Knights in the Nightmare Impressions

Since I can't come up with a good way to start this post (I guess that's what I get for not posting much blog entries this month), I'll start with a shortened version of my thoughts on the game so far (I'm starting to think this will a regular thing in these posts): it's good. Rather difficult at times, and a tad complex, but good nonetheless.

Now then...with that out of the way, I'll move on to the longer and more in depth version:

So I got this game from GameFly a couple days ago. I've seen the title a few times around the 'net, but I didn't really consider playing it until I heard about it on The HotSpot. Brendan (the host) described it as a tactical role-playing game (like Fire Emblem, Disgea, etc.), mixed with Geometry Wars. That's all took to catch my interest. After all, with a concept like that, how could I not play it?

And after playing it, I have to agree with that description. As that's what it is basically.

For the most part, it's your basic tactical RPG. You take multiple units into battle, each with a different class and order them to attack enemies with various weapons, and all that other stuff you'd expect to see. The catch, however, is that this all happens in real-time, and in addition, you can't move your units, thus forcing you to think more carefully about where you position them. And to further add to this, each class can only attack in certain directions. This makes strategy a very important element to achieving victory. As without the right units in the right spots, failure is almost certain.

While strategy is important, swift movements are key to victory as well. As if the Wisp (that's you) takes to many hits, the amount of time remaining in your turn decreases. This is where the Geometry Wars aspect comes into play. Throughout the battle, enemies will shoot projectiles of varying shapes and sizes at you. These projectiles (or "bullets" as the game calls 'em) only affect the Wisp; your units, thankfully, are safe from them. Of course, that doesn't make the game any easier, as you still have to make the Wisp dodge the bullets. Which is by no means easy. If any of you have played something like Gradius, then you'll know what to expect. For those who haven't, just imagine bullets everywhere, with very small gaps which you must guide yourself through to stay alive. That's pretty much how it is this game.

As previously mentioned, there are turns in this game, but not in the way you'd expect. Rather than having the player and the artificial intelligence take turns attacking each other, the turns are stages of the battle. The number of stages varies with each battle, but the purpose of them never changes: they act as time limits. These conditions are always the same: defeat enemies to make a line -- horizontally, vertically, or diagonally -- in the "enemy matrix" with the specified number of turns. Boss fights are similar, except for the fact that the "enemy matrix" is not present. All you have to do for those is defeat the boss within the specified number of turns. Simple. There may not be much in terms of variety, but I'm still pretty early on in the game, so that could change.

So then, on to the combat (which is probably the last thing I'll talk about before I end this blog). Again, it's what you'd expect from a game like this for the most part. Each class has their own attack range, that expands when you charge up the attack. The ranges vary from a straight vertical or horizontal line, to wide ones that encompass large portions of the map. These ranges will change depending on what the current phase is. The two phases are Law and Chaos. You can switch between the two on the fly, and each one will affect the attack ranges differently depending on the knight's class. These phases will also affect what weapons can be used to initiate a special attack, which are necessary in order to defeat enemies. The standard attacks simply force enemies to drop crystal-like stones which give you magic points, which are needed for you to use special attacks. You can only take four weapons into battle with you, so you must take much consideration into what ones into battle with you. This may sound rather confusing (it did to me when I was doing the tutorial), but it's pretty easy to get the hang of after you've done a few battles.

So overall, I'm liking it so far. It's a tad on the complicated side, but not as complex as I thought it would be. I probably should have mentioned some of the other parts of the game, but at that point, I might as well make this a review. Which is not something I'm about to do, seeing as I haven't beaten it yet. I'll get started on one once I have, though, so keep an eye out for that.

Bit.Trip Beat comes to the PlayStation 3 in the form of Retro/Grade

Just saw this awesome trailer for Retro/Grade --a space shooter that's played in reverse -- over on Giant Bomb.

If you don't get what I mean by "reverse" (and you probably don't), it basically means it's a rhythm game -- much like how Bit.Trip Beat was. As you must line up your ship with the shots you have fired, and shots you will fire which only further complicates things.

It's a tough game to describe, so if you still don't get it, I'd suggest watching the trailer (which can be found here, if you forgot where it was), and then watch this video of Bit.Trip Beat (which is embeded below), and then you'll see the similarities between the two.

Get it now? Good.

One other interesting (or crazy) thing is the fact that you can use a guitar controller to play the game. Which sounds both intriguing, and downright ridiculous.

No release date was mentioned sadly. But hey, at least there's a demo available through Steam (which I'd play if I had a good gaming PC). Which should further help anyone who still hasn't quite grasped the concept the game.

I'm definitely picking this up when I get a PlayStation 3. I loved Bit.Trip Beat, so why not this?

