"Dungeon Crawler and Sex Appeal? Strange Combination"

I first heard of this game quite awhile ago, looking around one of the numerous video game websites on the Internet. I had actually not known that this game was considered "sexy" or "filled with lesbian-hentai" until only a few weeks before its release date, when the gamefaqs boards were filled with links to some Izuna hentai. I had first heard about this game as a game with dungeon crawling and ninjas, and I was very excited. During the few months I was waiting for this game to come out, I learned more and more things about it. I learned it was a rogue-like, and that it had boobies and my excitement for this game only grew.

The game in my mind would easily have gotten a 10.

But of course, it's very hard for a game to be perfect. There are many things that plague this game, and cause me to give this game an 8.

First of all, the storyline is... almost nonexistent. For all the personality that the website and manual give Izuna, little of it shows up in the game. Little story portions only happen between each dungeon and there are only 8 dungeons. The storyline itself is also very boring; a village is cursed, izuna isn't; she saves the village by collecting 8 orbs and you can gain one in each of the game's dungeons. I have to admit that, though there isn't much storyline, what there is of it is good.

Second of all, depth. There are only 6 stats (i think) and 3 of them are basically the same thing. Total Spirit, remaining spirit, and used spirit. Total spirit is just remaining spirit and used spirit added together. Izuna does use a stat I've never seen before (luv) and it measures how comfortable Izuna is with that weapon, and certain benefits happen accordingly. The other two stats are Attack and Defense. None of these change on leveling; the only thing that changes is your Max HP and Max SP. You can't train anything the way you want, everything is fixed and automatic. A level 50 izuna on my DS is the same as a level 50 Izuna on any other DS.

Also related to depth, is how few types of items there are. There are only 3 types of weapons, 6 types of blades, 11 types of claws, and 6 arms. Granted all types are different stat wise, and bonus wise, but they all look the same. Then there are 4 types of "sub-weapons" (kunai, bomb, shuriken, caltrops) and 20 different talismans. This may seem like a lot, but you can basically get every different kind of item in the first dungeon, and after a few dungeons you start feeling like you're not getting any new things. I just want more!

The final big point this game isn't perfect is because of it's difficulty level. It's way too hard for people who've never played a rogue-like before, and way too easy for people who have. I beat the game in something like 10 hours. And the whole game is played in the same area.

There are a few other tiny things that marr the game's perfection. You can't use any items outside of town, therefore every time you want to use that new talisman you bought you have to go into a dungeon and then back out. Sometimes I just want to play around with my weapon configurations and make the optimal weapon before I enter a dungeon.

FINAL WORD:
The game is very good, and a perfect idea with a few problems.
Namely:
Length (too short)
Difficulty (too easy for veterans, too hard for newbies)
Depth (not enough to collect for a game all about collecting)
Storyline (Little of it)
Polish (Main menu needs work, no tutorial, etc.)

Everything else about the game, it's graphics, music, sound effects, gameplay is top notch.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/07