Recensioni di Nightwalker 2

A nice example of how evolution works in video games making. I clearly remember Nightwalker 1. As a survival horror, it was very short and simple, but also very polished and well made, and above all pretty fun and engaging. While I was playing Nightwalker 2, I clearly felt on my skin that the dev was not completely satisfied by what he/she had done with his/her previous game, and that, with this new product, he/she tried to experiment with brand new features, with the purpose of enhancing the gameplay experience of his/her customers and make a more complex game. So... I feel that this game is exactly a sort of experiment, but this is not, by all means, a bad thing. On the contrary, indie devs must be encouraged to experiment new solutions, otherwise they'll never grow in their profession. The new features I'm talking about certainly make this game MUCH more complex than the previous episode, and they are well implemented too, but, as I already said to the dev in the discussion forum, they need to be fully fleshed out. They have been nicely put together, they have not been implemented randomly, for their own sake, but, somehow, I feel they have not been fully exploited so far. The dev told me he/she plans to upload new updates in the future that will enhance the potential of these features, so I want to help by specifying, in this review, what I liked and what I didn't like in what this game has to offer: - the UE4 engine is used very well, the game runs smooth and the settings work perfectly, well done with that! - the voice acting and the more complex storyline nicely increase the immersion of the player, but the plot is a bit too simple, it felt a bit rushed; maybe a few lore notes scattered around, and a better portrait of the two protagonists, would help in properly engaging the player; in particular, the origin of the creatures and the "spirits" needs to be explained somehow, this is the focus of a paranormal investigation after all! - the setting of the story is beautiful, the location is truly breathtaking, and the atmosphere, clearly inspired by folklore and fairytales, is fascinating, a nice variation with respect to the more "modern" horror of the first episode; so, well done with that too; - the [spoiler] camouflage ability [/spoiler] of the enemies is a VERY good idea, but the enemies themselves lack variety, they're all the same model; a few more enemy models would be undoubtedly beneficial; in particular, it would be cool if [spoiler] cave enemies were different from village enemies; [/spoiler] - the mission objectives are perfect, they are clear but a bit cryptic at the same time, so that the player is forced to use the grey cells to advance; in particular, I appreciated that you are told WHAT to do, but not HOW to do it, that's how mission objectives should be designed in videogames; - the puzzles are nice and fun, but a couple of them need to be a bit improved; specifically, [spoiler] sailing with the boat was a nice and much appreciated surprise, but the boat is terribly bugged, when you park it on the piers it sinks underwater and you cannot use it anymore; reloading the checkpoint fixes this, but it is unpractical, this issue must be absolutely solved; also, the puzzle for entering the white lady house is cool, but it needs better controls, moving the pawns on the square is a bit unnerving; a point and click system would be preferable; [/spoiler] - [spoiler] designing the boss fight as a puzzle, rather than a boring hit and run, is a very intelligent idea, much appreciated; good job! [/spoiler] - crafting your ammo is another intelligent idea, it is stimulating, it forces the player to thoroughly explore and manage resources carefully, but the weapon itself, throwing rocks that is, is a bit... meh; I would have preferred something like a crossbow with craftable arrows, it would have been much more appropriate for a paranormal investigator; - the saving system is perfect, each single progress you make is properly saved, and this totally erases every possible source of frustration; much appreciated! And that would be all I think. As always, I hope my review will be useful both to the dev and to the potential customers. Overall, I think Nightwalker 2 is a nice and fun horror adventure focused on survival and puzzle solving, nothing spectacular, but certainly very engaging. It surely needs some more work, but I am confident I will enjoy some interesting updates in the near future. Good luck dev with this new adventure of yours! And congratulations for the improvements you were able to achieve so far, they are truly remarkable! Cheers guys!