If that’s something you’re into, you’ll likely enjoy the gratuitous fan service camera angles and the pool house bikini scenes, but if you’re not, it can become a huge, uncomfortable distraction. Some of the appeal of the first Nights of Azure was definitely in the fact that it was an all-female cast wearing the scantily clad fantasy armor that has thankfully become less common in mainstream gaming. The character design ranges from cool, stylish costume to borderline yuri visual novel at any given moment, and there are no men in the narrative whatsoever. There are exactly zero characters in Nights of Azure 2 that aren’t meant to be completely gorgeous. If not, the game allows players to restart from the beginning of the chapter, an incredibly frustrating experience that can quickly make Nights of Azure 2 feel like a slog. Players only have a set amount of time to complete a chapter in the narrative, and if they take too long, they lose the game and must hope that their most recent save gives them enough time to adjust their strategy and clear the chapter. This wouldn’t necessarily be a negative if it weren’t for the game’s reliance on lunar cycles to dictate the pace of its narrative and gameplay. Unfortunately, I discovered quickly that it’s impossible to change them during any given visit, and it’s also impossible to guess exactly what barriers will be present in any area. The issue is that most of the maps require multiple visits to unlock each area by virtue of the party system, which allows players to bring two Servans-Pokemon-esque minions that can be leveled up and evolve over the course of the game-and use them to interact with the environment and unlock areas. The game is a traditional JRPG in many ways, with maps that feature a number of secrets and hidden treasures to find if the player is so inclined. Part of the problem with Nights of Azure 2 is that its gameplay mechanics seem like they are at war with each other. For a game with a genuinely engaging combat system, the relative ease paired with extremely limited skills and party combinations seems especially cruel. While the beginning of Nights of Azure 2 tantalized me with some difficult sequences of combat, those trials were driven by narrative, and once main character Aluche gets infused with some demon blood after the tutorial chapter, nothing ever seems like much of a challenge. The game’s combat is smooth and easy to pick up, but the unfortunate trade-off is that it is also incredibly easy. Combat was something that was considered one of the great failings of the first Nights of Azure, and it’s clear that Nights of Azure 2 was designed with that in mind.
0 kommentar(er)
