[Wii] NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams (Rated 8/10)

Pinch me I'm dreaming

Pros:Incredible level design, smooth and fast gameplay give you a wonderful sense of flight. Nice bosses, and even better music. I could just listen to the music forever. Nice charm.

Cons:Mid-level course in each dreamland has a tendency to feel out of place, especially when you're trying to go through the frustration, long, and tedious portions where you play as Will or Helen, and not NiGHTs. There is something wrong about the kids, and I can't tell what, but something isn't right.

Before anyone kills me about completing this before Super Mario Galaxy - getting all those stars are tough - I want to say that this is an incredible game. I never played it's predecessor on the Sega Saturn, so my rating might feel off compared to your feeling about this game.

This game is wonderful, from the wild bosses, to the gorgeous levels, and the fact that you get to fly. The gameplay is very satisfying. The first mission has you trying to save NiGHTs from a cage. Once you get into the cage, you "dualize" with NiGHTs, and fly around to catch some guards with a key to get NiGHTs out of the cage. These are the funnest levels. They also are the most confusing. I'm still trying to figure out why "dualizing" with NiGHTs gets him, her, it, out of the cage, but hey. Then after you have broken the three cages NiGHTs is captured in, then it goes to a boss. These bosses look good, and for NiGHT's limited moves, are great. What I dislike though are the next three levels. The developers tried to put in a little variety in the game, like filling a floating ball with water, or chasing aroung a little blue octupus thing. and it's not a bad thing, but they tend to be bad. After these three usually annoying levels, you get to go through the boss in the first mission again, but this time it's tougher. Once you've defeated the boss, you earn an Ideya, pieces of a dreamer's heart. This flow through the game is okay, I just wish the three annoying missions were missions similar to the first mission, but complaining won't do a thing about it.

The controls scheme was okay, but sometimes a little out of whack. You have a choice between Wiimote only, Wiimote and Nunchuk, or the classic controller. Each one has a completely different feel. You can choose which one you like better. The Wiimote and Nunchuk are the easiest, but also the most boring. The Wiimote has you twisting it and so forth, which makes you feel like you are controlling NiGHTs, but it is often frustrating. The classic is simply the same the Wiimote and Nunchuk.

The storyline was okay. A lot of things weren't thoroughly explained, and some made no sense at all. The voice actors were decent though, and some emotions were well done during scenes of bliss, anger, or some other stuff, but some of the things were ridiculous. Will's story feels like they were trying, but when it came to Helen, everything seemed kinda sloppy. Her movements, emotions, or gestures just weren't as coordinated as Will. Foot placement was a little funky in this game. Your character could be standing on part cliff and part air, but he never fell. I won't detract points for this. I just usually laugh at it.

I'm gonna say I love the music again. The music was enticing, and enthrilling. The music is easily the best part of the game. You can also make little dream worlds, where saved Nightopians or defeated Nightmarens would hang out. You could also share these worlds over Wi-Fi.

This game is very short, and easy, though there are still some challenging areas. It took me under 5 hours to complete the game. It's lucky I'm a completionist. I also would have appreciated more cut-scenes because they look incredible. It's sorta awkward to go from incredible looking cut-scenes in high resolution, to actual gameplay, but that's okay.

All in all, this game is very good. It has a unique charm, and great level and boss design. Though some of the missions aren't very good, but they are bearable. Once again, you can't go wrong with this games music, and with all the little fillers, you will likely come back to play some more.