Knights in The Nightmare: Difference between revisions

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{{quote| ''Knights really isn't too different from [[Overly Narrow Superlative|the other]] [[Nintendo DS|stylus-driven]] [[Bullet Hell~~|bullet hell~~]] [[Turn Based Strategy|strategy RPGs]] out there.''}}

{{quote| ''Knights really isn't too different from [[Overly Narrow Superlative|the other]] [[Nintendo DS|stylus-driven]] [[Bullet Hell]] [[Turn-Based Strategy|strategy RPGs]] out there.''}}

The third installation of Sting's ''[[Dept Heaven]]'' cycle--confusingly designated "Episode IV" and chronologically placed between ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' and ''[[Riviera the Promised Land|Riviera]]''--and released for the Nintendo DS, ''Knights in the Nightmare'' tells the story of a mortal kingdom suffering a sudden influx of demons, which have killed most of the realm's knightly defenders. Compounding matters, the good King Wilmgard has vanished, and his political opponents seem to consider this a wonderful time to make their moves.

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* [[Arbitrary Headcount Limit]]: Each scene has its own limit, but most of the problem comes because you can only have 4 equipment slots.

* [[The Archer]]: Aquina, {{spoiler|the villainous version of this trope.}}

* [[As Long As It Sounds Foreign]]: This seems to have been the idea behind everyone's names.

* [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign]]: This seems to have been the idea behind everyone's names.

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Wilmgard. {{spoiler|Not even death stops him from kicking ass.}}

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Mellia.

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* [[Cute Witch]]: Vienna and {{spoiler|Pamela}}. Many of the Priestesses also qualify.

* [[Dead to Begin With]]: It would be easier to list who isn't dead by the time game starts. Here's a hint: The wisp's soldiers are all deceased knights which it can briefly materialize to attack its enemies. Before each new level, we usually get to see a flashback cutscene of the new knights in that area and what they went through just before they died.

* [[Deal ~~With~~ the Devil]]: {{spoiler|Marietta, of all angels, did this with Zolgonark for power, which backfired spectacularly.}}

* [[Deal with the Devil]]: {{spoiler|Marietta, of all angels, did this with Zolgonark for power, which backfired spectacularly.}}

* [[Dem Bones]]: One of the possible monsters.

* [[Demonic Possession]]

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* [[Fusion Dance]]: {{spoiler|Melissa and Zolgonark do this to become Melad Margus, the being of heresy.}}

* [[Generic Cuteness]]: see also [[Older Than They Look]]

* [[Genre Busting]]: You are unlikely to be able to classify what, exactly, this game ''is.'' You may even struggle to properly describe what its ''components'' are. Let's try: A little bit of [[Bullet Hell]] mixed with [[Interface Screw]] (the enemy is shooting at the wisp, YOUR CURSOR, rather than the soldiers you animate), some [[Real Time Strategy]] with [[Turn Based Strategy]] hybrid elements... and some RPG elements for the various ghosts you control. That's not even getting into the ''really'' weird stuff like hitting the switch between "Law" and "Chaos" to switch modes for characters' hitboxes across the map.

* [[Genre Busting]]: You are unlikely to be able to classify what, exactly, this game ''is.'' You may even struggle to properly describe what its ''components'' are. Let's try: A little bit of [[Bullet Hell]] mixed with [[Interface Screw]] (the enemy is shooting at the wisp, YOUR CURSOR, rather than the soldiers you animate), some [[Real Time Strategy]] with [[Turn-Based Strategy]] hybrid elements... and some RPG elements for the various ghosts you control. That's not even getting into the ''really'' weird stuff like hitting the switch between "Law" and "Chaos" to switch modes for characters' hitboxes across the map.

** You want a shorter description that includes comparable games? Here it is: ''[[Ikaruga]]'' meets ''[[Persona 3]]'' meets ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]''. Put it in a blender, add the [[Interface Screw]], subtract "Bullet Absorb" from ''Ikaruga'', and you got this game. [[Mind Screw|Don't think too hard on it.]]

* [[Glass Cannon]]: Maria has incredibly low VIT (7.77), despite her physical strength. She's the only character that recovers it between chapters, though.

