TGS hands-on: NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
After clamoring for a NiGHTS: Into Dreams sequel for years and clinging to creator Yuji Naka's legs even as he propelled himself through the doors of his own studio, many fans of the acrobatic airborne harlequin were delighted to see their dreams come true in the form of a new Wii title. Journey of Dreams had found the perfect platform, where boundless motion controls would exquisitely express the freedom of flight.
Right?
Bizarrely, tellingly and somewhat amusingly, the Tokyo Game Show demo of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams makes no use of motion controls whatsoever. The analog stick on the nunchuck controls movement, the A-button speeds you up and.... well, that's pretty much it. While several control schemes are likely to be in the works for the completed game, the lack of Wii-specific abilities seems to worsen the lack of differentiation between NiGHTS and its sequel.
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It's an unfortunate omission at this stage, but we can't form an opinion on a control scheme we only imagine to be great. We do imagine, however, that these potentially unique controls could become something of a crutch for Journey of Dreams, as playing the game with traditional controls not only makes us question the choice of platform, but how the game differs from Into Dreams.
Depending on how fond you are of nostalgia (if you've even played the Sega Saturn original), perhaps that's not a bad thing. There's still a sense of grace and fluidity to be gained from flying through the air, maneuvering through rings and, instead of collecting a set of orbs, chasing after a crazed bird with a key lodged in its beak. You'll fly in a circuit around the boldly colorful levels (currently stricken by an abysmal framerate, it should be noted) until you catch it and use the key to unlock another circuit through the same environment, all the while avoiding enemies or dispatching them by doing a quick loop around them. It's the classic and relaxing gameplay that made NiGHTS so memorable, whether or not you played it with Sega's "3-D" (read: analog) controller.
It seems Sega is doing right by NiGHTS fans so far, albeit by giving them exactly what they want and nothing more. However, failing to demonstrate meaningful motion controls at this juncture seems to imply that the gameplay isn't even fundamentally affected by it. If other Wii control schemes can match the dreamy and effortless movements of the game's androgynous protagonist, however, Journey of Dreams might reach beyond being a straightforward sequel.
