A Big Helping of WTF
Maybe it's because I've been playing more standard fare action games of the North American flair as of late but jumping back into Japanese ARPGs as of late really has me shook up as of late on what is "normal" and how crazy some of the stuff that is coming out of Japan as well. Yes, the Final Fantasy series has some weird moments, Star Ocean, Xenogears, even Zelda all have their touches of WTF (I'm looking at you Tingle!) but they seem to keep that to a minimum. Games like NIGHTS OF AZURE seem to relish in said weirdness. Talking about summoning demons with your cat whilst elevator music plays in the background? Yep, that's just the surface of Nights.
Solid Action With Caveats
When the action gets rolling, it's solid. With a ton of combos and creatures to fight by your side, it's my favorite part of Nights so far. That being said, the pacing is really inconsistent in the first several hours of the game. Every time I open a new area and go kick some monster arse, I'm back at the hotel with more WTF (Check the video below for a taste) -- I'm not quite sure where the game is going yet but I'll be sure to post more highlights as we play through the game.