Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon

Speaking as someone who enjoyed the first game

My initial impressions of this game were mixed. The story feels like more of the same, with Aluche needing to defeat the Moon Queen or sacrifice the priestess. I did like how they invested more in cutscenes for some scenes, and the game's introduction is quite fun to play.

✦Combat:The combat animations are a bit slower compared to the first game, but you get used to it as you keep playing (though I still prefer the first one in this regard). Despite the slower combat, they compensated with the addition of various combos, interactions with your partners for combo attacks, and the ability to switch weapons using the Servans with that function, which allows you to customize gameplay.

✦Bosses:The bosses are much more creative since they tried to introduce some puzzles during the fights, which gave the battles more personality, considering the first game was more straightforward (go to a place, hit the boss until it dies).

✦World:I believe the exploration has improved significantly compared to the first game. They enhanced the map, and now you have reasons to choose specific Servans when you set out to explore since there are obstacles that require certain Servans to overcome, which is quite interesting.

✦Music: The music in the game is great, but unfortunately, not all tracks are as memorable as those from the first game, as they don't match my style as much. The soundtrack from the first game was all epic, fast-paced, and immersive, while the music in this game is nice but, in my opinion, has a few forgettable tracks.

✦Final Thoughts:Even though the game mechanics are cool, I feel it's a bit limited. In the first game, you could choose up to 4 Servans to accompany you, and they had unique and useful abilities for any playstyle, and combining their abilities was one of the strongest aspects of the game. In the second game, although there are puzzles and more uses for the Servans, I find the combat a bit monotonous because it doesn't allow you to mix the powers well to create interesting combos without having to stop and summon the Servans (and when combined with the slower attack animations, it creates a break in the pacing that bothers me a bit).

The game gives you hints about the story details without directly telling you what happened in the game's world (through character affinities and the DLC story, which adds motivation for the main villain and the context before the protagonist fights her), which is cool but also forces you to play through it all to get a full understanding.

I think it's a great game if you consider picking it up on sale and playing without high expectations—you might have fun. But since you need the context from the first game to fully understand this one (as there are many references to the first game), it's better to buy the first one, which remains my favorite."

Severe issues of note: crashes at unpredictable moments (2 times in 12 hours, 2 other long freezes/hitches)
Disclaimer: normally I'd try to 100% a game before doing a 'review' but in this case some issues were so severe think it's worth going over, apologies in advance for a more 'partial' review.

Positives:

+ Whoever sculpted Camilla's left leg and put her in an asymmetrical bikini needs a raise.
+ Okay being a bit more sensible yes many of the heroines are very pretty and you unlock bikinis for them early on if that's your thing... if that sounds like "this isn't a yuri game but instead an action game with some T&A" - we'll get back to that later.
+ Combat targeting system is actually very good especially by action-game standards, camera and character control in general is very solid this time.

Neutrals:

* Lilly system (can take your chosen girl into stage with you) can lead to some sweet in-stage dialogue and contextual actions. Each grants their own special bonuses and do vary game-flow quite a lot at times. They take up a Servan slot and repeat same dialogue WAY too much hence not a 'positive'
* Servans now take a back-seat story wise so they feel much more 'just there' than in the 1st game. The advantage of this is more time for the Lily characters so can be good, bad or neutral.
* Can change difficulty anytime and the difference between Easy and Normal is HUGE, normal is still easy but bosses can be moderately tough (you at least have to dodge some attacks), a "Game Journalist" difficulty option would actually slot in between these 2 options if you can believe that.
* Exploration is now 1-and-done unlike the 1st game, if you unlock a chest or stage hazard it's permanently unlocked. This does take away item RNG but also means exploration/variation in dungeon approach is not a thing on replays.

Negatives:

I was going to save this for later but to be clear Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Returns is genuinely my favourite JRPG period, a straight 10/10, so I was completely 'down with' the time mechanics of this game... if they were done well. Heck I also really liked Atelier Rorona so promise this isn't me just screaming into the void, I was up for what this game is but how it is put together is all kinds of wrong.

