A cult classic in the making

by Peter Fiorilla

Fun factor: Average

Worth to: Buy/Rent

The unique gameplay and exceptional visual design makes it a noteworthy DS title for any role-playing fan courageous enough to try something unconventional.

Beautiful is a subjective term, but there are works of art that people usually agree merit the description. The Mona Lisa, the Godfather, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; all classics due to their unprecedented style, quality and overall beauty.

Then there are cult classics, works of art that struggle to touch the lives of more than a small number of people. Due to their outlandish style or unconventional merits, these pieces of art are shafted, pushed into the corner of obscurity after their one shot at mainstream appeal meets failure.

Knights in the Nightmare is one such game, and deservingly so. To say this is an experience for everyone would be ludicrous, but developer Sting’s latest product is undoubtedly a noteworthy vision, mostly because of how far it deviates from the norm -- and why that makes it such a resounding success.

Unconventional to say the least

Nearly every aspect of the game is unconventional, starting with the main character itself. He is the wisp (ghost) of a recently deceased King, whose kingdom has met tragedy since his death. Determined to be of any help to his confusion-stricken country, the wisp meets up with a mysterious warrior-maiden and travels towards his old castle. Monsters from the Underworld have captured the castle, taken over all military bases and nearly wiped out the kingdom’s army. Why they are on the home world of humanity is a question no one seems to know the answer to.



The wisp commands souls of dead soldiers to carry out retribution, but the further he progresses, the more knowledge of what happened in his absence (and leading up to his death) is revealed. As the pieces fall into place, the true nature of a series of tragic events slowly becomes more comprehensible, and a convoluted conspiracy comes into play.

The protagonists are hardly fleshed out, as most of them only speak during their last minutes of life; yet it is this atypical design that is part of what makes Knights’ tale seem so grand. Making the lives of men seem so vulnerable and frail is an aspect of storytelling rarely incorporated into JRPG’s, despite their commonly large-scale stories.

Slow start but worth the effort

Despite its accomplishments, the narrative’s shortcomings are hard to ignore. The first 5 or so hours of the game are completely uninteresting, with little dialogue and even fewer plot twists. Even after the initial hours of playtime, Knights’ narrative can seem aimless and slow, and will confuse many players. Norse mythology has inspired much better video game narratives.

Knights in the Nightmare is divided into moderately brief scenes. After the skippable text sequences are over, it’s time for the player to take stylus in hand and prepare for an intense round of the game’s incredibly unique combat.



A mix of strategy, role-playing and shoot-em-up, this unprecedented method of slaying monsters is difficult to learn, but very gratifying after learning the ropes. Each mission’s goal is to kill a certain number/type of monsters in a series of battles.

Before battle the player can view the screen-sized, isometric and grid-based map, which has the locations of stationary allies and mobile enemies. They can then “equip” up to four class-based weapons, which appear as icons on the top right corner of the screen.

Confusing yet satisfying gameplay

After initiating battle, the player takes control of the wisp protagonist via stylus, who floats above the map. When monsters shoot projectiles, the player must maneuver the wisp out of danger or the “time limit” will go down (the “time limit” does not go down as time passes, but only when the wisp is hit or the player attacks an enemy).

On top of avoiding enemy fire, the player must also slay the beasts shooting the projectiles. By hovering the wisp over a knight, that ally becomes animated and can attack enemies nearby. This does little damage, but after enemies are hit Mana energy appears on the field. Getting this Mana before it falls off the edge of the map is crucial, as without it, killing enemies is impossible.

The four equipment icons in the top right corner of the screen may be dragged to allies (as long as the weapon can be used by the knight’s class) and used to deal out pain to enemies in dazzling ways. Of course, there is a catch -- these attacks cost large amounts of Mana. This makes each battle a test of skill, a bout of frantically swerving the stylus across the screen in order to survive incredibly hectic battles.



Like the narrative, the game’s battle system is a bit confusing initially; yet after learning the ropes, Knights’ frantic arcade-style action becomes a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Battles become feverish nightmares the longer they drag on, with each failed evasion a step towards the end of battle, each attack making the music’s tempo increase just a mite. Enemy bullets are large, imaginative and sometimes follow unpredictable patterns; screen clutter is not uncommon.

Visually haunting

Conquering these battles takes an alert mind, preferably one with an interest in role-playing. While Knights‘ gameplay is predominantly a unique kind of shoot-em-up, customization options can mean the difference between victory and failure.

Players should also be careful of one of Knights‘ most intimidating distractions -- exceptional visual design. The haunting, dark art direction makes Knights‘ aesthetics particularly memorable amongst the horde of anime-influenced modern RPG’s; the aesthetics are reminiscent of this year’s the Dark Spire, but this game has technical merit to enforce its artistic beauty. Warriors look gritty, bosses gothic and enemies interestingly abstract. Knights‘ high-quality sprites, portraits and animations are simply fantastic, but many areas in this glorious vision are extremely foggy, which will turn some players off.

To match the visuals is a lovely soundtrack, with well over 50 songs to ensure that it never gets repetitive. Competently done voice-work is sprinkled into the package; battle cries sound nice, though one or two of the voice actors are a bit too high-pitched to earn widespread acceptance.

Summary

Knights in the Nightmare is a love-it-or-hate-it type of game, but its deliciously risky design is what makes it so appealing in the overly crowded market of portable RPG’s. Its unconventional artistic merits are discernable, fast-paced gameplay creative and the lengthy single player mode will satisfy those tired of typical role-playing games. Tragically, this is clearly not a game for everyone. The type of gamer who demands anime-inspired art direction, a more accessible battle system and a worthwhile narrative will be very disappointed. As it stands, those who feel comfortable in taking a risk once in a while should not hesitate to make Knights in the Nightmare their next purchase. It is a piece of software quite capable of transforming skeptics into Sting believers.