Child of Light
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DEV: Ubisoft
PUB: Ubisoft RELEASE DATE: 30/04/2014 FORMAT: PC, PS3, PS4, PSVita, Wii U, Xbox360 & XboxOne |
8/10
James Davie |
Time to tuck your children and yourself into bed and snuggle cosily with a fairytale. Child of Light makes an immaculate first impression, with a stunning art style, dazzled in colour and swept in the sharply swaying winds of the meticulously vibrant environments. Keeping with the spirit of a bestiary, there are a handful of quirky characters, shrouded, fierce dark creatures and the most potent and important element of them all......a continuous rhyme scheme. No doubt about it, Child of Light is ostentatious, endearing, sometimes charming, sometimes clever, sometimes annoying and sometimes too much. You may end up groaning at the sheer consistency of all its idiosyncratic nourishment, but regardless of whether it over-eggs its otherwise tasty pudding, there is a beautiful RPG nestled underneath the flashy exterior.
You walk in the patted feet of Aurora, an angelically majestic princess, who travels to the fantastical land of Lemuria to reignite the land from the peril of an nefarious witch named Umbra, as she threatens to plunge Lemuria into darkness all the while unleashing a torrent of evil in the form of dark, sinister creatures. Aurora, along with a bubble-shaped companion called Igniculus seek to resurrect Lemuria whilst also trying to obtain a mirror which links Lemuria with Aurora's world. Igniculus helps Aurora as a crucial light source, helping her and her party recover during skirmishes and aiding her in solving environmental and objective-based puzzles.
Restoring light and hope is the underlying task in Child of Light, and its story takes you by the hand across some lovely villages and towns. You meet other lost souls who are also on personal journeys, and they accompany you into battle. Characters such as Robert the rodent are whimsical and are in need of companionship. Robert is handy with a bow and arrow, and longs for a lost love and hopelessly attempts to win her back. A couple of travelling jesters named Rubella and Tristis, both of which are oddly depressed and sad- they are tragic characters and won't let you forget it. A dwarf-wizzard character called Finn is a rapidly ageing 13 year old due to his Capili race, his mannerisms are indicative of his age as he tends to cry and is timid, though oddly carries a pipe, resembling his accelerated ageing.
You walk in the patted feet of Aurora, an angelically majestic princess, who travels to the fantastical land of Lemuria to reignite the land from the peril of an nefarious witch named Umbra, as she threatens to plunge Lemuria into darkness all the while unleashing a torrent of evil in the form of dark, sinister creatures. Aurora, along with a bubble-shaped companion called Igniculus seek to resurrect Lemuria whilst also trying to obtain a mirror which links Lemuria with Aurora's world. Igniculus helps Aurora as a crucial light source, helping her and her party recover during skirmishes and aiding her in solving environmental and objective-based puzzles.
Restoring light and hope is the underlying task in Child of Light, and its story takes you by the hand across some lovely villages and towns. You meet other lost souls who are also on personal journeys, and they accompany you into battle. Characters such as Robert the rodent are whimsical and are in need of companionship. Robert is handy with a bow and arrow, and longs for a lost love and hopelessly attempts to win her back. A couple of travelling jesters named Rubella and Tristis, both of which are oddly depressed and sad- they are tragic characters and won't let you forget it. A dwarf-wizzard character called Finn is a rapidly ageing 13 year old due to his Capili race, his mannerisms are indicative of his age as he tends to cry and is timid, though oddly carries a pipe, resembling his accelerated ageing.
The strength of Child of Light's cast is one of its greatest achievements, as their personalities shine through although all of them speak in iambic pentameter, which gets in the way at times, though there are a few funny lines in. Equally impressive is the way your party members actively engage with one another. After an encounter has taken place, you'll witness characters interacting by either complementing or downright disparaging one another. Your party's connectedness and camaraderie adds valuable charisma to a game stuffed to the gills with it.
You can't underestimate how fabulous the world of Lemuria is. The art style does an outstanding job of painting an illusory picture that synchronises harmoniously with the myriad of themes explored. From the glow of the gloomy wilderness where the wind howls, whipping Aurora's hair back in a stylish sway, to the quaint villages and intimidating but eloquently designed dungeons, there's plenty for your eyes to gorge upon. The sound design is almost as sharp as the main theme and battle soundtracks are engraved alongside a climactic essence. The narrator on the other hand perfectly suits the surreal backbone of the world and story, but gets too sugary and over-embellished for its own good, but the cutscenes are pleasant, though they are spread too thin. This level of detail extends to the gameplay itself. You and your foes will visibly show the physical pain endured in battle, so you know every time when you need to heal yourself and when you're close to finishing your enemies off.
Exploring and hovering about the world in Child of Light is fairly nice, save for the sense of emptiness you'll find within. You're left alone to poke through chasms and pilaging chests to find what goodies lie inside. But whether you're out in the open or in one of the villages, there isn't much to see or do. Speaking to town folk may emit a line of dialogue, unless you're tasked with heading to specific destination to move the plot forward. The villages usually contain one or two stately houses which only contain lootable chests. This is a letdown because there's a lot in Child of Light to embrace, but the sense of history and intrigue is nowhere to be found. You may end up bored seeing nothing but enemies to converse with, instead of words muttered its swords slashing.