Bit.Trip Beat Review

Anyone notice the recent trend of reviving old games recently? Particularly in the downloadable games space? I have. Heck, I've played quite a few of 'em, too. And they were all great. But none of 'em have done anything close to what Bit.Trip Beat's done. What it is, is basically heavily modified version of Pong, with a few rhythm game elements thrown in. It may sound odd, but it's actually a really good game that works really well, and is simply a lot of fun to play.

Normally I'd talk about the story (if there is one) here. And while Bit.Trip Beat does have a story (or at least it seems like it does), it's so convoluted and ambiguous that it's impossible to figure out what's going on, or it's about. I myself wasn't -- and still haven't -- been able to figure out what exactly it was about, and I doubt I ever will either. So I'd say you're better off playing it for yourself and coming up with your own story seeing as its open to interpretation. It's better that way. Trust me.

But enough on that. Time to move on to more important things, such as the gameplay. Which is really simple. On the left side of the screen, there's a paddle -- that's you. And on the other side, there pixels called "beats" flying toward you. You're job is to knock them back using the paddle. Simple, right? Not quite. But you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was. The game starts off by going easy on ya, with beats coming in small numbers and at rather slow pace. But soon enough they'll coming at you at blistering speeds, and in large numbers, as well as going in all sorts of directions. Which forces you to be very quick and precise with your movements. And in case you haven't noticed, that's where the game gets a little less simple, and a whole lot harder.

Though that isn't the only thing that makes it difficult. The controls, and visuals (more on that later) also contribute to the difficulty as well. But in the formers case, it only does that during the first few hours of gameplay, as it's control style can take a while to get used to. But once you do it works great. The paddle is controlled by tilting the Wii remote forward and backward while holding it sideways. And at first, you'll be missing beats while you get used to the odd controls, but soon enough, you'll be hitting 'em with ease.

Getting back to the gameplay, one interesting thing is that upon hitting beats a note of music is played and is added to the tune playing in the background. This is where the rhythm elements come in. As the beats are placed in a very specific order that makes the notes the beats make blend harmoniously with the music, making for some very catchy and generally great sounding music. The Mega mode further adds to it as well, by making it a bit more upbeat in some cases, and adds more notes.

Speaking of which, Mega mode is activated when you hit enough beats to fill the Mega bar at the top of the screen. What it does is increase the amount of points you get from hitting beats by, once again, filing the bar at the top of the screen. As the aforementioned amount of points awarded are increased. Which when done in conjunction with making a combo of beats -- which is done by hitting 'em without missing one -- further increases the points awarded for hitting beats. This is crucial to getting a high-score -- which is where the game gets its replay value. As the addictive nature of achieving a high-score will keep you coming back for more.

Though had leaderboards been included, that would have been even better. As getting to the top of the offline high-score table isn't quite as satisfying as getting to the top of a leaderboard. As the sense of competition isn't present without it. It's a little disappointing that it was excluded, but it isn't a huge issue. Rather, the bigger issue at hand with the game is the lack of explanation of what certain game elements do.

What the Mega and Nether bars do aren't ever explained to the player, but the latter one's purpose comes clear pretty quickly. What that one does is make the visuals take on a black and white look (which makes the game look identical to Pong) when you miss to many beats. And while those things in particular not being explained to you can make it a tad confusing, it's no where near as bad as how it handles the method to unlocking the two levels that can be unlocked. See, when you get to a level it becomes unlocked, but only until you turn the game off. At which point, it becomes locked again. The only way to unlock them permanently is to get on to the high-score table. But the game never tells you that, so it can be very frustrating to unlock another level only to lose it because you didn't fulfill the unknown requirement to unlocking it.

To go along with the retro-style gameplay, Bit.Trip Beat has a pixelated visual style that looks sort of similar to an 8-bit game -- albeit with a bit three-dimensional graphics thrown in. The visuals are a mix of both three and two-dimensional graphics -- with 2D in the foreground, and 3D objects that have a pixelated look to 'em in the background. The former is where all the gameplay happens, and the latter is just a bunch of various environments, and objects moving around. Which, while they look good, can be pretty distracting at times. Which would be a problem, but it feels like the visuals are meant to do that in order to further increase the difficulty level (which it does). The various visual elements all look good, and fit the style perfectly, and give the game a rather unique look.

I know I touched on the audio a little earlier, but I'm gonna bring it up again -- but just for a bit. The game features three songs (aka, levels), which all sound nice. And the chiptune music really fits the style, and the way it's integrated with the gameplay is interesting.

Despite a couple small issues, Bit.Trip Beat is a fast, and fun mix between Pong and a rhythm game. The game's high difficulty level will scare some off, but for those seeking a challenge (or you're like me and like odd little games like this), Bit.Trip Beat is a must buy.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”