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I wanted to like this so badly...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 29 / 36
Date: March 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love Atlus. I think they're the greatest game company out there right now and they're not afraid to put out quirky titles that other companies probably wouldn't touch (the amazing "Riviera," for example). Naturally, I was psyched when I heard about Izuna. I pre-ordered my copy and eagerly waited...

...only to be crushed when I started playing. This game is VERY light on the plot and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. It really focuses on the dungeons, which feel like the old days of playing Gauntlet, and not in a good way. All the action in the game is turn-based (including, inexplicably, walking around town), the graphics are nothing to write home about, and the I found the gameplay to be more "frustrating" than "challenging."

They bill this as "Old-School" on the package, but it doesn't feel nostalgic. It feels outdated and nerve-wracking. You just die and die and die, often without it really being your fault. And when you die, you lose all your items and have to start the dungeon over again. If you really enjoy "roguelikes" and your idea of a good time is crossing your fingers and just grinding for hours, then you might like this. If, like me, you're an Atlus fan because their games have unique characters, interesting dialogue, and often-inventive game mechanics, you probably won't enjoy this game, I'm sorry to say.

Fun but challenging

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After reading the reviews here I was a bit apprehensive about this game but decided to give it a shot. I am glad I did! The game play is very similar to Children of Mana, but turnbased, which adds a level of low-key strategy to the dungeon crawling.

The interface is intuitive and easy to master but the dungeons later on become fiendishly difficult, be prepared to die... a lot. You can make death a lot easier to cope with if you stick Kikan Talismans to your favorite armor and weapons. Which brings up my only complaint about the game which is that the Talisman names appear to be in Japanese, making it difficult to decide which to pick up.

Frustrating Fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: March 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is an entertaining little dungeon crawl with good graphics, fun characters, and lots of neat little Japanese references. Unfortunately it is also extremely frustrating and that tends to drag down the enjoyment quite a bit.

You cannot play this game without getting defeated--many, many times. Each time you are taken down by the baddies you find yourself outside the dungeon minus EVERYTHING you had when you went in or found while you were there. As if it wasn't bad enough that you are doomed to lose that great new sword or item because of the unavoidable traps and foibles of the game, weapons and armor also wear out, often very quickly, often leaving you equipped with whatever junk you manage to find laying around.

If you are patient and like a strong Japanese flavor to your RPG's, this game could be a good choice for you. Keep in mind, however, that you will want to smash your DS from time to time as you play, so you might want to keep a spare handy.

I have to agree...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: March 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I must say, while this game did hold my attention because of the unique characters and funny dialogue, I was extremely disappointed with most everything else. When you move everyone around you moves as well, this is helpful in dungeons but in town...? It can get really annoying... Dying and losing everything you've gotten from the beginning of that dungeon is really really annoying as well. Money is really easy to come by and I didn't mind going in the dungeons just to level so I could try to get farther but the attack and defense system kinda sucks.. Even if you have a weapon with 120 attack you don't do much more damage and there doesn't seem to be a reason to level.

Overall I wouldn't recommend this game for people that like RPG-style games, where you level and get better items or whatever to get stronger. I would recommend this game for people that thoroughly enjoy dungeon-crawlers for more than a couple of hours.

Larn, without the ASCII, but with the dying

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If names like "Rogue", "Larn", or "Angband" bring back happy, ASCII-filled memories, then you will likely love Izuna. The game hearkens back to a time when you could not just haphazardly run through a dungeon, picking off slimes or rabites as you come to them, and just say "oh well, I'll reload" if you die.

In Izuna, the dungeons are randomly generated every time you go into one. Item placements will always be different, some rooms will be devoid of action while others will be populated with nearly a dozen monsters, all of whom will work to surround you. And since combat is turn based, being surrounded is a horrible thing.

As many previous reviewers have said, dying is commonplace in Izuna (both for the monsters, and for you). However, those familiar with the roguelikes of yore will also remember that cautious preparation will yield survival, rich rewards, and consequently, addictive gameplay. "Get-out-of-dungeon-free" cards (or talismans) are abundant in earlier dungeons--and if used properly--will prevent many frustrating deaths.

The heart of my own addiction came from the weapon and armor customization system. The talismans (read: magic) you find in the dungeons can be used either against the monsters found therein, or affixed to your equipment to do anything from improving their attack and defense, to inducing sleep or paralysis in enemies. Overloading equipment in this way causes them to break faster. Of course, the time and care involved in creating the ultimate weapon will also be a factor in the despair you feel when you lose it after you die, so even in the latter levels you still have to maintain a bit of caution.

To those unfamiliar with this genre of game, I wouldn't recommend this game. . . not yet at least. I would first suggest downloading one of the many freeware versions of the original roguelike games, put aside your 3D (or even 2D) graphics-tinted lenses, and try playing a game where you can't use save points as a crutch.

For everyone else, you'll love Izuna. And she's a lot cuter than an @.

Nice, simple, fun, and down right addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ninja. Check. Babe. Check. Anime. Check. Cute Japanese voices. Check. 0 boring random battles. Check. 0 boring random puzzles. Check.

