The play of NiGHTS is so cohesive because theres no break in the fluidity of the flight action even as the player experiences the full range of challenges. The rhythm of flying is never broken between: paralooping things, which is just flying in a tight circle around them (and, by the nature of a loop, ends the player back where they started to retain their momentum); bumping things, which is just flying straight into them; and pulling off the tricks, which are just various flight control maneuvers.
The immersive aspects of NiGHTS also exhibit this cohesiveness. To have graphics and sound that not only reflect the games themes but also reciprocate to the users play, another distinct gameplay system is intertwined to complement the users influence.
Each level is its own persistent, living world where the Nightopian inhabitants, running off artificial life algorithms, crossbreed and evolve by themselves. The player's influence on the world, by bouncing enemies into 3D space as they fly along or by accidentally getting them caught up and captured inside a loop (or purposely, depending on the player's morality!), can effect which residents meet up with one another, which survive, and even how they feel about the player - whether the feeling is somewhere toward happiness or sadness. This interaction then influences the users experience in return as the behavior of the creatures determines little touches like where theyll show up in a level, where they gather to socialize and trumpet the players successes with their little horns, and whether they build miniature structures like castles on the ground. The wonderful music of each level is actually remixed dynamically to reflect the current mood of the Nightopians.
As the common ideal of the game is the wonderment of flight, the context and details of NiGHTS into Dreams also reinforce this. Theres a real synesthetic vibe to the selection of effects accompanying the flight: each link that is made chimes in a successively higher tone such that a row of hoops results in an ascending musical scale, colliding with different objects sets off discrete instrumentation like a cymbal or a drum roll which ties the themes of the level to the players actions, a cornucopia of colorful streamers shoot off when a springboard is hit, the loops drawn in the sky by the trail of stars coming out of NiGHTS hands gain form and solidity, the terrain incredibly morphs near the presence of NiGHTS in Soft Museum, and destructible objects decompose and attach to the player as they pass through in some parts of the canyon stage. Even the secrets in the levels are uncovered as a result of natural play, as paralooping along the way on the right pockets of space can reveal hidden power-ups. The type of replayable, evolving levels described before and the musical accompaniment of discrete instrumentation are the kinds of systems that titles like Rez would later employ. Its obvious this game was a labor of love by the developers because its rife with all of those subtle details that only get bothered with for pet projects.
The whole package is appropriately rounded out by its connectivity to the companion disc, Christmas NiGHTS. Innovative usage of the NiGHTS save file allows a Music Box feature for analyzing the Nightopians feelings and experimenting with different combinations for songs. The Saturns internal clock is also tapped to keep the stages decorated with the changing of the seasons and holidays.
