Knights in the Nightmare Awakens From Its Slumber
Atlus' new upcoming game, Knights in the Nightmare, is looking like a solid contender for this year's DS Game of Year. Knights in the Nightmare is the fourth part of the Dept. Heaven series of games, the first being Riviera: The Promised Land and the second being Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone. The third game has yet to be announced, but it is rumored to be a massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG). The game is being developed by Sting Entertainment, which has also worked on the Evolution series.
The game is categorized as a Strategy RPG (SRPG), although it's very different from most SPRGs gamers are used to. Instead of taking turns advancing your units, you control a wisp. That wisp is controlled using the touch screen, allowing you to select items to use in battle, or send your units out into battle.
Instead of your units being attacked, the enemies try to attack you, the wisp. Every time one of their projectiles hits you, you take damage. If you lose all of your life, you will lose. This also ties into the timer that the game uses. Besides losing time when you are attacked, you also lose time when you use charged attacks. In this respect, the game resembles other turn-based SRPGs, since you aren't penalized for simply moving across the field. This is a great way to get players into the game, since you can spend your time figuring out what to do next, even though the battle is going on in real-time.
Like most SRPGs, there is a mode that allows you to strengthen your weapons using items obtained from fallen enemies in battle. This allows you to use new attacks, as well as raising the attacking power of the weapon. To make sure players couldn't abuse this system, Sting implemented a leveling and trust system. As you strengthen weapons, the level required to equip it raises. The trust system comes into place when you upgrade the weapons. If the character doesn't have enough trust, you might end up with a weapon that has worse stats. Fans of the design of Yggdra Union will also be pleased, since Satoko Kiyuduki is reprising her role for this game.
There's a lot more to this game than we've even begun to cover. The effort Sting put into this game really shines, and any fan of SRPGs should keep this game on their radar, especially considering the great pre-order bonus Atlus is throwing in, which includes the game's official soundtrack and a 96-page full-color artbook.
