Ninety-Nine Nights

Hack-and-slash fans have been slavering for the release of the mystical brawler, Ninety-Nine Nights. But does this game have the goods to keep you up playing past your bedtime?

Protip: Stay on the move when facing bosses: float like a butterfly!

Protip: Stay on the move when facing bosses: float like a butterfly!

High Gloss Body Count

As back-story's go, the one featured in Ninety-Nine Nights seems like yet another variation on the age old tale of good versus evil and the players involved--goblins, dragons, orcs, and the like--are anything but inventive. When something called the Orb crystal shatters, it throws a once peaceful world into an earthshattering war which pits the Goblin King's army against the venerable Forces of Light.

It's the stuff of a countless fantasy novels but Ninety-Nine Night's saving grace is its high production values. A slick opening movie introduces you to a cast of appealing characters (and a non-descript shadowy villain), a high-impact modern orchestral score demands a suitable increase in blood pressure, and all manner of visual effects are attached to every move your chosen champion makes. The framerate chugs ever so slightly now and then, and there are some minor clipping issues as some baddies tend to overlap one another, but the look of the game is otherwise impressive.

Collection Agency
Protip: Air to ground strikes can be handy for clearing out some breathing room

Protip: Air to ground strikes can be handy for clearing out some breathing room

Attack combinations, called upon by pressing simple sequences of the two attack buttons, are easily Ninety-Nine Nights' brightest moments. The starting character, Inphyy, carries a sword that carves orange tracers through the hundreds of enemies that crowd the screen at any moment, and the supporting cast of characters, who become available as you progress through the game, are just as impressive: for example, Aspharr's blue lance sends dozens sprawling in a single swipe and Myifee's double-bladed sword lays waste to everything in sight with explosions and trailing flames. With vast swarms of enemies, and combination hit counts numbering in the thousands, no one will accuse this game of not giving the player a feeling of power, though it can be more than a little exasperating to have your hit count slice-a-thon knee-capped by a cut-scene just as it really gets going.

With each goon that falls, a red orb is released and absorbed by the player's avatar. Collect enough of these to fill the red orb meter, and you can etch a path through dozens of enemies in seconds, releasing blue orbs that fill a secondary meter. Use this pool of power at the right time, and you can vanquish an entire army in the time it takes to draw breath. Between the sheer number of enemies, the library of moves at your disposal, and the explosive effects of orb magic, the classic complaint leveled against melee fightersthe endless, mindless repetitionis made nearly moot. Just watching the pyrotechnics is great fun for a while, and seeing each character's story intersect with another's pulls you deeper into this vibrant, if contrived, world.

Protip: Dispatch your foes as quickly as you can to earn a better level grade

Protip: Dispatch your foes as quickly as you can to earn a better level grade

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