Nightingale: Which landscape should you imagine?

Nightingale kicks off the mystery and intrigue from the first few moments, and while that’s awesome, it’s natural to feel a little intimidated and concerned about the potential effects of your choices.

One of the first really impactful choices you must make comes at the end of the tutorial, when Puck tells you to imagine a landscape. He doesn’t really say why you need or what will happen, but given the Biome hopping that’s just taken place, you can probably guess. Here are the pros and cons of each landscape, alongside some general info on the permanence and overall weight of the decision.

Which landscape should you imagine in the Nightingale tutorial?

The tutorial in Nightingale isn’t just about figuring out where to find Fibre and appreciating Puck’s voice actor; it’s also a bite sized introduction to the different dangers and benefits of each Biome type.

Generally speaking (it seems to get weirder once you start introducing Realm Cards), Biomes can be thought of as difficulty extenders, with the order you play through them in the tutorial reflecting challenge levels. This means that the Forest Biome is the most beginner friendly, followed by the Desert, then the Swamp.

This doesn’t mean that the Swamp Biome will be a nightmare, simply that there are more dangers you need to watch out for. To name just a couple, waters in the Swamp Biome will cause Disease if you stand in them for too long, and there are significantly more Predators lurking about. Granted, this increase in Predators is actually something I found myself wishing for (I chose the Forest) once I got far enough to feel like I couldn’t ever have too much Hide.

The Desert Biome’s primary environmental danger is in the possibility of becoming Overheated, and the Forest really has little danger outside of becoming Wet, which does actually have a massively negative impact on your Stamina. The condition is easily resolved once you can craft an Umbrella, though, which actually helps cure Overheated as well by getting you out of direct sunlight in the Desert.

The three Biomes may have their natural challenge levels, but like I said before, the difference here is pretty slight. Sure, the Swamp is more precarious than the Forest, but once you have your feet firmly planted, they all become somewhat comparable. For this reason, I highly recommend choosing the landscape that most appeals to you, and trying to avoid overthinking the decision—especially as it isn’t permanent.

Is the landscape you imagine permanent in Nightingale?

You’re only going to be in the landscape that Puck asks you to imagine for a couple of hours, and then the realms are your oyster once more. If you aren’t happy with your choice, you will quickly have the option to try something else out and keep exploring.

In fact, the landscape you imagine brings you to a realm that really just serves as an extension of the tutorial. In this realm, you learn how to gather, build, and craft new gear to raise your Gear Score. After that, you will learn how to craft new Cards, unlocking the possibility to travel to any Biome you wish, this time while also being able to control other environmental conditions of the Realm as well.