What is the appropriate length for a game? Simply, the one that allows you to express yourself fully. We often talk about huge productions, lasting hundreds of hours, and that it is scary to simply talk about them, but it is clear that in the eyes of end users the content/price ratio is a factor to be taken into account, especially when the Budget to be allocated to video games is limited.
That said, there are obviously small projects, sometimes very small, that perhaps simply aim to keep us busy for a couple of hours, tell us something interesting and leave us free to use the rest of our free time on something else. The latest giant open world sensation? If we really want to.
Sunnyside Games' new title attempts precisely this approach, bringing it to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. Is the length of the game adequate? We reveal it to you in night review.
History: between darkness and light
La history of Nocturnal tells the story of Ardeshir, a warrior belonging to the order of the Perpetual Flame who returns to his home island, Nahran, only to find it immersed in a mysterious and disturbing fog, which has apparently corrupted the minds of the inhabitants and their the same family.
Determined to at least find his sister, the man draws his sword and uses the power of fire to fight his way through hordes of enemies that were once his own companions, as well as to pierce like a torch the dense darkness that has enveloped the island and its most ancient and sacred places, deeply corrupting them and transforming them into death traps.
Sunnyside Games' title is "of few words", enigmatic and fascinating in the essentiality of its narrative, built through brief dialogues that our character maintains with the inhabitants who are still intact, as well as through textual collectibles that reconstruct the origins of their land and that encourage us to explore the settings in depth. .
Some resources, such as the possibility of sitting for a moment to reflect or the sequences in which the protagonist returns outside after freeing a building from the presence of enemies, are certainly useful in contributing to the creation of particular atmospheres, in the context of to outstanding artistic direction.
Gameplay: Lots of heart but some shadows.
There is definitely the subgenre of Metroidvania among the ingredients of Nocturnal, but the truth is that these specific elements do not monopolize the experience, which focuses more on action and platforms, with a pinch of puzzle solving, to offer us a formula in which, for example, the recoil is almost absent.
Our character jumps and attacks, runs and climbs, dodges attacks and throws daggers that, once drawn, stop time, allowing us to aim precisely and catch our breath, perhaps in the middle of long and complex platform sections in which you must not only avoid falling, but also light a series of torches along the way to activate switches.
Fire is literally life. in Nocturnal: by tying it to our sword, even for a limited period of time (but extendable through the upgrades that can be obtained from the Phoenix statues), we will be able to pierce the deadly darkness, inflict additional damage to enemies (or hurt them, where only the flame can scratch them) and even enter a kind of special mode that in the final stretches of the adventure will be essential to complete our journey.
Some ideas remind us of solutions like those we talked about in the review of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, see for example the mechanisms of recharging health through one's own energy and the use of the "torch" to overcome long journeys surrounded unscathed. of a black fog that kills after a few moments of exposure. And yes, it is an approach that inevitably opens the doors to trial error.
Unfortunately, this aspect ends up characterizing the game in a dominant way, from a certain point onwards, to the point that you find yourself facing individual rooms, "solving" them and moving on to the next challenge or trying them again; with a particular moment of the campaign, precisely quite frustrating, in which the test to be passed is very difficult and in case of death you have to redo a section from scratch.
The enemies are divided into a sufficient number of types, each with their own patterns, and the combat is visceral, although at times controls tend to fall asleep a bit and this, as you can imagine, is a mortal sin: if you ask the user for absolute precision, you must be the first to guarantee it. It's also a shame that there are very few bosses: most of the time it's the same one that returns.
Then there is the discussion about duration, in this case just over a couple of hours to get to the credits. Too little? Not at all, the duration seems "correct" and also adequate for the sales price, especially accessible on PC (€ 16,99 instead of € 19,99 for the console versions), but it sounds a bit strange to get to the end of the game without Having unlocked all the upgrades, was there room for anything else?
Technical realization: art in motion.
On an artistic level, as mentioned above, Nocturnal is a great product and can be counted on. hand drawn characters, included animations and suggestive scenarios, which are somewhat reminiscent of the classic Prince of Persia: an undoubted source of inspiration for the developers, who managed to create truly evocative sequences.
Some effects are particularly refined, mainly fire, although not all solutions from this point of view give appreciable results. However, little to say about the accompaniment. Sonoro, which is intertwined with the artistic direction to support the different sequences in a very solid way.
Conclusions
Tested version Xbox Series X digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 19,99 € Holygamerz.com 7.5 Readers (9) 8.0 your voteNocturno is a beautiful title, one of those short but intense ones. Enigmatic, mysterious, well directed and characterized by a fascinating style, the Metroidvania-style action platformer developed by Sunnyside Games features solid and fun mechanics, visceral combat and intense platform sections based on time and reflections, but at the same time shows the trial side. & error after a certain point, it is not always reactive nor is it wasted in boss fights: shortcomings that, at least in part, end up extinguishing the flame of the game, preventing it from shining as it would have deserved.
PRO
- Excellent artistic direction.
- Solid and fun action platformer.
- Fire puzzles are enjoyable and challenging.
AGAINST
- At some point it tends a lot to trial and error.
- Controls not always responsive, few bosses.
- Its brevity must be taken into account.
