Game:

Nights into Dreams (1996)

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Wow... how time flies. So, we actually talked about this one before in fairly great detail over five years ago in our community posts (Game Highlight #3) but avoided capturing it until we had the technology to do it justice, so this is a great time to reintroduce the game to the masses with new (pertinent) info!

"Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream" is one of the true masterpieces for the ill-fated Sega Dreamcast as it was not only fairly progressive, but one of the defining exclusives for the system. Released by Sega and Chime in 2000 as a Japan-only exclusive, the game is notable for being primarily designed by and for women, its amazing soundtrack was composed by the legendary Yoko Kanno (known for her work on "Cowboy Bebop", "Ghost in the Shell: SAC", "Wolf's Rain", and much more), and a few of the game's settings are inspired by Naples, Italy (many Italians collaborated with Yoko on the game's soundtrack and a few recording sessions even took place in Rome) as well as classic stories like "Alice in Wonderland", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Little Nemo". The game was released in fairly low quantities and has slowly trickled up in price over the years as it continues to enchant collectors and players alike. If that's not enough... read on and decide if it's for you.

Its genre classification is described as the "Lovely Pop Action RPG" although it is more accurate to call it a platforming action game with a comprehensive plot and relatable characters. It is generally the result of throwing "NiGHTS Into Dreams..." (Free-roaming adventure segments in the hub town and whimsical dream creatures), "Klonoa / Pandemonium" (2.5D action/platforming gameplay, but with a little bit of freedom to go off the beaten path, which is core to the game's design) and "Purumui Purumui" (item / creature creation and collection in the Remix / Decode Room) into a blender with a few unique elements to tie it all together. It was so good that it was one of the few games that compelled me to collect the soundtrack CDs to go with the game (even though you can unlock music in the game). Tracks like "Wild Wind", "Usagi Drop" (Bunny Drop) and "Dreams in a Pie" will stir you unless your heart is made of stone.

Players assume the role of Arsia Porch (sometimes seen as "Alissia", "Poach" and "Pouch"), a girl who gets whisked away to the dream world of Napple, a sort of limbo that exists between life and death, after a mishap caused by the fledgling spirit guide, Straynap, who grabbed the wrong person, so now you have to find the fragmented life essence of Arsia scattered throughout the borders of Napple Town's simultaneous four seasons to send her back. When in town and during boss battles, you can move in complete 3D but during the game's numerous stages, you are more restricted in your movements and mainly travel from left to right and bottom to top with various breaks in the stages to go off the beaten path. The core of the action involves jumping and swinging your wand, but a large sub-component of the game is in scavenging for items for recipes by defeating enemies, finding treasures and taking on quests. These items can be used to make a ton of optional things that improve the amount of things you can do around town, increase your (large) art gallery, unlock music, learn more about characters, and (most importantly) acquire "Paffets". Paffets are magical creatures that you can bring with you and summon to gain different abilities such as shooting wind cutters, creating platforms, shine light in the dark, blind enemies, create barriers, heal, shoot lasers, and more. There are 28 that can be used on your quest alone (and 71 total) and some can only be gained from bosses. Speaking of which, boss battles are generally 1-on-1, so Paffets will only help during stages. You can also increase your max health pool, and while there are pits, they have a low penalty (a little health lost, the game is geared towards a young demographic and mainly girls).

With tight gameplay, exquisitely imaginative and colorful graphics, a (once again) amazing soundtrack, hundreds of items to collect, loads of side quests to complete, an unlockable diary and even extra challenges that could be gained at one time through SegaNet (which are of course no longer accessible), one of the game's few faults was fairly easy boss battles and fairly limited availability, making it a hot collectors item. While the language barrier won't make it impossible to play, there is enough dialogue to warrant some proficiency in Japanese to fully enjoy it. A fan translation has been released within the last year, making this game finally accessible to those that can understand English, meaning there's no better time to give it a try.

This is a video of the game in action showing various things. Enjoy.

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