Title: Knights in the Nightmare
Release: June 3, 2009
Genre: strategy
Developer: Sting
Publisher: Atlus
Platform: DS
Rating: T (Teen)
Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Knights-Nightmare-Nintendo-DS/dp/B001QTW2IC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1248106729&sr=8-1
Website: http://www.atlus.com/knights/
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Atlus is one of those publishers that can get away with some zany tricks. The mindset for the company seems to be “release whatever you want.” Many of their games are not commercially successful yet they can still release a variety of titles most of which are critically acclaimed. More often than not, Atlus is able to take much greater risks than other publishers and therefore they help create some interesting and rewarding experiments. Knights in the Nightmare for the Nintendo DS is obviously created by a mad gaming scientist.
The presentation celebrates the game with bursts of color and high caliber 2-D hand drawn settings. The look and feel of Knights gravitates towards other strategy titles like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. The sprites on the other hand look nothing like their portrait sketches and settle for lazy color changes to denote higher levels and different characters. The music is one of the game’s best features with a triumphant and eerie score that makes the experience so much more gratifying. The whole package radiates polish in order to introduce the new game play in the best possible atmosphere.
The game play is like nothing else in strategy video games today. It is so bizarrely radical that the developers felt it was necessary to launch tutorial game play footage weeks prior to the game’s release date. In a nutshell the game play is something of a mix between tic-tac-toe, chess and an arcade shooter. You have a certain amount of turns in which to fill a row or column in a grid with kills. Your knights attack enemies within their range. The attack yields an explosion of colored gems which you need to collect with your stylus in order to fill up the magic gauge. Once filled, you can then unleash a special attack that will kill the enemy because regular attacks do virtually no damage. The kill then fills a position in the grid depending on the enemy’s color and level. Knights in the Nightmare literally requires research and study before participating in the actual game.
The game play is without question unique, but is it fun? Keep in mind this game rejects casual accessibility at every opportunity. You will not be able to accomplish anything without preparing mentally before hand. If you are one of those people who are clamoring for a hardcore experience in a sea of casual ilk then Knights will mute you shortly. The style is so refreshing and new that veteran gamers cannot help but awe at the inventiveness, yet the great majority of gamers will hate Knights for that exact same reason. The polarizing nature of the game play will turn off many. In addition to the game play, the story, item configuration, and leveling system are convoluted and unceremoniously dumped onto the player whether they are ready or not.
With a learning curve that points straight up and little forgiveness from the difficulty, Knights in the Nightmare is a richly detailed world that doesn’t offer that much enjoyment overall. In time, this new system of strategy game will become altered and streamlined while gamers will learn and familiarize themselves with the core concepts. For now, Knights seems ahead of its time and rushes too quickly onto the public stage.
Overall Rating: * * * / 5
M. Michael Chwedyk "The Gamekok"- MuzikReviews.com Sr. Video Game Reviewer
July 20, 2009
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