Nyctophilia Let's Play Part 1 | Gamejolt Game | Red Rum Polka Dots
3Gosh dang this game is trippy. The best part is all the puzzles I'm not failing to solve! =D
▼Links to cool stuff!▼
Twitter ► https://goo.gl/P6tnFX
Nyctophilia ► gamejolt.com/games/nyctophilia/122357
(Also on Steam) ► http://store.steampowered.com/app/402890
Nyctophilia is a 2D thriller that ISN'T FOCUSED ON MONSTERS! It's barely even really focused on the supernatural. It is more focused on interpersonal relationships and insanity, blurring the lines between dreams and reality.
*Non-Spoilery Review*
The aesthetic of Nyctophilia is very pixelated, but everything on screen is still clearly identifiable. The terms 8-bit and 16-bit in reference to graphics are usually not accurate when discussing modern games, as they refer to the number of available colors on a palette rather than the pixel density or resolution, but colloquially this might be referred to as an 8-bit retro aesthetic. While the 16-bit retro aesthetic has been making a comeback in recent years such as the *wildly* successful Shovel Knight or the *widely* available RPG Maker, the even lower resolution 8-bit retro aesthetic was brought back into the mainstream with the mini-games in Five Nights at Freddy’s. Just like in FNAF, the low pixel density results in jerky character movements that seem creepy and disjointed in contrast with the fluidity of most AAA games. Some people might write off a low resolution aesthetic as a lack of artistic talent, but at such low resolutions it can actually be difficult to convey exactly what an item is without making them cartoonishly large, and I feel that the developer of Nyctophilia did a great job with this environment.
The environment (the cabin and dreamscape) do a good job of ticking all of the horror tropes - isolation, anxiety, and lack of information are all conveyed rather well considering (I think) the developer’s first language is not English. There are a few typos, but they rarely get in the way of understanding the plot. The tone of the main character does seem to change throughout the game though, and I have to wonder if this is intentional. This is why AAA games take so long to localize, even if they have massive teams working on it. Not only do they need to translate the specific words, but they need to translate the meaning and tone while keeping the characters and plot as faithful as possible. Failing to do so can lead to a game being unsettling in ways that are not intended. However, as a thriller, it’s hard to say whether unsettling aspects of Nyctophilia are intentional or a result of poor localization. Because the overall tone with the aesthetic and major plot points are consistent with the unsettling and mysterious diction of the dialogue, I give Nyctophilia the benefit of the doubt and say that it is largely well localized.
*Spoilery Review / Synopsis*
In this first section of the game it is unclear where we start, but we quickly realize that we are at a hotel. However, almost immediately we are moved to the cabin where the bulk of the game takes place. The hotel serves as a tutorial of sorts. Before the player can leave, they are forced to learn how to interact with objects and people in the environment, navigate menus, and use items before they are allowed to leave. In order to make the hotel seem more pertinent, the desk attendant is given a one-off line that implies he is aware of your dreams, setting the tone for reality and dreams bleeding together. I feel as though this might be somewhat early to be bringing up the major themes of the game. The Tall Man would remain somewhat more ominous if he wasn’t brought up multiple times between his first and second sightings. A slow build up, provided by diary entries made by the protagonist every night and letters we find around the cabin provide ample mystery and tension regarding the Tall Man and what his presence means.
After reaching the cabin, the player is discouraged from investigating the rest of the cabin, so of course I investigated the rest of the cabin. This did not yield anything fruitful in terms of the overall story or secrets. However, as I note in the video at some point, the dialogue you receive for interacting with any given item changes as the in-game days go by, so in order to experience every scrap of information the developer has included you need to interact with every available object on every day.
At the end of the video, after the first full day exploring the cabin has passed, we encounter another a dream sequence. This appears to include some amount of time travel or telepathy between the protagonist and a character who used to live in the cabin where we are staying. This is done through the use of a lightbulb item that is found in (and only works inside of) the dreamscape. The time-jumping serves to inform us of an investigation that was going on at the cabin before we moved in, and tease us with the unsettling phenomena that may be in store.
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