Thanks for the review, Diputs. I liked hearing that those who like both games aren't rare as well as your own thoughts about the game.

The only criticism that I can offer, though is that the review was a bit much to read. This is mostly due to the fact that it looked like a giant wall of text and made losing your place a bit too easy. Also, I have to ask what did you think about the designs of the other Nightmaren bosses?

Ah, sorry, I tend to think in walls of text and forgot to do some spacing, I've got that edited now.

Yes, I really do like both games, I can understand why original NiGHTS fans would think Journey is such a flop, and from a sales standpoint it didn't really bode well for a NiGHTS revival; but I think the main problem with it is that they tried to introduce people to everything in the world, which is something the original only did in the manual, leaving the game itself free to be experienced by the individual.

As for the other Nightmaren, I think both of their designs were interesting aesthetically, they managed to feel suitably dreamlike. I can't really think of many differences to emphasize that I haven't covered with Reala and the fact Journey of Dreams has you fight them twice. Neither game was much harder than the other once you figure out each of their specific weaknesses, though in JoD's the practice round before the fight and Owl's tips could be seen as helpful to newer players. I don't really have a personal favorite, though Camelan from JoD reminds me slightly of a dream of my own.

Greeting dreamers and visitors, this is my personal impression of both NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams and the newly released remastered PC NiGHTS into Dreams…

Before I start, I’d like to clarify that first, I was introduced to NiGHTS via the second game, after seeing a few cameos in Sonic games and eventually looking them up on the internet to figure out what they were referencing I rented JoD for the Wii. Ever since, I’ve been waiting for the remake, and now that I’ve bought my early Christmas present to myself and played it through already, I finally can at least call myself a fairly experienced fan.


Gameplay:

I’ll start with the slightly simpler game, the NiD remake. When starting a level selected from a menu, you jump right in as Claris or Elliot, landing in Nightopia only to have four of your Ideya taken away within a moment of landing. You then have the option of wandering around for a while as one of the kids, trying to grab a few blue chips while avoiding the alarm clock egg, but sooner or later you have to get in the Ideya palace and Dualize with NiGHTS. You go through four laps, trying to collect 20 blue chips and open the Ideya capture as quickly as possible, then get to use what time you have left to gain points and return to the Ideya Palace to start the next; at the end of each level comes the Nightmaren for the dream. The only level that deviates is Twin Seeds, in which you play only as either Claris or Elliot and do not have to return to the Palace, each lap instantly joining into the next.

Journey of Dreams is rather different, first in that all the levels are joined in a single hub world, and the dreams are entered by means of doors standing in the middle of nowhere. In each Nightopia there are five missions. The first is always the same, NiGHTS has been captured and can be freed temporarily by Dualizing with the current kid, you then have to catch a specific Nightmaren that flies around the course, racking up points along the way. Again, you fight a Nightmaren after this, and the fifth mission in each Nightopia is a harder version of the same Nightmaren. The other missions vary, one is always an ‘Octopaw challenge’, where you follow a dream octopus and try to get a certain amount of links by flying through the rings it leaves behind. Other missions have NiGHTS transform into a vehicle of some sort for the duration, which gives you a different control set to learn. Another one that is common, though not present in every dream, is a level where you do not join with NiGHTS and instead have to reach a goal as one of the children.

My very first impression after sitting down and thinking about both is that NiD is faster. Overall, as in how quickly one can finish the game, and how NiGHTS and the kids move and respond, NiD feels much more quick-paced. This is neither better nor worse, as it’s very rewarding to blast through a mare at high speed, if you’re familiar enough with how the various ‘gimmicks’ like the magnet machine or bobsled to be prepared for them; but it can feel unforgiving to mistakes, certainly if you’re going for all A ranks.

In both games the majority of flight time is looking at NiGHTS from the side, and everything but using the Wii remote as a pointer (JoD) is fairly easy to control. NiGHTS moves and turns in a way that feels very natural in both cases, though managing to pass through a specific area to collect something can be hard to learn, in both cases it’s possible for the untrained player to miss something and take too wide a turn to try to get it, using up time and running into a Nightmaren. In both games a minor complaint I can make is that the camera can feel too zoomed in at times, and you don’t always seem to have enough time to prepare for oncoming obstacles unless you have a general idea what and where they are. In JoD the problem feels alleviated somewhat by the camera turning slightly after you fly in a direction for so long, giving you some foresight, and I don’t seem to have a problem controlling while it’s turned like that. Another thing I missed when playing NiD was a map showing your position on the current track, while it takes up more of your screen, occasionally I have to make a judgment whether I should go left or right to get to the Ideya capture fastest.

