NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

 Wii
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Dec 18, 2007
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 76 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 76
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 76
  3. Negative: 5 out of 76
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  1. IanW.
    Dec 19, 2007
    10
    Just as good as the Saturn classic.
  2. mattcampos
    Mar 28, 2008
    9
    This game is exactly what the title says it is. It is a journey of dreams. The "filler" parts that many people describe are a big part of what makes this title work. They are mazes, essentially, where the kids in the story are forced to figure out puzzles within well imagined worlds of bright color and confounding design. I mean that in the best way possible. When you reach the end ofThis game is exactly what the title says it is. It is a journey of dreams. The "filler" parts that many people describe are a big part of what makes this title work. They are mazes, essentially, where the kids in the story are forced to figure out puzzles within well imagined worlds of bright color and confounding design. I mean that in the best way possible. When you reach the end of a maze, you are supposed to wonder how you got there. It's like when you are in between sleeping and awake and you are in the car and you can't quite recall what happened on the ride home but it still made an impression on you. You never get the full view of the levels and the camera generally stays tightly to the characters. This adds to the disorienting effect but is somehow not a hinderance in finishing the levels! (at least not usually) The idea is that this game is one of the greatest arguements for interactive art. It provokes thought in the player and is visually captivating with excellant music and effects and, yes, story. The only production values that could have used some beefing up were the cut scenes. The levels themselves were beautifully conceived and the color schemes (like the rest of the game) defy all convention in the video game scene. Keep an open mind and get this game.… Expand
  3. 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 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    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 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. 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'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. TheShort 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
  5. KnucklesChaotix
    Jul 18, 2012
    9
    Having never played the original, I can review this without having the original as a template. I think that this game is amazing in almost every way. Nice graphics, great NiGHTS gameplay, awesome music, great general structure. My only complaint is that sometimes, playing as the kids can get slow, tough, and boring. Especially when you play a whole level as them.
  6. 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, 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'tHere'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
  7. NeoMr.smith
    Mar 19, 2008
    10
    to any one who thinks this would be better on the 360 or the ps3 no it would not if its bright and cheery they dont want it if its not about guns cars sports crime killing they dont want it also the wii has just as much power as the 360 and ps3 some one is always saying the snes suck the genissis is better the n64 sucks the ps1
  8. 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 are excellent in everyway.
  9. 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 the saturn one. But overall the game is great.
  10. Krossbone
    Nov 25, 2020
    9
    This game is a near-perfect sequel to the original NiGHTS into Dreams game on the Sega Saturn that revolutionized the action-adventure genre. Asides from the slightly stiff controls (which you can easily adapt to over time), it puts a greater emphasis on story than the original game, redesigns the characters (to both good and negative effect), and a banging soundtrack. Its cinematicThis game is a near-perfect sequel to the original NiGHTS into Dreams game on the Sega Saturn that revolutionized the action-adventure genre. Asides from the slightly stiff controls (which you can easily adapt to over time), it puts a greater emphasis on story than the original game, redesigns the characters (to both good and negative effect), and a banging soundtrack. Its cinematic cutscenes, the "My Dream" Nightopian equivalent to the Chao Garden of Sonic Adventure 2, branching storylines, and all aforementioned features make this one of Sonic Team's best releases of 2007, perhaps of all time.… Expand
  11. Slendyglowstone
    Dec 27, 2019
    9
    This game's style is outstanding. The entire game captures the spirit of Dreams and connection better than most games. The overall experience is great, easy to learn, hard to master. Besides the usual chase stages, it adds levels that differ from the usual chase to really dissect and sequence the game to that dreamlike Tone they go for. Yeah, some of the cutscenes are laughably bad, butThis game's style is outstanding. The entire game captures the spirit of Dreams and connection better than most games. The overall experience is great, easy to learn, hard to master. Besides the usual chase stages, it adds levels that differ from the usual chase to really dissect and sequence the game to that dreamlike Tone they go for. Yeah, some of the cutscenes are laughably bad, but the story still holds up. Patience is virtue. Besides that, it's a mental experience you'll never forget. Also, get level grades higher than C's. The game has multiple endings… Expand
  12. 2bitplayss
    May 21, 2021
    8
    sega i want another nights.
    this is a great game fun missions really good music.
    positives.
    great music
    fun missions
    great bosses - bomamba
    fun little story
    negatives.
    somtimes the controls are kinda awkward
    bomamba
    the voice acting is kinda trash
    bomamba rematch
  13. xenoxendo
    Jun 24, 2021
    9
    Don't play this game with a Wii remote, use the classic or GameCube controller instead. This game has some of the best music I've ever heard in any game, and even though some of the acting is abysmal, each level has something to offer in its own unique way, including the maze levels. It really does feel like a journey of dreams rather than a so-called sequel to NiGHTs, and that's okayDon't play this game with a Wii remote, use the classic or GameCube controller instead. This game has some of the best music I've ever heard in any game, and even though some of the acting is abysmal, each level has something to offer in its own unique way, including the maze levels. It really does feel like a journey of dreams rather than a so-called sequel to NiGHTs, and that's okay because what it does in that area it does spectactularly.… Expand
  14. Leedsu1
    Jan 21, 2008
    9
    Visually a pleasure, thoroughly entertaining.
  15. 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 listen to the haters. Get this game!

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best Wii Game of 2007
28
#28 Most Discussed Wii Game of 2007
45
#45 Most Shared Wii Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 47
  3. Negative: 2 out of 47
  1. Electronic Gaming Monthly
    72
    It'd be easy to write this one off as child's play, but it has a hidden depth that reveals itself over time. [Jan 2008, p.80]
  2. Nintendo Power
    90
    This was obviously a labor of love for the development team--something that goes beyond the nuts and bolts of typical game design. [Jan 2008, p.86]
  3. GameZone
    80
    Nights: Journey of Dreams delivers a second dose of the classic, 2D meets 3D gameplay that made the original Nights a success. It has its share of flaws – the lack of innovation is surprising, and the motion controls are the worst of the bunch. But as a whole, Journey of Dreams is a great adventure.
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