Child of Light
| Child of Light | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Director(s) |
Patrick Plourde Thomas Rollus |
| Producer(s) | Jean-François Poirier |
| Designer(s) |
Mélissa Cazzaro Aurélie Débant |
| Writer(s) | Jeffrey Yohalem |
| Composer(s) | Cœur de pirate |
| Engine | UbiArt Framework |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita Wii U Xbox 360 Xbox One |
| Release date(s) |
April–July 2014
|
| Genre(s) | Platformer, role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Child of Light is a platforming role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The main character is Aurora, a child stolen from her home, who must bring back the sun, the moon and the stars held captive by the mysterious Queen of the Night in order to return.
Child of Light was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in April 2014, and was released on PlayStation Vita in July 2014. It is powered by UbiArt Framework.
Gameplay
Child of Light's gameplay is described as having attributes of a side-scroller with role-playing elements such as leveling up to increase stats over time.[2] Battles with enemies use a system similar to the active-time battle system found in games like the Final Fantasy series and Grandia.[3] The player can control up to two characters during battle while the other characters not used level up the same way. Up to three enemies can appear during battle. If the player approaches an enemy from behind the battle becomes a "Surprise Strike", giving the player an advantage. If the enemy approaches the player from behind, it becomes an "Ambush", giving the enemy an advantage. The character Igniculus is used as an in-game mechanic during battle. The player can freely move Igniculus and shine his light on an enemy to slow it down or on an ally to heal them.
Plot
The game begins with the story of five hills, in 1895 Austria, ruled by the Duke. He had a mysterious wife who died and a daughter by the name of Aurora. After the passing of his wife, he married a second time. When Aurora went to sleep on a Friday night, before Easter 1895, her skin became cold as ice. Everybody thinks she is dead. With Aurora dead, the Duke is bedridden.
The player first takes control of Aurora when she wakes up on an altar in the mythical land of Lemuria. When she frees the Lady of the Forest, Aurora is told of the history of Lemuria. Once, the land was ruled by the Queen of Light until one night when she vanished. With the queen gone, darkness came and from it, came the Queen of Dark, Umbra. She sent her daughters to steal Lemuria's light — the sun, the stars, and the moon. Then Umbra's dark creatures conquered the land. The queen also stole the mirror which links Lemuria to Aurora's world.
The Lady of the Forest created the firefly, Igniculus, to aid her in her journey. Aurora and Igniculus are tasked with recovering the light and ultimately reuniting with her father. The Lady of the Forest said that the sun and moon can be found in the highest and lowest rooms — the moon in the highest of the high and the sun in the lowest of the low. She is then given the ability to fly from the stars and a flute.
Along their quest, they are joined by Rubella, an Aerostati who wants to find her brother Tristis and later finds it more interesting fighting than being a jester; Finn, a crybaby, after they cured the Capilli Village of the crow curse; Norah, Aurora's second eldest sister who was dragged to Lemuria through the mirror; Robert, one of the Populi traveling traders who lives on top of a stone giant named Magna, after they opened the vault and fixed Magna’s heart; and Tristis, who was kicked out of the circus and, with the persuasion of Rubella, joined them.
Through the fountain in the Temple of the Moon, Aurora learns that the dam has broken and the Duke is still bedridden. They also found the mirror for which Aurora and Norah said their goodbyes to the party. On the other side of the mirror, Aurora follows Norah to Stepmother and Cordelia, Aurora's eldest sister, and finds she was led into a trap! Norah’s real name turns out to be Nox and Stepmother was actually Umbra the Queen. From Umbra, Aurora learns that her mother was Umbra's enemy, who banished Umbra from Lemuria long ago. Her mother was the Queen of Light therefore Aurora is the Child of Light! Umbra tries to kill Aurora but her false crown shields her against the spell. Weak from the attack, she was imprisoned in the tower to die.
