Hands-on Knights in the Nightmare
Even more on this shockingly deep, DS-exclusive strategic wonder.
April 17, 2009 - Editor's Note: I mention it below, but if you haven't read my first hands-on with Knights in the Nightmare already, you're going to want to start there, as this is a very complex (but rewarding) game. Don't worry, the new info and media isn't going anywhere. Check it out if you haven't, and then come on back.
Atlus's Knights in the Nightmare is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining DS games I've played so far this year, as it has seemingly limitless depth to it, and an amazing design. I've been getting a few minutes in with the game here and there, and while another video walkthrough won't be coming until next week – keep your eyes open for it! – I wanted to jot down a few more of my thoughts on the game for those that are already interested, and give people that haven't played the game yet a chance to see what Knights in the Nightmare is all about.
Developed by Japanese house Sting, Knights in the Nightmare is hands-down the most complex and deep games on DS, and perhaps on any handheld period. Fans that know Sting from games like Riviera before it (GBA's swan song) know the team is responsible for some of the most innovative and unexpected twists on the RPG formula out there.
The nice though about Knights in the Nightmare though, is that after just a bit of time with the game it really warms up to you, and the depth is far from overwhelming once you get your hands dirty during the included tutorial and tips areas. At the point I'm at now with the game, I've got a chance to really sit back and enjoy it, and play it for what it is – a quick bursts, arcade strategy game. I've seen Knights in the Nightmare compared to bullet hell games, titles like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, amongst other odd descriptors. In reality though, it's a mix of a lot of elements, as you're only dealing with one screen of action, but a whole lot of strategy comes into play.
Before getting into some of the specifics, I very much encourage anyone reading about this game for the first time to read my first hands-on, or at the very least, watch the first walkthrough below if you want to have any clue what's going on. This is an amazing game, but it won't make a bit of sense without an introduction, which is exactly what Part 1 of my video walkthrough is all about.
In the last hour or so of playing I've had a chance to get through the "getting to know the game" feeling I had at first, and am now figuring out a lot of the specifics. Since the main game is all about clicking and dragging on just a few – in most cases unmovable – characters, it really isn't that tough to get into. When enemies are in your way, you attack them. Once you connect, you get gems which fuel your MP meter and let you unleash your equipment-based attacks. Keep repeating as you play, and you'll eventually take out your foes.
The battle scenarios are really the result of a lot of pre-planning though, as long as you're doing it all the right way. As you've already seen in the video walkthrough (because you wouldn't skip it, right?) there's a pretty decent sized list of starting items, but if you look closely there are also multiples of some as well. Since all items have durability and set strength, upped critical stats, alignment, and all sorts of other great info that'll take you forever to learn about, you don't want your top items destroyed. Also, if you've been powering things up you've got no reason to use the lesser equipment in your inventory. There are two things to do in that situation. First off, you can actually fuse items together, making new ones or upping the strength of two identical items into one stronger version of the same thing. If you have two Cross Axes, for example, you can combine them into a stronger single axe; handy, since you won't need to bring two into battle with you anyways. On the whole other side though, you can also combine things to make new weaponry. Sometimes you'll have awesome success, and other times you'll completely waste your items. Easy come, easy go, right?
The more interesting item situation though actually comes with the "Item Strengthen" system, which allows you to use raw materials you collect to have a chance at upping specific items all around. I've taken a regular Frozen Axe item and used dozens of materials to strengthen it from a 29% power item (decent starter weapon, but not amazing) and upped it to a 58% "+8" (meaning I successfully leveled it up eight times) beast of a weapon. What also happens though is that as you level up weapons, the required level for those weapons goes up. If you overextend your weaponry, you may lock that weapon out entirely until you level your characters up enough to use them. Weapon levels increase using a "trust" system as well, so you can actually fail at upgrading, and suffer from negative stats instead of positive ones. Nothing's ever easy in life, is it?
Yeah, this game can get pretty deep. It's also extremely rewarding though.
The effects from leveling up items is insane though. For instance, my Frozen Axe not only increases in power and required level, but also adds special effects (up to three of them) based on the game's RC, or "Rush Counter." What this does is count how many hits the item pulls off during a combo, and actually rewards the player at set hit numbers. My axe is maxed out with three RC effects, occurring at 2, 33, and 65 hits, so if I can manage to hit enemies with large combos, I'll unleash devastating power on my 2nd, 33rd, and 65th hit. It's just one of the game's many systems that take forever to figure out (or just a good teacher; in my case, Atlus USA), but are really rewarding once you see them in action.
When in actual combat, there are all sorts of little things to help you out as you play, so while every turn brings even more complexity to Knights in the Nightmare, it also ushers you into every piece of info you could ever need. Using key items to unlock new knights, for example, is really simple. Since the game is made up of "guest" and actual controlled knights, you'll need to turn the guests into actual party members so you can level them up and keep them for every battle. To do that, you need to use key items, which take the place of a piece of equipment during one turn of battle. As a nice touch though, every key item I've found actually states exactly who it needs to be used on, so as long as you can remember to bring them in, it's as easy as checking out your guests, and seeing if you have the item.
As for the lawful and chaotic fighting system, there are all sorts of intricacies that work along with attacks to make or break a match, but it's all right there in front of you. As a nice touch, the four items in your current list (when battling) actually have an L or C next to them, and to make it even easier, when you switch between L and C modes it actually changes the icons as well. As long as you look for the box with the right letter, you can use it in that mode. Also, since there's a timer to the lawful/chaotic system (too much time spent in each will start to weaken all the attacks), that timer is displayed on the little L/C dial itself, so if you're ever wondering when it's time to switch from one mode to the other, you just look down at the dial itself.
Even despite (and in most cases, because of) the game's insane level of complexity, I've had a blast playing through Knights in the Nightmare so far, and there's much more to come. The game's main mechanic is simple enough for anyone to grasp, but the amount of strategy and versatility is enough to make any hardcore gamer go crazy with giddy joy seizures. I encourage you to take a read though this entire article – as well as the first, as I'm sure you're downright confused if you read this one before the other – and check out some videos while you do it, as it's really an impressive game to see in action, and once you get the feel for it all it just flows. I'll have another video walkthrough ready to go next week, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that, and if you like what you hear so far (or have questions on it) chat about it in the comments section below with me and other fans of the game. This may not be a game for everyone, but after putting a few hours in so far I can assure you it's one of my persona pocket Game of the Year contenders already. It just may give The World Ends With You a run for its money.
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Brutal!
Gosto muito do estilo que se vê na boxart e OST.
(Jogos NDS não falta para os próximos tempos! sidenote: Arranja o Dragon Quest V, já!)
