BagoGames
The Playstation Vita has a rear touchpad. Maybe I’d forgotten about it in my roughly 8 billion hours of playing Persona 4 Golden, but it’s there. Sure, it may not be the most used feature on the handheld, but it’s there for developers to (hopefully) use, otherwise Sony spent a lot of money integrating that extra bit of kit.
Enter htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary from NIS America, a game that completely ignores the analog sticks and clicky buttons of the Vita and instead goes two-fisted on the touchpads. While an admirable attempt to explore the more interesting technical aspects of the handheld, it does so at the expense of playability.
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.
