Knights in the Nightmare

[HTA!]

Knights in the Nightmare is a fantastic game, let's get that out of the way right now. In all honesty it could easily secure GoTY due not only to the uniqueness of its combat system, but also its epic story line that at times will compel you to play the game more so than the game play itself.

Knights follows the tale of a magical kingdom rocked by the tragic slaughtering of the area's ruling king. After the King's death, strange things begin the happen in the countryside. Monsters start to appear and the local knights are hard pressed to figure out what is happening.
The story is told through flashbacks that occur either before or after the the death of the King as well as the storyline that is followed by the main character in the present.

You'll be transported through a wild ride dealing with angels, demons, dragons, and a slew of other characters that are so numerous that at some times it gets hard to keep up. But the story is so engaging that you'll follow it to the very end, almost treating the battles as annoying obstacles in your attempt to get to the next part of the story.

Speaking of battles, they are one of the main selling points of Knights. The battles combine elements from real-time strategy, turn based combat, and RPG's in an experience that would either be a hit or miss depending on execution. You control with your stylus a small "Wisp" that can bring dead knights back to life to fight the monster infestation of the area. However, it is not these knights who you have to worry about in combat, its your Wisp that will be your main concern. As you ferry around items and weapons to your knights, the enemies on the screen will attack the Wisp rather that your units. "Bullets" are colorful attack that bombard the Top Screen (this screen sees the most action in combat, the bottom screen doesn't actually need to be looked at while fighting) and attempt to hit the Wisp. If the Wisp is hit, you don't lose health but rather you lose time on your current turn. This time is used to charge your units attacks and seeing as you only get 60 seconds per turn you are encouraged to dodge as many bullets as possible while still trying to defeat your enemies.

The fighting is fast paced and in interest of length I cannot explain the entire system in detail, but rest assured that once you get the hang of it you'll be having a blast unleashing powerful attacks on your hapless enemies.

Which leads us to visuals, which are quite good. Spells and attacks look great and the "bullet" are imaginative and colorful. The sprites for the units are amazingly detailed and although there are not specific character sprites for each unit, there is a detailed portrait for each one that adds some nice personality to the game. The only possible qualm I have with the visuals is that fact that the environments you fight in rarely change, and the battlefield can get so crowded with enemies, items, bullets, spells, and destroyable terrain that you may get frustrated trying to figure out what's going on.

The soundtrack for Knights obviously had some serious production time put into it, and the tunes fit the tone of the game nicely. You actually receive a CD with over 30 pieces of music when you buy the game, and its a nice touch that the music was taken so seriously. Spells and attacks sound great with each character yelling a number of battle cries as their attacks are unleashed. Sound effects are crisp and sharp, adding to the intensity of a large battle.

It all adds up to an experience that is hard to describe. The battles can get monotonous, but with the visuals, sounds effects, and game play combining so well you really won't care. That isn't to say the game isn't without flaws. Besides the obvious crowding-of-the-screen issues, Knights suffers from perfection-itis. New units can only be recruited by collecting specific items during either the battle you are currently in or in some cases 5 levels prior. These items are only collected by destroying objects in the battles, which can get pretty annoying when you really just want to push through to the next scene.

And despite the complex battle system, the game is never really all that challenging, at least not on the first 2 difficulties. You are actually given a special must-enter-battle unit for over half of the game that is much more powerful than any of your other units, and this unit can decimate anyone standing in her (plot point?) without help from anyone else.

But all in all, Knights pulls off something most games never even dream of. It combines great game play with a story that is genuinely compelling while retaining visual and sound quality unparalleled by games of its kind. Even if you don't think its worth the buy, every DS owner needs to play Knights in the Nightmare, its an experience you won't soon forget.