NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

[Pegasus]

NiGHTS is definitely a game I'm looking forward to, and I hope it does turn out rather well, especially after seeing its latest trailer. A lot of people at GT seem to dismiss it as something too Disney-esque. Personally, it looks rather appealing to me. Kind of charming.

I suppose that's why Nintendo platforms have always been appealing to me. I care for more quirky character design rather than the grit and realism of the over-abundant action games available on the other platforms. That's also a reason why I prefer Pixar's work over the likes of Dreamworks Animation and co., which try to include too much mainstream pop culture.

[hippiecrite]

I loved NiGHTS on the SEGA Saturn. If this game is half as good as that (and from what I've seen so far it looks damn impressive) it's a first day pickup for me.

I also don't get peoples complaints about the graphical style of this game. It's a game about a jester flying through a dream world. How gritty and realistic could it possible be? It's the same as trying to make the Mario character model more "realistic", just doesn't work.

[Shortay]

Never played it before myself, but I've heard such good things about it that if it gets good reviews I'll definitely get it. Is it a Platformer or RPG?

[Pegasus]

It's a platformer... in a sense; more about flying, though.

[The shoemaker]

Originally Posted by Pegasus

NiGHTS is definitely a game I'm looking forward to, and I hope it does turn out rather well, especially after seeing its latest trailer. A lot of people at GT seem to dismiss it as something too Disney-esque. Personally, it looks rather appealing to me. Kind of charming.

I suppose that's why Nintendo platforms have always been appealing to me. I care for more quirky character design rather than the grit and realism of the over-abundant action games available on the other platforms. That's also a reason why I prefer Pixar's work over the likes of Dreamworks Animation and co., which try to include too much mainstream pop culture.

Well yeah If this game had amazing 360 graphics it would look dumb. Besides the graphics are pretty good, it looks a lot like secret rings on how you move. Yeah it looked a little dull... until the crazy evil guys came then I got more interested. I hope you can actully walk around instead of you always have to keep moving, more like a thinking game. well I need to know more about it, the story game play etc. But I'll most likely rent it.

[Pegasus]

Picked up my copy this afternoon, but I'll have to restrain myself from opening the wrapper until Christmas day. I also have set aside a DS game and two movies until then. Got to have something to look forward to when one is only getting gifts from oneself. =/

[Shortay]

Originally Posted by Pegasus

Picked up my copy this afternoon, but I'll have to restrain myself from opening the wrapper until Christmas day. I also have set aside a DS game and two movies until then. Got to have something to look forward to when one is only getting gifts from oneself. =/

Looks decent enough, although the reviews for it are averaging 7.5; not as good as I hoped. Oh well, post back with your impressions when you play it

[SegaFan]

Picked up my copy this afternoon

Since that must signal that it's out in America then, no more looking at this topic until 25th January for me, to avoid spoilers.

Originally Posted by Shortay-01

Never played it before myself, but I've heard such good things about it that if it gets good reviews I'll definitely get it. Is it a Platformer or RPG?

It's neither, it's completely unique, though there are platform elements.

[Shortay]

Originally Posted by SegaFan

It's neither, it's completely unique, though there are platform elements.

Thanks for the response, although I posted it way back in September

[crops55]

If it wasn't for the Wii's casual/naive crowd buying shovelware crap like Mario & Sonic, Sega would have drowned long ago. Looks like they have tainted another cherished franchise. Seriously Sega just stop making 3D games. As much as I loved it no wonder the Dreamcast failed. This is coming from a diehard Genesis fan (no not Phil Collins and crew). I'm never buying another Sega product for as long as their crap floats.

[Deity]

Looks crap

[RMA]

The originals NiGHTS was awesome and that was a title that on release was also divisive. Think everyone putting down immediately should go the rental 'try before you buy' route and decide for themselves 'cos the gaming press got the original WRONG.

[SegaFan]

Originally Posted by crops55

If it wasn't for the Wii's casual/naive crowd buying shovelware crap like Mario & Sonic, Sega would have drowned long ago. Looks like they have tainted another cherished franchise. Seriously Sega just stop making 3D games. As much as I loved it no wonder the Dreamcast failed. This is coming from a diehard Genesis fan (no not Phil Collins and crew). I'm never buying another Sega product for as long as their crap floats.

Why do you say that, have you played it? Apologies if you have, but from NiGHTS fans I haven't heard a bad word about this game yet, and for magazines/websites giving this game bad reviews maybe they just don't understand NiGHTS? The gaming press get things wrong a lot.

And what do you mean about Dreamcast? It had great games, it might have failed because Sony had better marketing, but as developers Sega were on top form during that time.

[Spore]

Reviewers seem to think this is a pretty average game. Only average. Crops is right, Sega isn't very good at this 3D thing these days.

[SegaFan]

Originally Posted by Spore

Reviewers seem to think this is a pretty average game. Only average. Crops is right, Sega isn't very good at this 3D thing these days.