- Hard crashed twice in 12 hours, once talking to NPC in Hotel and another time after about 10 minutes in a dungeon. Additionally had 2 long freezes that felt very dicey.
- Pointless skill tree, NoA 1 had just 11 levels which meant each level up had an impact and so did equipment, in this game you have far more levels and a skill tree and at best using multiple levels-worth of skill point you can upgrade 1 single skill by up-to 8%... 8... percent. This means in theory if you maxed out the entire skill tree you'd maybe, and I mean 'maybe' have a 15-20% overall stat advantage over not touching it.
- Red door rooms(have to defeat all enemies to progress) galore later on, but it's worse, they have spawn waves so you can clear out the enemies and another 1 or 2(!) waves can spawn in sequentially. Additionally some level design allows for level skips such as flying to higher heights with the correct Servan... but red-door rooms block this too.
- Combat is Dynasty Warriors but worse in every way, mashing Square (for us PS controller users) is actually the most viable way to play. Worse is everything that layers on-top of it is near-mandatory 'do as the devs tell you', various bars fill up for skills that are only viable on bosses/high HP foes and some are time sensitive so you either do or lose it. Oh but it gets worse, weapons are now tied to Servans so you only have 1 weapon unless you take up 1 of your 2 Servan slots for a weapon Servan... meaning max weapon count is 3, speaking of Servans...
- Servans have become contextual and useless, there are 4 used to open up dungeon locations, but can only have 2 at a time so have to clear dungeons at least twice with 2 pairs of these 4 Servans which then means no access to Servans actually want to use. They also do far less damage than in the 1st game and whether they do anything when you press their button (L/R Bumpers) is often hard to tell.
- Extreme time wasting can occur due to quest/time-limit system. You can do a dungeon run and only afterwards realise you did it wrong and have to reboot old save. For example: Clearing quest unlocks new quest only on dungeon exit, this means you can think you've wrapped up everything in-time only to find out you've got more to do and may not have enough Moon-light(missions before game-over) to do so. This can, unlike the 1st game, mean you can permanently miss out on content and near-mandates a 100% play-through on NG+. To really drive this point home, at the location you can save/load your files there's a 3rd option: "Restart this chapter from the beginning" which does indeed wipe all your progress since chapter start, just embarrassing that the game needs that as a fail safe.
- How is the quest system WORSE that the 1st game? It just dumps them on you at chapter start and makes them more mandatory than before (well, if you're here for the yuri anyhow).
- I'll be real, I don't care for 'yuri' but even then I can tell the cast of "waifus" feels totally off, in fact the fact I think of them as "waifus" is the problem. There are too many love interests and each sticks to one trope and by God do they make love to it, there's the "I'm the shy childhood friend" and the "I'm the goofy greedy shop keeper" and the "I love you but don't want to admit it" and even the "No one has ever loved me before but because you were 1st person to be nice to me I'm yours forever!" character that you'll find in just about every harem/diet-weeb anime/game you can think of.
- Can't believe I'm saying this but, music, the music's bad, well it's not bad it's more decent for short bursts... but it's all experimental 'background' noise that plays for 10-15 minutes at a time without any deviation so becomes grating. There's also a severe lack of variety so that peppy hotel lobby theme will play during cut-scenes whether happy, sad, contains a story twist or mystery or anything in-between.
- Graphics have major pop-in issues especially of post-processing effects for mid-distance geometry, can be very distracting. Additionally many different dungeons use the same effects so can blend in together and colour correction can be quite ugly at times.
- Level inter-connectivity from the 1st game is just gone. Can no longer move between levels freely and must reset to the hotel and sacrifice Moon-light every time want to switch level.


To wrap-up I don't want to be 'that guy' who is hyper critical as I wanted to like this game and you can see genuine thought and effort put into it, but after 12 hours stuck in red-room purgatory... I mean er chapter 6 having a choice to restart the whole chapter as I accidentally killed a boss I was supposed to recruit by doing a side-quest before hand and all I could think was "the uninstall button is also an option". I don't mind games being very simple and somewhat lacking, perhaps having to make up excuses for some blatant short-comings (heck my appreciation Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Returns is defined by them) but this game just feels like an obligation.

Did they want to make a yuri game? The generic anime harem makes me doubt it.
Did they capatalise on their unique features such as Servan system? Given that's been cut in half, cut from the plot and simplified certainly not.
Is Nights of Azure 2 what it says on the tin? Absolutely not, it's a harem T&A arena combat game which I often like, but not this time.

TL:DR Gust snubbed Yuri/NoA1 fans for Senran Kagura fans.

A simple and somewhat grindy, but thoroughly enjoyable ARPG. Lots of callbacks to the first game, so worth playing that first.

Very disappointing not to have seen a third in this series.

(Yes, the DLC is worth paying for - it's essentially cut content, but cut content you won't want to miss.)

