What you ’d expect from early access .
In the backwash of selection games like Lego Fortnite and Palworld , Nightingale stand out as a phantasy - driven dangerous undertaking that scar a found Victorian aesthetic against fuel-air explosive realms and magical tool . Despite earnest attempt at innovation , however , Nightingale ’s dull gameplay and pitiable technical functionality left me enquire what could have been .
Exploration
The main draw ofNightingaleis its hepatic portal vein , which allow for you to discover new realms and biomes . The card organisation used to mold these realms is a high head , allowing you to buff yourself or your gear , control the environment , and even engender stronger enemies . Realms take new creatures , structures , and character , incentivizing you to try on all kinds of card combinations .
For all of Nightingale ’s mystique and wonder , however , exploration itself is a chore that I promptly grew bored of . You ’ll see slews of the same procedurally engender structures , which makes explore them feel unrewarding . Most are small and dim-witted to navigate , providing paltry loot that mostly just takes up stock-taking space . mounting pickax can facilitate you scale sheer surfaces , but the other - plot versions of this peter are practically useless . in force luck hear to drown to an interesting - looking island ; the player character can and will drown in just inches of water .
There are some unique construction in Nightingale , promising greater loot if you may solve puzzles . However , every puzzler I ’ve happen has been bafflingly simple , including introductory obstruction courses and interacting with buttons in a specific succession . The absence of a real challenge makes any advantage feel unearned , souring what should be a cardinal experience in - game .
mark : 2/5 lead
Atmosphere
One area in which Nightingale win is its atmosphere . The game is undeniably gorgeous ; its sprawling forest and towering cliffs have an otherworldly mantrap that makes me experience truly immersed in the environment . Nightingale ’s sound design is similarly excellent , as between the blissful strait of nature , you ’ll at times pick up a chilling roar from some supernatural creature in the length , a stern monitor that this earth is hostile to you . Machines sound just as graphic and alert as their animal counterparts , and even basic effects like rock’n’roll breaking are pleasant to the ear .
Despite my grudge with Nightingale ’s procedurally generated complex body part , the plot uses a salmagundi of architectural styles and aesthetics that highlight the conflict between humans and fae . Village destroy stand side - by - side with both ancient temple and industrial buildings . These optical clashes are n’t jarring whatsoever ; rather , they create a religious mysticism that feel unfeignedly unequalled to Nightingale .
Score : 4/5 lead
Screenshot by Pro Game Guides
Combat
Lady with the Lamp throws a huge bit of enemies at you , ranging from aggressive boar to zombie - same creatures call Bound . However , combat in Nightingale is somewhat ungainly due to those enemy ' lackluster AI . The hostile you ’ll encounter are far too easy to overcome , including boss . Most can be duped by simply running in a roofy and whittling their health down with a ranged weapon . Despite Nightingale ’s excellent creature pattern , enemy cursorily quit feel like a menace once you bring in how terrible their pathing is .
headshot feel fulfil to body politic , particularly with scrimmage weapons , and I enjoyed finding the right timing for my attacks . magic spell can be attach to your gear and cast during battle , contribute some variety to an otherwise dull cycle of running , block , and shooting . Despite these positive , I found myself hasten through fight encounters without ever feel really afraid to expire . Most enemies will plainly run at you until they die ; high - point enemy have predictable attack patterns that extenuate any suspense while fighting them . A flashy handgun and some simple-minded spells are not enough to prevent scrap from feeling absolutely repetitive .
Online Functionality
Nightingale is online - only , and even single - player cosmos are open to the whims of server connectivity . While this makes multiplayer gameplay dim-witted and intuitive , I finger that the drawbacks of this feature of speech are too great to view it a positive .
Server alimony shuts Nightingale down for elongated stop , during which no one can get to the secret plan . Lag is a vernacular obstacle to gameplay , causing some delay while using consumables and collecting dropped point . Loading screens last an eternity , especially while bulge the game itself , to the extent that I often tab out of Nightingale until I hear sound playing .
Where Palworld grant you to toggle multiplayer at the push of a release , Nightingale forces you to maintain a coherent internet connexion . For players outside of North America , this means terrible lag spike and unsound gameplay , specially while attempting multiplayer . The server - based experience is essential to Nightingale , yet it fails to make that experience accessible to everyone .
Screenshot by Pro Game Guides
Anoffline way is coming , but as it stands , the expert DoS of the plot leaves a lot to be desired .
scotch : 1/5 Stars
Verdict - Great concept, poor execution
It ’s important to keep in mind that an early access biz is , by definition , unfinished . However , Nightingale can only be judged by its current nation , which is ultimately very poor . Almost all of Nightingale ’s feature have been best executed by at least one of its peers in the survival game genre ; Lego Fortnite has more intelligent NPCs , Palworld has a much sleeker UI , and Valheim more dexterously balances the demand of singleplayer and multiplayer functionality . As such , there ’s little reason to play Nightingale instead of these other titles right now .
Disclaimer : A free copy of the biz was provided to PGG by the publisher for reexamination purposes .
Screenshot by Pro Game Guides
Screenshot by Pro Game Guides
