Child of Light Review
Child of Light: A Switch version at the level for a J-RPG full of poetryAfter having amazed players on many consoles, Child of Light settles down on Switch. The opportunity to discover or rediscover an old-school JRPG and a unique artistic touch.
Once is not custom, Child of Light starts with the death of the main character, Princess Aurora, at the end of the XIXth century. As her father bursts into tears and sinks into depression, Aurora actually wakes up in Lemuria, a fantastic world where magic, fairyland, grotesque creatures and disturbing monsters mix. Far from being taken aback, the young lady will quickly meet a firefly named Igniculus, which will act as light in places often plunged in darkness. She will quickly discover her destiny: to return to her world and find her father. If the pitch seems simple, it is because it is. We do not necessarily expect more from a game sold for 15 euros for download. But all the charm of Child of Light is in everything that allows this little world to come to life, from the staging to the realization.
SLEEPING BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
We are indeed in a real tale, a children's book where everything seems to be only dream. From the flamboyant hair of Aurora to the superb hand-drawn decorations, we travel at every moment while being drawn into a most exotic rhythm. Indeed, everything Child of Light says, from cutscenes (voices) to dialogues (written), is in rhyme. Thus, the characters play heterometric verses, with period verbations, to converse and transport us to their universe. Is it effective? Terribly! Although I am not myself keen on children's stories, hard not to succumb to the charm of the dialogues, which do not lack a touch of childish humor, especially when a character insists on don't play the rhyme game. A rare artistic richness which never sinks into the honeyed and the melancholic and which will undoubtedly delight young and old. But this artistic richness also owes a lot to an element whose importance cannot be overemphasized: music. The compositions of Coeur de Pirate marry wonderfully with the world of Child of Light and we are quickly captivated by the melodies that accompany our wanderings, suddenly cut by violent and epic orchestral tornadoes during fights. And there again, it is not necessarily a fan speaking, the artist's work usually leaving me rather indifferent.TRAVEL TRAVEL
If we can only applaud everything related to the artistic, Child of Light remains a video game. So let's play. We are in an adventure game-RPG of the purest kind which has obviously been very wise at school since it does not hesitate to be inspired by the best (ok, at school, it is call copy, but whatever). Since Aurora can fly, we explore large areas hiding treasures and spells according to our desires. If we have a main quest that will be the common thread of our progress, we are perfectly free to travel at will, either through our wings or via teleportation directly on the map. This freedom is far from useless since multiple characters will give you side quests that are both rewards, but also new little stories to put under the pillow. You can for example go in search of a winged pig near the windmills or exterminate the vile creatures which attack the house of an old man. Since the indications are sometimes sketchy, it is not uncommon to have to explore left and right to reach your goals, accompanied by dialogues, always in rhyme, between Aurora and Igniculus.AND THERE WAS LIGHT !
Igniculus, let's talk about it. This second character, who can be wielded with the right stick (or by a second player), is capable of many things. Besides its ability to retrieve treasures from a distance, it can also reveal secret passages by positioning itself in the right place. Igniculus can also collect vows (sorts of energy orbs) for you, which can regenerate your HP and MP if you take the vow that shines first, just like Rayman Origins' Lums (file, another game Ubisoft say so!). But Igniculus' main ability is to emit light, which has several implications for gameplay. It can thus activate mechanisms remotely, allowing you to pass through doors or temporarily prevent the operation of various traps. During some puzzles, you are asked to use Igniculus to cast shadows on a wall in the right place. Finally, in addition to its ability to heal you, the light of Igniculus (governed by a gauge) makes it possible to blind the enemies who move in the environments in order to start the combats with a certain advantage.CHILD OF FIGHT
The fights of Child of Light, precisely, are far from being a small snack. They are even a centerpiece of the gameplay. So here we are in a turn-based RPG with a very classic principle. Only two of your characters (you will quickly meet comrades in arms) take part in combat, facing a maximum of three monsters. But when we said that Child of Light knew how to draw inspiration from the greatest, it was precisely to point to the combat system that comes straight from one of the best examples of the RPG: Grandia. Indeed, on a bar at the bottom of the screen advance the icons of characters and monsters (at a speed depending on their stats) to the action area. It is when a character arrives at this area that he can choose to use a skill or to defend himself). Then follows an execution period whose duration depends not only on the characteristics of the character, but also on the attack chosen. A choice which is of capital importance because any protagonist (ally or enemy) who receives damage during his execution period is suddenly interrupted and moves back into the order of turns.M'AURORA
