NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii) Preview
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.29.2007
Vitals
Genre
Adventure
System
Nintendo Wii
Release Date
Q4 2007
Hands On: We fly into the wonderful world of Nightopia.
I just recently visited Sega of America to get our first hands-on preview of "NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams" for the Nintendo Wii. In NiGHTS: JoD, you'll start off as either Helen or Will as you work towards confronting your nightmares along with NiGHTS the jester.
Both Helen and Will have their own distinct storyline that can be played seperately or tegether. You'll want to play both of their stories to get the complete experience however. In each dreamworld, you'll control NiGHTS as you use his acrobatic skills and flight ability to confront the Nightmarens that populate the neighboring dark world of Nightmare. In each level, you will chase a magical bird that holds a key as you loop and dash around the world collecting items and points. The levels are divided into three laps and each lap has its own distinct feel. When you begin your first lap, you'll chase the bird with the key and once you capture it and unlock the cage you start off in, you'll unlock a new lap that takes you through a distinct course within the same environment. As you unlock more levels, you'll unlock new masks that will enable NiGHTS to transform into different creatures like a dolphin thus gaining new abilities. At the end of the third lap you'll enter into a boss battle that will require your acrobatic skills in various different ways to defeat your enemy.
I was told that there would be various control methods that are available which include use of the Gamecube controller, Wii remote-only and the standard nunchuck-Wii Remote combination to name a few. I was using the nunchuck-remote combo and found it a bit akward at first. You utilize the analog stick to control NiGHTS' movements while using the A-button to make him dash. There is no "waggle" controls going on here and that's just fine. Once I played a few more levels however, I began getting the hang of the analog stick and found myself having a greater deal of success so there will be a slight learning curve to begin with.
One of the newest features for this sequel is the inclusion of your own garden of dreams. As you progress through the game, you'll collect items and creatures that will populate your garden. As time passes, your inhabitants will start to build things and change the look of the area. A cool feature is that the garden will sync up to the Wii's Weather Channel meaning that your dreamworld's weather will reflect that of your own area. If you are not connected online then the weather will be randomized. To add to that, you'll be able to invite your friends over to the garden to hang out, chat and trade items. If you don't have any friends in you friends list, you can also put out a call of sorts; an invitation to anyone online to come visit you so its possible to have someone from across the world to enter your garden; a cool feature.
Though we didn't get to jump into multiplayer, I was explained that there are two modes to choose from. The first multiplayer mode will be online enabled and will be an all out race between NiGHTS and nemesis Reala. The other multiplayer mode will work offline only and is almost like a game of tag in which you will collect items to throw at your opponent and the winner is determined by whom can take the least amount of damage within the alloted time.
All in all I came away quite impressed with the game. Though it had been reported that the game was experiencing some serious choppiness, I am glad to report that I did not find any issues with that at all. The guys informed me that the game was locked in at around 30fps and I never noticed any lag during my session. The game also looks very beautiful and it resembles Sonic at the Secret of the Rings in some ways which is a good thing while keeping in tone with the whole fantasy world. Having played for nearly an hour, I've come to grow anxious for the game's release which is set for December 18th.
