IGN gives NiGHTS a 6.5

wii knights

So after waiting over a decade for a new Nights experience, what’s the final verdict? Personally, we’d rather have seen this one stay a nostalgic piece of gaming history, as Journey of Dreams isn’t exactly the spectacular homecoming we were hoping for as huge fans of the original Saturn classic. The control is too stiff, odd design choices will have players repeating full levels rather than incorporating a simple checkpoint system which would have saved both progress and sanity alike, and there’s a huge amount of emphasis put on non-Nights gameplay, having players control the human children in very unrewarding sections, and incorporating sloppy alternate gameplay rather than just focusing on what made the original so captivating in the first place. Nights still has its moments, as the style is there, the entire story is told with full VO (and some decent, if not a bit over-the-top voice acting throughout), and the boss battles specifically are pretty captivating. In the end it’s simply a bit too rough all around, too short (less than three hours with each child will see the end), and strays from what made Nights so entertaining in the first place; the simple joy of flight.

Now that the series is alive again, we’re anxious to see a sequel that catches Nights back up to speed. It’s obvious that SEGA wanted to go big with the return of franchise, as the scope of the game has been opened tremendously. With some polish, a more focused design, and some refined flight control we could see Nights making a true return. It’ll need a pretty sizeable overhaul from what Wii gamers are getting with Journey of Dreams though, which ends up appealing only to the most die-hard (and extremely forgiving) of its original fan base.

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  • http://abxy.org/u/noodle93 Noodle_93

    Screw IGN. I don’t care what they say.

  • Level 9

    Meh… Echo did the “Nights thing” better back before the acid party that inspired it in the first place…

    Not a big loss IMO… Though that said, It still is a damn shame…

    Somehow I get the feeling that even though we’ve put up with worse from Sonic, people are just not going to give Nights the chance it deserves…

    Now days I don’t believe there is ANY game series out there that Sonic Team can’t ruin… “Glares at M&S Olympics”

  • http://www.mgroves.com mgroves

    IGN gave one of my favorite Wii/360 games a 5.7, so, you know, it’s not like IGN is the final authority or anything. Though this is likely a sign that it’s not going to be a huge hit–though Sega has been doing some advertising.

  • http://wiinintendo.net/index.php?s=hey_suburbia hey_suburbia

    I take IGN’s reviews like any other, just an opinion. They were the first to give an in depth review that’s why I posted their comments about the game.

  • http://wiinintendo.net/index.php?s=hey_suburbia hey_suburbia

    Two more looks:

    GameZone – “Nights: Journey of Dreams contains the same kind of two-dimensional aerial gameplay that was featured in the original. There isn’t much of a learning curve involved, especially if you’re used to navigating 3D worlds. This game doesn’t contain actual 3D gameplay, just the perception of it, along with some of the best 2D designs in the biz.”

    GameSpot – “You’ll probably smile much of the time you play, thanks to all of [its] good-natured charm. But you won’t be all smiles: Journey of Dreams, for all its visual dreaminess and elegant simplicity, trips itself up with some surprisingly awkward levels and a Wii-centric control option that detracts from the game rather than enhances it.”