Izuna may not be the most legendary of figures in the world at large, but around here, she's a star. She's only unemployed in the ninja sense; she's got other gigs on the side. And for a second time, she's back with a roguelike challenge set to kick you all around the dungeons.Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns is a lot like its predecessor -- it's tough, it requires more than a bit of caution, and there are a lot of silly jokes about boobs and being in a game. If you didn't play the first one, that's okay; feel free to pick up the sequel, as all you'll miss out on is a little bit of the backstory and relationships between characters ... none of which is particularly important. The story of Izuna 2 is merely stage-setting. It gives you something to watch between dungeons.
And you get dungeons galore. If you feel like killing spongy tentacular creatures, flame puffs, and walls, you've come to the right place. For the most part, Izuna 2 is traditionally roguelike: random dungeons, the loss of all your hard-earned stuff at death, and a lot of crying over spilled milk. It's tough, and it's an acquired taste. But Izuna 2 has a few features over the first that may make it a bit better experience for those who aren't veteran dungeon crawlers. For instance, when you die, you lose money and items, as normal ... but not your levels. Eventually, you can run through earlier dungeons without anything at all. All just like the original. But there are a few twists.
The big change is pretty big indeed -- if you choose to use it, and you really don't have to. The Tag Team system is the new addition to this round with Izuna, and just as it sounds, it means you get to go into dungeons with a second party member. You don't fight at the same time as you might expect, however; instead, when one party member dies, the other takes over. You can also switch manually, but you can only do that so many times.
It sounds good, doesn't it? An extra chance in a roguelike! And it is, to a point, but there's a catch: your other potential party members don't level along with Izuna. You have to level them on their own. That means extra grinding to keep everyone on an even footing, and in a game like this, that is at times completely unforgiving, that can be a tall order.But the dungeons are always different, and grinding is fun (if this is your kind of game), so if you want that extra chance, it's not such a bad deal. If you consider yourself far too hardcore for a second party member, however, just don't level anyone but Izuna, and they'll be negligible. Something for everyone!
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns is a solid, fun experience that does its best to stand out among similar games that are suddenly flooding the DS. The Japanese voice acting is intact, and the translated onscreen dialogue is well-written and amusing, if sometimes a little juvenile. Izuna never takes herself seriously, and that adds a lot to the title.
But it's not the best in its genre on the system -- that honor resides, for now, with Shiren the Wanderer, in our humble opinions -- and some might ask if the tag system was really necessary. None of that takes away from the experience of Izuna, however; they're just questions. But the unique quality of the game also makes it harder to judge. It's a little easier than a traditional roguelike, but harder than a regular RPG or easier dungeon crawler. It's just Izuna: fun, occasionally hard like steel, and overall, a solid experience.
Final Verdict: 7.0/10
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-24-2008 @ 2:17PM
aj said...
I'm so excited for this game.
My local EB still hasn't gotten the game in, but I pre-ordered it! It will not escape my grasp as the first Izuna did.
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 2:21PM
Mr Khan said...
It's the game that will keep me occupied in the big transition to college
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 3:12PM
aj said...
Congratulations to you, my friend.
I think I had Pokemon. Of course, this was back when we had "game boys" and there was only one screen. And we had to play them while walking uphill, in the snow. And we LIKED IT!
7-24-2008 @ 4:31PM
Danny F. said...
aaaaah pokemon.... thats when they were only 2 versions over here. The red and blue. Must've been in 8th grade when that came out.
Then again we had Zelda Links Awakening... now that was a true Zelda game.... aahh memories of the old gameboy...
7-24-2008 @ 4:27PM
LordGek said...
I have to second the reviewer, it's no Shiren the Wanderer but still a decent semi-challenging roguelike worth a check-out.
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 6:02PM
Danny F. said...
You know... reading this review makes me wanna check out Shiren now a lot more.. weird.
Is Shiren really worth checking out?
7-24-2008 @ 7:15PM
LordGek said...
Yes and no! Shiren the Wanderer is one of my absolute favorite games in the world but it is definitely one of those games people either love or hate.
Know right off the bat that the "lose everything and get your level reset to 1 when you die or leave a dungeon" will frustrate the fark out of you at first! After a while, however (maybe a good 20x deaths) it will all start making more sense and while you'll still die a lot you'll get a little further on each run on average as you get the game's mechanics down.
7-24-2008 @ 4:57PM
Kev said...
Ugh. . . the flamey guys--I *hated* them. Not the hardest to kill, but there was nothing so scream-out-loud-"NOOOOO" like having your hard-earned weapon spirit talisman burned to cinders. Taught the importance of distance attacks and strategic retreats.
So long as the partner can carry and use a Kikan warp talisman (or this game's equivalent) then I probably won't worry much about leveling him/her up. Thanks for the review!
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 7:35PM
LordGek said...
