After years (decades, even) of
having their genre of choice languish in obscurity, hardcore dungeon-crawl fans
are finally having their day in the sun. The last two years have seen a
veritable flood of the obscure RPG sub-genre released — and though a few have
been released for Wii and PS2 (Baroque, Chocobo’s Dungeon, and Persona 3 come to
mind) the genre’s system of choice of late has been the DS. The system’s seen
the recent release of Shiren the Wanderer, both Pokemon Mystery Dungeon titles,
and Etrian Odyssey II, and has the upcoming Away: Shuffle Dungeon and From the
Abyss to keep the streak going. In the midst of all this, Atlus has released
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns, the sequel to the title that arguably
began the deluge when it released in February of last year. And much like its
predecessor, Izuna 2 is a flawed yet charming title.
Eschewing the traditional fantasy
setup of most dungeon crawls, Izuna’s adventures play out in a slapstick comedy
version of feudal Japan. After saving Kamiari Village from the wrath of the gods
that she had angered, Izuna and her crew (fellow female ninja Shino, forever
put-upon male ninja Mitsumoto, and their elder leader/mentor, Gen-An) head to a
nearby village to attend a wedding. Things start off simple, but the search for
Shino’s long-lost sister signals the start of another adventure that will see
Izuna responsible for the fate of the world. Not that she wants the burden (or
even necessarily understands the situation) — Izuna is a self-absorbed,
obnoxious, shallow girl who blunders her way through situation after situation.
The dialogue is usually amusing and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, and keeps
things lighthearted when the gameplay becomes frustrating and difficult.
Izuna’s narcissism fuels a lot of the
laughs, as well as serving as a catalyst for the plot.
Which it will, right from the
beginning. As a roguelike, Izuna shares many of the features that make the genre
intimidating: random level layouts, gear, and monsters; invisible traps that can
do anything from put you to sleep to kill you; and of course, the loss of all
money and items when you die. Yes, Izuna 2 is a tough, tough game that requires
a cool head, a lot of luck, and a player who doesn’t mind to try the same
dungeon over and over again until they get it right. That said, the game does
make a few concessions that help to ease genre newcomers in. For starters, the
game kicks off with an optional tutorial dungeon that holds your hand long
enough for you to learn the basics of dungeon exploring. This is totally helpful
to newcomers, as it explains many of the concepts that roguelike veterans take
for granted (like the simultaneous-turn system, which has every monster act
whenever you do). Izuna 2 also allows you to keep your experience level when you
die, which immediately makes for a more forgiving game than, say, Shiren the
Wanderer.
They’ve also implemented a tag-team
system, which is something of a double-edged sword. On the surface, it sounds
like a great idea: instead of sending one character into the dungeons alone, you
pick a partner character to accompany you. You can switch to your partner at any
time (by spending points that regenerate pretty quickly — don’t switch every
other step and you should be okay), gaining access to their unique skills and
equipment. You’ve also got access to a Tag Attack, which combines your
characters’ skills to dish up massive damage to any enemy stupid enough to get
in the way. The partner also acts as a sort of safety net for the player — if
your primary character dies, you switch to your partner instantly, who can keep
fighting or attempt an escape, as the situation dictates. So far, sounds pretty
great, huh? Sadly, the partner system has a serious flaw: every partner
character you encounter starts at level 1, meaning that any partner character
you want to actually be, you know, helpful requires massive amounts of
level grinding before they’re ready to take an active role in dungeons. During
my playthrough, by the time the tag system was even introduced in the game,
Izuna was already well on her way to level 15, meaning that I had hours of
leveling-up before my partner was even close to ready to accompany her. Don’t
get me wrong, it’s still a handy feature to have; it just requires a lot of work
before it becomes truly useful.
Tag attacks come with some flashy graphic
touches.
So if the tag system is so flawed,
then why did I spend an entire paragraph talking about it? Well, outside of a
new storyline (obviously), the partner system is pretty much the only thing
Izuna 2 changes over the original. Well, that’s not quite fair — the graphics
are a touch nicer, and the learning curve is smoothed considerably (especially
with that tutorial thrown in). But all in all, Izuna 2 is not that different
from the original Izuna, and it kind of feels more like an expansion pack than a
true sequel.
As I mentioned, the graphics are
improved from the original, but neither the original nor Izuna 2 is that taxing
on the DS hardware. This isn’t to say the game looks bad, as it certainly
doesn’t — it uses nicely detailed 2D sprites for all enemies and characters,
with pretty, high-quality portrait art accompanying dialogue boxes to convey
emotions and the like. Still, there aren’t any visuals in this game that
couldn’t have been pulled off on the Game Boy Advance. The audio end of things
is a bit more impressive, with a nice melodic score and plenty of voice work —
Japanese voice work, that is.
90% of the time, this is what you’re
looking at when you’re playing. Not bad, but not impressive, either.
This game is a definite niche title,
and genre fans will probably love everything here. There are certainly better
roguelikes on the DS (Shiren still has my vote for number one), but Izuna 2
manages to keep you playing because it’s just so darn charming. You’ll want to
power through the (admittedly vast) amounts of frustration just to see what
smart-aleck remark Izuna’s going to make next. If you’re looking for an
introduction to what roguelikes are all about, there are probably better choices
out there. But if two of your interests include hardcore RPGs and Japanese
comedy, and you’ve got the requisite patience and time on your hands, then Izuna
2 will be right up your alley.
Review Scoring Details for Izuna 2 |
Gameplay: 7.5
It’s not the best-playing roguelike out there, but there’s still plenty of depth
to be found in the game’s many dungeons. Like other games in the genre, slow and
steady definitely wins the race, so if you’re expecting quick, mindless action,
this is not the game for you.
Graphics: 7.0
The game benefits from a cute anime art style, great character portraits, and
nice 2D sprite-based characters and environments. Still, it doesn’t really push
the bar for DS graphics, as the whole thing looks like it came straight from the
Super Nintendo. The visuals aren’t bad, they’re just a tad underwhelming.
Sound: 7.6
The music is nice; pretty and atmospheric, but low-key enough that it doesn’t
start to get on your nerves when it loops for the 13th time. Not a lot going on
in the sound effects department, but there is an impressive amount of voice work
on the cartridge.
Difficulty: Hard
Like every roguelike, Izuna 2 is tough by design. Churning through dungeons only
to get killed right before the boss and sent back to town is just a part of the
game. If you don’t like that, then maybe this isn’t the genre for you.
Concept: 8.5
The combination of old-school difficulty and zany lowbrow humor melds together
quite nicely. The storyline and dialogue are much more of a draw here than in
most other similar titles, and are indeed some of the high points of the game.
Overall: 7.4
I enjoyed my time with Izuna 2. It’s got a quirky, tongue-on-cheek charm to it
that makes up for some of its gameplay deficiencies. Pick it up if you’re
looking for something a bit different from your other, more serious roguelikes.
