Sappy, sweet, and smile-inducing, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is a perfect game to warm up the winter holidays.
But for those of us out there with an inner child who refuses to leave, eventually after wading through those sorts of games one begins to desire a game that will simply touch one's heart, not pierce it with bullets. And if you see yourself as fitting that description, then NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is for you. If video games were dogs, then the violent ones would be vicious attack dogs, while Journey of Dreams would be a fluffy puppy with a little red bow tied ever-so-gently around its neck. The mere sight of it makes you smile, and you just want to pick it up and hug it.
Within Journey of Dreams, you play one of two children, Will and Helen. Both of them have personal problems at home, and they have nightmares relating to their relationships with their parents while asleep. Chased by black demons in their nightmares, they are saved by the light of NiGHTS, the titular purple jester who resides in the dream world who can fly at will, unshackled by gravity. There, they learn of the evil Wizeman, who desires to destroy all of the good side of the dream world known as Nightopia. They also learn of the ability to "dualize" with NiGHTS, effectively fusing with NiGHTS' body. With NiGHTS' ability at their disposal, it's up to them to save Nightopia... and to heal their hearts along the way, as well.
The core of any game is how well it plays, so let's first talk gameplay. The controls come in four flavors: one can use either a Wii Remote by itself, a Wii Remote with a Nunchuk, a Classic Controller, or a Gamecube Controller to control your character in NiGHTS. All four of them work well enough, although the controls that make use of analog sticks tend to allow more precise motion than the Wii Remote by itself, which requires that the user point at the place on screen to which he wants NiGHTS to move and then hold the A button to move there.
While there is a story to the game, it is not the main driving point of the game. Each level of the game has five stages, and each stage has a certain mission that you must accomplish within a time limit to pass the stage. At one point you might be chasing birds to collect keys to unlock prisons which Reala, Wizeman's henchman, uses to lock up NiGHTS. At another you might be tasked with flying through a certain number of rings in a row. The objectives do tend to repeat somewhat, which may make the player feel that the designers could have been slightly more creative, but the game is still excellent fun.
The plot in the game is very cheesy. It's a typical story of good against evil, where the pure of heart triumph over the wicked. And the script can be extremely corny, as well. But all of these things can be forgiven for the simple fact that they are what make the game what it is: a fairy tale, here to uplift the player and bring happiness and joy to those watching it. And in this, it does its job admirably.
One of the game's strongest points are in its graphical and audio design. The levels in each stage are absolutely beautifully constructed, and the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard all year. Thankfully, the game does include a feature where one may listen to audio that has been heard in-game before, so if a player wishes to simply listen without needing to play, it is there waiting.
Many people might have some complaints about the structure of the game. It should be said upfront that there is not a very large portion of the game that is actually advancing the plot. This is entirely intentional: the original NiGHTS into Dreams was very much like an arcade game, with a number of levels in which you could get a score and a corresponding letter rank from A through E. That remains unchanged, for better or for worse, in Journey of Dreams. If one is looking for a very deep game that is heavily plot-driven and with many twists and turns, that will not be found here. If one is looking for a game that is simply downright fun to play, however, this game is certainly that.
Having been a fan of SEGA ever since the days of the Genesis, I must admit that I've been a little disheartened by what appeared to be a gradual decline in the quality of their games in the past few years. I am pleased to report that the lack of polish that was so pervasive in many of their games feels delightfully absent from Journey of Dreams. I can honestly and truly report that this is a great game, no two ways about it, and if SEGA continues down this road, there may yet be good days ahead for them. Journey of Dreams is a perfect game for any child to enjoy... whether the child is 6, 20, or 65.