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* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: The player can power up any character by sacrificing others.Although it's not that big of a deal, since almost every character is already dead to begin with, and the whole Transoul action is basically merging two souls to make a mightier one...

* [[Heroic Sociopath]]: Mellia. She's just so over-the-top that you can't help but cheer for whatever insane thing she's doing. {{spoiler|There is also the fact that she [[Rage Against the Heavens|can pull a successful Nessiah]] without manipulating several countries first...}}

* [[Hoist By His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|Yelma gets killed off by Zolgonark, a being that she helped summon. Made even funnier since she actually tried to pull off [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]] on Zolgonark.}}

* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|Yelma gets killed off by Zolgonark, a being that she helped summon. Made even funnier since she actually tried to pull off [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]] on Zolgonark.}}

* [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]]: ''Everyone'', especially the main heroine(s). How do they move around in that getup?

* [[Inferred Holocaust]]: Surprisingly enough, {{spoiler|inverted -- while we only see Wilmgard and Algiery reunited in the best endings, those darn [[All There in the Manual|side materials]] have it that ''almost everyone'' was fine; the knights never died in the first place, after all. Only the characters who were explicitly killed stay dead}}.

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* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]: Zolgonark and {{spoiler|Melad Margus}}.

* [[Optional Party Member]]: Everyone, technically. Most stages have a default group of knights the Wisp can use; to permanently recruit any character, the player has to find an item connected to them hidden in a previous stage, with the exception of the first, of course.

* [[Orcus On His Throne]]: ''Every'' villain is guilty of this.

* [[Orcus on His Throne]]: ''Every'' villain is guilty of this.

* [[Our Angels Are Different]]

* [[Our Souls Are Different]]: Look no further than the Wisp.

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** {{spoiler|Arguably, those endings where Melad Margus is allowed to go on her destruction spree are a ''literal'' [[Reset Button]] for the entire universe -- this is implied in a Marietta flashback at the end of Mellia's route.}}

* [[Sadistic Choice]]: At the end of Mellia's route, as long as you didn't defeat Scoppio. Which is more important to you -- order or friendship? And no, you can't [[Take a Third Option]].

* [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]: Zolgonark.

* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: Zolgonark.

* [[Self-Imposed Challenge]]: Many. The most popular are "Get all the knights" and "continually [[New Game+]] from Easy Mode to Nightmare Mode [[No Casualties Run|without ever using Transoul]]". ...Also, [[Meaningful Name|Nightmare Mode]] is ''in itself'' a [[Self-Imposed Challenge]].

* [[Shipper On Deck]]: A handful of female and male knights get gossipy and humorous over who the prince is marrying.

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: A handful of female and male knights get gossipy and humorous over who the prince is marrying.

* [[Smug Snake]]: Capehorn and Yelma.

* [[Spell My Name ~~With~~ an "S"]]: Meria/Melia/Mellia, which has been officially and unofficially written ''all three ways.'' A lot of the knights' names suffered from this, too, until they were given official spellings by Sting. When the game was translated by Atlus, however, a lot of these romanizations were discarded, some due to being too long (i.e. Willemgard becoming Wilmgard), others for unknown reasons. Naturally, this causes a lot of difficulty between longtime Dept. Heaven fans that use Sting's translations and newer/foreign fans going off of Atlus's names, especially if the same character had a dramatically different name.

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Meria/Melia/Mellia, which has been officially and unofficially written ''all three ways.'' A lot of the knights' names suffered from this, too, until they were given official spellings by Sting. When the game was translated by Atlus, however, a lot of these romanizations were discarded, some due to being too long (i.e. Willemgard becoming Wilmgard), others for unknown reasons. Naturally, this causes a lot of difficulty between longtime Dept. Heaven fans that use Sting's translations and newer/foreign fans going off of Atlus's names, especially if the same character had a dramatically different name.

* [[Spoiler Opening]]: PSP version, [[Yggdra Union|as]] [[Blaze Union|usual]].

* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]: {{spoiler|Wilmgard and Algiery. Also, Piche and Nordich.}}