Night Spasm
- May 15, 2020
- Gideon Moes
Night Spasm is an open-world action adventure pixel-art-style RPG game that features a turn-based combat battle system, unique characters, and a dark, deep story. Take control of three main characters to restore a corrupt sci-fi/medieval world originally created to cheat death...
Reviews
- The game features a fun and engaging story with humorous dialogue and interesting characters.
- The soundtrack is highly praised, adding to the overall enjoyment of the game.
- The game offers a large world to explore with many secrets and a variety of crafting options.
- Players have reported technical issues, including anti-piracy messages and glitches that disrupt gameplay.
- The game can feel tedious due to slow movement and cumbersome item management, making resource gathering frustrating.
- Some players find the combat system confusing and the overall game design lacking polish, leading to a less enjoyable experience.
- story20 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The game's story is a central element, featuring a mix of main quests and side quests that allow players to explore various locations and interact with characters, including three companions who aid in the journey. While some players find the narrative engaging and immersive, others criticize it for being overly wordy and lacking polish, with a confusing structure and missing features. Overall, the story is appreciated for its charm and character depth, despite its RPG Maker origins and some gameplay limitations.
“Although the game’s system runs on RPG Maker (not usually known for the highest caliber of games), I've really found myself enjoying this game thoroughly, oddly finding myself immersed and invested in the story.”
“Yes, it is indeed very wordy and story-driven, but to me that is exactly what makes up its charm.”
“The intro is superb, the characters are fascinating, and the overall plot is masterfully done for an indie game.”
“But the story and gameplay in general is a bit confusing and with a lot of extras that haven’t been added to the game yet.”
“And the game has no map over the world, so the player needs to search the world for all the story places.”
“This game is wordy like a visual novel, but has none of the polish or proper storytelling.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are described as simplistic yet charming, reminiscent of fourth-generation console titles, which aligns with the RPG Maker aesthetic. This visual style, combined with witty writing, contributes to the overall appeal of the game, despite its basic graphical presentation.
“The simplistic style and graphics combined with the witty and sometimes cheesy writing provide the game's charm.”
“Like anything made with RPG Maker, the graphics and sound are both on par with the graphics and sound of games made in the fourth generation of consoles.”
“Take RPG Maker to make an adventure/RPG game with graphics and sound consistent with the fourth generation of consoles, throw in some brilliant dialogue, interesting gameplay features, and make combat more difficult than the hard setting for FTL: Faster Than Light, and you have Night Spasm.”
- music7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's soundtrack is highly praised for its engaging and memorable quality, featuring a selection of lesser-known indie tracks that provide a refreshing change from typical royalty-free music. Players find the music enjoyable and mood-setting, even if some elements may feel repetitive. Overall, the soundtrack significantly enhances the gaming experience.
“Very fun game with a banger soundtrack, I highly recommend that you play this game.”
“Something the game does very well is use pieces of indie music that aren't too well known, which gives a breath of fresh air in the RPG Maker marketplace where the tracks are usually the same royalty-free tunes.”
“The music is quite pleasing and perfectly sets the mood of the game.”
“But personally, I have a really short attention span, yet I enjoy every last bit of the game, even down to the music despite it being somewhat repetitive.”
- gameplay7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "night spasm" features a blend of familiar RPG Maker systems, such as turn-based combat and exploration, alongside unique mechanics that enhance the experience. While some players find the combat system initially confusing, it ultimately becomes engaging and sophisticated, complemented by a rich narrative and appealing graphics reminiscent of fourth-generation consoles. Overall, the game offers a challenging yet rewarding gameplay experience.
“Night Spasm is a rich indie role-playing game with various gameplay systems as well as an interesting plot.”
“Sophisticated fight mechanics that seem complicated at first but aren't when you get rolling.”
“But the story and gameplay in general is a bit confusing and has a lot of extras that haven’t been added to the game yet.”
“I have no issues with the game’s turn-based mechanics; I just don’t understand why the combat system is listed in acronyms.”
“The gameplay is mostly comprised of familiar RPG Maker systems like turn-based combat and exploration, with some unique and welcome additions.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it primarily involves farming levels and upgrading equipment through story quests. The limited availability of monsters to fight further exacerbates the grind, making the leveling process feel slow and repetitive.
“The game is mainly about farming levels, upgrading weapons and armor, completing story quests, and unlocking more of the story.”
“It meant you could only find monsters to fight half the time, making leveling up tedious.”
“Grinding feels like a chore rather than an engaging part of the game.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, while players have reported some character clipping and puzzle glitches, these issues do not significantly disrupt gameplay, indicating a generally stable experience.
“There are some character clipping and puzzle glitches.”
“Some in-game glitches may happen, such as characters clipping and puzzles not loading correctly, but nothing that breaks the game entirely.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by engaging dialogue and amusing characters, though the soundtrack adds an unusual element with its moaning sounds, which may not resonate with all players.
“The dialogue is engaging and witty, the characters are hilarious, and the soundtrack adds a unique touch.”
“The humor is spot-on, with clever jokes that keep you laughing throughout the game.”
“I love how the characters have such quirky personalities that make every interaction entertaining.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is highly optimized, offering smooth performance in both windowed and fullscreen modes.
“The game is optimized very well with windowed and fullscreen options.”
“The performance enhancements make a noticeable difference in gameplay.”
“I appreciate the ability to customize graphics settings for better performance.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be very wholesome, expressing a sense of sadness over the limited availability of the larger narrative arc.
“Very wholesome, and I'm sad I can't really view more of the larger arc at the moment.”