If you played Izuna: Legend of Unemployed Ninja for Nintendo DS, you are in the minority of gamers out there. If you enjoyed it, that would bring you into an even greater minority. The game received some pretty harsh reviews for its gameplay style which is classically roguelike. Roguelike games are characterized by heavy dungeon crawling, turn-based combat, and starting from square-one after dying.

The popularity of the game in Japan led Success to release a sequel to Izuna, which came out on November 29th, 2007. Surprisingly, the sequel brings some new features to the table which should make the gameplay more interesting.

• Tag System: There will be times in the game that Izuna is accompanied by allies while dungeon crawling.
  • The Tag system can be used to perform team attacks, which affect a large area of the map, and deal more damage than two characters attacking independently. This is ideal for times when Izuna is surrounded.
  • The Tag system also allows Izuna to switch to another character when she runs low on HP and SP, so the player can still complete the current dungeon.
  • There are various characters to ally with. Each one can change the difficulty of the game (bringing a seasoned warrior versus a feeble young girl).
  • Shino from the previous game is confirmed as an ally.

• 190 Monsters total (about twice as much as the first title)
• 210 Items total (about twice as much as the first title)
  • New Weapons (Bow and arrow, oversized shuriken)
  • New Accessories (shoes)
  • New Talismans
• Utsushie System(写し絵システム): As the player progresses in the story they can collect cut-scenes, character art, compile monster profiles, and take photos.
• Larger world to explore with more dungeons, more towns, and more people to interact with.

The trailer below features some in-game action and a look at the Tag system. If you’re a veteran of the series you should definitely check it out. The official Japanese website for the game can be found here.

Hopefully all of the negative press the first Izuna generated won’t stop Atlus from bringing over the sequel. It didn’t seem to stop them when it came to Etrian Odyssey II, so I am confident we will see an English release. If you want to give the first game a try, you can purchase it off of Amazon.com here. I highly recommend it.

If you can’t wait to get your Izuna fix, she makes a guest appearance (along with Shino) in Atlus’s upcoming Rondo of Swords… and here is some cosplay. Enjoy!