Review for Night of Azure 2. Game for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, the video game was released on 27/10/2017
The first Nights of Azure received variable reviews from both the public and the specialized press, due to the intrinsically good nature of the new IP and the ideas it carried forward, but often not supported by an equally valid technical and qualitative level. With Nights of Azure 2 Gust tries again, trying to learn from the mistakes of the past and to offer what, plot aside, is one revised and corrected version of the previous game.
Nights of Azure 2 is a JRPG Action set after the events of Night of Azure: the incipit is actually extremely similar, as this time too the player will find himself impersonating an Agent of the Curia, Aluche, whose job is to save the Priestess Liliana. Having completed her task, Aluche is named a Knight and charged with accompanying Liliana on her journey to the salvation of the world, as she is chosen as the next sacrifice to seal the power of the Moon Queen and prevent the arrival of an eternal night on the world.
Once again, therefore, we are dealing with a pilgrimage to prevent the disappearance of mankind, even if in this case the young women are immediately aware of the sad fate that awaits one of the two. The matter gets complicated when the two's journey is interrupted by Ruenheid, their childhood friend and traitor to the Curia and the appearance of the Moon Queen herself. After the narrative incipit, the protagonist will get extraordinary powers, derived from the blue blood of demons, but at a very high price.
Although the premises for an intriguing story are all there, it must be said that character development and narrative coherence are at the level of the previous title, remaining pleasant and with good food for thought but without real original ideas, much less memorable. The characterization of the protagonists is quite flat and their character follows the behavior of the Japanese "masks" from the book, even if it is undeniable that there are strong and dramatic situations that do not leave indifferent. The biggest selling point of Nights of Azure 2 over the prequel is a bigger and more varied cast, obviously all female, extremely prosperous and poorly dressed.
The Nights of Azure 2 fanservice even manages to surpass that of the original game, presenting clothing design, intermission banter and tactical shots that often risk ruining the serious mood of the story, but that will surely make male players (and not only) happy. Too bad therefore for the graphics sector not always up to par and certainly subdued for the current videogame generation: the animations are still of good quality and theexcellent art design, except for the creatures - bosses included - which the developers seem to have neglected to devote themselves exclusively to the settings and the main cast.
Also this time the audio sector is very pleasant, thanks to a very nice Japanese dubbing (although the localization of menus and subtitles is again missing) and an inspired and always accompanying soundtrack. The only flaw are the characters' jokes during the clashes, very few and repeated continuously, to the point of being annoying.
Nights of Azure 2 gameplay has been rendered less cumbersome and more technical than the first game of this IP. Aluche's group is now made up of two Servan and a Lily: the former are again the demonic creatures serving the protagonist, while the latter is a human character, with whom the player can interact to perform different types of special attacks. once filled the appropriate bars. Each Lily obviously has different strengths and weaknesses and types of attacks, so it is always advisable to choose your companion wisely.
The same goes for the Servans who, in addition to possessing useful skills to unlock new paths within the game maps, will help the player during the fighting with attacks (including elementals) and special abilities. Some special Servans are even capable of temporarily transform into a weapon, going to drastically modify the already varied classic moveset available to the protagonist. In Nights of Azure 2 Servans cannot equip accessories, which will be limited to human characters, but they can be upgraded thanks to Servan Points and, once they reach the appropriate level, they can reincarnate and evolve into a different and more powerful form.
As often happens in JRPG titles, the desire to compulsively farm between one main mission and another is so much: Gust has decided to limit this process, introducing the time limit mechanic (and justifying it also at a narrative level) because of which he does not it will be possible to remain on the battlefield for over ten minutes of real time, at the end of which the party will be automatically teleported to the base camp for the report of the end of the mission. It is possible to extend the time available to make life easier, but the ticking of the game clock will remain a constant presence for the duration of the first run and until the credits. The player is therefore obliged to plan carefully where to act and what to do in the selected map, to complete as many missions as possible (even secondary ones) and strengthen the group enough to be able to face the most difficult challenges.
Excessive procrastination or an unhappy organization of player priorities will lead to inexorable game over. Fortunately, the game itself provides, in addition to the classic actions of saving and loading files, also the possibility to start over the current chapter, to optimize the time and resources available.
If on the one hand this choice of level design requires a much higher commitment than the first Nights of Azure, it must also be said that as mechanics it can be demeaning and for more than one reason: first of all, it is something completely new for the brand, which therefore may not be appreciated by fans of the original title; secondly, it limits the desire to experiment with Lily and Servan's combos, unless you lose your progress and repeat the chapter from scratch, without being given the opportunity to skip the cutscenes; finally, it forced the developers to create very short and simple boss fights, so as not to make the experience too frustrating for those who, perhaps, reach the arena at the end of the stage with just a few minutes available.
It must be said that this condition disappears once the game is over, but considering that not all players have the time (and desire) to dedicate themselves to the completeness of a title, it cannot be excluded that the choice of the time limit may prove to be a weapon to double-edged for gameplay improvement purposes.
Nights of Azure 2 expands the narrative - and the fanservice - of the original title and bodes well for the birth of a new Action JRPG saga. The game improves the predecessor in almost every respect, daring not a little with the addition of a time limit during the missions. There are still some technical flaws, a camera that is not always compliant and a graphics sector with ample room for improvement, but there have been and not few steps forward.
► Night of Azure 2 is an Action-RPG type game developed by Gust Co. Ltd. and published by Koei Tecmo for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, the video game was released on 27/10/2017