The battle system is where Child of Light earns a lot of credit. You start a squabble by confronting your foe or otherwise making contact with them. Depending on who got the jump on who, an advantage opens up for you or them to deal damage or reach into yours or their cache of magical potions and elixirs. The combat itself works on a timeline, each icon representing your party and those of the opposition. On the farthest end of the timeline is a zone where you choose what actions you want to take. Successful attacks yield varying degrees of damage depending on the type of beast you're up against and the elemental attack selected. For instance. using Aurora's light based abilities will greatly damage dark creatures, but won't necessarily have the same effect on other types.
You can't underestimate how fabulous the world of Lemuria is. The art style does an outstanding job of painting an illusory picture that synchronises harmoniously with the myriad of themes explored. From the glow of the gloomy wilderness where the wind howls, whipping Aurora's hair back in a stylish sway, to the quaint villages and intimidating but eloquently designed dungeons, there's plenty for your eyes to gorge upon. The sound design is almost as sharp as the main theme and battle soundtracks are engraved alongside a climactic essence. The narrator on the other hand perfectly suits the surreal backbone of the world and story, but gets too sugary and over-embellished for its own good, but the cutscenes are pleasant, though they are spread too thin. This level of detail extends to the gameplay itself. You and your foes will visibly show the physical pain endured in battle, so you know every time when you need to heal yourself and when you're close to finishing your enemies off.
Exploring and hovering about the world in Child of Light is fairly nice, save for the sense of emptiness you'll find within. You're left alone to poke through chasms and pilaging chests to find what goodies lie inside. But whether you're out in the open or in one of the villages, there isn't much to see or do. Speaking to town folk may emit a line of dialogue, unless you're tasked with heading to specific destination to move the plot forward. The villages usually contain one or two stately houses which only contain lootable chests. This is a letdown because there's a lot in Child of Light to embrace, but the sense of history and intrigue is nowhere to be found. You may end up bored seeing nothing but enemies to converse with, instead of words muttered its swords slashing.
The battle system is where Child of Light earns a lot of credit. You start a squabble by confronting your foe or otherwise making contact with them. Depending on who got the jump on who, an advantage opens up for you or them to deal damage or reach into yours or their cache of magical potions and elixirs. The combat itself works on a timeline, each icon representing your party and those of the opposition. On the farthest end of the timeline is a zone where you choose what actions you want to take. Successful attacks yield varying degrees of damage depending on the type of beast you're up against and the elemental attack selected. For instance. using Aurora's light based abilities will greatly damage dark creatures, but won't necessarily have the same effect on other types.
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The wrinkles in the combat system are greatly honed by the see-sawing leverage you feel during fights. You hit a monster with Rubella's tumble for example, you'll definitely notice the feedback that'll make you go 'ouch that hurt'. Ultimate satisfaction can be realised when you use devastating elemental attacks such as those used by Finn and his pipe. Enemies have the same powers you do, healing and strengthening their buddies, paralysing you with status effects among other capabilities, so you feel like you're playing on even grounds. However, the ease of the battles ensures you're never truly going to be tested. This isn't such a bad thing given the storybook nature of its world, but RPG enthusiasts maybe a bit disgruntled due to its lack of challenge. With that said it's a brilliant battle system peppered with subtleties and strategy. The system is a reminder of the similar level of nuance found in Studio Ghibli's and Level 5's Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, only this time it's turn-based and developed by Ubisoft.
The boss fights are a highlight also. Like the game itself, they are relatively easy and don't require too much thought, but they do force you to think about which pairing of characters would be best suited to vanquish the mightiness standing before you. One memorable clash includes you facing three snakes, each with a different elemental glow on their reptile skin, showing the elegant colour palette off, whilst encouraging you to find out which characters are best used to slay them. Not all of the boss fights are this imaginative and bosses can be felled by simply repeating the same attacks, but are nevertheless great to conquer.
To determine whether Child of Light is for you doesn't come down to whether you can stomach a child's bedtime story, it's more to do with whether you can tolerate a hollow world. This should by no means discourage you if you love great turn-based RPG mechanics, a ravishing art style and an amalgamation of wonderful characters. You'll appreciate the effort and the lavished details of a stunning fictional landscape and any attempt to deflect those feeling may become cumbersome. Just keep in mind that the richness of its world is sullied somewhat by a diminished sense of place and history.
The boss fights are a highlight also. Like the game itself, they are relatively easy and don't require too much thought, but they do force you to think about which pairing of characters would be best suited to vanquish the mightiness standing before you. One memorable clash includes you facing three snakes, each with a different elemental glow on their reptile skin, showing the elegant colour palette off, whilst encouraging you to find out which characters are best used to slay them. Not all of the boss fights are this imaginative and bosses can be felled by simply repeating the same attacks, but are nevertheless great to conquer.
To determine whether Child of Light is for you doesn't come down to whether you can stomach a child's bedtime story, it's more to do with whether you can tolerate a hollow world. This should by no means discourage you if you love great turn-based RPG mechanics, a ravishing art style and an amalgamation of wonderful characters. You'll appreciate the effort and the lavished details of a stunning fictional landscape and any attempt to deflect those feeling may become cumbersome. Just keep in mind that the richness of its world is sullied somewhat by a diminished sense of place and history.
At a Glance rundown+ A staggeringly palatial world,
+ The fairytale ambience is unique, + RPG mechanics are sensational. - The world lacks history and population, - Narrator is a bit too saccharine, - Too easy and relatively skill-less. |
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