Ninety-Nine Nights delivers an epic, next-gen hack 'n slash adventure.... at least for the first half hour or so.
N3, as it has come to be known, does get the basic hack 'n slash gameplay right, as fans of the genre will notice from the get-go. Those same gamers will notice a distinct lack of strategy however, which eventually contributes just one of many flaws which prevent N3 from shining. Instead, the game is more about getting as many enemies on screen as you can before blasting away at them with little more than the X and Y buttons. When it comes to depth, the game is probably on the same level as Pac-Man in terms of gameplay variety.
The storyline sees you starting the game as Inphyy, a 17-year old girl with a terrible thirst for blood. Her brother, Aspharr, also has his own set of missions which move through the same areas, giving you two different takes on the same storyline. These two characters hold the bulk of the game's single-player mode, though there are several other characters with their own, shorter campaigns which also end up moving through the same levels eventually. As you can imagine, it becomes horribly repetitive to complete the game with one character, only to discover that you're basically required to do the whole thing again, with every character in order to unlock the achievements, or beat the game.
This is an issue which could easily be fixed with a little variety; give some characters their own campaigns, rather than force us to do the same cursed story mode over and over again. Perhaps make one character a scout, allowing for shorter, faster missions. Sadly things like this are overlooked in favour of repetition and tedium as you plough through the storyline over and over again as you unlock more characters.
The storyline itself holds very little water, and seems to be more of an excuse to drag you through a series of enemy-infested locales. The war itself begins when a special crystal of some description is broken.... however this isn't really tied up at the end of the game, which goes in a completely different direction, forgetting how the storyline was set up to begin with. Regardless, the storyline is so uncompelling, few people would like some closure to the story any way.
N3 really falls down when it comes to the basic gameplay, which is exactly that; as basic as it gets. From start to finish, the action is painfully linear - "Destroy the enemy!" "Destroy the enemy general!" "Destroy the rest of the enemy!" The opening segments will wow you with the intense number of enemies on screen and the epic feel to the combat. This wears thin very, very quickly however as you reach the third or fourth level and find that nothing has changed. By the time you realise you have to do the story again, with another character - and things STILL haven't changed - you'll be about ready to call it a day and trade this one in.
You're not the only warrior on the battlefield, however the troops that go into battle with you are there for very little more than pure aesthetics. To be frank, they're completely useless. On many occasions you'll see up to ten of your allies surrounding one, lone enemy - yet none of them will take a swing. It's up to you to take out 99% of the enemies on the screen; and sometimes you'll find yourself with a daunting number of bad guys to carve through, which feels much more like manual labour than a challenging objective. Indeed, most people will eventually come to the same thought i did - one of "why exactly am i even playing this?" The game moves on a downward slope, leading to a point where you feel like you're doing a painfully dull chore, rather than enjoying a video game. Very few people will have the stomach to go through the game with every character just for achievement points; and even worse, one rediculous achievement states that you must get every character to level 9, and then play through the entire game again, as a level 9. So if you're one for the achievement points, it's worth noting that you'll have to go through this game at least three times with every, single character to get your 200 points. This is a game of patience, to say the least. Not one mission gives you an option to save mid-level, and at no time are there any checkpoints. Should you die in battle, you're sent right back to the start again. And of course, plowing through half an hour or so of a level, only to be defeated by a boss at it's end practically screams at you to call it a day. Very few people will have the patience to stick with the game to even beat it, which ultimately makes buying this a complete waste of time.
Sure, N3 is the first of it's kind on the 360 - if you dont include the Dynasty Warriors ports. Sadly, even if you're a huge fan of hack and slash gameplay, i'd still recommend you give this one a miss. Ultimately, it left me feeling empty and indifferent - as if i'd just wasted a rediculos amount of time on something which gave me very, very little enjoyment. N3 is worth neither your money, nor your time. At best, i'd recommend a weekend rental and little else.