2nd Op By

Dale Weir 2.0 RATING

Nightcaster was one of Microsoft's lead titles. It was bankrolled by Microsoft; it was published by Microsoft; it was advertised by Microsoft; and it was on store shelves before the Xbox even went on sale. Clearly this is title would be a showcase for what the Xbox could do, right? No, obviously. Barring the rare instance, Nightcaster never demonstrates why it is on the Xbox. In fact, if it weren't for the occasional particle effect and some real-time light-sourcing, I would argue that this game could have been pulled off on the lowly Dreamcast without much trouble.

Nightcaster was doomed from the start because it wasn't just a launch title, it was a launch title RPG—or at least it loosely fits the criteria needed for it to be called an role-playing game (RPG). There is an unwritten rule that states that launch title RPGs are nothing more than filler from developers/publishers desperate to catch a buying public unaware and make a quick buck. That and the incredibly tight development crunch launch titles are often put through results in these games rarely having the deep and engaging gameplay fans demand. How else can I explain why the story is so weak; why the voice-acting is just below mediocre and utterly unconvincing; why the story is conveyed though long scrolls and illegible text; why interaction with the bland environment is so clumsy; why there are no weapon or armor upgrades; and why the game was so universally panned.

Does Nightcaster do anything right? Yes. The spell system that Mike describes is quite good. Giving four variations to four basic spells gives the game some variety and coupled with the three levels of power-ups, I can unleash some pretty powerful attacks on enemies. I also dig the fact that in Nightcaster the main character ages as the game progresses. But these few points hardly make up for an utterly forgettable overall experience.

Over the years, I've learned not to expect a whole lot from launch titles. My expectations were already low before I played Nightcaster and it still managed to disappoint.

Public Opinion

EnduroGamer 3.5 Rating

I want to more or less agree with what Mike and Dale are saying about Nightcaster. It should be known that this title wasn't an actual launch title, although it did come out a mere 4 to 6 months after the Xbox launch so we might be splitting hairs on this matter, depending on what you view as the launch window.

As far as the game goes, the graphics and lack of competing RPG's on the Xbox (at the time) initially pulled me in but after just a couple chapters of playing this game it became painfully obvious that the game had little more to offer than exercise for one's trigger fingers.

I was hoping for at least some average role playing in this game, but the only thing remotely RPG-ish about this game was the use of magic to defeat color-coded monsters. You know, the whole blue=ice, red=hot, purple=thunder, yellow=lightning clichés that we've grown accustomed to in the previous console generation. The problem with this formula was that it either left you rapidly cycling through spells to color match against enemies or, like Mike had said, you simply stayed with one spell and made the best of it. The game might be found in bargain bins these days, but don't bother with it.

Reader Second Opinions