NiGHTS Journey of Dreams

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Recently a whirlwind of rumors concerning a follow up to the classic game NiGHTS into Dreams… more widespread and informative than any past bustled their way into the intertubes. Unlike all the NiGHTS rumors seen over the past ten years, however, these actually turned out to be true. NiGHTS Journey of Dreams is set to come out this fall, and like most NiGHTS cultists I’m just giddy as a little school girl.

Thanks to the website JeuxFrance.com and the Portugese gaming magazine Maxi Consolas the internets got the first glimpses of the game in March 30th. At that point the game had still been just a rumor, and even thought to possibly be an incredibly elaborate and cruel April Fool’s joke. Understandably, these early screenshots were met with great enthusiasm, and soon after on April 2nd Sega put up its official site for the game (there’s also a European one with a bit more information).

Since then the geeky fandom debates have begun. Some people hate the graphics they’re seeing in the screenshots and worry that just six months from the game’s release they aren’t going to be developed much further. It was previously confirmed on the European Journey of Dreams site that a system of masks called "Persona" used to change NiGHTS’ shape were going to be utilized in gameplay (the information has since mysteriously vanished from the site), which at this point sounds too much like the game Majora’s Mask to some. Still others are nitpicking at the new designs, despite the game still being in its early development.

As for me, I am very excited about this game. As a fan I too of course worry its totally going to blow (although I don’t think it will be quite as bad as 2P Start! humorosly predicted), but as near and dear as the original is to me I’m not that concerned. Even if its mediocre I’m sure I could bring myself to enjoy it. I’ve been wrong about games before at any rate! I thought Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge was going to be pretty bad and corny, but it turned out quite amusing and enjoyable (and I’s a Nightmare fangirl as well, I must confess.)

But with this impending new NiGHTS, and considering it came out over 10 years ago, there are many people who were too young or simply just missed the old NiGHTS the first time around. All over forums and other blogs I continually see one simple question: "What is NiGHTS and why should I be excited about this?" And you can be sure it recieves very mixed replies.

NiGHTS was the game that was supposed to save the Sega Saturn, well hell was supposed to save Sega. Seeing as it failed to do that its understandable that one might be dubious about its quality. And of course as we all know there’s no one thing in this world that everyone will like. The detractors of NiGHTS into Dreams will point out it was not a very long game, to some it was even a boring game, although most gamers and game crtiics will admit it was a very unique and even very innovative game. And indeed, NiGHTS was short, NiGHTS may not make the same impression it did today that it did in its own time. Certainly it was way ahead of its time, but the times have caught up. It may very well have been something that just had to grab you at the right moment, and a whole variety of forces and timing combined just managed to let it capture a few thousand people who are still in love with it a decade later.

But I’ll tell you what I personally loved so much about the original game. If you can put up with my geekiness and silly nostalgia, that is.

When I was about 12 years old, the commercials for NiGHTS began to air on television. Of course I was always a Nintendo kid, and this was during the Great Console Wars, but at that age I didn’t really have the wherewithal for console bias (unlike today where I can be as unreasonable and illogical about my contempt for a video game system as the next geek.) I was more concerned with the fact Sega seemed to be spending more time in the ads bashing the Playstation than showing actual footage from the game. But the few glimpses of a purple jester-like creature flying fluidly through fanciful flourishing landscapes were enough to titillate my young mind.

Luckily for me my brother had a Sega Saturn. I got NiGHTS not long after it came out, and some days I’d trade my Nintendo 64 to my brother to get his Saturn for the day and play it. For an awkward imagniative kid such as myself the game simply captivated me. The graphics of the game could still impress even today, and where they may not be sharp and detailed as modern graphics the sheer artistry of the color and especially the levels is undeniable. The gameplay is smooth and extremely fast-paced, and as a lover of movement I’ve never gotten sick of it, even after knowing each level by heart.  NiGHTS also had a wonderful aspect that is very overlooked in even in games today: music. The music in NiGHTS was simply fantastic, and it along with the movement and the level design all worked together to invoke an airy, dreamlike feel. There’s precious little that can effect a person the same way in adulthood as it did when they were a child, and for me NiGHTS is one of those things. The wonder and magic all comes rushing back to me when I play it. Of course that could just as well be nostalgia, but I don’t care which it is.

Now someone who has been playing this game as long as I have definitely makes it look very easy. However to say NiGHTS has no challenge to it, as some say, isn’t entirely true. Sure it is simple to beat the game with all "C" graded scores, but in order to get the extended endings (and self satisfaction!) one must be graded with all A’s in their level scores. See in NiGHTS you get 6 levels or "dreams" and then a final level shared between the two dreaming children (they have three unique dreams each.) Each dream is seperated into four "mares". Your scores depend on how quickly you, as NiGHTS, manage to retrieve the dream energy, or Ideya, stolen from the sleeping child. After you do this you get a bonus time in which you can really rack up the points. However, you have to return to the shrine NiGHTS is trapped in at the beginning of the level within the time limit, or you lose it all. Your final grade is also effected by how well you fight the boss at the end of the level. You may be able to squeak an "A" in the dream itself, but if you take too long to fight the baddie you may find yourself bumped down to a B or even a C! This may not sound too difficult, but for an inexperienced player it sure is! Because of this point and score system, many have found NiGHTS to have a very good replay value.

The design and the gameplay together is probably what gained it its fans when it was released. However, very few people responded to NiGHTS, with the Playstation around and with Mario 64’s lengthy story and robust gameplay NiGHTS simply got buried under bigger things. But the few who did respond to in its early days responded to it with amazing intensity, and never forgot it. And did the game ever age well, because of that it is probably more widely appreciated today than it was in its own time. In the end NiGHTS into Dreams… was just a very fun, very whimsical and well desingned game with a magic and charm all its own.

If anyone is expecting Journey of Dreams to match up to or surpass the original, I’d rather tell them not to hold their breath. Many ingenius things, many things that spawn cult followings are not something that can be repeated. They’re generally complete accidents that happened at just the right time aided by circumstances that likely weren’t forseen, planned for, fully understood and are certainly not duplicatable.

I for one don’t expect Journey of Dreams to match up to the original, and hell if it does I get to be pleasantly surprised. However, I’m not that much of a cynic. I do expect it will be enjoyable, I suspect it will be fun (especially after slicing and dicing my way through Twilight Princess with that Wiimote), and even if it doesn’t live up to the original just seeing NiGHTS on a next-gen system will be enough to make me smile.

In fact I can say in full confidence that the only thing that could dissapoint me completely is if they don’t tone down those goddamn bloom effects by the time it’s released.

NiGHTS into Dreams.. Screenshots from NiGHTSintoDreams.fr