Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja

Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja
Developer(s) Success / Ninja Studio
Publisher(s)
Series Izuna
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release date(s)
  • JP June 8, 2006
  • NA February 20, 2007
  • EU October 12, 2007
Genre(s) Action role-playing, dungeon crawl
Mode(s) Single-player

Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, known in Japan as Gōma Reifu Den Izuna (降魔霊符伝イヅナ, lit. "Devil-conquering Soul Talisman Legend Izuna") and in Europe as Izuna: The Legend of the Ninja, is a Nintendo DS dungeon crawler game developed by Success and published by Atlus USA in the United States and by 505 Games in Europe. It was followed by a sequel, Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns, in 2007.

Plot

Izuna and her ninja clan are looking for a place to settle down after their old master Mugen decided that ninjas were obsolete, and booted them from his castle. Upon arriving at a village that's suitably out of the way for their "Grandboss", Gen-An, they decide to stay at an inn when Grandboss wanders off.

While trying to find Grandboss, Izuna manages to offend the gods of the village, and everyone in the area starts behaving strangely. Now Izuna has to descend into the various shrines for the gods in order to set things right.

Characters

Izuna's group

Gods

Gameplay

Izuna is a dungeon crawler game with randomly generated dungeons, much like the Mystery Dungeon series. Inside the dungeons, gameplay is effectively turn-based, with monsters in the dungeon getting to move or attack every time Izuna moves a tile or takes an action. If Izuna should get KO'ed inside the dungeon, a passerby will bring her back to the village, but she will lose all the items and money she was holding, except for equipment with the Kikan talisman attached to it. However, after completing the first dungeon, the player is able to store items and money in a warehouse, allowing the storage of reserve weapons and items in case Izuna is KO'ed. These features combine to give the game a roguelike feel, albeit with modern graphics.

Reception and legacy

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic66/100[1]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comB[2]
Eurogamer6/10[3]
Game Informer3.5/10[4]
GamePro[5]
GameSpot6.7/10[6]
GameZone7.5/10[7]
IGN6.9/10[8]
Nintendo Power6.5/10[9]
Nintendo World Report6.5/10[10]
X-Play[11]

The game received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[1] Some reviewers enjoyed the game's high difficulty and quirky storyline, while others panned the game for a perceived lack of depth, difficulty, and battling. Reviewers also noted that the game does not use any additional DS features, such as the microphone, touch-screen or Wi-Fi. However, the game did gain something of a cult following and was popular enough to spawn the sequel, Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns.

Izuna and Shino appear in the Success and Atlus game Rondo of Swords as unlockable characters.[12] Izuna additionally appears in the Ninja Studio's fighting game Windy X Windam.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja for DS Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  2. Barnholt, Ray (February 23, 2007). "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". 1UP.com. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  3. Parkin, Simon (April 18, 2007). "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  4. Juba, Joe (April 2007). "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". Game Informer (168). Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  5. Flasherman (March 5, 2007). "Review: Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  6. Magrino, Tom (March 1, 2007). "Izuna: The Legend of the Unemployed Ninja Review [sic]". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  7. Hopper, Steven (February 19, 2007). "IZUNA: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja - NDS - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  8. Bozon, Mark (February 23, 2007). "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja Review". IGN. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  9. "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". Nintendo Power 213: 88. March 2007.
  10. Kaluszka, Aaron (April 4, 2007). "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  11. Smith, D.F. (February 21, 2007). "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". X-Play. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  12. "Official Rondo of Swords Website : Character". Atlus. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  13. Spencer (July 31, 2009). "Windy X Windam Breezes Into Europe". Siliconera. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  • Gifford, Kevin. "Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja". (January 2007) Newtype USA. Volume 6 Number 1 page 131.

External links


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