Honestly, hearing that there was a sequel to NiGHTS into Dreams at all felt like a gift of sorts. Most of Sega's oddball IPs from the 90s have all but been left to rot these days. Then again, creating a sequel to something so beloved by diehard fans can severely backfire if the new product doesn't meet their expectations. So, does Journey of Dreams meet my expectations? It's complicated.
The original game left you in the dark on most of the story's concepts, and I can infer that many people enjoyed interpeting the meaning of that game in their own way. This'll probably sound like sacrelige, but I don't entirely mind the concept of telling us more about how Nightopia works, and what certain things symbolize. Unfortunately, the voice acting and dialogue itself is very stilted, and nothing much of value actually happens in the cutscenes. Some lines are also just...yeah. It also tends to suffer from overexplaining, or telling us too much. Worse yet, these cutscenes severely bog down the pace of the game. I'm pretty sure I was watching cutscenes for about the same amount of time I got to actually play the game. There's also one thing I can't ignore about the story cutscenes above all else, that being how all the in-engine ones are stretched in widescreen, which feels like a massive oversight. I can't be the only one who sees this. I have to wonder if switching to 4:3 makes them look more natural, but even then, that cuts down on your field of view in normal gameplay, and everything else looks fantastic in widescreen. What happened here?
The most controversial element introduced in these cutscenes (afaik) is giving NiGHTS a proper voice. To me, it feels like it draws away from their androgynous nature. In this game, NiGHTS is referred to by characters as a he, has a voice that's leaning toward female (but you could argue for "young boy"), and the same androgynous design from the 90s. It's a weird mix of elements that comes off more confusing than anything. The main plot for either character also doesn't seem to line up, from my perspective. I think they wanted to focus on the relationships between the children and their parents, but like, Will's Dad heads out to buy milk and never come home right in the opening cutscene. How am I supposed to connect with that? The original NiGHTS had simple plots that almost anyone could relate to, and it's hard to not see this as anything more than a confusing downgrade.
Okay. Cooling my jets on the negativity now. I don't hate this game, far from it, really.
Each world is split up into 5 missions, all of which are required to progress to the next world. The first mission is always the typical NiGHTS action stage you'd expect. The main change to the formula is that you're now chasing a target during each lap. In this context, having to repeat a lap isn't ideal; there's a bigger focus on getting everything done in one lap and moving on to the next lap ASAP. I actually prefer this change, in all honesty. Repeating laps for a higher score in Saturn NiGHTS was a cool concept, but in execution, it could cause the whole run to really drag. JoD NiGHTS puts more of a focus on unique setpieces for each lap in each area, and the setpieces are always delightful. There's a pillar of slot machines, a hall of mirrors, naturally growing musical notation, and more. After three laps, you'll face off against a truncated version of that area's boss (we'll come back to them later).
Missions 2, 3, and 4 of each world are all gimmick stages. Mission 3 is always a Link Challenge where you pursue Octopaw through the chase stage in an attempt to create the longest link chain you can muster. As for missions 2 and 4, anything goes. Sometimes you'll be paralooping Nightopians to safety, other times you'll be pushing small water orbs into a big water orb, and god forbid, sometimes you'll play levels dedicated to the kids alone. Yeah, what was originally a punishment for running out of time in the original NiGHTS has entire 3D platforming stages dedicated to them in this game. It's not even that they're outright bad; the controls are fine and the levels are fine, but they vastly overstay their welcome, and suddenly the only thing you can think about is "I wish I could go back to flying around as NiGHTS."
The fifth mission of every world is an extended standalone version of mission 1's boss fight. Just like the original NiGHTS, the bosses are pretty hit-or-miss. Some are self-explanatory, and pretty enjoyable as a result. Others range from mediocre to bad due to either being completely unclear, or simply unfun to begin with. One saving grace is that you can ask Owl for a hint at any time on the pause menu, and he's pretty good at telling you exactly what you should be doing. Doesn't stop Bomamba from being complete shit though.
Cutscene oddity aside, the one thing I cannot knock this game for at all is the presentation. All the environments are bursting with creative ideas and spectacle, and the music is excellent. I'm glad I switched to playing the game in the Dolphin emulator with a 60 FPS cheat about halfway through my playthrough, this game deserves it. (If you plan on playing this game, this is how I recommend you do it!)
When a sequel to a beloved cult classic is released, people are realistically going to have high expectations. However, even taking the original NiGHTS' legacy into consideration, I'm still not entirely sure where all the virtiolic hate for this game comes from. The story feels confused, and the game's content feels padded, but the underlying gameplay has never felt better, and the dream worlds have never looked more stunning. I can easily see myself returning to play the "chase" missions, if nothing else. Even with all my nitpicking and comparisons to the original, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time playing this one.