But most NiGHTS fans seem to really like this game from what I've read. Magazines/websites often get things wrong, maybe they haven't played the original and just don't 'get' it. I can't really say until I get this game next month but I have a good feeling about it, I don't trust reviews these days.

[Spore]

The Nights fans like the game because they are Nights fans.

[SegaFan]

If fans of the original like it then Sega have done their job. If they had tried to broaden its appeal it wouldn't be NiGHTS any more, and all the fans of the original who have waited so long for this would be disappointed. Not everyone can like every game, and just because one person doesn't like a game it doesn't make that game bad.

[Spore]

If you were mega-corporation X, and you were releasing a sequal to that old fan favorite, which would you rather capitilize on: Appealing to the handful of current fans, or broadening your scope and appealing to more people (more $$$) as well knowing that the fans of said game would also buy it no matter what you did to it?

Hint: You want more money.

[SegaFan]

I'm not saying whether it makes good business sence or not, I couldn't care less, but as a Nights fan I'm glad Sega have made it as they did and haven't changed it too much to appeal to the masses (if impressions from other Nights fans are to be believed). As a gamer wouldn't you rather have good games than games that make 'mega corporation X' a lot of money? And if you do keep fans happy, maybe you'll build up some loyalty which will help your company in the long run.

[Spore]

Sure I'd like all companies to make top quality games but I'm not a company. Sega and many other companies are stuck in the here and now releasing minigame compilation after minigame compilation while they are "in". Sega is tried to get Nights out of the door as fast as they could, like any company who wants cash, to get this game out there while the Wii has its epic following. The long run doesn't matter as much as what is going on right now to benefit the company these days.

[SegaFan]

I agree, the state of the gaming industry now is very bad. Sega have to stay competitive like everyone else, unfortunately success doesn't come directly from merit. But I don't see what that has to do with Nights, the point is if it's a good game it's good for us, if it's a bad game it's bad for us, it's hard to think long-term now because no one really knows what's going to happen.

[Spore]

Sorry I just like to argue.

[hippiecrite]

I wouldn't put much stock in the review score for this game anyway. NiGHTS was always a niche title that had a small but devoted following, like other SEGA games (Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5 come to mind). The original though, was never a huge hit. As long as Journey of Dreams doesn't stray too far from the core gameplay of NiGHTS (which it looks like it doesn't) it will be worth my time to check it out.

[Pegasus]

Well, it's good fun, so far. It may not be the pinnacle of graphic technology, but it looks nice enough. It definitely has a lot of charm to it. My overall opinion will have to wait since I only played about an hour or two. It is kind of annoying that I can't skip some cutscenes.

Also, I don't quite understand why they didn't release it in the EU at the same time. The game's language options already include Japanese, English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.

[crops55]

Well I may have jumped to unfair conclusions in my previous statement. I was at my friends house and played it only for a bit. He was on a section where he was playing as one of the kids and I only saw a tiny bit where he was actually playing as Nights. I didnt get to play as Nights but the kids part I played felt like it should never have been in the game in the first place. Or in any game for that matter. So in a sense my impressions weren't really justified or valid. However, I got the game for Christmas so I'll get a better idea of what its all about here in a few days. I just think I'm still ****ed off about Sonic and Secret Rings that I didn't even give Nights a fair chance (I will never forgive Sega for the obliteration of that series). Sorry for the misguided and immature statement. And yes I have heard from many Nights fans since that comment that the game is actually pretty good aside from a few issues.

In regards to the Dreamcast comments, I think thats where first party development by Sega really started to dip. And I also think that that fact contributes to the Dreamcast's demise. Don't get me wrong I loved that console and still do today. It had so many great games but not very many from Sega themselves and if you can't do Sonic in 3D right then don't do it at all. Obviously people will still buy Sonic in 2D (where he should be) as the DS versions seem to be doing quite well and have been received with much critical acclaim.

[SegaFan]

In regards to the Dreamcast comments, I think thats where first party development by Sega really started to dip. And I also think that that fact contributes to the Dreamcast's demise. Don't get me wrong I loved that console and still do today. It had so many great games but not very many from Sega themselves and if you can't do Sonic in 3D right then don't do it at all.

In my opinion Sega during that time had never been better, in fact the Dreamcast era was just about my favourite time for Sega developed games and SA1 and 2 were great.

[Pegasus]

I've played through all stages. The game is somewhat on the short side if one doesn't replay stages for better scores. While it isn't overly difficult to pass a stage, earning an A grade for the score provides the real challenge. Fortunately, once one has beaten a stage one can easily skip the cutscenes when replaying it.

The platform sections of the game aren't anything special, but I don't think they're as bad as some people say they are. There are four in total out of thirty-one stages, six of which are pure boss fights. As with the most of the rest of the game, one's scores for boss fights is determined by how quickly one can beat a boss; one loses five seconds for every hit one takes. The mechanic works quite well.

