I just finished playing the XBLA demo. There is definitely something wrong with the controls. It feels like I'm playing with a 16-way D-Pad rather than an analog stick. There's no in between directions when moving, just abrupt E-to-ESE (in compass terms). It feels very stiff compared to the original, designed to feel like the player had freedom of movement. It makes linking significantly harder and more frustrating. I'm going to wait for an update and/or someone hacking better controls in via Steam version before purchasing. Shame, I was really looking forward to having a version I don't have to emulate.
I had just read that the 360 version controlled like an 8-direction game rather than an analogue one, and came here to make sure it wasn't a mistake on the reviewer's behalf. What a bummer. Are people still falling for this crap? Just buy the games you like, guys.
I just cannot believe that it's missing. How exactly does something like that get missed out? I mean you'd think someone would have twigged along the way. It almost seems like the kind of thing you'd have to actively make an effort to fuck up. I can conceive that it might be something to do with the way the analogue controller was originally implemented on the Saturn, or something, but that's absolutely no excuse. :| Saying that, is this novel to this edition, or was it present in the PS2 version from which it's obviously cookie-cut?
I never played the PS2 version, but some say that the controls weren't an issue in it. Something must have went wrong in the conversion process. Hopefully a patch can rectify this. If not, perhaps a mod for the PC version whenever that comes out.
I was ready to purchase, played the demo, and the 8-way controls made it borderline unplayable. Sorry Sega. Good job with JSR and SA2, but you done fucked up on NiGHTS.
Can't wait for some random PR guy to unofficially state that he might speak with SEGA about fixing the controls if the game sells enough.
That Gillwing Achievement is going to be annoying. I looked up a video online and tried to replicate it myself, and the best I could do is a 17 Link out of pure luck. Everything else seems so doable, then there's that 100G Achievement. Guess that'll be something to keep me coming back. EDIT: I made this post, booted the game up, and got it by a complete accident. I need to bitch more often! :specialed:
The worst part is that the D-Pad in the original controlled better than the analog stick does in this version. At least it wasn't as abrupt of a directional shift.
My theory is that the D-pad controls were mapped to the analogue stick and that's why it has this eight-way control. If the analogue controls are tucked away somewhere in the PS2 code, couldn't they just re-map the analogue stick to them?
I'm just going to assume that I'm the only person on the face of the Earth that didn't have issues with the controls...?
It was my first time playing and the controls felt very natural for me. I played Journey of Dreams back when it came out, so maybe that's part of the reason. I can see why people would be disappointed though, imagining NiGHTS moving through the stages with precise control is an appealing thought.
I've had no control issues with the game, other than having to relearn how to play it since I haven't touched it in almost 2 years. The only complaint I would have is that the last two laps of Stick Canyon are too much of a testicle-culling pain in the rear – however, that complaint carries over from the original game itself.
Yeah, I've read Charlie's article on the differences a few times, but I'd never heard anything about the analogue control being messed-up. The sad thing is this isn't all that implausible. :/ At the very least, you'd expect them to promptly patch something that is inexplicable for managing to get through the testing phase – IF THERE WAS ONE, LOL Which, now that I think of it, brings me to the claims that TRiPPY and co. were intensively involved in testing the port during whatever (re)development it got – without wanting deliberately to shit on them, seeing as they do a lot to represent a game I love, if they're all such experts, why didn't anyone pick up on this? Travesty of justice, storm the gates, Sega's head on a stick, and so on
A lot of these ports have been outsourced to China for (presumably) cheap labour costs, with the organisation of the game being handled by Sega of America (you'll have to check this copy of NiGHTS to see if the same applies here). There are lots of problems with this approach - it's unlikely Chinese developers have the same standards of quality, if not purely on the basis that China... didn't really receive the Sega Saturn back in the mid-90s, and so may not even know how this game is meant to be played. It extracts the "heart" out of the development process, because, through no fault of their own, there's a good chance Sega of China have no idea what they're doing. I know a lot of Americans are jumpy on the "China issue", so you might provoke a response by complaining to Sega of America en masse about the use of the Chinese arm. But then having said that, you might get a response by just saying MAKE BETTER PORTS PLZ or not buying these things at all. as an aside, NiGHTS is playable with the Saturn's D-Pad - it's the control method I had to use back in the day. Granted, it's not the best approach, but far better to use a D-Pad than an analogue stick if the movement isn't truly analogue.
I must be the only person who doesn't notice *any* difference between analog and digital controls on the original game.