Aurora dreamt about the time when she was younger and her mother was still alive. Aurora said she wishes she could fly. Her mother replies by saying that some parts of the world people do and Aurora will go there someday when she is ready. Then she is tasked to catch a firefly. When Aurora comes back, her mother is turning blue. Casting a spell on her dying breath, she wishes for the guardians of Lemuria to protect Aurora from the people who killed her. If mortal harm befalls Aurora, she is to be brought to the altar.
Upon waking up in a cage in the tower, Aurora plays the flute. Hearing the melody, a guard arrives and said that his lady, the Queen of Light, plays that melody. He instantly knows that Aurora is her child who fights the dark. The guard encourages her to leave her castle, face the world for what it truly is, and find her real home. He will only aid her if she swears to fight the darkness and save the land and its people. She agrees, and the guard, Óengus, joins her.
Aurora learns that more prisoners from the Moon Temple were kept in the nearby cells. She sees that the prisoners were her companions. She pulls the lever beneath the cells, freeing her companions. They reunite and the party is whole again, with the exception of Norah/Nox.
Óengus said that he was from the Kategida clan who are best at being soldiers. When darkness came, they flew to the sky. Then Umbra came and used her magic to prevent the Kategida from flying. The clan is now stuck on the top of the tower, destined to die. Then Umbra took over the tower. Condemned, Óengus promises to watch over the tower while the other Kategida were sent to jail.
When they arrive, the camp is empty except for the dark creatures. They found out that the Kategida are trapped in Erin’s magical labyrinth cell. After exploring and/or fighting their way through the labyrinth, they came upon the Kategida’s cell. They freed the Kategida but Óengus is banished from the clan. After healing Óengus's heart with flute, they meet up with Cordelia who has the moon. Cordelia, whose real name is Crepusculum, said Aurora is not fit for nobility.
After defeating the transformed Cordelia/Crepusculum, she dies in a puff of smoke and out from the smoke came the moon. After receiving the moon, Aurora grew older and taller. She now wears a yellow dress and a purple necklace around her neck. Now during battles, the sword Aurora carries won't be too heavy and she can raise it up high with little difficulty. Also her fake crown doesn't fall off when she is attacked. Her battle stance is similar to Norah's/Nox's.
Leaving the tower, Aurora heads to the sea. If the highest of the high was in the sky, then the lowest of the low is in the Cynbel Sea.
Crossing the Cynbel Sea, Aurora arrives in the Piscean Village where she finds Genovefa (or Gen for short) and Drust living there. She learns of an ogre who guards the caves under the sea. He captured Gen’s mother and father. Other than her parents, Gen and Drust are the only sorcerers left. After solving the puzzle to the ogre’s lair, Aurora meets face-to-face with the ogre. He told Aurora that he ate them all. She defeats him and went back to the village to bring the bad news. While Drust was out to bring Gen’s parents, Aurora plays her flute. After playing her flute, Aurora asks Gen to join, she did.
Returning to the place where they fought the ogre, Aurora takes the elevator down to the lowest of the low to get the sun.
After making her way through the Sun Palace, Aurora faces Norah/Nox. She escapes up the palace while Aurora suffers from the poisonous gas in the room. Slowly solving the puzzle, she escapes the room. Making her way up the palace, she again faces Norah/Nox. When Aurora defeats the transformed Norah/Nox, the sun appears and Umbra arrives. Angry at the death of the second daughter, she offers Aurora the chance to reunite with her father if she gives Umbra the moon and the stars. Through a mirror Umbra conjures, she shows Aurora the state her father is in. Aurora refuses to go back; she can’t let the Lemurians die. Upon her father's dying breath, the fake crown disappears from her head. With the crown gone, Aurora is vulnerable to Umbra’s attacks. Injured from the attack, Aurora absorbs the sun and crawls her way to the sea as it carries her up to the surface.
