Child of Light Ultimate Edition under review

The artistic 2D RPG adventure has already been released in 2014 and may now conquer our living rooms on the Nintendo Switch console! In addition to a mixture of jump’n’run, role-playing elements, puzzles and turn-based fights, Child of Light is particularly captivating because of its fairytale-like look and musical background. This insider tip from Ubisoft is not only for younger players, but also for someone who would like to experience relaxed gaming hours, definitely worth a look.

It was once…

…1895 in Austria. Aurora, the daughter of a local duke, falls into a deep slumber of sleeping beauty and thereupon acquires consciousness in the dream world “Lemuria”. In her quest to find her way home, the young girl encounters a variety of characters, who she helps with various tasks, in return for which they follow her journey, which has been plagued by many struggles. For all of Lemuria has been subdued by the Dark Queen, and dark creatures lurk everywhere in your path. But not only against the henchmen of the queen it is to be fought, also various puzzles may be solved on the way – whereby these are usually relatively simple. Child of Light manages to create a special atmosphere with its lovingly designed play worlds. Also the different inhabitants of Lemuria, who talk exclusively in typical fairy-tale-like verses and rhymes, contribute a part to it – whereby naturally the one or other literary allusion may not be missing.

By the way, the story of Child of Light is based on real events, because the catastrophe that happens during the game in the Duchy of Carniola is based on an earthquake that devastated the city of Ljubljana in the former Duchy of Carniola on Easter 1895. And also the world of Lemuria is not completely fictitious, but can be traced back to a hypothetical or fictitious sunken continent, which, according to various theories, was situated either between Madagascar and India or between Australia and America. Both were of course integrated into the game with corresponding artistic freedom.







Tale with tactics

At the beginning, the heroine Aurora meets a glowworm called Igniculus, which now stands by her side and can be controlled with the right stick to illuminate dark areas, open special boxes or heal Aurora. She can also use the help in battle, because the skirmishes combine real-time elements with turn-based tactics. The fighters’ timelines move at different speeds and can only perform an action when they reach the last section. In addition to temporary status effects, the light of Igniculus can also slow down the speed of enemies and have a significant influence on combat. Each of your pets has its own advantages in combat and can be replaced at any time. The turn-based combat system is also easy to learn for genre novices and can be adjusted in the game menu for speed and opponent strength.

Simple Skills

Each character has a predefined status value, which is automatically increased on level ascent. In addition, all companions are also equipped with clear skill trees in which status values and attacks can be improved and new attacks or defenses can be learned. Companions who are hit later in the game start with a similar level as our main character in our team – the laborious high leveling of new comrades is therefore not necessary. Through the use of magic stones, so-called Oculi, armament and attack values can be improved in the course of a primitive crafting system. The different magic stones can also be combined to create new or stronger improvements for us and our comrades-in-arms.







Fabled atmosphere

Through the enchanting artworks Child of Light manages to completely captivate the player. The aquarell-like areas, for example a sky full of colorful hot-air balloons or the belly of a stone giant, are varied and beautiful to look at. Aurora is a 3D model with a cell-shading look, unlike her companions, who are made up of drawn sprites. This makes it stand out from the game world, but the contrast to the rest of the surroundings is sometimes somewhat harsh and only slightly reduces the otherwise atmospheric overall work. Who would like has also the possibility in the co-op mode to play, whereby the second player may take over here unfortunately only the control of the firefly – ideally one could have accompanied Aurora in the role of the anyway existing fellow combatant more efficiently and more funly.

CONCLUSION

Whoever is looking for a classic jump’n’run, role-playing game or complex turn-based tactics will probably not be the biggest friend of the little Aurora. Child of Light is designed for players looking for a relaxed, fairytale experience. Due to the comparatively low degree of difficulty of the fights and the somewhat too quickly solved puzzle parts, the game unfortunately loses a little of its potential, but makes up for some of it due to the loving design. Genre lovers should definitely consider Child of Light.

  • What is Child of Light Ultimate Edition? Fairytale Jump ‘n’ Run/Role play in watercolor look, with an Austrian background story.
  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch PS3, PS4, XBox One, XBox 360, Wii U, PC
  • Tested: Nintendo Switch
  • Developer / Publisher: Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft
  • Release: October 10, 2018