The sound design overall is quite remarkable, overall. Each electronic track written for Nidhogg masterfully blended with the stages, amping up the sense of urgency and excitement of combat. Fighting in the billowing tall grass is a treat.ĭaedelus matched the same enthusiasm when it came to creating the game’s music. Each of the four stages are unique to each other. Small details, like small squirrels foraging for food or birds taking off in flight receive the same devotion as the billowing smoke of a coal mine or the crashing of waves at the bottom of a waterfall. Enigmatic backgrounds complement the exuberance of the characters, with blood spilling on the ground in the color of their sprite makeup. I am reminded greatly of the action-adventure platformer, ‘Another World,’ due to its almost grand nature within a 2D world. The art design is vibrant, down to its pores. It is amazing just how well designed Nidhogg is, from top to bottom. Online invites to local friends seems to be the best bet, although such a requirement isn’t ideal. The latency has to be really low due to player speed and precision, yet more than half the online matches at launch result in sporadic juts in movement. Therein lies one of the early downfalls of Nidhogg the netcode is pretty dreadful. Not only can you play in up to 8-player tournaments locally, but you can also go online to play against real competition at any time. Success in Nidhogg is well earned and greatly satisfying. No longer are you gaming the AI, but learning the move tendencies of a real human. Expletives will be flown about, blood will be pumping and the competitive drive kicks in. When you’re playing against your friends on the couch (Nidhogg is Big Picture supported), that’s when the real fun begins. What really brings the excitement to this title is the multitude of 2-player options. Much like with traditional fighters, you’ll be kicking yourself when you make a dumb move that gets you killed, including an ill-timed jab or accidental sword throw. The three-pronged attack approach gives the fighting in this action game the feel of an advanced rock-paper-scissors match. If that doesn’t work for you, the game falls apart. Nidhogg is strictly gameplay-driven, something that is surprisingly a breath of fresh air when it comes to ultra-popular indie games these days.

Death is but an inevitability, even in perfection. With only two buttons (jump, attack) and directional movement, it couldn’t be more simple to pick up and play. All we know is that even in victory, there will always be someone above you to put you in your place. Not much is known the extent of what it can do within the game, other than eating the winner in their victory screen. It is all about screen advantage avoiding combat could be beneficial if it gets you to the end.įinally, there is the Norse dragon Nidhogg itself. Your opponent will respawn ahead of you to try to stop you, as when you are killed they will be trying to reach their end of the stage in the opposite direction. As you defeat an opponent, your goal is to advance throughout the stage in your intended direction. They all, however, start in a neutral center. Each has a different layout, background, length and music. There are four maps Castle, Wilds, Mines, and Clouds. You can also trip an opponent to the ground and rip out their heart, which is terrifying even for a pixelated sprite.

Throwing a sword can also be a huge risk/reward scenario, as it allows you to hit a fleeing opponent (or lose it to a parry). In single player, your goal is to kill a long line of brightly-colored opponents using your swordsmanship as a fencer. A high, mid and low jab are you main attacks with a sword, while punches and divekicks are your last resort without one. There’s not many details required to explain when it comes to the story. Nidhogg is when fencing meets FGC-esque competitiveness, meets electronic music, meets pixelated art style.

Launch Price: $14.99 ($11.99 for first week on Steam) By Daniel George 8 years ago Follow Tweetĭynamic backgrounds are a Nidhogg constant.

Nidhogg sprites