Video Game Review: Child of Light.

Child of Light is a platform RPG developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the wonderful baguette people who made our beloved Far Cry's and churn out twelve Assassin's Creed games per year.
In Child of Light, you play as Aurora, a young princess who is taken away from her home and, in her return home, must bring back the stars, the moon and the sun. These are all held captive by the mysterious Queen of Night.

It's an absolute charmer of a game, using the UbiFramework engine, which gives the platformer a very 3D atmosphere. This is the same engine, I might add, that was used for Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends, games that were critically acclaimed but publicly ignored.

A thing I particularly liked about this game is that all the lines in the game, every single one, were rhyming couplets.
Because of this, the story takes on a rather relaxing and yet dark fairy tale atmosphere.
If you have ever heard a hack-job on a story, that's because there was far too much exposition and unnecessary telling instead of showing. If all your lines rhyme, you literally have a limited framework to frame the storyline and it leaves it open for artistic interpretation, drawing you in further.

As for Gameplay, this game is interesting.

At the start of the game, you meet a raindrop called Igniculus. You can then control him using the right stick, usually to open otherwise inaccessible chests, solve difficult puzzles, collect flowers to restore HP and MP by hovering Iggy over them and blind enemies to either get past them or sneak up on them for a surprise attack.

However, during combat Iggy has another role. Combat in Child of Light, is turn-based with a "timeline" system at the bottom of the screen to keep track of turns. (Similar to Final Fantasy, walking into an enemy changes the screen to the classic combat screen.)
In each combat screen, there are two bushels which replenish Iggy's light. By holding down L2, you can slow down enemies, making them attack less slower.
During combat, it is important to be aware of the position of enemy turns and slow them down accordingly. If an enemy attacks you whilst you have an attack lined up, you are immediately interrupted.



So Iggy is important.

You can also level up and set skills, collect items that permanently increase stats and craft Oculi (Basically, you get multiple gems and put them together to get weapon/armour/ring enhancements in certain orders with certain colours offering certain bonuses.) You can also fast-travel easily using the map.
Later in the game, you meet other characters, including a Jester.
New party members have their own differing skill levels and some are suited for combat where as others are suited for magic or healing.

The art is simply adorable, the combat is simple and addictive and the added exploration facets are perfect. An elegant game with incredibly neat menus, polished visuals and defining characters whilst keeping everything minimal and simplistic, an idea that most RPG's fail to grasp.

Child of Light is £16.00 from most retail stores, but my copy was given to me for reviewing by a third party.

(Thanks Murray.)