For those who just want the review on Child of Light, skip the first paragraph.
Today I will be doing a video game review. Mostly because I want to and because I like to critically analyze media. I will try my best to avoid spoilers, but in the instance I do spoil something, I'll put spoiler brackets.
This game is called Child of Light and is done by Ubisoft Montreal and published through Ubisoft, the company that is famous for Rayman and Assassin's Creed. It is a 2D side-scroller with a turn-based strategy battle formation. It is available on the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, XBOX 360, and XBOX One. I personally played it on the PC.
You play as the daughter of an Austrian Duke who has been pulled into a fantasy-esque world and must gather the sun, the moon, and the stars. On her quest, she meets helpful companions to aid her in her return home.
The game is very unique. Its watercolor animation, with a few cell-shade exceptions, is very beautiful and appealing. In its entirety, the game is very artful, especially the music.
I have played my fair share of strategy/turn-based RPG's (they are some of my favorite game styles to play in after all), and this game is delightful for those who enjoy the mechanics of this gaming genre. In most turn-based RPG's, everyone's attack is determined by speed or simply the player characters and then the enemies. Child of Light employs a speed mechanic as well; however, there is a neat bar at the bottom of the battle screen that shows all of the characters and when they can cast or wait. Once one of your two characters reach the casting section, you may choose a move but must wait until the end of the casting section to actually cast. If your character is hit by an opposing force within this casting period, your character will be "interrupted" and thrown back into the wait period. This unique approach to turn-base is very active and forces the player to pay attention.
Of course, while the player can only have two characters in battle at once, there are plenty of characters that join your plight that can be chosen from and switched into battle easily. One of the downfalls to this game is that there is no monster encyclopedia. In many RPG's, there are often monster encyclopedias that track all of the monsters you have battled and defeated throughout the game. Tracking down enemy weaknesses are generally obvious in this game since they are color coded (ex. blue=water/ice and is weak to lightning, red=fire and is weak to water, et cetera); however, there are few enemies where their weaknesses are not obvious and after trying all of the elements on them it was presumed that there are enemies that are just assholes.
My complaint on no monster encyclopedia is actually very petty since the game is fairly easy (note: I did play on casual for my first play-through, so I may have to come back to this after a second go around - though, Child of Light forums are filled with people bitching about how easy this game is even on expert). Not once did I lose a battle. There were only a handful of times that even one of my characters fainted, but it was not really a problem since it is very easy to revive fainted characters.
There is also the little firefly guy. He is controlled by the mouse and will blind opposing characters, slowing their speed down if you hold him over them. If he is held over a player character, he will heal them. While it is a cute gimmick and he is useful, he is very easy to spam. Take that as you will, whether you find that a good or a bad thing. There were times I found him to make the game incredibly easy, but there were other times when I thought he was useful.
Perhaps bittersweet, the game is relatively short. It makes for a good, quick game that doesn't take too much time out of your schedule. On the other hand, it could have really benefited from a longer plot, and maybe some after-game quests. It really does feel like a full game, though, and that is important to the overall experience.
This game has several upsides:
1. My favorite part of Child of Light was the battling system (albeit the missing monster encyclopedia). The battling is enjoyable and not quite as monotonous as other turn-based games. Maybe it was thanks to playing on casual, but I did not have to grind very much between boss battles to level up efficiently. Most of the turn-based strategy games that I have played I have spent hours (days/weeks/centuries/forever *cough* Disgaea) grinding. It was refreshing. The game may not be hard, but it is fun and simple enough.
2. Atmosphere. This game has an incredible atmosphere that sets the tone and makes everything so unique. I know that I said that the battling system was my favorite part of the game, but without the atmosphere I'm not sure I would have managed to play all the way through.
3. The stunning artwork and the beautiful music is also one of the major upsides to this game. If you are the artistic/musical type, you will enjoy it!
4. Underlying themes. *WARNING* spoilers. Growing up and becoming a woman of your own instead of relying on everyone else while dealing with death and betrayal.
Besides the monster encyclopedia, (which is incredibly petty, I know) this game does have a few downfalls. However, I found that the upsides outweighed the downsides. The downsides did not hinder my play through very much.
1. The first downfall is the incredibly lame dialogue. Let me go more in depth about this before anyone gets too turned off by that as I know dialogue can be very important. The dialogue is written in a rhyming fashion. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and there were times I found it very charming actually. Unfortunately, the rhyming keeps us at a distance with the characters and it is very difficult to sympathize with anything that is happening. Although that may not be the only reason it is difficult to sympathize as ...
2. The plot is so basic. You are Child of Light. Light is good. Dark is bad. Beat Dark. Win Game. Still cute at any rate. Luckily, the game's atmosphere and the underlying themes makes up for this even though I felt as though this game had a lot more potential. It was a great game, but it could have been even better.
3. I know that I previously stated that how short it was wasn't necessarily a bad thing but making it longer could have forced them to make a better plot. Though, there is a replay option, and perhaps that will quench my thirst for more.
4. *WARNING* spoiler. Massive spoiler. This is also kind of petty but it is a major pet-peeve of mine in video games. I absolutely detest when you get a team of characters and one (or more) of them either permanently die or betray you (unless it is in the rogue genre of gaming). So I level up a character, spend time and care into this character and then I get a betrayal out of the deal and can no longer use said-character. Ever. Even though it was kind of obvious, I just don't enjoy being teased like that. I am possessive. Once you are a part of my team I never want to let you go.
There is my review on Child of Light. Overall, I would give it an 8/10. Its upsides greatly outweigh the downsides and it is really worth a play if you like these kind of games.
Toodles
