N3 - Ninety Nine Nights

[digifan]

This is one of the most over rated games in the 360's brief history.

When I saw the reviews almost everyone gave it a high mark. Out of pure curiousity I downloaded and played the demo. I was not impressed. The gameplay was extremely simple in the demo version. All you have to do is aim and slash your way through endless waves of enemies. I did like the graphics They were stunningly beautiful, especially on a HDTV. I hope the full version will perform better.

The lowdowns.

Graphics - 9.5 out of 10. Beautiful scenaries. Stunning characterizations and details. You can almost see the details of the characters' movements, right down to their body language and reactions.

Gameplay - 7 out of 10. It doesn't take much effort moving from one level to the next.

Multiplayer - Yet to be determine. Since this game is fairly new, I will reserve my verdict for its online gameplay abilities via Xbox Live.

Storyline - 8.5 out of 10. I was intrigue by its storyline. It's a mixture of fantasy with adventure.

Sound - 8 out of 10. The main score is very dramatic and moving. It sounds even better on a home threature multimedia entertainment system.

Overall socre - B. I would give it a higher score if the gameplay was improve.

Just my two point two five credit worth.

[Azu]

Wow, imo, you scored most of the things way too high.

Mine would be:

Graphics - 7.5 out of 10. The number of enemies on screen can be hUUUUge, but enemy models are really simple and repetitive (and the enemies can "drown" under your troops making them hard to see), the game suffers from serious framerate issues (I'm quite sure that I got the framerate to drop to something like 10fps :? ) and the environments are nothing special (although the draw distance is good). The main character models are decent, but certainly not next-gen level. Just shinier than before. ;) Lip sync is absolutely horrible. I was also disappointed by the prerendered videos. The Intro before the Main menu looks stunning. The real game looks nothing like it, and what's even more surprising is that the in-game prerendered cutscenes look like crap when compared to the intro. They're more like just scenes using a more polished version of the in-game engine with better AA and lightning effects.

Gameplay - 5 out of 10. I could actually give this one a better score, were it not for the frustratingly long levels that you have to start FROM THE BEGINNING if you die. No checkpoints or anything. Add to that two "can-kill-you-fast" boss characters during one level and the randomness of getting health potions. Yay!? Not. Oh, and there is actually no reason to use any of the more special and "harder-to-make" combos because the simpliest of combos (XXXXXXX) is in most cases the most powerful one and doesn't leave you open for enemy attacks. What were they thinking? The game would otherwise have a decently good battle system, but they've totally ruined it with a simple design "error". Oh, and this game is nothing more than just buttonsmashing, buttonsmashing and, oh, what do you know, buttonsmashing. No adventuring or anything. Missions are just "Orcs are here, go to them and kill them all" -> accomplish and repeat.

AI is horrible in this game. Your archers hit ONE target with every thousanth arrow, and even then it's no use. Even the strongest allies don't help you in any other way but just being "cannon fodder" (i.e. slowing the enemies down and taking attention away from you). Sometimes your troops start cheering for victory even though there are two enemies just one feet away from them. The only code of AI the enemies seem to have is "attack the nearest character, and if you spot the hero (the character you're playing with), attack him/her instead"

Oh, and the camera pretty much sucks. It's too close and it's always pointing in the wrong way and you have to correct all the time. As I already said in the graphics section, you can hardly seperate enemies from friends sometimes. This is not just a graphical "flaw", but also it makes playing frustrating when you have to kill all enemies, and a only few orcs remain hiding behind your troops. You then have to "comb through" your troops for the remaining enemies. Oh, jolly!

Multiplayer - huh? this game has multiplayer? Funny, haven't even noticed it.

Storyline - 5 out of 10. Simple plot of the battle between good & evil. The characters are uninteresting, they don't "grow" during the game. They have almost no personality, and they don't get it during the game. What can I say, this is one of the aspects I waited most from this game. The intro really makes it seem like this game has some kind of "real" story, but most is just like "The orcs have invated the Vanzwhaar castle and the final battle between good and evil is commencing". There is almost zero to little any kind of plot development or plot advancing cut scenes (just a few seconds before, in the middle of and in the end of a mission, and those are like "there's the orcs. KILL THEM!" -> soldiers start running towards enemies). Most of the plot is explained in texts when you're selecting a mission. Really disappointing. The prerendered intro gives a totally false impression of this game plot-wise.

Sound - 7.5 out of 10. Would give 8 if it weren't for the mediocre at best, horrible mostly, VAs. It's just horrible to listen to the often stiff voice acting. Music is good, though.

Overall score - 5.5 out of 10. This game has absolutely nothing going on. It's as superfical as games get. Some good orchestral songs and sometimes impressive army scenes, and that's about all this game offers to anyone.