Overall, the game is a decent effort. - 6/10

[The shoemaker]

hows it online? When I was at the mall the box had that little wi-fi icon on it.

[Pegasus]

I actually hadn't tried it out until I saw your post. Of what little there is - which seems more like an afterthought - it isn't anything too exciting. Only race mode is available for online, and there are only three courses. It already started getting old after that half an hour I played.

Trying to improve one own's scores in the regular game is much more enjoyable, that's for sure. It doesn't help either that the online tracks seem relatively short and there are only a total of two laps for each.

[SegaFan]

I've played through all stages. The game is somewhat on the short side if one doesn't replay stages for better scores. While it isn't overly difficult to pass a stage, earning an A grade for the score provides the real challenge.

That's the same as with the original so I don't see that as a negative thing at all. In fact I'm glad to hear it's like that.

Fortunately, once one has beaten a stage one can easily skip the cutscenes when replaying it.

A lot of people have complained about not being able to skip the cut-scenes, but if you can skip them once you've already seen them there's no problem. I wouldn't dream of skipping cut-scenes I haven't seen anyway.

The platform sections of the game aren't anything special, but I don't think they're as bad as some people say they are.

If they're just average (and not bad) I don't really care as long as they're not a major part of the game. If they're just there to add some variety to the gameplay then they don't have to be fantastic levels to do their job. The platform sections of the original Nights are terrible by today's standards but they still do their job well and are neccesary (I think anyway) to the game.

Thanks for your comments Pegasus, I'll post mine once I get to play it in less than a month's time. What about the control systems, which is the best?

[hippiecrite]

Originally Posted by SegaFan

A lot of people have complained about not being able to skip the cut-scenes, but if you can skip them once you've already seen them there's no problem. I wouldn't dream of skipping cut-scenes I haven't seen anyway.

Nah, what people were complaining about is that if you get to the boss and lose you have to start at the beginning of the level again and still watch all the cutscenes. He's saying that once you totally finish a level by beating the boss you can skip the cutscenes if you choose to play through that level again.

[SegaFan]

Some good news! The European release date has been moved forward to 18th January, a week early.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/843/843541p1.html

[JordanR]

Originally Posted by SegaFan

Some good news! The European release date has been moved forward to 18th January, a week early.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/843/843541p1.html

Well that's me not getting it on launch day, already have Zack and Wiki ordered for the 18th.

[SegaFan]

18th is an incredably busy day now, it'll be like christmas. Ghost Squad has moved to the 18th as well, Geometry Wars for Wii/DS is also on the 18th. All games I want, but Nights is the priority.

[SegaFan]

This should arrive tomorrow for me, who else is getting it?

[zombidad4life]

nights sucks ass I must say i do like mario and sonic at the olimpic games its fun as hell when playing with others!!!

[Shortay]

Any more comments on NiGHTS? I heard the gameplay was a bit dated in it.

[SegaFan]

Right I'm glad someone revived this topic, shows that there's some interest in this game after all. Here's my point of view, having played it.

First of all I don't see this as an improvement over the original NiGHTS, that's not what they were trying to acheive, it's an expansion of the NiGHTS idea. The original NiGHTS did one thing really well, but it was quite limited (not in a bad way, it worked well for that game). This game does a lot more things and it's not better or worse, it's different. You don't have to play the original to appreciate JoD, and playing JoD doesn't in any way spoil the original, it's a new game in the NiGHTS universe.

The main difference is that in the Saturn version all the levels played the same, you fly around and collect the blue chips, destroy the Ideya Capture, then you complete as many laps as possible collecting all the gold chips and other things to get a high score. In Journey of Dreams it's not like that, each level has missions to complete, some stages play a bit like the Saturn levels, some are completely different (there are 3 platforming levels, for instance), each have you completing a set task. There are no levels that play exactly like the Saturn game. This will annoy some people because the Saturn gameplay was very good, but like I said, it's not meant to be an improvement on the Saturn version, it's different.

About the two control systems. You can play with a Saturn-style control scheme with the nunchuck's analogue stick, and there's the new control scheme where you fly by pointing the Wii remote. The nunchuck control system is the easiest to learn, and what people should start out with. But don't ignore the Wii remote system, because that's also a very good control method with some practice. When I played through the story for the first time I gave up on the Wii remote quite quickly and used the analogue stick, but now I've completed the story I want to try and complete it again with the Wii remote because it gives the game a slightly different feel.

The graphics and soundtrack are very good, very faithful to the Saturn version but up to date at the same time. The soundtrack is especially good, if JoD wins just one award it should be for the soundtrack. The voice acting is terrible. I didn't like the story at first, I thought there was too much dialogue, but it gets better towards the end and it's a good story. The "dream" setting is spot on.

It's not a perfect game but I think most people gave up on it too early, and that's where all the low reviews came from. I actually thought it was quite average at first but it gets better with playing, especially if you keep playing it after the story finishes, just like the original. The original got low reviews too.