6 hours in and I just couldn't force myself to play anymore. I really enjoyed the first one and was hoping they'd improve and expand upon all the concepts, mechanics and story from the previous entry. Unfortunately, a lot of the game's content is just a carbon copy of what the first did but repackaged with a less interesting story, characters, and a LOT of repetitive and time wasting side quests. The few new things that the game tries to do have very little impact in the way of providing any semblance of a new experience. I really tried to give this game a fair chance but it's just uninspired and repetitive. Play the first one, forget this one exists and hope that they won't repeat their mistakes if they ever do a third one...

I'm happy I tried this game out. My thoughts as someone new to the series (also my first GUST game).

This has to be the best written yuri/gothic story I've seen in a game. Relationships between the girls feel interesting, charming, and crafted with great care. It certainly has fanservice, but the more prominent ingredient is how characters interact and develop. The buildup of these relationships has twist and turns that actually matter to the main plot and, at times, it's rather heartbreaking.

The art direction is stunning - sure the environments can feel underdeveloped in some areas, but that doesn't matter as much as the girls, the fiends, and the fights themselves. The way double team moves are pulled off is both enjoyable to earn and amazing to watch. There are some areas of janky animation, but it's nothing game breaking.

The game's difficulty is moderately easy. I only experienced some difficulty spikes during boss fights, but I was never frustrated. The real fun is planning out the dungeon runs and doing as many task as possible in one go. As I leveled up each character, I never felt the 'grind' that plagues most rpgs; the leveling feels brisk and rewarding.

Overall, an overlooked rough gem of a game. I like what this game is - a heart-felt action rpg that does yuri story telling right, and I'm ready for more.

GUST, you got a new fan.

A worthy sequel to Nights of Azure (Land without night). Great visuals and music, nice story, fun and addicting gameplay. I hope we get NoA3 someday :).

Great Game 8/10
1 Point reduction through to lost unavailable servan DLC for later purchases.
1 Point reduction through to the need to taking specific servants with you just to get to a chest. ergh
++:great soundtrack
++:lots of yuri
++:MC from NoA 1 Returns
++:Speendrun able in a day
++:easy to understand
+:cool action fights
+:less talking more fighting - done right
+: understandable characters, not great but not bad either, its fine
+:weeb game
+: first game I ever played, where the use of poison (servant/ Spora) actually is legit fighting technic

Its easyer and faster then the first one. Noothing to get attached clean playthrough in two days to 100% achievments if you want. Basically a little little sister of the great Nier Automata but with more girls and servants. Servant system is different then in NoA 1. You also have another girl with you and only two servants. The Servants system was remarable in the first one but in the end you only spammed the MC attacks anyway with the meteor servant combo, so you actually dont lose much.

Do you like anime? Yes?
Do you like lesbians? Yes?
Are you fine with acceptable gameplay that isn't great but isn't bad either?

Get the game.

Otherwise don't.

Edit After 100%'ing the game

The ending is fucking fantastic.

sadly i cant recommend this game.
story is good, gameplay is fun, but the moon bs just ruined the whole game for me.
its like majoras mask, but far worse.
when i buy a new game i like to explore and take my time, but this game just punish u by it, so u have to rush the story to complete it.
it wouldnt be such a big deal when u would keep atleast quest progress and exp/money u gained after restarting chapter, but no its just a plain wipe of all the progress.
on ng+ u atleast have unlimited days, but after completing it i seriously lack on motivation to replay it right now.
i also hate everything regarding ng+ on any game.
for me it just feels like developers are getting lazier and lazier every year so we are getting less and less content, but to unlock all u have to replay the game countless times.

on short:
pro:
nice graphics
great story
gameplay similar to 1st game

con:
timelimit
game is pretty short, so not much content

Nights of Azure 2

Storyline: It was great, intriguing, and it did gave me mixed feelings aswell. I am looking forward for a true happy ending in
the next part of the series/sequel were /spoiler everyone is free and happy with their lives . 9/10

Gameplay: Its awesome, with new battle system, the game is smooth even with minimum req. 10/10

Items/Accessory: The new mechanics satisfies me, though the dlc armor only gives aluche additional stats,
I hope that the other girls might have one armor/bikini as well that also adds stats. 9/10

Background Music/OST: Its soothing, when not in combat, and fits perfectly when in battle. 10/10

Subs: I'm a fan of subs and japanese audio, I prefer them like that. 10/10

Fanservice: Excellent, no more like Perfect! Loved it 10/10

This game is not as good as the first nights of azure. The combat is a embarresment compaired to the first one. Combat in the first has 4 different weapons with 4 different servent set up that could be changed on the fly that allowed you to transform into 5 different demon forums. Nights of azure 2 has different weapons but you sacrifice your ability to traverse a level. Let me explain that, there are 4 different locked area in this game, lightning, fire, ice and jump. Each one requires a certain servent to open those doors. you can only have 2 servents equiped at 1 time. So if you want to 100% a level you equip 2 of those the first run, then 2 different the next run after that, maybe the 3rd time you run the same level you can equip a new weapon. So without the variety of weapons and no transformations whatsoever the combat is just a x,y button mash.