The original game left you in the dark on most of the story's concepts, and I can infer that many people enjoyed interpeting the meaning of that game in their own way. This'll probably sound like sacrelige, but I don't entirely mind the concept of telling us more about how Nightopia works, and what certain things symbolize. Unfortunately, the voice acting and dialogue itself is very stilted, and nothing much of value actually happens in the cutscenes. Some lines are also just...yeah. It also tends to suffer from overexplaining, or telling us too much. Worse yet, these cutscenes severely bog down the pace of the game. I'm pretty sure I was watching cutscenes for about the same amount of time I got to actually play the game. There's also one thing I can't ignore about the story cutscenes above all else, that being how all the in-engine ones are stretched in widescreen, which feels like a massive oversight. I can't be the only one who sees this. I have to wonder if switching to 4:3 makes them look more natural, but even then, that cuts down on your field of view in normal gameplay, and everything else looks fantastic in widescreen. What happened here?
The most controversial element introduced in these cutscenes (afaik) is giving NiGHTS a proper voice. To me, it feels like it draws away from their androgynous nature. In this game, NiGHTS is referred to by characters as a he, has a voice that's leaning toward female (but you could argue for "young boy"), and the same androgynous design from the 90s. It's a weird mix of elements that comes off more confusing than anything. The main plot for either character also doesn't seem to line up, from my perspective. I think they wanted to focus on the relationships between the children and their parents, but like, Will's Dad heads out to buy milk and never come home right in the opening cutscene. How am I supposed to connect with that? The original NiGHTS had simple plots that almost anyone could relate to, and it's hard to not see this as anything more than a confusing downgrade.
Okay. Cooling my jets on the negativity now. I don't hate this game, far from it, really.
Each world is split up into 5 missions, all of which are required to progress to the next world. The first mission is always the typical NiGHTS action stage you'd expect. The main change to the formula is that you're now chasing a target during each lap. In this context, having to repeat a lap isn't ideal; there's a bigger focus on getting everything done in one lap and moving on to the next lap ASAP. I actually prefer this change, in all honesty. Repeating laps for a higher score in Saturn NiGHTS was a cool concept, but in execution, it could cause the whole run to really drag. JoD NiGHTS puts more of a focus on unique setpieces for each lap in each area, and the setpieces are always delightful. There's a pillar of slot machines, a hall of mirrors, naturally growing musical notation, and more. After three laps, you'll face off against a truncated version of that area's boss (we'll come back to them later).
Missions 2, 3, and 4 of each world are all gimmick stages. Mission 3 is always a Link Challenge where you pursue Octopaw through the chase stage in an attempt to create the longest link chain you can muster. As for missions 2 and 4, anything goes. Sometimes you'll be paralooping Nightopians to safety, other times you'll be pushing small water orbs into a big water orb, and god forbid, sometimes you'll play levels dedicated to the kids alone. Yeah, what was originally a punishment for running out of time in the original NiGHTS has entire 3D platforming stages dedicated to them in this game. It's not even that they're outright bad; the controls are fine and the levels are fine, but they vastly overstay their welcome, and suddenly the only thing you can think about is "I wish I could go back to flying around as NiGHTS."
The fifth mission of every world is an extended standalone version of mission 1's boss fight. Just like the original NiGHTS, the bosses are pretty hit-or-miss. Some are self-explanatory, and pretty enjoyable as a result. Others range from mediocre to bad due to either being completely unclear, or simply unfun to begin with. One saving grace is that you can ask Owl for a hint at any time on the pause menu, and he's pretty good at telling you exactly what you should be doing. Doesn't stop Bomamba from being complete shit though.
Cutscene oddity aside, the one thing I cannot knock this game for at all is the presentation. All the environments are bursting with creative ideas and spectacle, and the music is excellent. I'm glad I switched to playing the game in the Dolphin emulator with a 60 FPS cheat about halfway through my playthrough, this game deserves it. (If you plan on playing this game, this is how I recommend you do it!)
When a sequel to a beloved cult classic is released, people are realistically going to have high expectations. However, even taking the original NiGHTS' legacy into consideration, I'm still not entirely sure where all the virtiolic hate for this game comes from. The story feels confused, and the game's content feels padded, but the underlying gameplay has never felt better, and the dream worlds have never looked more stunning. I can easily see myself returning to play the "chase" missions, if nothing else. Even with all my nitpicking and comparisons to the original, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time playing this one.