Child of Light Breathes New Life Into Role-Playing Games

​I don’t have time to play every game I want to play, nor do I have the money to keep up with playing new releases. I’ll get a couple new releases each year, but usually I wait until the hype (and the price) dies down. Sure, I miss some great games, but now and then, I stumble across something well after the hype train has derailed.
 
Yesterday, I purchased Child of Light.

​I had some PSN gift cards from Christmas, and since PlayStation is having a sale, I decided to check it out. Child of Light was one of two games I purchased, and really, I purchased it as an afterthought. I knew nothing about it except from what I watched on the announcement trailer (I only watched 15 seconds before I was sold). I saw what looked like a beautiful platform game, highly rated, and so I bought it.
 
Story Time
 
Right away, the story sucked me in. Told in rhyme, the game begins like a children’s bedtime tale, something I’m very fond of these days. However, the playful rhyme soon ends in the death of the game’s heroine, Aurora, who wakes up somewhere else. Riveted, I played on. Where is Aurora now? What happened to her father? I gamed onward...

​A Platformer No More
 
From the few seconds of trailer I watched, I got the feeling that Child of Light was a platformer (for those of you not in the know, Super Mario Bros. is a platformer). I could run and jump, and push and pull objects. After a while, I met the little firefly, Igniculus, who I could control and fly around the screen. I enjoyed the exploration, but I knew this couldn’t be the whole game. There had to be more.
 
After reaching the forest and claiming the sword found there, I was attacked by a creature. I was shocked. No, not by the attack, but by what happened next. The platform screen shifted and an RPG-style battle screen took its place. Aurora, armed with her newfound sword, took to battle against a monster of the dark.

No Ordinary RPG
 
Child of Light is not your run-of-the-mill role-playing game. Battles make use of an active time bar with an emphasis on timing. The bar itself stays stagnant, while characters and enemies move along the bar, giving a unique take on a classic system. As enemies approach the end of the bar, Aurora can time her attacks and interrupt an enemy attack. Enemies can do the same right back to you if you’re not careful.
 
Outside of battle, Aurora can collect treasures, allocate skill points, craft items called Occuli, and most importantly, explore her beautiful and eerie surroundings. So far, Child of Light is promising unique gameplay in a unique world told through the words of a nursery rhyme. I can’t wait to see where it leads me.

#PS4 #FantasyRPG #Fantasy #Dreams #RPG #Platformer