[CompGeek]

I agree with the above review. Not the OP.

[PullTheTricker]

I played the demo and it sucked really bad this game doesn't deserve higher then a 6.

[Breath_of_The_Dying]

I think many people judge this game by the demo only and never get the full feel of the game. It's true, if you hate the demo, you wouldn't like the game, but if you're riding on the fence whether or not to get the game, then you should definately at least rent it to get the full feel of it. The full game isn't just "more of the the same." Sure, a lot of it is the same, but later on you'll unlock different games that can help keep the game varied.

This game only appeals to a certain niche of gamers. It's very similar to Dynasty warriors or Kingdom under fire): You either love it or hate it.

Graphics - I think the graphics are stunning. The mouths don't move ingame, and thats the most annoying part, graphic wise. The trail of the weapon is the coolest part when hacking and slashing through the enemies.


Gameply - You'll unlock much better combos as you level up in the game. Most of them are just for eye-candy, but a few of them are very useful in different situations. The primary character, Inphyy, has a combo that you could use to rack up about a 10k combo (or more, if you're in the perfect situation). When you unlock the last few characters (7 total), a simple XXXXXXXXXXX mashing will not work well at all, and you'll find yourself dying very easily. I dont see the mechanics of dying in this game bad at all. If this is such a mind-numbing hack and slash, then you shouldnt die at all. It's frustrating, yes, but it will teach you to not tread so lightly. Maybe you should equip some better DEF items then going for all the +ATK items.

Story - Pretty straightforward and simple, but it's nice how it shows it from different angles and outcomes. Again, the final unlockable characters shed different light on the story and the unlockable secret mission its nice (but could've done a lot better)

My conclusion: don't judge by just the demo and everyone's negative reviews. If you enjoyed the demo, but are scared that that's it, rent it, and play it all the way through. They could've done a lot of things better, but that by no means makes this a bad game.

[digifan]

I had just started playing the full version of this game. There's something should be said about the differences between the demo and full versions of games.

I've found the full version had a different feel to the gameplay. It seems to be more detailed and challenging. If we put the flaws - the poor camera controls, POV and combat combos aside, this game is actually above average.

You start the game with the default character, a girl name Imphyy, with unlockable, prehaps more powerful, characters, as you progress from level to level.

I don't understand is how the support characters, in this case, the soliders of the combat infrantries come into play. I'd noticed as they get killed by the attacking endless waves of enemies, the main character's strength and abilities decreases. Yet there is no way I had found so far, that can replimish the ranks. I've found that once they are struck down, the mission fails. IMO I think we are better off without the distracting infrantries.

Frankly I think N3 should be about a warrior's quest to defend the home from enemies with the supporting characters as recruitments joining while in the quest.

As other posters had already stated, this game had shades of Dynasty Warrior in it with a touch of Sukei for the Xbox, one of my first experience with RPG, thrown in. .

I'm giving this game a 6.5 out of 10.

[Aift]

I actually like this game!

Overall Score: 8.0

[Azure]

When will people realise that giving something a mark out of ten equates to a 5/10 being "ok or average".

Calling something crap then marking it 7.5/10 is stupid.

You know what happens in the UK when you get 75% overall? Its called a 1:1, grade A, or a distinction. Really bugs me.

On topic: > Played this game and I think its garbage, graphics are 7/10 sound effects are 6/10 and gameplay is 3/10.

My sister could do this game just pushing one button. Mindless, boring and unjustified, i dont care about the plot or the characters.

If you want mindless boring and unjustified FUN then go play deadrising, its 10x the game this is.

[sabinnchung]

in my opinion

dynasty warriors >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ninety nine nights

[kristidis]

I rented this game and thought i would give it a chance. It was sooooo boring. seriosuly, its not hard, but you just dont want to finish the game. I was able to finish the battles with emphy(the first girl you can play with) but after that i just wanted to kill myself. After that its just the same crap, but with another character that plays EVEN worse. This game is seriously the worse xbox 360 game i have ever played. i give it a 4.

[Zoibie]

I do think its over rated but i still like it. The cut scenes are never in sync the gameplay ets a little boring after a while, there is an absence of check points and theres a fact that you can't hit someone whilst they are attacking,

[Yakster]

I enjoyed it, but it definitely didn't live up to the hype.

[Crudsack]

Its a definate rental for just about anyone , or maybe a cheap used price , in about a year it should be in the low 20 dollar range for a preowned copy.

[shcndw]

i like the bashing, smashing and stuff, pretty hard but also easy at the same time

[shinblade]

I think N3 is the biggest let down i've EVER played in my life.

[thommo1980]

Sorry, Im just increasing my post count so I can create a topic :(