Nightingale Hands-On: Gaslamp, Gatekeep, Girlboss

With successes like Palworld and Enshrouded in 2024 already, it's clear that survival games are still very popular. There are more than a few reasons for that, but it also seems like there's always space in people's hearts for one more, so long as it has an interesting concept and solid mechanics.

Enter Nightingale, the first game from Inflexion Games, a studio made up of veteran developers. Nightingale takes place in a world very much like our own, except that in the 1500s humanity realised it was not the only sentient species on Earth. The Fae introduced themselves and from then on humans evolved differently, to the point that by the time we reach the Victorian-era, we're able to travel to different realms with some advanced technology. At some point, though, that technology fails, leaving you (and up to five friends) in a random, hostile realm.

From the background, it's clear that a good chunk of the team at Inflexion used to work on Mass Effect. There are heaps of interesting stories in Nightingale, and a lot of thought has been put into the factions and worlds you experience in this game. That's right, worlds, as in multiple realms for you to explore. In Nightingale, you don't just get plonked down into a random world and left to survive until you've conquered it. Using portals dotted around the map (and smaller, personal ones later in the game), you can transport yourself to different Realms, making use of cards to distinguish the difficulty, the biome, and other factors.

It's hard to explain this concept of multiple worlds without going into reams of text, but at first it does come across as complex. Loading up a portal with different cards, each of which change the world you go to does sound like perhaps adding one too many layers to this survival cake, but these mechanics are explained neatly in a solid tutorial and allow Nightingale to really differentiate itself from the wider survival crowd. The cards also provide some cool and unique effects. Some can lower the gravity in the world, allowing you to jump from great heights without breaking your legs, while others turn the skybox blood red and force the Realm into eternal night, meaning that tough enemies are constantly spawning.

Nightingale is already a pretty gorgeous game, but the blood night minor card really showcased how much of a marvel it is to look at. The wider environments are procedurally generated, so each Realm will differ from one another, keeping the experience feeling fresh. Some things are guaranteed to appear, though, so that you can always ensure you'll be getting loot and more crafting items from each place you visit. The Realms are full of weird creatures. Some hostile, some peaceful, but all of them catch your eye as soon as you spot them. With Nightingale, it does seem like even if the worlds are procedurally generated, a lot of care has been put into making each Realm feel distinctly alive. It's impressive, making me want to explore a survival game for once, where usually I just gather enough resources to build a nice base before never touching it again.

You can build anything from a rugged outpost to a great mansion in Nightingale. As is the case with pretty much every entry in this genre, you'll have to unlock recipes, upgrade your gear, and explore for more resources until you're able to really build your dream home. In its base-building, Nightingale shows that variety truly is the spice of life, as you're able to build from a selection of distinct architectural styles, either separately or combining them if you wish. You can truly annoy any artist or architect you might know by sticking Pagoda elements on a Tudor-style house, for example.

So, we have plenty to do for the explorer and the builder, but what about the type of survival player who just wants to go and fight? Well, it does seem like you need some later-game gear to go raiding, but there is more to combat in Nightingale than just shooting the predatory creatures you encounter. There are great towers which work like dungeons, filled with enemies and puzzles, and in a developer-led demo, we got to take part in a big raid as well, taking down a massive beast that left a wave of destruction in its wake. These were very cool fights, but there is the slight concern that you might have to spend a long while in Nightingale before you get to them.

Right now, Nightingale is gearing up for an early access launch, which seems to be the standard for survival games today, but even so, there are a few things that I hope are turned around in the coming months. The UI needs a bit of an overhaul. Personally, it just doesn't appeal, especially when looking through your inventory. Gameplay-wise, there are some problems with certain tools, such as climbing hooks that only worked as intended one in five times or so. Compared to late-game activities as well, the early game can seem a bit dull, but then again we've not spent a lot of time with Nightingale yet, so the verdict could change.

Otherwise, Nightingale is a unique survival experience where the rule of cool seems to define the way you play. You can use an umbrella to float around the map and dress as sharply as you like without sacrificing your gear score. It seems to have something for every type of survival player, and it's one of the most intriguing entries in this genre in recent memory.