Developer: Gust Co. Ltd
Publisher: Koei Games
Platforms: PS4
Tested on: PS4
Nights of Azure – Review
‘Nights of Azure’ or ‘よるのないくに’ (Yoru no Nai Kuni), originally released in Japan back in October of 2015. With its likeable characters and strong story, the game instantly welcomed high popularity and is now (to the delight of many JRPG players) releasing in Europe (April 1st 2016) and North America (March 29th 2016). Maintaining its original Japanese voiceover (which is now a popular choice from big time publisher ‘Koei’) and soundtrack, Nights of Azure has caught the eyes of many PS4 gamers outside of Japan and now it’s set to grace their consoles.
Story
In Nights of Azure, you take on the role of Arnice, a professional demon slayer who is herself half demon. She fulfils her duties as a knight of the mysterious group ‘The Curia’. With her highly trained, demon dispersing skillset, Arnice lands by boat on the secret and uncharted European land of ‘Rusewall Island’ which is located not too far East of Great Britain. It is here you meet up with Arnice’s best friend Lilysse.
Together the pair embark upon a journey to defeat the foreboding ‘Ruler of the Night’, a mysterious presence who wants to rid the world of the day and it’s light, thus creating a world trapped in eternal darkness.
Aided along the way by friends and little summonable monsters called ‘servans’, it’s a captivating and emotional tale that had us eagerly destroying hordes of monster in order to progress onto the next chapter.
Graphics
Nights of Azure features modern day anime style visuals, the leading ladies are typical anime protagonists with large breasts and interesting armour choices. Whilst the game’s graphics do not necessarily stand out compared to some other big releases, they are more than enough to warrant exploration around environments in order to take in the beautiful views. There’s a dream world in which you must enter in order to level up your main weapons and it’s absolutely stunning. It’s setting is almost heaven like and it’s a very relaxing place to be. This is potentially due to the fact that the majority of the game is set in the night as this is the only time the demons show up.
Setting most of the game entirely in night was a very risky move as colours are often cool toned and dreary. From what we’ve seen, this isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, however we found the change very welcome indeed. There is this beautiful feeling of returning to the comfort of home when you return to the hotel where your main base is set. The warm colours and well lit rooms provide a relaxing environment to relax, engage in conversations before setting out. Honestly, it would be nice if some more of the environments were available to play in daylight as side missions but it’s not a breaking point for the game. The dark theme has it’s own unique charm and we’re okay with that.
Sound
The soundtrack to Nights of Azure is absolutely an instant classic. The sheer diversity from the talented group of composers is astounding. Melodic, heavy metal tracks can just as quickly change from loungey jazz as they can to driven, upbeat blues depending on the situation. It’s an expansive soundtrack that all in all equates to over two hours of great music. Different areas in this game really needed different styled music and the composing team hit the nail on the head with each setting. The voice acting from both the characters and servans is very impressive. We found the actors all gave a very solid performance throughout the entirety of the game. They deliver a strong punch in delivering emotion whether it’s humour or fear, all in typical JRPG style.
Gameplay
As a modern JRPG Nights of Azure really manages to mix in some unique hack and slash elements. Whilst the game feels like an RPG during most of the storyline, during combat scenes the hack and slash elements (typical to other Koei titles such as ‘Dynasty/Samurai Warriors’), clearly start to show. A chain attack system is prevalent and is crucial in building up your overdrive mode. It also gives you the motivation to speed through your fights and this builds a very strong momentum. The style of the combat is typical for Koei games, and it’s clear to see why these games are so popular. Mix that with a JRPG and you have a recipe for success.
The gameplay itself has very little pacing issues. Whilst in your forward operating base (an antique and moody hotel), you can relax, prepare and take all the time you need. However, when entering into an arena, you are given a 15 minute exploration window and this really pushes you to quickly slice your way through low and high levelled enemies. Whilst collecting dropped and hidden loot, you push through different areas in order to reach your destination (which can be pretty difficult to find with a lack of a detailed map). Usually your destination is a unique boss battle to which you are alerted over before entering. These boss battles are lengthy, differentiating and a whole lot of fun. Whilst you chain up attacks, the boss will adapt its actions based on how low its health becomes. For example, we came across a boss that half way through started aggressively firebombing the arena. However with boss battles in mind, it takes us onto our biggest flaw in the the game – The lack of difficulty.
There is only one difficulty setting, we would have preferred to see a couple more options. It’s not a difficult game on standard difficulty, and this definitely hinders the replayability possibilities. Different difficulty levels would have created a larger market for this game, and would have possibly been able to secure a spot for it in any JRPG fan’s heart.
Conclusion
All in all, this game is a very welcome break from what we’re used to when it comes to anime styled games. It’s story is compelling and beautifully developed, the combat system is basic yet fun and it’s setting is something of a rarity. Developer Gust Co. Ltd should be particularly proud of what they’ve created. The main stand out point for us is certainly the soundtrack which really sets the level for in game music.
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