Nights of Azure

Lore & Background

The game is set on the fictional island-kingdom of Ruswal, where nights are plagued by Azure-blooded demons and no one sleeps at night. Brave knights known as the Curia are trained to fend off the threat. After humans defeated the demonic Nightlord years ago, the monster's blue blood scattered and polluted those who bathed in it, turning them into fiends that steal night-time from people. The protagonist, Arnice, has polluted blood but her heart remained intact. She is a holy knight serving the Curia, part human and part monster, with a bloodsucking ability and the power to create a demon sword from her own blood. The story follows Arnice and her close friend, a saint destined to seal the remains of the Nightlord. Other characters include a pure-blooded demon living in an opera house, a hotel manager and cafe owner, a senior holy knight, a self-declared monster researcher, a well-informed merchant, and a bewitching pure-blooded apparition who seeks the Nightlord's soul.

Reader's Guide

Nights of Azure is a 2015 action RPG that blends real-time combat with demon-summoning mechanics. Players control Arnice, who can summon contracted demons called Servans using SP. Servans are categorized as attacker or support types and gain new abilities as they grow stronger. Arnice can perform attack chains with light, heavy, and special attacks, filling a transformation gauge. When full, she can transform into a demon form that controls flames, a rabbit form focusing on speed and melee, or a phantom form improving recovery. She can also transform her blood into weapons like daggers and longswords, altering her moveset and demon abilities. Blue blood drops, earned by defeating enemies and completing quests, serve as currency and are used to level up Arnice. The Ende Hotel acts as a hub for quests, shopping, planning daytime activities, changing equipment, and saving. An optional arena offers challenges with special restrictions and labyrinth battles. The game received a Famitsu score of 32/40 and sold 79,227 physical copies across all platforms in its first week in Japan. Metacritic rated it as receiving 'mixed or average reviews.' A sequel, Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon, was released in August 2017 in Japan and October 2017 worldwide.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed under producer Keisuke Kikuchi, who previously worked on the Deception and Fatal Frame series.
• First-print copies included DLC codes for Gust from the Hyperdimension Neptunia series as a subordinate demon.
• The game, along with Atelier Sophie, experienced delays citing final adjustments.
• Arnice can transform her blood into different weapons such as daggers and longswords.