is a huge factor concerning the quality of the game(code). Nevertheless I understand that a timely release with a few bugs that get fixed a couple of weeks later is more important than a bugfree game; Depends on the bugs of course.

  • jlaakso #37 6 years ago

    This game makes me think of Otogi. Please make a 360 sequel, From, and none of that slow-moving, bland mecha stuff anymore. (Armored Core mecha stuff would be all right, too.)

    --
    Edit: I can't stay alive to the end of the demo. Is there a trick to this? I don't even notice when I'm taking damage.
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/06 @ 06:02

  • glaeken #38 6 years ago

    The frame rate seemed fine to me so no idea what you guys complaining of this are on about. I really wonder if some even know what frame rate is. I did not see one trace of slow down. I even thought it was pretty impressive graphically.

    As for the game I think my hands would fall off if I played this for too long. Quite good fun but I am not sure I have the endurance to play it for long. It also seems to be one of those games where hammering the buttons randomly seems to produce just as good a results as when you actually attempt to use skill.

  • mankell #39 6 years ago

    Wasn't this one of the games to get the Japs buying Xbox's?

    /snigger

  • SwedBear #40 6 years ago

    I actually like the demo and am starting to think I will get this.

    The framerate on my 360 was fine. The few times I experienced a slight slow-down seem more related to a cut-scene cutting in or a messge popping up on the screen. During the fights where the screen is litterary full of enemies it was smoth.

    The gfx are fine. a bit dull surroundings but then again, I spend most of my time concentrating on killing the enemies.

    It's hack'nslash type of game which means there isn't that much room for originality. At first I found it repetitive (mash button over and over again) but after I realized I could use all other sorts of attacks and combine them into combos it became much more fun.

    Voice-acting is so-so though. Why couldn't they just keep the Japanese voices and use sub-titles?

    Main gripe is a few camera-issues. My favourite was towards the end of the demo when I as fightning tons of orcs (?) and the camera somehow decided that looking up at me through the grass was a good idea. You can swing it around so it didn't kill me but it was a bit funny none-the-less.

    Also had some problems getting those damn soldiers to follow me. Hello! Your commander is getting attacked by a thousand orcs .... how about HELPING ME??

    I wasn't interested in this game prior to the demo but now I'm definitely going to get it. It will be an nice "braind-dead" game where you don't hve to think to much, just have fun.

    /B