This game put a smile on my face when i herd about it in a magazine. "Legend of the unemplyed Ninja." The name alone is just funny-cool. After the title caught my eye, the very nicely designed anime characters drew me in even further. I'm a huge sucker for anime. So I thought I'd give the game a try, so I ordered it off Amazon, but they kept delaying it (thanks guys), but it's cool because it was at my Local Military Exchange. One copy left, so I snatched it up. From the moment I popped it into my DS I was addicted. It was easy to play and definatly easy on the eyes. It has a nice blend of colors and sound effects. It's fun to play, and it isn't hard to understand. Sometimes you might step on a Demon Trap and pretty much get your butt beat, but you get right back up and go at it again. Just don't forget to put your momeny into the Storage Store. Don't want to get a small fortune only to loose it all after you die in a dugeon. End of story, it's a really good one of it's kind game. I haven't liked an RPG this much since Final Fantasy 7.

Cute, but primitive

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: April 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It looked cute. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was in love with my new DS and was willing ot give anything a try...

The first warning bell went off when the voice over dialogue was in Japanese. A lot of the games I like get their start in Japan, but never before had I played one where they had translated the text but not the voice overs. I began to worry that it was made cheaply in a rush.

And then I got my first taste of how gameplay worked. Wasn't thrilled, but I'd spent thirty bucks, so I felt I should play it through. Once I got the hang of it, it was fun for a little bit, but it quickly got tedious.

Still haven't finished it, and with the slew of games out there, I probably never will.

Bad Character, Decent Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Izuna, what an annoying little brat. You start the game and you immediately think to yourself, "Man, I actually know someone like that in real life..."

Anyway ...

Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja was a late pickup for me. I was at EB Games trying to find DS games that were missing from my collection (aside from all those movie title games and the obvious don't-buys), and I was left between Izuna and Naruto. I didn't buy Naruto because it wasn't an RPG, and there's an RPG version of Naruto coming later; I also figured that because of the lukewarm reviews, I'd be able to nab it at a cheaper price later in the future. Also, the mysterious nature of sparsely reviewed, unhyped games is very intriguing to me, although it has led me to utter disappointments. (see my reviews for Magical Starsign and Scurge Hive).

Once again, I wasn't much of a console gamer before the DS. The only other console I've owned was the SNES, and even that was a limited experience. Izuna's gameplay is what I can only presume to be an old school RPG format, in which it's an active fighting role playing game (much like Zelda), with an integrated turn-based system (each movement or hit incurs enemy movement or attacks).

While the storyline is rather thin and character development follows suit, the game seems to be suited for hardcore RPG gamers that are really interested in buffing their character and its weapons.

The game in itself is not overly hard; getting the hang of the game is a simple process in itself, although learning how to use the talismans (upgrade buffs that can be tacked onto the equipment) can take some getting used to. The difficulty lies in limited item carrying capacity which ultimately leads to very very very very frustrating deaths in the dungeons that you fight in. The save format doesnt help much either; you're left with auto-saves before every dungeon entry, no save-function in the dungeons, and an auto-save upon dying, which you will be doing a lot of.

It's extremely frustrating, getting the hang of the game after dying countless times, only to find yourself saving mass amounts of good items and money, only to enter a dungeon and find yourself completely surrounded by enemies, then coming to the grim realization that you're going to die again and lose everything you've worked for.

There's a way to avoid this, by storing items and money in the storehouse; but it's available outside of the dungeon, in the town.

The dungeon maps are completely randomized as well, as there will be no two identifiable times at which you will enter a dungeon and you will encounter the exact same map and the exact same monsters in consecutive dungeon entries.

In the end, Izuna is clearly not for everyone, especially at a $29.99 pricetag. It is different from many other RPG's you will play, if you do so choose to pick up a copy of Izuna, as is true to the Atlus nature. This may be one of the game that sits pretty at it's retail price because it is not a completely disagreeable game. It shouldn't be hard to find it for cheaper, either used or on Ebay, in which case RPG fans should try and pick it up to give it a shot and see how they feel about it. Personally, I've spent a bit of time since buying it, trying to get a feel for the game. But die I did, lots of times, and die you will. Be warned.

funny and enjoyable dungeon crawler

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a pretty standard turn-based dungeon-crawler RPG, but with amazingly funny and likeable characters, and quite challenging gameplay.

There is just a single hero, with no job choice and no character customization. And yet, the gameplay feels less repetitive than an average RPG. Some of the distinguishing features of the game are:

* no random encounters
* dungeons keep changing as you re-enter them
* monsters are usually hard enough that you don't blindly rush into battle
* combat occurs on the dungeon map, so the movement around the dungeon, the location of other monsters, the proximity of walls and corners, are all part of the battle strategy
* rich item system, providing many interesting effects and customization choices

Some reviewers say the game is too hard, partly because you may lose some of your items if you die, and you can't get them back even by using an old save file. I found that this is only a problem for the first 15 minutes of playing. After that, you learn to carry with you a (cheap) scroll that can instantly teleport you back home, with all your items intact.

The translation from Japanese is the best I've ever seen, among the ~15 originally Japanese RPGs I've played in my life. The (very brief and rare) voiceovers are kept in Japanese, which adds a really nice feel for the game.

Within the limits of the DS hardware, I think this is an absolutely great game.

izuna

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: April 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is all right, I don't think it needed to be on NDS(the graphics look like less than GBA) the story is cute but not very deep, or involving. The gameplay is great if you just want to pick it up for a minute(not for long play at all) it gets boring quick, and losing all of you $$ and items is annoying(this happens alot in the beginning ) the ability to create better weapons is nice but difficult. all in all, this is a game for kids, not serious gamers wanting an RPG on NDS

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