Nights of Azure Reviews
If you can hold off until it goes on sale or discount, or can find it for rental, this game is worth a few days of quick fun. As a new $60 release, though, I would look elsewhere for your next gaming investment.
Anything it gets right or does adequately enough is countered by a pitfall or something lackluster. It's perfectly functional and seems to do what it wants to do, it's just a pity none of those things are particularly exceptional in any way.
An interesting premise squandered on poor storytelling and unremarkable play.
Nights of Azure looks pretty. It feels pretty. It sounds pretty, but it's heart is ugly. Bland, samey and generic - Sure, perhaps if you haven't played a JRPG Hack'n'Slash before, then give this a shot, otherwise you'd most likely find better for your money elsewhere.
While Nights of Azure shines from a production aspect, its shallow gameplay only holds back what could have been an otherwise compelling RPG. Casual fans of the genre might be able to forgive the almost tedious combat and Servan system, but hardcore action RPG enthusiasts are hard-pressed to find much to enjoy in terms of actual game and level design. Arnice'slimited moveset simply doesn't mesh well with the genre, forcing her to spam the same combos over and over again, with occasional Servan interruption. The cast and world are admirable and well done, but the actual playable portion is lacking the same level of quality and care the rest of the game got.
There's always going to be those times where you just want that little bit of extra strength, and lets face it, no action-RPG featuring a half-human, half-demon protagonist would be complete without some form of transformation mechanic
Nights of Azure is a fun, if flawed, game. The RPG elements are workable, though leave much more to be desired, the action is passable, and the minion system is arguably the best part. Picking and customizing the minions is about the only joy in a repetitious combat system. Despite being touted as a darker direction for the company, the blatant and misdirected sexual focus, mixed with the very adolescent-leaning view of relationships, makes the already-slow story harder to connect to in any way that will leave players with fond memories after moving on. The potential of a darker, nuanced story is lost in endless ecchi and slapstick humour that is woefully misplaced.
Nights of Azure is for Gust fans, plain and simple. It's not a bad title by any means, but there are issues that can mar the overall experience. If you're on the fence, wait for a price drop.
In the end, Nights of Azure tries to prioritize style over substance, which should be enough to gain the attention of its target audience, but a bit more tightening up of the latter would have been preferable. Whether the grinding gameplay is enough to enjoy a saccharine sweet girl/girl romance plot will depend on the player's tolerance, not to mention their own priorities for a game like this.
Nights of Azure could have been better than it was. The story and basic concepts of the battle mechanics had something special about them, but they fell flat when they weren't expanded upon and were expected to be repeated over and over.
While the opening hours do nothing to rid your mouth of a slowly growing taste of disappointment, Nights of Azure eventually manages to claw you back once some of its more interesting combat mechanics begin to shine through. It's relatively short length aids the process, but also comes under fire when you consider the bare-bones storytelling. It's a difficult sell, but one I hope GUST can rehabilitate with the upcoming sequel.
Nights of Azure has a story that could have been great, especially with its same-sex relationship between the two main characters coming across as natural and not judged in the game's world.
Nights of Azure is a game that has the potential to be a legitimately enjoyable experience, but unfortunately, most of that potential goes to waste.
Fumbling between technical issues and stilted writing, this action RPG has the potential to be great... in future installments.
Nights of Azure has an impressive story that is brought down by disappointing gameplay. Those looking for a simple action title will be rewarded with a surprisingly mature story, but the combat is too repetitive to really impress.
While Nights of Azure is an enjoyable enough ride, it doesn't really possess anything that makes it worth investing a large amount of time in. A lot of the game's extra components, like the inclusion of merchant trading, seem sloppy and poorly thought out, offered as a mere distraction from the rest of the release. Luckily, it's fairly easy to power through combat and see out the story, and doing so is reasonably satisfying, if not a little repetitive at times.
Nights of Azure 2 is an action-RPG with a good number of content, but despite a great artistic direction, it's technically underdeveloped and with a still too low level of difficulty.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Nights of Azure feels like a guilty pleasure, but it's the gameplay that's the star here. The boring story is filled with forgettable, two dimensional characters, and while there is passion between the main characters, it feels forced rather than natural. The gameplay isn't ground-breaking either, but it is at least competent at delivering a mindless hack 'n' slash that is fun to play and worth a look.
What we have here is a simple free flowing hack n' slasher with a number of interesting mechanics that sadly fall a bit flat. Building Servan decks can be fun, but ultimately they don't make much of an impact in fights, and weapon switching adds some variety but none offer anything really unique. Despite this Nights of Azure is still an enjoyable enough experience, the character focused narrative is certainly worthwhile and there are plenty of talking points from both story elements
Fast-paced, agile and funny, Nights of Azure is a light J-RPG with an unexpectedly interesting (love) story. On the other hand, is too easy and tecnhnically poor.
Review in Italian | Read full review