NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

1. NitemareDT

   Jul 19, 2011

   10

   First thing's first. I HATE the majority opinion of this game. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the greatest games on the Wii. I'm a SonicFirst thing's first. I HATE the majority opinion of this game. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the greatest games on the Wii. I'm a Sonic fan more than anything and this beats every Sonic title on the Wii for me. Secondly, just because I disagree with your opinion or I'm not as old as you, doesn't mean you should completely disregard my opinion, at least hear me out.
   
   Right, starting with the story. It features two children, William Taylor and Helen Cartwright, and follows their journey through the magical world of Nightopia, a world created by dreaming humans who travel to the Night Dimension while they are asleep. There they meet a wise owl, creatively named "Owl" who tells them about the Night Dimension and the Ideya every human possesses when traveling there. Every visitor to the Night Dimension has a total of 5 Ideya and these are usually stolen by Nightmaren from the evil counterpart of Nightopia, Nightmare. They then meet NiGHTS, a genderless, carefree, jester-like being who allows visitors to Dualize with him/her and fly. From there, they discover that Will and Helen still possess the Red Ideya of Courage and this creates a door to Nightopia, a world created as a reflection of the visitor's heart. This means that Nightopia is different for every visitor. Once entering this Nightopia, NiGHTS is imprisoned by Reala, a henchman Nightmaren created by Wizeman, ruler of Nightmare. Will and Helen can use their Ideya of Courage to temporarily Dualize with NiGHTS and unlock the cage he/she is trapped in. I won't say anymore as it would ruin too much but all in all, this game has a very original storyline and, based on what you've read, you can come to a conclusion on whether or not this is your sort of thing or not.
   
   As with most Wii games, the control scheme can be very....awkward. I, personally, don't enjoy the strange control schemes the Wii usually has to offer although most games do provide either Classic Controller or GameCube Controller support as backup and this one is no exception. The full list of control schemes for this game are: Wii Remote alone, Wii Remote and Nunchuck, Classic Controller and GameCube Controller. This means there's a choice for everyone to become comfortable with the one they choose and nobody can complain about not having the correct peripheral to play the game. There is, however, a problem I should address with all the control schemes using an analog stick...8 directions only. The analog stick only lets you move in 8 directions which feels incredibly restricting compared to the 360-degree movement of the original Saturn analog stick. However, hardware limitations aside, the game is still more than playable and there's also the Wii Remote control scheme available (though I wouldn't recommend it).
   
   Additionally, addressing the hardcore NiGHTS fans, I want to explain something. The original NiGHTS into Dreams... was a fantastic game and, don't get me wrong, it IS better than Journey of Dreams although not by a huge amount. However I do think that, seeing as the original came out when we, or you, were much younger, we saw it as a much more magical and immersing experience as opposed to being newly introduced to something as an adult. The original, even with it's hardware limitations, still managed to create a beautiful and magical world and I think that Sonic Team have done their best with the hardware the Wii has to offer to do the same with Journey of Dreams. The slowdowns are a downside but you have to sympathize, the game was moved over from the Xbox 360 and PS3 to the Wii late in the development of the game so they did what they could, keeping a nice balance between aesthetics and performance. Moving onto the voice acting, it's...good...but it's not great. Not terrible, but not great. It's certainly got a cheesiness to it. I mean, this IS partially to do with the writing but still, I suppose they did what they could with the fact they had to take a game with no major story and no dialogue and turn it into a game driven by storytelling and dialogue filled cut scenes. Owl and Reala have to be my favorite voices purely because of how convincing they are as both a wise owl and an evil jester...thingy...respectively. As for NiGHTS' voice, while I think I would prefer it if he/she didn't have one, the one they chose wasn't too bad, and I suppose they HAD to chose one given the story driven nature of the game. Personally, I would have preferred it if Sonic Team took the "Nintendo" approach and let all dialogue be text based and all character emotions be visual.
   
   I would definately recommend those who haven't played the first NiGHTS to check it out and for those who have, give this a try, I'm sure you'll like it. If you've already played this game, play it again and give it another chance. C'mon, it's not that bad. :D… Expand

   • 4 of 5 users found this helpful
2. Noanopolis

   Jul 11, 2017

   10

   Here's the deal: Nights: Journey of Dreams is bad. but it's the best bad game you will ever play. Yes, the acting is horrible, and yes, theHere's the deal: Nights: Journey of Dreams is bad. but it's the best bad game you will ever play. Yes, the acting is horrible, and yes, the animation constantly dips into the uncanny valley. These would normally break a game, But because Nights is already so bizarre to begin with, all these flaws become endearing. I don't find the occasional clunky platforming section frustrating. I don't find it offensive that the antagonist is Jewish(No really, Wise-man is a Jewish surname). They're all just addatives to the pot of crazy that is Nights. And because none of this actually ruins the core of its fun(if stiff) gameplay, It's all the best parts of playing a bad game without the bad stuff. So If You're looking for a 2 hour drug drip, Nights is the game for you.
   
   P.S. Sega, I hope you kept the guy who made the bosses around, because they are legitimately terrifying.… Expand

   • 1 of 3 users found this helpful
4. Mr.B.

   Dec 21, 2007

   9

   Great graphics, great music, lots of fun. It sucks you can't skip the cut scenes, but they're kind of entertaining. Don't Great graphics, great music, lots of fun. It sucks you can't skip the cut scenes, but they're kind of entertaining. Don't listen to the haters. Get this game!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. gameBUSTA

   Oct 19, 2012

   9

   NiGHTS: JoD is a wonderful wii game and a great sequel to a classic saturn game. The graphics, the music and the story altogether areNiGHTS: JoD is a wonderful wii game and a great sequel to a classic saturn game. The graphics, the music and the story altogether are excellent in everyway.… Expand

   • 0 of 2 users found this helpful
6. pookie

   Jun 29, 2012

   9

   Short and sweet - NiGHTs: Journey of Dreams is the long awaited sequel to the 1996 Saturn's underrated gem; NIGHTs into Dreams. Honestly, it'sShort and sweet - NiGHTs: Journey of Dreams is the long awaited sequel to the 1996 Saturn's underrated gem; NIGHTs into Dreams. Honestly, it's quite surprising they even developed a sequel. An HD update or remake of the original might have been better, but a sequel is good enough. Those who played the original will appreciate this sequel the most. Others might have mixed opinions. The gameplay is basically the same concept as the original, but with a few twists and gimmicks. This is a good game and like the original the sequel is just as underrated.… Expand

   • 2 of 3 users found this helpful
7. GamecubeLover

   Jul 25, 2016

   8

   People hate it for? I think this game is great but this game is flawed like the gameplay is a bit stall and the game's story is just like thePeople hate it for? I think this game is great but this game is flawed like the gameplay is a bit stall and the game's story is just like the saturn one. But overall the game is great.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
8. JafarYellow

   Sep 6, 2021

   3

   This game is trying to be Nights into dreams but it couldn't. I see Sonic Team can't develop games.

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful

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