Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns

by Atlus

Product Features

• Down-and-dirty dungeon Role Playing Games action
• New TAG team system
• Over a dozen playable characters
• More dungeons, items, and enemies than the original Izuna

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0014X4MIS
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches ; 3.7 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: July 22, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,167 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #74 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > Role-Playing
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com

The Unemployed Ninja Returns Izuna and her gang are back - and just in time for a wedding! Lured by the promise of free food (Why else would Izuna attend?), the festive event becomes a puzzling mystery when Izuna's sidekick Shino suddenly disappears, off in search of her long-lost sister. And making matters worse, the foreign gods have also arrived on Japanese soil, and they aren't very happy with the meddlesome, unemployed ninja. With disgruntled deities on the warpath, a sidekick to track down, and a missing sister out in the wild, it could all shape up to be one of Izuna's more exciting adventures. Sounds like a lot of work for a girl out of a job!

Product Description

Product InformationThe Unemployed Ninja Returns Izuna and her gang are back - and just in time fora wedding! Lured by the promise of free food (Why else would Izuna attend?) thefestive event becomes a puzzling mystery when Izuna's sidekick Shino suddenlydisappears off in search of her long-lost sister. And making matters worse theforeign gods have also arrived on Japanese soil and they aren't very happy withthe meddlesome unemployed ninja. With disgruntled deities on the warpath asidekick to track down and a missing sister out in the wild it could all shapeup to be one of Izuna's more exciting adventures. Sounds like a lot of work fora girl out of a job!Product Features Down-and-dirty dungeon Role Playing Games action New TAG team system Over a dozen playable characters More dungeons items and enemies than the original Izuna

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A dungeon crawler sequel that's better than the first, September 23, 2008

By 

Manx - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (Video Game)

I gotta give a lot of props to Atlus for releasing, well, everything they do. They got a knack for releasing good games that aren't flashy or popular enough to get released through other publishers.

I've played the original and found it so-so. The gameplay was always an extreme between "you're invincible" and "you're fodder". There are a few things Izuna 2 does to help moderate the experience.

First is the addition of a partner during the dungeon crawls. If you get in a spot of bad-luck you can now tag-team out to your partner. If you keep your characters at around the same level this effectively works out to being able to tap double HP, at the cost of a limited number of swaps per turns and the non-trivial task of balancing experience, additional weapons, and keeping your reserve healthy. This seems to help recover from those times when you're on the run and step on a demon-trap that previously signified "I hope you have an escape scroll!"

In addition, if you survive enough turns, you can perform combo moves with your partner that impact a bunch of enemies at once and cost no SP. Now, if you play conservatively, you have at least some option in the cases when you do, in fact, get mobbed.

Second is closing up a loophole that lets you recover all your HP by just standing around the dungeon floor exit letting turns pass by. Now if you waste too much time like that you'll find your SP drop like a rock.

Other balance issues are the bosses: the bosses are significantly harder than I remember from Izuna 1. Also, stresses on your inventory are slightly worse now that you have to carry weapons/ammo for your cohorts (not every person can wield every weapon) so you have more weapons to maintain, upgrade, and hope they don't break.

The new weapons really add some tactical options, such as a yo-yo that hits everything in a straight line out from you and a set of boots that let you make two non-attack moves for every one move of the enemy.

Like the first, the graphics aren't top notch and the audio would be nice to have subtitled at least, although the voice acting helps convey the feeling of helplessness when a status effect afflicts you. The addition of a world map and different towns is nice and, compared to the first, it seems like it's received quite a bit more polish. You also get statistics collected regarding pretty much anything you'd ever want to know: how many times entering a town, dying in a dungeon, escaping, dying, even all-female combo attacks. The addition of a camera to go back and review some of the nice character art is a nice touch and a cool challenge to find and not waste your film (you didn't think THAT'd be easy, did you?)

This one is a lot of fun to keep on and in a dungeon and just leave your DS on standby so you can pick it up, clear a few floors, and put it away. If you liked Izuna you'll also like Izuna 2... I'd wager a little better than the original, too. If you liked the IDEA of Izuna but didn't like it's execution, you might want to rent Izuna 2 to see if it fixed what you didn't like about the first. It's not perfect, but I expect it's about as good as it's going to get without radically changing everything.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Izuna 2, February 5, 2009

By 

Judy Reid "Judy" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (Video Game)

I like to be able to play for a little while then put the game down without losing anything. This is a fun RPG. Oh, I'm in my 40's. The graphics are fine, the dialogue is cheesy, it's just fun. My 10 year old finds the battles difficult and gets frustrated. Some of the levels you have to repeat in order to level up to be able to beat the monsters. If you want a casual RPG that you don't have to get real involved with, then this is the one. It is a very basic game, though. you can't move ahead until you've completed the challenge. You can go back to lower levels and build up supplies and levels.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Izuna 2, August 11, 2008

By 

Junior Princess "Living Life" (South Korea) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (Video Game)

The graphics aren't 2008 type graphics, but the game is still good in my opinion. I've never played the first one, so I can't compare. One of the bad parts is that if you die in a dungeon, you lose EVERYTHING you have on you. So, stock up your storage with stuff you don't want to lose. However, if you do die, you don't lose your EXP as with other games. Your storage holds about 60 items and your on hand inventory holds about 20 items. You also get to hear Japanese dialogue when you enter a new town, so that's another plus. Well, buy it if you like dungeons. Don't buy it if you don't want constant dying.