Child of Light Review

I don’t fault Ubisoft for their philosophy of “this worked before, so let’s do it again,” but after an ever increasing amount of Assassin’s Creeds, a handful of Farcrys (Farcries?), and who knows how many Tom Clancy games, I find myself sometimes worrying that the Quebecois game developers might be getting lazy or even *gasp* greedy.

But then they go and surprise me with a game like Child of Light. Before I get into the game itself, I have to say that it’s already ahead in my book simply for being a new IP. It’s not a sequel. It’s not a remake. It’s new. Hurray!

Anyway, with that out of the way, let’s get down to it.

Form

            It’s no secret that Child of Light is beautiful, but let me stress it again anyway: this game is freaking gorgeous. The animations are fluid and graceful, and the art is as whimsical as you would hope a fairytale would be. The game feels like playing through an impressionist painting.

The music is equally as magical, and I would say that it rivals the soundtrack from thatgamecompany’s Journey, which is high praise from me. I mean seriously, listen to the music from Journey. Incredible.

Anyway, Child of Light follows Aurora, the young, red-headed daughter of a duke and a mysteriously deceased mother. After suddenly falling into a deathlike sleep, Aurora finds herself in a magical world full of fairies, monsters, and talking mice.

            The story is very much a fairy tale down to the rhyming couplets used by the characters. There’s no meter to speak of, but I think Ubisoft can be forgiven for not writing the entire script in iambic pentameter. The characters are archetypal yet charming, and Aurora and her firefly companion, Igniculus, are especially entertaining. The plot doesn't exactly hold any surprises, but it does offer an interesting take on Sleeping Beauty, and the storytelling is solid and entertaining. The ending is very satisfying and actually quite moving, which is rare in the gaming world.

Function

            Combat in Child of Light plays similarly to many of the Final Fantasy games. The player controls a party of only two characters, and fights occur in a battle screen that exists outside the normal game world.

The fights are somewhat turn based, with each character and enemy sharing a “Timeline” gauge that determines when an action can be performed. Actions include spells, melee attacks, and items. You can also change out party members in mid-combat.

            In many RPGs of this sort, you’ll find yourself using the same few characters because either they’re all the same or there are only a few who really kick ass. The different characters in Child of Light, however, all fill unique roles that can be helpful in different fights. In addition to the holy trinity of  tank, healer, and damage dealer, there are also buffers, debuffers, and so on.

            While the main party is busy fighting, you can also control Igniculus and use him to either heal your allies or slow down your enemies. This is an important part of strategic combat in Child of Light, because attacking an enemy when they are in the “Casting” stage of the progress bar will interrupt them and delay their ability to perform another action. This results in a mathematical dance of figuring out just how much you need to delay your enemy and how fast your attacks need to be in order for you to hit them in the right window of opportunity.

            The combat is simple yet fun, but unfortunately, it is also very repetitive. A few fights into the game you've pretty much seen everything you’re going to see. There are a few boss fights, but in general the only differences between those and regular fights are your enemies’ health and damage. There are a few Pokemon-like match ups where certain attack-types do more damage to certain enemies, but there really isn't much strategy involved.

Verdict

            Overall, Child of Light is well worth your time, especially if you love the “artsy” types of video games. While I was somewhat disappointed in the repetitive nature of the combat and the somewhat lackluster item synthesis system, the game is still fun and beautiful and, most importantly, not a sequel!