Ninety-Nine Nights
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| Developer(s) | Q Entertainment, Phantagram |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Designer(s) | Sangyoun Lee Tetsuya Mizuguchi |
| Release date(s) | JP April 20, 2006 KR May 4, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Action, Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) CERO: Ages 15 and up (C) PEGI: 12+ |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 |
| Media | DVD |
N3: Ninety-Nine Nights, (Korean:나인티-나인 나이츠, Japanese: ナインティ ナイン ナイツ), or simply Ninety-Nine Nights, is a fantasy action video game developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 by an alliance between Q Entertainment and Phantagram. Q Entertainment is a Japanese developer best known for its Lumines and Meteos series. Phantagram is a South Korean based developer noted for creating the Kingdom Under Fire series. Acclaimed video game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi served as producer for the game. The game features hundreds of enemies onscreen at any given time, and borrows heavily from other video games of the genre, most notably from the Dynasty Warriors series and the two Kingdom Under Fire games.
The game was released in Japan on April 20, 2006, in America on August 15, 2006 and in Europe on August 25, 2006.
A demo of Ninety-Nine Nights was released on a DVD-ROM as a pre-order bonus in Japan only, and on July 28, 2006, one was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo is free and available in all regions.
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[edit] Gameplay
N3 differentiates itself from other games in the genre by utilizing fantasy elements, such as Orcs and Trolls, as opposed to human armies from games like Dynasty Warriors. N3 features seven different characters with different play styles, although only one character, Inphyy, is unlocked at the beginning. Successfully completing each character's story typically unlocks one or two new characters, until they have all been revealed.
After completing levels in Ninety-Nine Nights, a player's performance is scored, with both a letter grade and 'points' being awarded, depending on how well the player did. Points can be spent to unlock extras, such as concept art and character bios. Earning high letter grades results in certain weapons or other pieces of equipment being automatically bestowed upon the player.
Although each level contains different goals of various types, they all involve defeating hundreds or even thousands of enemies. Two buttons on the Xbox 360 controller are designated for attacks, X and Y, while A makes the character jump. Holding down L will block attacks coming from any direction, and squeezing R will make the character dash in a specified direction. There are two exceptions. Tyururu, a 12-year-old magician, cannot dash; Instead, R makes her jump back (attacks can be added later) and at level 3, tapping A twice makes her hop on her key staff and fly for a short period, acting like a dash. Klarrann, a priest, presents a third attack with the A button, and has no jump capabilities.
The title has some role-playing elements, with the ability to select which weapon and accessories are currently equipped. Characters gain levels and as a result learn additional attack combinations, but there is no opportunity for skill customization.
[edit] Orb Attack and Orb Spark
Another key component of N3 is the Orb Attack and Orb Spark options. Killing enemies yields red orbs that are stored up until the "Orb Attack" bar is full. Once the bar is full, a player may press B to enter "Orb Attack" mode, where the character can use powerful attacks to slay groups of enemies. Enemies killed while in "Orb Attack" mode drop blue, not red, orbs.
Once a player has stored up enough blue orbs (which usually requires several Orb Attacks), he or she can unleash a super-devastating, screen-clearing Orb Spark attack. This attack varies more from character to character than the Orb Attack. Aspharr will create, a good distance away, a huge beam of light that sucks enemies into it. Inphyy will draw the souls out of all surrounding enemies. Myifee will call down comets upon his enemies that travel forward. Tyururu summons a massive blanket of water that engulfs all of the enemies in front of her. Dwingvatt lets out what looks like a massive mushroom cloud that annhilihates enemies in front of him, some distance away. Klarrann creates a glowing symbol in the air the also annihilates a mass of enemies in front of him. Finally, Vigk Vagk creates a massive earthquake that destroys any army that stands before him.
[edit] Color co-ordination issues
In the game, a few items make mention of "blue" potions, which are clearly green in-game. This may lead to a small amount of confusion for some players. This is most likely a translation issue, because "青", which is used to denote "green" in modern times, was actually used to refer to the color "blue" in older times.
[edit] Characters
- Inphyy -- A 17-year-old member of the Temple Knights. Her weapon is the sword.
- Aspharr -- A 19-year-old member of the Temple Knights, and Inphyy's brother, although not by blood. His weapon is the lance.
- Myifee -- A 32-year-old mercenary, who fights using a double-sided blade that can be launched forth via a chain attached to it.
- Dwingvatt -- A goblin with human-like skin, often known as the "White Goblin", from Fort Wyandeek. His weapon is a pair of shortswords.
- Tyurru -- A 120-year-old sorceress. Her weapon is an enchanted staff.
- Klarrann -- A 30-year-old priest. His weapon is a bound staff, also referred to as an "icon" in-game.
- Vigk Vagk -- A 6-year-old troll. He uses his fists. Vigk Vagk is the "Secret Character" mentioned in the game's achievements.
[edit] Reaction
Ninety-Nine Nights received mixed reviews from various media outlets. IGN and GameSpot gave it relatively poor review scores of 5.6 out of 10 and a 5.9 out of 10, respectively. On the other hand, Play Magazine awarded it a score of 90% in its review, while the Official Xbox Magazine gave it a 7.5 out of 10 [1].
Criticisms include an inability to save part-way through a mission (so that being killed by an enemy can result in the loss of 30 minutes worth of progress), as well as a general lack of variety in the gameplay.
