GoNintendo "End of day" thoughts - WiiWare recommendation: Knytt Stories

I’m pretty passionate about today’s “End of day” thoughts. I hope that someone that reads this ends up feeling the same way I do. I really want you guys to experience this title. Who knows, maybe it can make it to the Wii someday if enough buzz is made. Right now it’s nothing more than a dream, which is what I’ll be having in a couple minutes! I’ll catch you guys in a few hours, have a great morning.

The WiiWare channel will be heading our way come early 2008. Everyone is excited to see just what will be gracing the channel. We already know of a couple titles in development, Nintendo is working on games as well, and third parties are hopping on board as we speak. There is a huge amount of promise in the WiiWare channel, due to both the Wii’s control scheme and low level price for indie devs to get involved. I always love to see what indie devs come up with. Their ideas are usually lacking the common elements we see in most games today. The indie scene truly allows for new and fresh ideas to grow. While I’ve been a huge fan of indie games for years now, I’ve really been following the scene as of this last year. Any indie game out there has a chance to come to the WiiWare channel. My hope is that one indie dev, Nifflas Games, will one day grace the Wii. The most recent release from Nifflas (a very small team) is Knytt Stories. Not only is this one of the most endearing/charming games in recent memory, it deserves to be among the ranks of some of the best games ever…period.

Nifflas has worked on a couple of other titles before Knytt Stories came along. Knytt Stories wouldn’t exist without Knytt, where the basic idea for the “Stories” sequel came about. Also playing into the style of Knytt Stories is “Within a Deep Forest”. I am a major fan of these two titles as well, but for the purpose of this post, I am going to focus on Knytt Stories.

Knytt Stories puts you in the role Juni, an inhabitant of a far off planet. The backstory of Juni’s world does come from the previous title Knytt, but you can piece things together as you make your way through “Stories”. One day Juni receives a letter from a friend in the neighboring town. She informs Juni of a giant machine that was built deep within a cave. This machine’s purpose is unknown, but it is killing the world that these characters live in. The closer you get to this machine, the worse things are. At the time of writing the letter, the cave is blocked by a monster of sorts that will not let you in. Juni sets out to find a way past this monster, and make her way into the cave to stop the machine before it kills the world they know and love.

Knytt Stories plays somewhat like a Metroid title, minus the weapons. Your objective is to get to that mysterious machine, and shut it down. The problem is finding the tools you need to actually progress to that point in the game. You will have to explore the vast gamespace in order to find power-ups for your character. There are items that will make you run faster, give you a double jump, allow you to glide through the air, and a lot more. Some of these items are easy to find, but others can only be accessed when you’ve mastered all the skills at hand. There are no hints as to where these items hide within the world. It is up to you to wander around the game and make mental notes as you go along. The main gameplay element in Knytt Stories is exploration.

As I mentioned earlier, there are absolutely no weapons in the game. You will never get a gun, sword, or any sort of projectile. Your only offense is your quick defense. You will have to dodge enemies by learning their attacks and moving around them. Not every creature you come across is bad though. Basically, you will meet a large amount of animals/creatures that inhabit the world you live on. Some of them tend to be more aggressive, while others are docile. There are tools further along in the game that will help you differentiate between the two. Having a game where you cannot attack not only adds to the strategy, but is uniquely refreshing. Part of the endearing nature of the game is finding these friendly animals and just watching what they do. Some of them will follow you, others will run away from you in a shy manner. It’s these encounters that make the game world seem that much more alive.

That’s something that Knytt Stories pulls off better than most games out there. You will truly connect with this game on a much higher level than you do with most titles. Right now Bioshock is being praised for its rich game world and attention to detail. I think Bioshock is a fantastic game in all areas. Having said that, Knytt Stories pulled me away from my Bioshock game and didn’t let go until I was done. I knew when Knytt Stories was due to release, and I eagerly awaited that day. Once I started playing I simply couldn’t stop. Everything in this game takes such a simple approach, but is so finely crafted that it really grabs a hold of you. I am sure I will catch flak for my Bioshock comments, but this is truly how I feel about Knytt Stories.

This is quite an accomplishment for a game that looks like something from the late 80s. The graphics in Knytt Stories are, simply put, very outdated. This is, of course, talking from a purely technical standpoint. When you look at them and their relation to the gameplay, they end up being truly breathtaking. I found myself stopping on a number of screens just to take in the scenery. We are talking about crude characters, single colors, and basic geometry. There is something so alluring in the simplicity, it really takes on a life of its own. There’s no doubt in my mind that the visual choices made in Knytt Stories was done on purpose. It allows you to focus on the other portions of the game first, and then as you get sucked into the world, the visuals really start to flow with the game.

I could go on about all aspects of Knytt Stories, but there’s one more point that I feel I have to mention. The music in the game is some of the best surrealist audio out there. Each new area in the free flowing game world is met with a new tune. The tracks tend to last anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, and then they fade out to nothing but the sound of your footsteps. The tracks are very understated with specific instruments used to give you a very distinct feeling. To truly stress how great the audio is, I have already put all the tracks on my iPod. They aren’t dance tracks, or rock…or anything like that. They are new age, melodic, and downright mellow.

All of these aspects tied together makes Knytt Stories one of my favorite games in a very long time. I love the Metroids, Marios, Halos, and all that…but Knytt Stories can be enjoyed for its freshness alone. It is something new, something very bold, and fully addicting in its nature. We don’t see games like this make it to store shelves because no one knows what type of market there is for them. I can’t tell you how much this game has really changed the way I think about games. As I’ve mentioned before, I am one that can be moved to tears by games. I am not at all ashamed to say that Knytt Stories brought me to that point during one portion of the game. When a game does that to me, I know it has something special.

The reason the game is called Knytt Stories is because there is a collection of 5 games to play through. The main story is the one I described to you right now. The others in the set range from gameplay close to this story, to a much more linear experience. The one story I told you is meant to be the main adventure in the collection, with the other titles being somewhat of experiments. All of these are fantastic, but the storyline I told you is the one that really sealed the deal for me.

There couldn’t be a more perfect game to come to the WiiWare channel. This is the type of title that will make people sit up and take notice. An unassuming game like this could truly start a revolution in gaming. There’s so much going on in a game that seems so simple at first. These are the projects the WiiWare channel needs to stand out from XBLA and PSN. Nintendo has said that they are willing to help indie devs get their games onto the WiiWare platform. I really hope they intend to back that statement up. There are more wonderful indie games out there that would have a perfect home on the Wii. Knytt Stories could be the first title to really open the door for everyone else. This game joins the ranks if indie favorite Cave Story as one of the best titles to grace not just the PC scene, but gaming as a whole.

Download Knytt Stories and all other Nifflas’ Games projects for free here.