Graphics

Diablown!

Wow! The graphics in Nox are fantastic. Even at the lowly 640x480 resolution they looked great! Characters are full of little details and completely customizable. You can have an all-black or all red character, no problem. Each little item that you pick up has its own graphic. Got a cloak? It'll show up. Switched from a regular sword to a long sword? The new blade will pop in just right.

Bah. Scorpions

That's right, open the trapped chest

Animations are extremely smooth. Jack, the NPCs, and the monsters move fluidly and with clear purpose. He can walk, run and jump more naturally than we've come to expect from games. His wide variety of motions does have a limit though - Jack has just one animated attack with each weapon. However, this isn't really something to gripe about since just about every real-time RPG except Revenant has the limited attack animations. Besides, there's a separate set of looks for just about every item you have! Leather armbands? How about chain body armor and regular villager pants? Every possible combination is modeled. Jack's looks are also dependent on his class, so a Wizard on a cloak will look different than a Warrior in one.

Woohoo! I'm a Fire Knight!

Nice Particle Effects

The monsters in the game aren't skimped on either. They come in a wide range of flavors and colors. While some are simple variations of an earlier theme (ie, spider/giant spider), most are unique enough to really raise some eyebrows. They move as fluidly as Jack though obviously don't have quite the variety of motions. There is still quite a bit of attention paid to each baddy though. For example, the urchins are little, cowardly demi-humans, kind of like imps were in Diablo. They throw rocks from a distance but once you go their way they start running madly in a comical way, waving their arms and screaming pitifully.

Whoah Momma!

Far and away the most impressive graphical feature of Nox is the absolutely amazing lighting system! Honestly, this game had us checking to make sure it's not 3D accelerated. The light is actually fairly simple, as whatever you can't see (obscured by a column, wall, etc.) just goes pitch black instead of shading out, but the way it's done so smoothly is stunning. There are plenty of local light sources - such as even the creatures themselves. However, unlike the 'special' variations in Diablo that lit up the area, these don't rely on tiles to do it. Remember how the light didn't diffuse smoothly but went across little square tiles? None of that piddly crap here - it's a very subtle but powerful effect.

Noxious (kill me. please.)

Check the line of sight!

Spells are generally well done, though not mind-blowing. They seem about on-par with the ones in Baldur's Gate, though the casting process sucks nuts. A bunch of little skulls go off beside Jack as he speaks the words, then the spell fires off.