Sega Nerds

Iizuka presents NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

Posted by Graham. Filed under G, News, Nintendo Wii, Preview. Tagged with Exclusive, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams.

Before we were given the chance to interview, Iizuka-san, we were given a presentation by the man himself, in which he showed off, and explained, the key features of the game.

We were told that the three key features of the game are:

• Look and feel: Rich and colourful environments.
• Characters: Offering separate paths of play through the game.
• Persona Masks: Offering new and unique game play features.

Mr. Iizuka also explained a few other new features.

• Online play: The chance to race against either random players, or friends, through levels.
• Online rankings: Players can see just how good they are, by checking their results with the online leader boards (shown below).
• My Dream: A world which players are able to customise, and help “grow” the more they play.
• Dream World: A hub where players start, and walk to Dream Gates, to select the level they wish to play.
• Forecast Channel: The Wii can download data for the weather in your current location, which is shown in/affects the My Dream section of the game.
• Missions: Each world now has several missions, that the player can complete, rather than just the standard game play, the original had.
• Four methods of control: Wiimote, Nunchuck + Wiimote, Classic controller and GameCube, each offering a slightly different feel to the game (apparently).

One thing that many gamers had previously questioned was the reason for the children being in the game. The original, NiGHTS into Dreams, had the children stripped of their core emotions, except for courage, and NiGHTS had to help them fight back to reclaim these emotions. By doing so, the children could overcome certain fears they had in real life, which had caused them to initially have the dream/nightmare.

Fortunately, Iizuka-san, explained (via his translator) the reason for the change. The reason and idea of the game, is that the children now have to understand the importance of family. As both children are going through certain emotional family situations, which, this time, leads to the dreams.

I’m sure many of you may not like the idea, but we’re stuck with it. And you can’t blame Iizuka for trying something a little new, as he did specify several times that he wanted to make the game different from the original.

As the presentation went on, Iizuka actually began playing the game and showing us certain features, in action and explaining more about the game to us. Most of the features you will have heard about by now, such as the masks, so I shall skip past them.

One thing that people (many at Sega Nerds), have been moaning about, was the inclusion of the children-only levels. Well, Iizuka did not explain his intentions on this, but he did show us. The children’s levels are like that of a normal platform game, and they do not appear to be based on the main levels of the game. One level we were shown had the children inside a building of some sort, one which reminded me somewhat of Sonic Adventure, though that’s probably just me.

The basis of the levels is that the children, somehow, manage to get into each other’s dreams, and they have to get the other child out of his/her dream. One thing the level really showed off was the inclusion of some great lighting effects, the images do not do it justice; for a Wii game, (especially) they looked great.

While gameplay in these levels seemed to revolve around platforming and puzzle solving, no enemies were shown, but we did get to see the children activate certain switches. This may not sound too great, but I was certainly intrigued by the levels, and ever since they’re extra and not part of the main game, I don’t think we should complain too much.

Anyway, one other area of the game, which has people talking, is the inclusion of the My Dream segment. In a nutshell, the player has their own mini-world, which starts off barren, (dull background and setting), and as they play the game, they can help the world to grow some. Much like the Chao gardens in Sonic Adventure, one can raise Nightopians (the cherubs), or Marens (the baddies), can interbreed the two, to form new creatures. (See interview).

We weren’t shown much of the growth, but it was implied that the world will change depending on how the player does, in the main game, with the use of A-Life, (a system used in the original NiGHTS), which meant the world can (in theory) change randomly, and the player will not have direct control.

It was also told, that the players can customise their My Dream world, via Wi-Fi. And speaking of Wi-Fi, we were shown, that other players can join you, in your world, and help to ‘mess’ around with your My Dream.

One thing the Wii doesn’t have, yet, is online voice communication. So talking to your friends, in your world could be tricky, no? Well it is, but at the same time it isn’t.

Players communicate, using symbols. Such as smiley faces, hearts… you know the various random objects one might find in a MSN conversation, between two 12 year old girls. This method is certainly not as effective as voice chat. However, it was explained, why this was being used.

The symbol-chat is quicker than typing words, using an onscreen keyboard. It is also a better way for people, globally, to chat. What Iizuka-san wants to do, with the My Dream, is allow players, who speak different languages, to be able to communicate.

In effect, he trying to do what Nintendon’t (wink, wink), Iizuka-san, is trying to help promote and encourage Wii users to play with others, around the world, online. So far Nintendo have been slow to get this ball rolling, and it’s good to see another company trying to do something about it.

This method may not work, but it is certainly a start.

Well, that was pretty much it for the presentation. We were then given a chance to actually play the game (yey!), but you will have to wait (not long, don’t worry!), for my hands-on impressions of the game, (should be here tomorrow).