Nocturne Gameplay Impressions - Paradise Lost?

Nocturne 

Steam/PC

Pracy Studios

9/22/2026

What happens to our consciousness after we die? I know, we’ve jumped straight into the philosophical here, but I promise it's relevant to the subject matter. It’s an all-too-common query for our simple, human minds.  Some folks are frozen in fear at the unknown while others seek the comfort of faith or science for answers, but what if there was another option? Perhaps, our minds could live on in a virtual afterlife long after the body has passed. It sounds a bit dystopian, but not necessarily far-fetched in a world where the founders of AI technology give humanity a 10-year expiration date. Kind of makes a digital paradise sound a little less awful.  Nocturne, a rhythm-based, story-rich RPG from Pracy Studios, explores this very concept, and, unfortunately, there is trouble in paradise. I played the first four hours of this genre-bending title, and I fear we’re all in for a hell of a ride.

Corruption creeping into the idyllic landscapes, monstrous pests lurking around every corner, and power-hungry admins have led the digital afterlife called Maya into a state of decay. No consciousness has been uploaded to this once happy ending in over 1000 years. That is, until Karma wakes up at the welcome center. Wiping the sleep from their eyes, they receive a temporary key card to fully access the afterlife and off they go to find their brother. 

The other folks in Maya are in disbelief. Not only is Karma the first new entity they’ve met in the last millennium, but they also seem to possess abilities previously thought reserved for the all-powerful admins. Karma can listen to the silence, a skill that can be used to repair the corruption in Maya. Karma can also fight back against the crawlers, insect-based baddies that infested the digital afterlife. Bugs, if you will. 

As Karma, your goal to reunite with your brother quickly expands to include saving Maya and all the people that reside there.  No easy task, but you are up to the challenge. 

How will you restore Maya to the paradise it was meant to be? You gotta believe! (In your rhythm game skills, that is). Nocturne has a combat system based entirely on rhythm gameplay. There are six difficulty options to select, spanning from beginner to zen, to suit any skill level.  As someone who has a decent background in rhythm games, I opted for the middle of the road with “Adept” as I set out on my adventure and quickly appreciated the fact that difficulty can be adjusted at any time as there was a bit of a learning curve to the inputs for me. My brain had to wrap itself around the concept of using the left directional button and “X” button respectively as the center two inputs, all the while having to use the “A” input to attack enemies as they charge up to stagger them back. It did come with time, but dropping one step below to “Novice” helped me get the swing of things first.  The difference in difficulty is significant, a steep step that ended up making some of the combat a bit too easy, but the option to adjust difficulty back up a notch always remained as my confidence with the controls grew.  

The combat and overall gameplay is simple enough: follow the prompts to the rhythm of the music to build up an energy meter and attack enemies. The more energy you have in the meter, the more powerful the attack. If you attack enemies during their wind-up, you’ll also be able to stagger them.  Equipment you’ll acquire through combat, purchase from shops, or find in treasure chests can enhance Karma’s skills in a variety of ways, from generating energy faster to increasing damage. Of course, enemies have plenty of tricks of their own to keep you on your toes. Each battle is scored with a letter grade, and Karma will level up with each successful battle.

Rhythm elements are not reserved for combat exclusively, as “listening to the silence” to restore corruption also requires Karma to follow the tune with some added challenges like moving tracks and disappearing notes. 

 There are over 100 different songs to master in combat, and they’re all pretty rockin’, aligning with the kind of music you might expect from an RPG battle. Ripping guitars, racing drum tracks, and spirited synths will encourage you to find the rhythm and defeat your foes. The tracks are super high quality and enjoyable to listen to, which is essential to the overall enjoyment of a game like this. The tracks are very dynamic, fading as you’re attacked and your health drops for an added layer of engagement. When you’re not in combat, the soundtrack is much more relaxed. Gentle piano lullabies and heavenly strings take front and center, much more in line with the paradise we were promised. 

Visually, Nocturne takes a traditional pixel-art RPG approach. The landscapes are varied and lively with babbling brooks and waterfalls, beams of light cascading through tree branches, and lived-in homes and shops. The character portrait art that is featured in dialogue segments is a nice touch, helping show a fuller range of emotion for the many denizens of this afterlife. There were some segments, when interacting with NPCs, where these portraits appeared as shadows. I know resources are limited with a small team, so my guess is these were just placeholders for portraits that never came to be with the resources available, but I enjoyed the human touch of the portrait art so much I really missed it in these segments. Overall, though, for a game so focused on a digital afterlife, it was really nice to play a game I could tell was made by real humans that really put a lot of care into their craft. 

I really enjoyed my time with Nocturne so far. The concept is an interesting one, with a story that is full of equal parts emotion, intrigue, and humor. I can feel the passion from the development team in each interaction and every landscape, and I can hear the love of the genre in every track. This is certainly a title I'll be coming back to when I need to take a break from my worries about the state of the living world to stress about the digital future instead. Or, maybe, just when I want to enjoy some well-crafted rhythm gameplay with a heart.