You share inventory so if he burns your Kikan...it's also the one your partner was counting on as well. I guess it's kind of harsh that even with the two of you sharing the pack, you can STILL only carry 20 items (at least the missiles stack together).
7-24-2008 @ 5:34PM
Michael Anderson said...
I loved the first one, and after some embarrassment over the hentai-ish advertising campaign I am now enjoying this one. There is definitely more immature material in this one, but the fun of dying early and often with a tiny inventory is still there ...
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 5:42PM
HappyFunBall said...
I'm thinking I might pick this one up. I wanted to pick up Shiren, but never did, maybe I'll get this one instead.
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 5:54PM
Churchy said...
So would it be fair to say that what Dead or Alive is to fighting games, Izuna is to roquelikes?
Appeal based around boobies, and not the greatest at it's genre but very good anyway.
Fair comparison?
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 6:00PM
Kimiko said...
I hope the childish jokes about boobies don't spoil all of the game. I'm rather enjoying the first Izuna at the moment. It would be a shame if the improved gameplay would be canceled out by some developer's infantile sense of humor.
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 6:22PM
Red said...
I'm not the biggest of fans of boob jokes myself, and I skipped over the first Izuna because the overall direction stank of it. But I suspect that being someone who loathes boob jokes yet still picking up Izuna 2 would be a bit like someone who hates violence and blood picking up Castlevania and being disgusted by Legion: it sucks, but you should've seen it coming.
7-24-2008 @ 6:49PM
Alisha Karabinus said...
I'm not usually a fan of stuff like that, and it's funny that the DOA games were mentioned, because I won't play them. But I find Izuna harmless, silly fun. Just my cents.
7-25-2008 @ 4:40AM
Kimiko said...
Thanks Alisha. That's good to hear.
7-24-2008 @ 7:18PM
Zealot said...
Does anyone anticipate this becoming rare any time soon? (I know the default answer would be yes because it's Atlus, but if you look at the fates of recent games like Rondo of Swords, Ontamarama, and Draglade, it's not always the case.) I only ask this because I want to play the game eventually, but with a lot of DS games coming out in the September-November range that I'm interested in, I want to make sure I buy only what I'm most interested in first and would likely buy Izuna 2 in January of next year if possible. I'm not terribly good at prognosticating these sort of things, so any input would be appreciated.
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 7:37PM
aj said...
I can't say for sure (IS THERE a place to find info on the size of print runs for games? Because that would be really awesome), but (a) it is an Atlus game (and yes, I know about Rondo of Swords, Ontamarama, and Draglade, but those all got crap reviews and just weren't that interesting, they were each a niche within a niche), and (b) the random collectible posters may encourage people to buy multiple copies (I've seen people talk of doing just this to "collect all four", it's retarded to spend 120$ or more on a single game). So it is possible that it will be hard to find.
But there is always the internet. You can always buy games on eBay, after all.
Me, I'm just hoping Shirin doesn't completely disappear anytime soon. Izuna 2 is to be my first roguelike, and I'm thinking I may love it, and move on to Shirin the Wanderer in several months. (After the September rush of awesome, mind you.)
7-24-2008 @ 8:40PM
Zealot said...
I would love for there to be a site that lists print runs on games. Sad thing is that Atlus would likely never cooperate because of how the perceived scarcity of Atlus games fuels their immediately post-release sales to some extent. Anyway, you might be right about the correlation between quality and eventual rarity--if Izuna 2 gets review scores similar to the first one, this would likely mean that it would be commercially available for close to a year after release. As of early this year, I know for a fact that I could walk into any Gamestop in my area and pick up a new copy. Indeed, their poster tactic could change this, though--either they're a.) using this to get all printed copies sold as quickly as possible, or b.) draw in a wider audience with jubblies factor, which would indicate a potentially larger print run than the first game.
I don't anticipate any other than the utterly hardest of the hardcore Izuna fans purchasing more than one copy for the posters, so I'm not particularly worried about that constraining supply. Most people who want more than one poster are either going to purchase them separately on ebay from unscrupulous sellers who will unseal copies and sell posters and posterless copies of the game (much like the people who unseal new Yu-Gi-Oh games to sell the promo cards separately and then advertise the game as "new and unsealed"), or, for cheap bastiches like me, just wait for scans to appear online. I don't really care what poster I get (although I'm partial to the one with Shino-sis) as long as I can just wait a few months to get the game.
I still see Shiren in every Gamestop I go to, and for $20, no less. You'll probably still be able to find it. And yes, September Rush of Awesome! Disgaea, Castlevania (maybe), Black Sigil (big maybe).
7-25-2008 @ 4:46AM
Kimiko said...
I couldn't find a copy of Izuna 1 in my usual online shops, about nine months after it was released. Eventually I bought the European edition (essentially the same, except for a 505 Games logo in the opening screens and a translated manual). I'd expect Izuna 2 to sell out as quickly as other regular Atlus games. The ones you mentioned are exceptional in that regard.