I don't get NiGHTS.
I mean, I know what it's going for. It's a game designed entirely around the verb of flight. The mode by which we get there is a literalization of Jungian and Freudian psychology, particularly as it pertains to dreams. NiGHTS themself is a Jungian Shadow, but also sort of a tulpa within the dreaming world. The landscapes of Nightopia are abstractions that do not conform to reality, being part of a dream world. The Ideya gems represent ideals of human character, and it's through their journey with NiGHTS, and their own latent courage, that the downtrodden kids are able to strengthen their spirit and find the power within themselves to tackle life's hardships. I get all that, intellectually.
I think, for as much thought exists within this game's world, NiGHTS into dreams... is a game fundamentally about belief. It's such an abstract game that you have to take on faith the symbolism the creators intended for it to carry any meaning. Definitely not a game that survives death of the author. For something on the fifth console generation that lacked dialogue entirely, that's a pretty hefty ask. I try, but I don't know that I'm able to consistently ride along with that.
No disrespect meant by this. NiGHTS into dreams... is probably the closest Sonic Team ever came to an arthouse game, and SEGA came to pushing a "high art" project as a major release, certainly amid its heyday in the 90s. To go from Sonic the Hedgehog to this, then onward to stuff like Burning Rangers and Sonic Adventure, kinda boggles the mind. Sort of like if a version of Pikmin existed on the Super Nintendo, inexplicably sandwiched between Shigeru Miyamoto's efforts on Doki Doki Panic and Star Fox. I appreciate that this game exists, for sure.
I also think that the core experience of the gameplay itself is quite sound. There really is something to the ease and flow of how NiGHTS moves around the game worlds that just defies description. Yes, it's on-rails, one way or another, but there's still an effortless freeform quality to it that makes it feel limitless. To say nothing of all the visual effects at play - Soft Museum in particular is such a spectacle. For the mid-90s, this must've felt unreal.
Do I understand what's happening with the loops and the pickups and the Nightopians? Not really, not at all. I know I'm supposed to get blue sphere and get the top score, and I know that I don't want to be a kid, unless I do want to be a kid. This is what I meant before - I don't get this game. I get the ideas, and I get the core verb, but everything else is sort of a barrage of abstract fantasia as I navigate towards what I think is the goal.
But, like, I still felt something when I got to Twin Seeds, and I figured out what the game was trying to say. And it's quite sweet! You just need to be able to meet the game on its own terms, rather than expect the game to meet you on yours.
I'm kind of all over the place with this review, so let's end on something easier to critique. It's really cool that this release incorporates the level of Christmas NiGHTS. However, looking into it, so many things are missing from the Christmas NiGHTS demo disk that I almost wish they hadn't incorporated this level into this release, and instead focused on putting out a separate rerelease that preserved the demo disk in its entirety. There's a strong possibility that Christmas NiGHTS ends up being my favorite game in this series, if I ever get to play it and Journey into Dreams - and we only get a trace of that in this release. Too bad.
I mean, I know what it's going for. It's a game designed entirely around the verb of flight. The mode by which we get there is a literalization of Jungian and Freudian psychology, particularly as it pertains to dreams. NiGHTS themself is a Jungian Shadow, but also sort of a tulpa within the dreaming world. The landscapes of Nightopia are abstractions that do not conform to reality, being part of a dream world. The Ideya gems represent ideals of human character, and it's through their journey with NiGHTS, and their own latent courage, that the downtrodden kids are able to strengthen their spirit and find the power within themselves to tackle life's hardships. I get all that, intellectually.
I think, for as much thought exists within this game's world, NiGHTS into dreams... is a game fundamentally about belief. It's such an abstract game that you have to take on faith the symbolism the creators intended for it to carry any meaning. Definitely not a game that survives death of the author. For something on the fifth console generation that lacked dialogue entirely, that's a pretty hefty ask. I try, but I don't know that I'm able to consistently ride along with that.
No disrespect meant by this. NiGHTS into dreams... is probably the closest Sonic Team ever came to an arthouse game, and SEGA came to pushing a "high art" project as a major release, certainly amid its heyday in the 90s. To go from Sonic the Hedgehog to this, then onward to stuff like Burning Rangers and Sonic Adventure, kinda boggles the mind. Sort of like if a version of Pikmin existed on the Super Nintendo, inexplicably sandwiched between Shigeru Miyamoto's efforts on Doki Doki Panic and Star Fox. I appreciate that this game exists, for sure.
I also think that the core experience of the gameplay itself is quite sound. There really is something to the ease and flow of how NiGHTS moves around the game worlds that just defies description. Yes, it's on-rails, one way or another, but there's still an effortless freeform quality to it that makes it feel limitless. To say nothing of all the visual effects at play - Soft Museum in particular is such a spectacle. For the mid-90s, this must've felt unreal.
Do I understand what's happening with the loops and the pickups and the Nightopians? Not really, not at all. I know I'm supposed to get blue sphere and get the top score, and I know that I don't want to be a kid, unless I do want to be a kid. This is what I meant before - I don't get this game. I get the ideas, and I get the core verb, but everything else is sort of a barrage of abstract fantasia as I navigate towards what I think is the goal.
But, like, I still felt something when I got to Twin Seeds, and I figured out what the game was trying to say. And it's quite sweet! You just need to be able to meet the game on its own terms, rather than expect the game to meet you on yours.
I'm kind of all over the place with this review, so let's end on something easier to critique. It's really cool that this release incorporates the level of Christmas NiGHTS. However, looking into it, so many things are missing from the Christmas NiGHTS demo disk that I almost wish they hadn't incorporated this level into this release, and instead focused on putting out a separate rerelease that preserved the demo disk in its entirety. There's a strong possibility that Christmas NiGHTS ends up being my favorite game in this series, if I ever get to play it and Journey into Dreams - and we only get a trace of that in this release. Too bad.