The game is OK but only for people that want to know more about the world that nights of azure started. But if you only were able to play one, play the first.

It's a great sequel of one of the best hack n' slash games I 've played, along with NieR: Automata.
The game's resolution can be changed to 4K through settings (pc local files), the characters and the story are awesome, gameplay and music are very good and in general it's a great game for a player who likes this type of games.
Surely recommended for a price around 40-45 USD/EU, which I believe is a good price for the players and for the developers.
(experienced 1-2 random crashes, so the port could be a little better)

Cute girl turned cute half-demon/human along with the help from her cute friends, saves the world from eternal nights while wearing seductive swimsuits.

lemme steal the line I read somewhere else
"I've never seen this much yuri in a game since Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge"

Nights of Azure 2 is a very rough and an ill-implemented game that tries to do way too much while giving the players two time constraints in a very short game that really erodes the overall experience. Given the game's demographic, the characters are decent enough. However, the gameplay has taken a huge hit. I did find some improvements, such as the lily system's combat portion and the Striker Servans. However, I can't help but feel a lot of the other enjoyable aspects of the combat have not been carried over from the first game. The Servan system, especially, has been given an upgrade and a downgrade at the same time. Such as the point allocation, which is a step in the right direction, but the "reincarnation" feature is a waste of time and could've been replaced with some other more useful mechanic.

As mentioned earlier, the biggest issue with Nights of Azure 2 are its time constraints, the hunt timer being one and the Azure Moon phases being the other. Now the Hunt timer is not that much of a hindrance, but the moon phases are really annoying and often punishing for trying to do the various tasks. Nights of Azure just had the hunt timer and had the moon phase progress with the story, which was perfectly fine. Here, the phase progression feels as if it was added for the sake of it. Also, the enemy variety of this game, to be honest, is lacking, and the one-off bosses are disappointingl.

So in conclusion, you're better off playing the first game. This game is a shallow and unwieldy successor and is best picked up during an -80% sale.

Pros:
- Simple gameplay, easy to understand, easy to play
- Has extra for game content ( music, graphic, video and bonus voices )
- Very good music
- A lots of waifus...
- A lots of fanservice scenes
- Kayano Ai and M.A.O
- Very enjoyment
... thinking... thinking...
Cons:
- Crash sometime so save often to avoid losing progress. That's all.

I just finish 1st clear, wil take time and play more.

-------------------
Update

I just finish 2nd clear and see the 2nd ending. About 68 hours for all, including save load, but it is worth. I still enjoy the game in 2nd play.
Aiming for steam archievement, 3rd play is a must.

Amazing game. Nights of Azure 1 was very underwhelming to me but this improved on nearly every aspect, including the waifu factor. The main character is gorgeous and all the characters are extremely well designed and acted. This is probably one of the better Anime style games that I have ever played. If more games were like this game, gaming would be in a better place. The music score is enchanting and simply wonderful. I would rate it just underneath Nier Automata level genius. The game has at times a castlevania style feel which I have been missing ever since Legacy of Darkness for the n64. I'm stoked for more content for this game to come out, I hope I can expect it.

Normally I'd blast the game for being a lazy port, but the standards of the entire industry just went down the toilet. Now that AAA developers are selling F2P garbage as full priced games let's discuss why this game is superior to trash being shoveled out right now:

1: No microtransactions. No loot boxes, no cash shop, no in-game adds. It has none of that F2P BS.
2: All DLC is included as part of the base game.

A lazy port has workarounds, but the only cure for greed is a boycott.

For the game itself, it's fun if simple. Decent visuals with a little tweaking. It would have been nice if there was the option of english voices, but so far the translation is acceptable. No known censorship. $60 might be a little high by past standards, but now that F2P games are being sold full price, it's a good deal by comparison.

Con Update: Appears to be a big bug during second playthrough that doesn't get rid of the timer. Despite that I was able to get all the lillies done apart from Eleanor, because fuck that character.


