izigame.me

Nocturnal is a game that despite it's very short runtime, left me satisfied by the end due to the responsive controls, smooth animations and straightforward gameplay. The game feels incredibly well made because it's really simple, but each aspect is tailored to perfection, creating a highly polished game as a result. It reminded me a lot of ato in this same way. But while nocturnal as a whole isn't AS tight as ato, it certainly looks more cinematic. Some games suffer because of feature creep or lack of a realistic scope but nocturnal succeeds because the developers new exactly what they wanted to make, which is a cinematic action platformer with smooth combat.
And cinematic it is... From the gorgeous and highly detailed environments to the hand drawn animations that feel straight out of something like legend of korra, the game is just beautiful however you look at it. This is not only because of the gorgeous artstyle or backgrounds but also due to some very good looking shaders and lighting effects. I took many screenshots despite the short gametime because i was constantly in awe of the amazing environments. I also beat the game in pretty much one sitting because ironically, this very smoothness glued me to the screen.
Another reason that i couldn't stop playing was because the combat also plays very well thanks to responsive controls and a perfect difficulty. The type of difficulty that if you're focused you can first try but when your slouching you will die. Your core moveset while simple is versatile enough to tackle the game's moderate cast of enemies and bosses. Regular enemies can be a threat, especially in groups, but if you're quick on your feet you can outplay them which feels very statisfying. Bosses also pose quite a challenge, but if you're focused you can feasibly do them (mostly) hitless. No encounter felt unfair or impossible, which is a great design achievement.
A different area where design is also pretty good is the (linear) level design. It's never too complex to slow the pace or too basic to get stale. There's a nice mix of puzzles, platforming and combat to spice things up. All the clues you need to progress are right there on the screen, it's up to you to notice them and make it happen. I love games that don't handhold and trust the player to be capable enough to figure things out on themselves without blasting it in your face with some UI elements. Speaking of which, the UI in this game is absolutely gorgeous, it's so simple but elegant and i love it.
Another thing i love is a polished game. The game ran flawlesly once it got up and running. Initial loading times are just a few seconds too long but other than that it's perfect. There were also no bugs so the game is as polished mechanically as it is visually. Lastly there's the story. The background lore, while simple was actually quite cool in my opinion. The main characters' journey however is a bit generic, but without spoiling too much i can say that the payoff at the end is worth it. The whole game is worth it actually, but not at full price. I don't regret my purchase but it's still a bit pricey for it's lenght. Recommended to pick up at a sale of 25% or more.