In both games, playing as the kids is possible, though it’s usually pretty quick, one notable difference between the two is that when running out of time in NiD you turn back into the child you started the level as and simply get and F for the lap, while in JoD running out of time as NiGHTS gives you a Night Over. This can open up some interesting possibilities, such as the time I finished the a lap after getting all blue chips but having a hard time finding the Ideya Capture, and when I ran out of time breaking it with Claris and then going on to fight the Clawz (As NiGHTS, the stage wouldn’t end until I had re-Dualized). The NiD kids apparently work out a lot, because they move faster and jump higher than Will or Helen. In JoD, playing as the kids could get tedious, it became a platformer with very few actions you could take and levels that either were not built for you (The NiGHTS Capture missions) or long and mazelike compared to the rest of the game (The Crossover missions and Helen’s on foot adventures).

One other thing JoD introduced was Personas, masks NiGHTS could use to access new areas or overcome obstacles. The three were Dolphin, allowing you to swim in water, Rocket, making you faster, especially your dash, and Dragon, which let you ignore wind currents and improved your dash. Quite frankly, I dislike these, at least in the way they were presented at the end of a mare in the hub world. I feel NiGHTS should already be able to do or transform and go more or less anywhere from the start; though I do like the looks of Dragon NiGHTS and both NiGHTS and Reala can look good with or without a Persona.

I’m going to go ahead and include Nightopians in here, the A-Life later used as a base for Chao in Sonic. Quite honestly, I find it hard to interact with them as NiGHTS, and the kids in JoD have more they can do with them, feeding them blue chips and having a mutable stage just for them where you can send them and the Nightmaren you paraloop as NiGHTS. In NiD, I always feel like I’m going too fast to enjoy their little actions in the background, though maybe that will change after I know the stages well enough to not feel like I need to get them done or die.

My overall impression is that the gameplay is fun for both of them, though a little short and I’d hesitate to shell out the fifty dollars most games are priced at these days for gameplay alone. I may be biased, but I like the way JoD NiGHTS feels better, the slow and smooth motions, the natural swimming sense and way that the animations have you moving make me feel relaxed, I’m able to go a decent speed, keep my score up and look good doing it. At the same time, one gameplay experience I truly do feel was lost in JoD was a final Wizeman fight where he presented a credible threat, as the god of Nightmare, he actually felt like it in NiD.


Presentation:

In both games, the story is easy to grasp. Wizeman the Wicked wants to steal the Ideya, and as these are representations of your soul the kids he’s targeting aren’t going to sit around and watch. The main difference between the two is that NiD’s story is told primarily in the manual and through mostly wordless cutscenes, while JoD gives you a cutscene in between every level or more. Seriously, at some points in time, you end a cutscene, walk five steps, and another one starts. Even if they were good movies, I wouldn’t find it pleasant, and with the simple writing and mediocre voice acting, they are the thing that’s cost me the most potential NiGHTS converts. The worst part? They can’t be skipped.

The main issue I have with JoD is that they try to explain everything and do so in an ineffective manner, the use of a expository Owl to show the kids around and helpfully remind them to collect dreamdrops. A character like this may exist in NiD too, in the form of a Nightopian who explains things to Claris and Elliot, but that’s only in the same text you’re learning about it all, never seen or heard. Attempting to talk as much as JoD’s writers seem to think they should takes away much of the dreamy quality of things, listening to everything and what it symbolizes being told to you leaves people sighing most of the time.

One voice I enjoyed was Wizeman’s, it managed to sound suitable for the god of nightmare. His presentation in both games made him feel like the truly greatest challenge, though once again I feel NiD was a more demanding fight. One thing I noticed was in the first Wizeman’s list of planned atrocities included ruling over the waking world as well as Nightopia. While it doesn’t say exactly how he planned to do it, I like to think he can possess someone who has lost all their Ideya; but whether that’s true or not, it certainly meant the kids’ jobs were more urgent.

Reala changed a bit too, as everyone’s favorite evil twin of NiGHTS’ the NiD presentation seemed more confident and powerful, arrogant even, and the two fought directly with drill dash and paraloop. In JoD it seemed to be more of a plotter, using words to drive a wedge between NiGHTS and the kids and directly responsible for catching NiGHTS at the start of each level, fighting by touch-dashing spheres into the other twin. Also, in NiD Reala was fought like a normal Maren, at the end of a Nightopia, while in JoD Wizeman used it as an offensive tool, going from place to place and fought once before a NiGHTS Capture level and again before Wizeman himself if you have a high enough rank.

Special mention here to Jackle, who’s had a lot of fan theories and is a favorite of quite a few people despite relatively little mention in the story. Not included in JoD, we’re left to conclude this is probably for the better, as even the people insane enough to voice the Card Reaper knew they would have to read lines by the same writer who had Will and Helen’s speeches on friendship.

