Night Wizard The Video Game: Denial of the World

Renji Hiiragi is a member of an order of Night Wizards who protect the world from those who would plunge it into darkness. Night Wizards have special abilities and are armed with weapons called artifacts which allow them to attack discarnate beings known as Emulators. The Playstation 2 game starts off with a relatively lengthy interactive intro which sets up the characters, their relationships, and the travails that lie before them. The main portion of the game plays like an interactive novel where text is read and choices are selected to proceed further. When a battle pops up, simple combat commands are chosen to beat back enemy forces.

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Initial Start / Begin a new adventure
Continue / Resume a game from memory card save-data
???? / Locked function but we assume it's a gallery
System / Option, System Save, and System Load

» Start a new game and the world of Night Wizard is explained followed by an introduction from Renji who's voice is provided by an actor. If you wish to fast-forward through the prologue, press the SELECT button and the intro will play without need for your interaction. You'll still have to watch it but you just won't have to press the "O" button to move forward every few seconds. To fast forward through the intro after the SELECT button has been activated, press the START button. To blow past the interaction sequences, press the R2 trigger and the scenes will go into hyperspeed.

» After the intro is finished, Renji stands next to Kureha Akabane and the two hold a conversation. Their dialogue is accompanied by voice acting. Renji grasps his book bag and Kureha is dressed in a shrine maiden uniform. In the first few minutes of the proper game, you'll have two multiple choice selections to choose but since this is an interactive novel, your input is limited so sit back and enjoy the show. During the in-game sequences, you can press START and SELECT so that the story goes on by itself without having to press the "O" button. You will however have to make choices when prompted. Renji and Kureha are later joined by Chihaya Mochizuki. The trio is greeted by a bluish-silver haired lass named Anzelotte who's sort of the administrator and director for the Night Wizards. After a short conversation with Renji, Anze departs in her limousine.

» In the next scene, Anzelotte is in her aerie and Renji joins her in a lengthy conversation. The "Game Master" function appears here to give some information and background details. The Game Master feature simulates the table-talk RPG format by giving overall details on the situation that's currently in play. Information from the Game Master is relayed by way of text boxes rather than a vocalized sequence so you'll have to read the information that's presented.

» After their conversation, Renji drops back to earth and a JUDGE SELECT interaction starts up where you're supposed to hit the "O" button when prompted to stop two dice that are rolling. If you roll equal to or higher than the Border Number shown on screen, you win. If you roll a lower number, Renji will take damage.

» To review the game script, push down on the L-Analog or press the "TRIANGLE" button and you'll be able to scroll through every character's dialogue since the game began.

» When a battle starts, there's a Player Phase and an Enemy Phase. A coin toss determines who attacks first and the first battle is a 3-against-2 encounter where a trio of skull-warriors carrying swords and wearing court jester outfits are on the rampage. You basically choose attacks from a menu and then watch them play out on screen. Renji and Chihaya can team up to attack in sequence against the skull-warriors or bolster each other with magic. Attacks are depicted with short animated action sequences which are repetitive but fairly exciting to watch even after the 100th time. Just before a monster attacks, you can press the SQUARE button and then select a defensive measure such as throwing up a shield to protect against the blow.