Preview | Nocturnal 2 Demo - Look for the Light
Set to release later this year, Nocturnal 2 is the sequel to Swiss developer Sunnyside Game’s debut title, Nocturnal. This new, hand-drawn, atmospheric 2D Metroidvania game seeks to improve upon the first by offering faster and more fluid movement, more inviting exploration, and new abilities. A new demo, out today, features approximately an hour of gameplay.
You play as Ardeshir, a warrior bearing the Enduring Flame, who has set out to break the curse that ravaged his homeland. In Nocturnal 2, you explore Ytash, a once great but now cursed and abandoned city that hosted the never-ending flame. Armed with a fiery sword, Ardeshir is the sole source of light in this gloomy city. As you explore Ytash, you will repel the darkness by reigniting torches and sconces littered throughout the walls and backgrounds of the city. Thankfully, the objects that can be relit are marked with a small and unobtrusive flame symbol, making it easier to spot as you run through each area. Each torch you rekindle is added to a progress bar that unlocks several pathways throughout the game once a certain percentage milestone has been met. These act as a gate towards progress as you must explore and illuminate one part of the city before moving on to the next area.
Core to any Metroidvania game, the exploration mechanics feel fantastic in Nocturnal 2. In the demo, you are quickly given access to a dash, air-dash, wall jump, and even a double-jump. These traversal mechanics feel incredibly satisfying as you wall jump side-to-side, dodging traps and hazards, and make your way through the map. They seamlessly flow together to create fluid motions that allow you to either take your time exploring a dark room or quickly make your way past a hallway you are already too familiar with. You are also given a map that details all the torches you discovered and whether they are lit or unlit, and shows you which pathways you have yet to explore.
Ardeshir’s new abilities are unlocked via flame orbs that are often found at the ends of certain paths, in far nooks of the map. The new abilities are often necessary to continue making progress exploring the city, but some are more combat-focused. One ability I unlocked in the demo granted me a sort of air smackdown to use while fighting. While it was satisfying to pull off in combat, I found no other use for it while exploring. I am unsure if, in the full release, all abilities will be required to make it to the end of the game or if some — such as these combat-focused moves — will be okay to miss.
It took some time for me to adjust to the rhythm of combat in Nocturnal 2. When approaching a new game, I will often spam attacks and play far too aggressively until that method gets me killed. However, the enemies of Nocturnal 2 quickly humbled me and forced me to rethink my approach.
Ardeshir has a standard sword attack that turns into a combo if the button is pressed multiple times in a row, and a ranged dart throw that has a roughly seven second cooldown. There are a variety of enemies I encountered in the demo, which often looked similar, taking the form of dark misty humanoid figures. Each is equipped with a different arsenal. The first type of enemy you encounter is melee-focused with large claws and highly telegraphed attacks. With the moveset you are given in the demo, I found that Ardeshir’s basic sword hits did nothing to stagger the enemy. After dying a couple of times due to my carelessness, I realised I needed to read the enemy’s attacks and dash or dodge at the right moments to not get hit. That method worked fine at first, but it felt like a bit of a slog doing this back and forth dance. I soon discovered that the double-jump also acts as a combat ability, allowing the second jump to launch the enemy into the air, where they are unable to recover until they hit the ground. I then began spamming that double-jump to keep the monsters airborne to avoid having to dodge and give into my more aggressive (and less reactive) playstyle. Other enemies I encountered throughout the demo utilized ranged attacks or had a shield that prevented them from becoming airborne, requiring me to rethink my combat strategies and fight with a bit more precision. I don’t think the combat is meant to be quite as challenging as, say, some other rigorous Metroidvanias, but I do think a bit of attention is required to make it through the fights in this game.
Although I found myself dying often, Nocturnal 2 has a fairly forgiving checkpoint system. Sprinkled a little less than generously throughout the map, a series of giant birdlike statues allow you to reset your health and give you a spawn point. I was surprised by, but ultimately grateful for, the lack of enemy respawns when using this checkpoint system. During my time with the demo, the only time I saw enemies respawn was after dying or when returning to an area I previously explored.
There are other interactable statues placed throughout the city that allow you to unlock new abilities, upgrade stats using a rare (in the demo) collectible, or grant you a “home” to teleport to from anywhere on the map.
The atmosphere created by Sunnyside Games felt perfect for what is happening narratively in the abandoned city of Ytash. The background art design creates a dreary tone where you can see a beautiful, vibrant community that once flourished, but has long since been ravaged by an evil curse. The use of muted colours makes the brightness of the illuminating flames contrast beautifully through the hallways as you progress through each room. The mostly hushed sounds and quiet background music filled me with a sense of isolation while exploring Ytash. The slight echoes with every footstep or sword swing added to the secluded feeling within Ytash and showcased the developer’s crisp environmental sound design. Certain narrative sequences coincided with a surge in the music, allowing me to feel triumphant and a bit less alone while investigating this deserted city.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Nocturnal 2 demo. It offered just enough charm to make its take on the Metroidvania genre feel fresh and unique. I’m hoping that the full game will showcase more varied environments because I can anticipate its darkness feeling grating over time. I’m also a bit concerned about the combat becoming more of a chore than something exciting as I became frustrated with certain sequences towards the end of the demo. But since I only unlocked a fraction of the abilities, I have hope that with a full toolset these minor grievances won’t be a problem in the full release.
