Later, the game’s traps require near-pixel precision to elude, which proves to be challenging without direct control over the character. While that excuse might explain the character’s sluggish speed, it doesn’t make navigation any less irksome, especially when danger swiftly moves toward the player. The game uses a narrative-based justification to justify the protagonist’s perpetually lethargic movement. No matter which input method player’s use to guide Mion, implementation is less than ideal. Naturally, htoL#NiQ’s puzzles push players to shift between the Light and Shadow realms, as players evade increasingly perilous traps and enemies. Periodically, players are tasked with maneuvering Umbra, who travels on an intricate network of darkened pathways to activate switches that are obscured in the darkness. Using either controller, mouse, and a mouse and keyboard combination, players maneuver Lumen around the screen, with Mion obediently following the character across both platforms and the periodic ladder. This dichotomy forms the fundamentals of htoL#NiQ’s play mechanics. Put it all together and you have “Hotoru no Niki” which when spoken would easily be understood as Hotaru Nikki. The Pound sign (“#”) could be shortened as “No”, and the final two bits would be said as “Ni” and “Ki”. Pronouncing “hto” aloud would sound like “hoto” with an utterance of “L” said as “Ru”. But it’s actually little more than a stylized rendition of the game’s Japanese name, Hotaru Nikki (meaning “Firefly Diary”). But unlike Lumen who exists in Mion’s Light World, the pink-colored creature is confined to the shadows.Īt first glance, htoL#NiQ seems like an unpronounceable, indecipherable mouthful. Another hovering insect known as Umbra also lingers nearby. With a vignetted aesthetic framing an already austere world, the sole source of cheerfulness stems from an emerald-hued firefly named Lumen, who casts a radiant aura. Told with a minimal amount of text-based exposition, htoL#NiQ introduces players to Mion- a young girl who’s lost amidst a desolate, industrializing backdrop. Following the publisher’s trend of porting it’s properties to PC, the game has received a port to Windows-based machines. Shirking the Prinny property’s impish irreverence and engrossing battle system, htoL#NiQ was a wide departure from Disgaea or any of N1’s previous efforts, delivering an atmospheric PS Vita-based puzzler that was equal parts solemn and sadistic. One of the first titles to result from this ambitious initiative was htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, a game conceived and spearheaded by Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness character artist Masayuki Furuya. Unruffled, NIS president Sohei Niikawa pledged that the company would create new brands to serve as an outlet for creative energy. Sure, Spike Chunsoft’s Danganronpa games has earned critical and commercial acclaim and NIS America gradually nurtured stateside appreciation for the Hyperdimension Neptunia series (at least until Idea Factory decided to self-publish), but titles such as The Witch and The Hundred Knight and Battle Princess of Arcadias failed to find substantial audiences on either side of the Pacific. While Nippon Ichi has enjoyed sustained success with the Disgaea franchise, the Gifu-based publisher/developer has often struggled to cultivate another hit.
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