Volume 6, chapter 2: Colette's 12th Birthday
It's a long one, so 56k users beware!
TN:
-Italicized text is thoughts. Sorry if you can't read the small text! I couldn't afford to make them bigger without further damaging the image.
-Text with a * next to them are text I had help with translation wise. Thanks to __109 from learn_Japanese for the help!
-thanks to a user from tales_symphonia for the scans! Sorry I can't remember your username. X_X
-Comments/corrections/questions are welcome, especially if you're a guest. I always like to know who's reading my stuff and what they think of it.
-For those reading my LJ who are guests: I am not a scanlation group, so please don't ask me to translate/scanlate this and that. I mainly do this for practice and for my friends. I WILL, however, repost previous scanlated chapters that are no longer accessible on my LJ. If you want them, please just ask. Thanks!
-Some of the sentences sound kine of awkward. Gomen ne...
Let's begin!
NiGHTS
Takashi Iizuka was lead designer on that Saturn original, NiGHTS into Dreams… before helping to create Sonic Adventure and establish Sonic Team USA (also known as Sega Studio USA), which is where he's creating the latest NiGHTS title. "When I was creating the original game, 11 years ago, I already had the intention of making a sequel," he says. "And I already had the basic idea to have a story that concentrated on the relationship between parents and their kids. However, the studio's priority was to stabilise the Sonic franchise. Now that the Sonic titles are being developed by Sonic Team in Japan, however, I've finally been given the opportunity to make the sequel."
The intention with the sequel, however, is to go beyond the realms of cult appeal. Hence, the game will come out on that mainstream media darling, the Wii. "Our American studios have worked on Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Heroes, so they are experienced in making GameCube games," explains Iizuka. "So we found it easy to make the game on the Wii. And the Wii's Wi-Fi network is easy to deal with. So in terms of making games, I think it's easy to develop for."
The game is split into two distinct storylines, following the dreams of its two teenaged protagonists, Will and Helen. Each dream kicks off with some of that sumptuous CGI (literally in Will's case, since he's a budding soccer star), before giving way to the gameplay itself, which consists of soaring through rings to speed up, and looping-the-loop to collect power-ups and take out obstacles. This time around, however, there are a few differences.
"This time, I wanted to appeal to a wider market, so not it's not only about jumping and looping, but also about the other missions like the rollercoaster, and saving Nightopias, and so on," says Iizuka. "We also enriched the storyline, and we made it so that it will be easier for players to play, to reach a wider audience. I think that's the difference between the first game and this one."
Will and Helen return to the Night Dimension hub world, or simple platform levels, wandering through a series of doors that unlock over the course of the game to trigger the various missions. And as Iizuka suggests, those missions encompass a much wider variety than the original, thanks to the various masks that NiGHTS can pick up. These allow him/her/it to transform with a quick press of the d-pad, into a roller coaster, or a rocket, or a dolphin, or a white-water raft.
One of the most remarkable things about the game is the visual vibrancy and musicality of its worlds - all scintillating waterfalls, rainbow-colored undersea cities and kaleidoscopic idylls; all breezy blues and hazy greens as you gently plink-plonk your way through successive rings. One level consists of a mirror-world, in which power-ups and flight rings are only visible in reflection. And, of course, there are the bosses.
As far as the Wii functionality goes, the game will feature three different control methods, and you can switch between them at will whenever you like - even in the middle of a level. Using the Nunchuck or GameCube pad, the game is controlled with the analogue stick in a similar manner to the Saturn game. With the Wiimote, however, you can point at a spot slightly in front of NiGHTS to control your flight patterns- although early impressions suggest that this initially feels more tricky than the conventional system. The game will also feature a two-player mode, either in split-screen, or over Wi-Fi, and a world-ranking league.
It'll also feature 'My Dream' - accessible through one of those doors from the hub world, and where the weather, if you're synced up to the Weather Channel, will reflect the real world. Save Nightopians over the course of your other missions, and they'll end up here, in an evolving landscape where you can chat to friends using an icon-based display interface.
