Child of Light - A Playable Poem

When I first saw a trailer for this game I knew right ahead I would love this game and it would be amazing. Was I right? Hell yes I was right. This may be the best game I've played in awhile. Although that isn't saying much when all I have to play is terrible games lately. But I would put this up there on my most memorable games played. What originally drew me to the game was just the backgrounds and character art. It just oozes this creative style not often seen in games. The only other game on the top of my head that I have felt that way was Okami, which was also a great game. It may have perked my interest with the art style, but it definitely held my interest with its gorgeous music and whimsical rhymes. Yes, the entire game is spoken in rhyme. Yes, its as charming as it sounds.

Outside of that, the game play isn't bad at all. In fact, its one of the harder RPGs I've played in awhile. From what I hear, normal is more casual for everyone to beat and hard mode you'll actually get smacked around often. I started on hard and it is indeed quite difficult. I've died numerous times, and not just on boss battles but regular encounters can get you killed if you don't fight optimally. The combat reminds me a lot like Grandia, or Mana Khemia. Throughout the game you'll get many characters but you're only able to bring two with you at a time. Each character has different skills for the situation. For example, Rubella the first character you meet, has a fast physical attack with heals and is a supportive character. Finn the next person you meet shortly after has magic attacks for pesky monsters with high physical defense. You yourself is a pure offensive character with high physical power and magical burst damage. Along the way you'll meet more people like Norah, your sister with amazing debuffs like slowing the enemy by 50% and paralyzing skills that stops them for 10 seconds.

When I compared this game to Grandia I am mostly talking about the combat turn bar. Combat is turn based but all the characters will show up on a bar showing when they will attack. You move faster on the bar based on your speed until you reach the attack cutoff section where it will be based on the speed of the move you selected. During this attack portion, any damage you take will interrupt your attack sending you back in time on the bar. You can do this to the enemy as well. So combat becomes a juggle with trying to interrupt them, or blocking to avoid getting interrupted. However, some monsters or bosses will have special moves when they are interrupted like stabbing you back for lots of damage or paralyzing your team. This is to punish you for interrupt spamming. It reminds me of Mana Khemia because you are always constantly switching characters. You have all your party members with you at all times but you can only bring two of them into the field. You may switch members when its your turn to act and will not end your turn unless you are using one character to switch the secondary character with a character that is off screen. That will end your turn and the off screen character will show up at the same location on the bar as your secondary character. For long boss fights, expect to switch constantly to put up debuffs, buffs, different abilities, etc.

Outside of the combat, the game plays like a sidescroller. There are secrets to find, quests to do, chests to open, and monsters to fight. There are puzzles to solve, but they're not very difficult to do. Most of them involves using your firefly. In fact, the game can be played in co-op with another player controlling the firefly. The firefly also helps in combat by healing your allies or slowing down enemies. You start the game waking up in the mysterious land of Lemuria and must find your way home. On your way you meet a seer who tells you the story of Lemuria. Where the Queen of the Light was banished by the Queen of the Night. How the land became overrun by creatures of the night. And how a legendary princess will save them by returning the power of the Moon, the Sun, and the Stars. You'll receive your wings early on and it becomes a whole new game where you can fly around. The writers of this game wanted a fairy tale story told as an epic poem. Like the stories mothers would read to their children. I think they managed to do that perfectly.

If RPGs are your thing then don't pass up this game. The combat is really fun once you start meeting more people, the art and the music will remain gorgeous throughout the game, and the people you meet along the way will start to grow on you. You can't help but laugh when the jester says a sentence that didn't end up rhyming and another character will finish it for her.

Fiddlesticks. Left here to...fester
Pardon me Madame, but are you a jester?
Take a glance at this...note. Perhaps you mean "Letter"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45SIsoPg8K4