Nocturnal 2 is dark. Not in the sense it’ll give you nightmares, but ‘tis a land lacking the enduring flame and a place that has gone and Ouroborosed itself (not a real verb), and left everything pretty much to the imagination.
The land is, in reality, a greedy city called Ytash that has drained its people and resources. You play as the adventurer Ardeshir, a wielder of said flame, as they attempt to illuminate a once vibrant home to many, not through exemplary interior design skills, but through slashing things with his fiery sword.
There’s a bit of lore to the enduring flame, which you’ll find out as you locate statues and artefacts throughout this hack and slash. If you played the first one, which I regrettably missed during the review circuit, you’ll have an idea what this is all about. It reminds me of Shadow of the Guild, Prince of Persia (not just because of the Persian architecture), and Towaga: Among Shadows (which I found out is the same studio!) for their good looks.
Labelling it as a Metroidvania could be misleading depending on your stance, as for me, I associate those as incredibly difficult – a 2D Souls-like with minimalist handholding or levelling up. Nocturnal 2, on the other hand, is much more accessible due to its fluid movement and intuitive combat. When initially learning the ropes, you’ll need to hit extinguished lamps to light the area. This is quantified as some areas require you to have lit 25% of the lamps before proceeding.
Jumping from ledge to ledge, or wall sliding, is mostly a joy, and it’s a fair assessment to say this is a precision platformer. Eventually, new switch-type puzzles are introduced, which will focus on timing, jumping ability, and, in some respects, planning, as there will be obstacles that extinguish your sword. All is not lost, as you can still do damage, though not as much. More importantly, you really want to light up the lamps, so it’s best to find a torch you’ve already lit, or return the Sun Child.
The what? The Sun Child is a little like a Souls-like bonfire, which you can fast travel if unlocked and you have the ability. From my experience, having a lit sword is imperative for gameplay, so jumping back to the base for a quick light is one thing, but upgrading is another. Defeating enemies, which we haven’t looked at yet, awards XP to invest in new skills – pending you’ve found them through exploration. These skills dramatically change gameplay with a double jump and attack combos. Later perks include more health and better cooldowns for projectiles.
On to the combat, and head-on fighting isn’t in your interest due to the lack of blocking and limited health. Instead, dashing through an enemy or avoiding a charge attack is the way to go in Nocturnal 2, or better still, Tekken-like juggling, where you launch them into the air, repeatedly hitting them in this state, then a further attack on the way down. It’s very satisfying, though combat is risky due to minimal health. There aren’t any drops, so you have to restore through defeating enemies, then necking a potion via a hotkey.
I’ve been really impressed with Nocturnal 2 at its finesse. Sometimes these sorts of games are beautifully animated, but movement is hindered by combat or having to stop, tie your shoelaces and continue. Ardeshir flows like a parkour elite – from the basic ledge jumping through to falling in style in a big ball of flame, it just works really really well, and the fact that it isn’t a hard-as-nails Metroidvania (thus far, and still challenging nevertheless), it’s way more accessible that many of the other titles you see in the genre that is infamous for trolling with Megaman-like difficulty with a broken controller.
Ask for it by name.