I've never written a review before, but I adored the first game and enjoyed this one. So here goes.

Pros:
- ran perfectly for me, no port issues here
- great music
- enjoyable atmosphere
- easy-to-learn combat
- variety in companions
- time limit gameplay

Cons:
- Limited variety in enemies
- Only six stages
- Short first playthrough
- Tedious sub-quests
- Awful boss battles
- Lacks many qualities the first game had

So, my biggest gripes about this game was the enemy variety and the boss battles. I'll talk about enemy variety shortly. You basically have a few types. Small floating enemies, standard two-legged enemies, bigger two-legged enemies, and harpies. That's it. You'll get variations of those enemies throughout the game, mostly using the same animations even. When you compare that roster to the first game? It's disappointing.

Boss fights were just terrible. One boss fight wasn't even really a fight, all you had to do was click on six mirrors, hit a head that won't even fight back several times, and you're done. I kept thinking "The real fight will surely start now!" but it didn't. One boss who uses a single attack showed up -twice-, one was so buggy it clipped into a wall and died, and another had you stand stationary and waiting for it to throw projectiles so you -might- knock them back at them. The only boss fight I enjoyed was the final one and the fights against individuals.

Compared to the first game I felt there were a lot of qualities missing too. Like how one of the assumedly main characters took a back-seat for the entire main quest line while a secondary ended up getting more screentime instead, which I didn't mind since I preferred that secondary character anyway. I also missed how calm and comfy the first game was, with its pleasant hotel atmosphere, its music, and the altar where you levelled up. That's not to say NoA2 isn't comfy with atmosphere, it can be at times, just a lot less than the first game was.

On that comparison I'd like to add that while a larger roster of female companions is appreciated, I feel it took away the magic that the single one had in the previous title. I felt like there was no true progression with the companions simply because of how many there were.

With the plus side though, the music is just as good as the first one was. The combat was also enjoyable, as well as using companions and how they changed the approach you took to fighting. The limited time with other weapons was somewhat annoying though, and I discovered that a max-evolved pheonix that can turn into a greatsword broke the entire game, as when fully charged with fire that greatsword can three-shot most bosses and one-shot every enemy. Though that made the more tedious parts of the game less so.

The time limit seems to be a point of controversy for most people, but personally I enjoyed it. The limit isn't so brutal that you constantly feel pressured, but more that it encourages you to make the most of your in-game days, it encoruages you to be efficient. I always checked which sub-quest I needed to do, and what zone I needed to do it in before checking which companion also had a quest in that zone. I never missed a single sub-quest in my first playthrough, though it was impossible to max every companion. But thankfully if 100% is your thing, the second playthrough does away with the timer. The in-level timer was barely noticable.

Overall I think that this game lacks the passion the first had. I'm not sure why that is, but certain small details and qualities were just completely absent this time around.

Is it worth the pricetag? No.

Is it worth it for a Gust fan who enjoyed the first game? I'd say yes, if only to support this kind of game for the future and hope that if there is a third installment it gets the love from the development team that the first game had.

Well, they added new features and more characters in one game now. We could have our own waifu of choice now. You could also change outfit of all playable character. Gameplay pretty much like the first one, typical KOEI hack and slash with some RPG elements.

Now before you buy, as a friendly warn, this game use time limit on the 1st playthrough. If the time limit is over, then you got game over. You are forced to play it first with the time limit feature before you could even turn it off on the 2nd playthrough.

I haven't play it for long, but the game is just ok'ish i guess, might want to buy it on sale if you are not sure and don't like the time limit thing.

Be aware with spec req thought, this game is by all mean not a good port. Some ppl with low to mid spec PC having trouble running the game.

Decent port. 1080/60fps & full control configuration.
Japanese voice option only with English subtitles available.
No major frame drops, did have minor issues with lod popins.
Edit registry to enable 4k+ resolution and higher refresh rates.
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\KoeiTecmo\Nights of Azure2\Settings
Right click and edit 'device'. example (4k @ 120hz, ignore last value) = 3840,2160,120,87
https://youtu.be/pasnWrM-epI ^ First 25 minutes (no commentary) 7700K/1080ti
Nights of Azure isn't a very deep jrpg, more about arena fights with lovable characters who tell a good story between battles. Worth a buy if you enjoyed the original as the follow up keeps the same appealing artstyle, seemingly fixed most of the flaws and adds more demons to the mix. Generally speaking I would suggest waiting until it's cheaper as there better role playing games for the money. More some port thoughts then a proper review but I hope it helps. :)