...WANT desu!
TN:
-Italicized text is thoughts. Sorry if you can't read the small text! I couldn't afford to make them bigger without further damaging the image.
-Text with a * next to them are text I had help with translation wise. Thanks to __109 from learn_Japanese for the help!
-thanks to a user from tales_symphonia for the scans! Sorry I can't remember your username. X_X
-Comments/corrections/questions are welcome, especially if you're a guest. I always like to know who's reading my stuff and what they think of it.
-For those reading my LJ who are guests: I am not a scanlation group, so please don't ask me to translate/scanlate this and that. I mainly do this for practice and for my friends. I WILL, however, repost previous scanlated chapters that are no longer accessible on my LJ. If you want them, please just ask. Thanks!
-Some of the sentences sound kine of awkward. Gomen ne...
Let's begin!
NiGHTS
Takashi Iizuka was lead designer on that Saturn original, NiGHTS into Dreams… before helping to create Sonic Adventure and establish Sonic Team USA (also known as Sega Studio USA), which is where he's creating the latest NiGHTS title. "When I was creating the original game, 11 years ago, I already had the intention of making a sequel," he says. "And I already had the basic idea to have a story that concentrated on the relationship between parents and their kids. However, the studio's priority was to stabilise the Sonic franchise. Now that the Sonic titles are being developed by Sonic Team in Japan, however, I've finally been given the opportunity to make the sequel."
The intention with the sequel, however, is to go beyond the realms of cult appeal. Hence, the game will come out on that mainstream media darling, the Wii. "Our American studios have worked on Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Heroes, so they are experienced in making GameCube games," explains Iizuka. "So we found it easy to make the game on the Wii. And the Wii's Wi-Fi network is easy to deal with. So in terms of making games, I think it's easy to develop for."
The game is split into two distinct storylines, following the dreams of its two teenaged protagonists, Will and Helen. Each dream kicks off with some of that sumptuous CGI (literally in Will's case, since he's a budding soccer star), before giving way to the gameplay itself, which consists of soaring through rings to speed up, and looping-the-loop to collect power-ups and take out obstacles. This time around, however, there are a few differences.
"This time, I wanted to appeal to a wider market, so not it's not only about jumping and looping, but also about the other missions like the rollercoaster, and saving Nightopias, and so on," says Iizuka. "We also enriched the storyline, and we made it so that it will be easier for players to play, to reach a wider audience. I think that's the difference between the first game and this one."
Will and Helen return to the Night Dimension hub world, or simple platform levels, wandering through a series of doors that unlock over the course of the game to trigger the various missions. And as Iizuka suggests, those missions encompass a much wider variety than the original, thanks to the various masks that NiGHTS can pick up. These allow him/her/it to transform with a quick press of the d-pad, into a roller coaster, or a rocket, or a dolphin, or a white-water raft.
One of the most remarkable things about the game is the visual vibrancy and musicality of its worlds - all scintillating waterfalls, rainbow-colored undersea cities and kaleidoscopic idylls; all breezy blues and hazy greens as you gently plink-plonk your way through successive rings. One level consists of a mirror-world, in which power-ups and flight rings are only visible in reflection. And, of course, there are the bosses.
As far as the Wii functionality goes, the game will feature three different control methods, and you can switch between them at will whenever you like - even in the middle of a level. Using the Nunchuck or GameCube pad, the game is controlled with the analogue stick in a similar manner to the Saturn game. With the Wiimote, however, you can point at a spot slightly in front of NiGHTS to control your flight patterns- although early impressions suggest that this initially feels more tricky than the conventional system. The game will also feature a two-player mode, either in split-screen, or over Wi-Fi, and a world-ranking league.
It'll also feature 'My Dream' - accessible through one of those doors from the hub world, and where the weather, if you're synced up to the Weather Channel, will reflect the real world. Save Nightopians over the course of your other missions, and they'll end up here, in an evolving landscape where you can chat to friends using an icon-based display interface.
...WANT desu!