Then follows a fine strategic work to know what to do. If an enemy is already in its execution period when an action is chosen, it is possible to choose an action that is probably less strong, but particularly quick to initiate, to execute it before the enemy in question and touch it , preventing it from doing its action. On the contrary, if you are ahead of the enemies, you can trigger attacks with the longest execution time without the risk of being interrupted. Better yet, with a clever calculation, monsters will arrive in their execution period when your attack is triggered, causing them to retreat. While there are many things that affect speed, there is a manual way to do it. Indeed, Igniculus can be used to dazzle an enemy, thus slowing its advance in the action bar. This action obviously uses the Igniculus gauge and cannot be used indefinitely, even if it is possible in combat to recover some wishes to partially reload the gauge, but also the VP and MP of the protagonists.A LITTLE KNOW-HOW
Obviously, the strategic aspect of the Child of Light fights does not stop there. Although only two characters take part in the combat initially, it is possible for you to change characters in full game, without penalty. This is of considerable importance when one of your allies is in bad shape, but can also be used for reasons of timing, in the case where a character with a particularly short execution skill is in reserve for example. It can also be interesting to preserve characters with basic attack skills since we find an affinity system that revolves around stone-paper-chisel, just as we find the usual alterations of state (mainly based on the time). Finally, the Defense option not only avoids taking damage, but also prevents interruptions. Used at the right time, it can save a fight, although in general, it must be admitted that Child of Light is not very strenuous and I would also advise those who want a little resistance to play the game in Difficult (you can change the difficulty at any time during the game).THE OTHER OCULUS
If the fights bring back experience allowing you and your companions to gain levels, these level gains give you meanwhile skill points which you will use in the most classic trees. Although there are three distinct pathways per character, you quickly have enough skill points to finish one branch and start another. However, you may end up spending a lot more time tweaking your oculi, gems you find on monsters, in chests, or in quest rewards. They can be allocated in attack, defense or as an accessory for each of your characters to boost their characteristics. By merging the different stones, you get more powerful. The combinations are numerous enough to push the player to think about what he is doing, especially since you have the choice between fusing identical stones together to obtain larger ones or marrying the colors to obtain different ones.CHILD OF RIGHT
While Child of Light is already approaching the masterpiece, some players could have worried about the lifespan, often the Achilles heel of downloadable games. Rest assured, it is not. It will take you more than 10 hours if you plan to finish the game, including the annex quest, and probably more if you really like to stroll to flirt with the 100%. A very good way to spend fifteen euros. But Child of Light is not perfect. Besides a not very tough difficulty, the level design is sometimes taken in default, lacking genius. Just enough not to get bored, but not enough to be dumbfounded. The bestiary also lacks originality since we are left with changes in palettes (and by the way, basic affinities) of the same specters and spiders during a large part of the adventure. Finally, last point, if Aurora quickly finds on her way companions of fortune to help her in combat, they probably lack a bit of charisma, even if they have all their moments of fun.The notes
+ Positive points
A real storybook
A very successful artistic achievement
One of the best soundtracks of the year
We want to explore
Side quests that require a bit of research
A simple, but finely strategic combat system
The oculi
All dialogues in rhyme, had to do it
A more surprising scenario than what the pitch might suggest
-Negative points
Level design sometimes summary
Secondary characters a little too ... secondary
The bestiary that struggles to renew itself
Few are the games that manage to amaze us both by their artistic achievement and by their gameplay. Yet Child of Light is clearly one of them. A true tale, entirely in verse, it dazzles us with its handmade decorations while delivering us an almost perfect soundtrack. Its combat system, which comes straight out of Grandia, turns out to be finely strategic and yet easy to access. A real success at a low price, he would be practically guilty of hesitating.
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