The final level of each game is shared by the kids in it and is truly the highlight of the series. Without NiGHTS, they must fly on their own in a mad rush to the end. In each case, the sense of triumph as they shoot back up from taking their leap of faith into darkness is enough to make you lift off yourself with the swell of the music (don’t try this at home). As much as others may find it cheesy or even offensive, I enjoyed JoD having Helen falter as the lights are turned off, losing her Red Ideya of Courage and beginning to fall, only to be saved at the last second by Will and the lights turning back on to even more triumphant music. In both games travelling at top speed while singing along is a sure way to make sure I have that sappy smile on my face and I keep falling over from trying to fly myself all day.

Overall, the games are both very different in how they communicate the same themes: that we don’t have to be scared of our Nightmares anymore. I’ve had plenty of fun theorizing how the two are linked, prequel, sequel, or retroactive continuity; and I enjoy figuring out how the world of Nightopia works; and most of all I like thinking of my own Marens, Pians, and Dream areas; but ultimately the attraction everyone loves is a slightly insane renegade Nightmaren with a flamboyant outfit and love of freedom.

In conclusion, both NiGHTS into Dreams… and NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams are excellent games, and despite protests they are among my favorites. They were certainly worth the money I paid for them and I look forward to playing them, and dreaming of the day more might be released.

Finally got to meet NiGHTS last night.

I was repeatedly waking up and going back to sleep, no particular reason for my odd style of that, but it was good in the sense that I would keep waking up long enough to remember bits and pieces of a large dream that had no particular large plot. It wasn't particularly frightening, and I don't recall having much awareness that it was a dream outside of those few moments when I would wake up.

In any case, after a few other events, I found myself in the basement of Luigi's Mansion (from the Mario Brothers). I was looking for either something or someone, I can't remember which, and was being hindered by the various ghosts in the area. After coming down a set of stairs into a large room, I see NiGHTS versus a large ghost, and get to watch some impressive acrobatics in an enclosed area. I came in and helped out, and afterwards we teamed up to continue looking for the reasons we were in here, NiGHTS was also in the mansion to find someone, I don't know if it was the same person. I don't have much specific detail as to whether we found them or not, since I wound up waking up before seeing the conclusion of that particular arc of the dream. One thing I do remember though is NiGHTS showing off a werewolf-looking form, getting covered in brown fur and growing some canines. For some reason or another, the ghosts were frightened of it.

So, then I wake up in the morning, get so lost in thought and trying to solidify the dream in my memory, that I head off to work without lunch. And ever since, I've been walking on air (not literally, unfortunately), it feels a lot like it did when I first completed Journey of Dreams.

Never heard of this game before this, but it looks very interesting. Unfortunately, I don't own a PS3, but it looks like my reasons for buying one are beginning to add up with this.

That seemed like some adventure/chase/battle. While the woman in your dreams may not have been NiGHTS, could she have been a personal guardian or a Muse of some sort?

Wow, sorry for the late reply, hadn't been on the forums for a long while. I would be inclined to think so, like I said in some earlier post, I would not identify her with NiGHTS (Not quite as carefree and reckless, someone quiter who just gave off an odd aura of calmness). As for a personal guardian, I couldn't say, our interaction felt more like two different but equal entities than one being in some sort of guarding role.

I was actually getting on here to try to refresh myself on this dream, it's been so long since I've had one and I have been feeling a little stressed. Then I remembered how relieving that first one was, so I thought I would try to freshen up my memories of it and get to bed early, and see if I could find it or something else.

Wizeman doesn't really seem to have much regard for his creations in Jod(unable to speak much about NiD due to not owning it). If they don't complete their reason for existing, they are no more useful than a broken tool, and might as well be cast aside. Reala and NiGHTS, who seem to be the only Nightmarens that are capable of feeling and expressing emotions, each sort of dealt with the stress completely differently; NiGHTS with total rebellion and Reala with total servitude.
Reala does fear Wizeman, but also refused to rebel several times even when the perfect chances prevented themselves. Also, some of the lines seem to express scorn at NiGHTS for continuing with what Reala sees as a hopeless act. "You're the one who can't do anything without borrowing power from Visitors!"
Reala does seem to cheat a lot, though it sounds like this is not so big a factor in the original game, when they fought by drill-dashing and paralooping each other. To be fair though, Reala's line "You did hurt me more than I expected" implied he knew NiGHTS would win, perhaps implying he was actually holding back until NiGHTS was in the position to be trapped. Either Reala actually knew NiGHTS was stronger or did not want to hurt her.
Reala still seems to like NiGHTS, while at the same time thinking him foolish to be rebelling against Wizeman. I would think that is Reala's cause for trying so hard to seperate NiGHTS from the Visitors, thinking that she is just taking a liking to their source of Ideya or something.

Also, hello and welcome to the forum!(that should have been at the top maybe)

That's pretty good. Did you manage to turn off the subtitles or just select the times that none were being shown?