Chalgyr's Game Room writes:
The Firefly Diary is an interesting experiment that suffers an interesting paradox. What should be its strengths often turn out to be the game's greatest weaknesses. Visually htoL#niQ: The Firefly Diary does a beautiful job of creating a world of light and shadow around our quiet protagonist Mion, but that atmosphere is squandered by some questionable game mechanics that might wear players' patience thin before the game's conclusion.
Nippon Ichi Software is known for some very stylized titles, and The Firefly Diary is no exception. With more color than Limbo, it is hard not to draw some comparisons to the two games at a glance. The visuals are lovely, charming even. The fireflies glow beautifully as they interweave between light and shadow, Mion slowly trailing along behind one firefly while the other manipulates the environment. There is a sort of minimalist storytelling here that is also reminiscent to Limbo. Clearly something creepy is at play here with Mion, and it takes time and investment from the player too piece the disparate parts of the story together. It makes for a satisfying conclusion, but I fear too few players will find there way to it.
There is a whole line of NIS games people might not know about. They don't have any specific designation and header. However, each one is a 2D game focused on stories and puzzles, and people who enjoy one will likely love the others.
Gary Hartley Writes: But even with such a mammoth complaint filed away, htoL#NiQ is still a shuffling collection of rage quits and tantrums. Some of this is down to Mion’s atrocious speed and the way she shuffles after her firefly helper on her little, unsteadily legs. On one hand, it does promote a huge aura of vulnerability and inspires a certain measure of protectiveness from the gamer. On the other, waiting for her to get from point to point can be excruciating. For the most part, the game itself keeps in sync with the laborious pace; little shadow monsters try to chase down the little heroine at set intervals but never dial their pace up from an uncomfortable creep as Mion casually strolls away. Other pitfalls are less forgiving and demand a series of prompt and precise commands the interface is often not up to. To this end, you will often easily figure out what you need to do to bypass a puzzle or a deathtrap; you’ll just find yourself eating countless deaths while you try to unsuccessfully pull it all together.
Amazon has opened preorders for the Yomawari: Night Alone and htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary bundles, revealing some additional details and images.