Igniculus, with the help of his firefly friends, carries Aurora to the altar where she first woke in Lemuria. Beside the altar is the Lady of the Forest who, when she takes off her hood, is revealed to be her mother, the Queen of Light. She plays the flute whose music travels all across Lemuria, bringing the people Aurora met to the altar. Their wishes from their hearts merge into one that transforms into the stars, the moon, and the sun. Aurora absorbs them and wakes up, now wearing a white dress with a glass crown.
Aurora reunites and converses with her mother. While that went on, Óengus reconciles with his brother; Finn reconciles with his grandfather, Avo; and Robert reconciles with the love of his life, Margaret. Now Aurora finishes bringing everything up-to-date to her mother, and must face and defeat Umbra. With Aurora’s new found powers, she quickly flies the crew up into the sky, to Umbra’s castle.
Umbra tells Aurora that Umbra is a descendant from Cynbel the Wise while Aurora is from Erin the Conqueror, and that the land belongs to them and not to common tribes. With their high morale, Aurora and the group fights Umbra. After their victorious win over the transformed Umbra, the injured Umbra said she just wants a place she could call home.
Through the fountain water, the vision shows a servant saying that the Duke is dead and the water is rising. All her friends volunteers to follow Aurora to the other side, to Aurora's world, to rescue her people from the flood.
In the last cutscene, it was Easter Sunday when they arrive. While the people cowered on the five hilltops, Aurora is unexpectedly resurrected with a group of strange creatures. The group splits up and let the people up the castle tower. They thought they are doomed when they were led into an empty room with the water at their feet. With a surprise, Aurora led them to a mirror that led to Lemuria. One by one, the people steps through the mirror. When the flood subsided, only a small island remains — the people safe in Lemuria. Now Lemuria is growing again.
In the after-credit scene, Igniculus is talking to the Queen of Light. He said that he might cry and that Aurora forgot to talk to her mother. She asks him to watch over Queen Aurora and Lemuria for her as she fades from sight.
Development
Initially revealed at GDC Europe 2013 by Patrick Plourde, Child of Light is said to be inspired by Studio Ghibli and Yoshitaka Amano in its art style, and in presentation similar to games like Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy VIII and Limbo.[2] During development, the lead programmer was Brie Code.[4]
The original soundtrack has 18 tracks and was composed by Béatrice Martin, better known as Cœur de pirate, a Canadian singer and songwriter from the province of Québec.
Reception
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Child of Light received positive reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 90.00% and 89/100,[5][11] the Wii U version 84.29% and 83/100,[6][12] the PlayStation 4 version 83.33% and 81/100,[7][14] the Xbox One version 82.00% and 82/100,[8][13] the Xbox 360 version 80.00% and 74/100[9][16] and the PC version 76.29% and 76/100.[10][15]
Vince Ingenito of IGN gave it a 9.3/10, praising the combat system and visual style, although he also said that the rhyming felt forced.[22] Chris Carter of Destructoid gave it an 8.5/10, calling the combat system "straightforward, yet fun" and praised the story.[17] GameZone's Matt Liebl gave the PC version a 9.5/10, stating "Child of Light isn’t the type of game we’re used to from Ubisoft, but it’s the type of game this industry needs. It’s hard not to look at the game and admire its beauty, but underneath the gorgeous visuals is a thought-provoking story that’ll draw you in."[20]
IGN describes the game's multiplayer experience as being co-operative, and featuring Igniculus, a blue orb character who can help out Aurora during battle.[3]
Related media
On April 30, 2015, Ubisoft released a digital book titled Child of Light: Reginald the Great to celebrate the game's first anniversary. Written by the game's writer Jeffrey Yohalem, the story of the book revolves around Reginald the Great and his journey in a place called Lemuria.[23]
References
- ↑ Karmali, Luke (2014-05-20). "Child of Light Officially Headed to PS Vita". IGN. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
- 1 2 Brown, Peter (2013-08-19). "Ubisoft unveils Final Fantasy and Limbo inspired Child of Light". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
- 1 2 Sliva, Marty & Goldfarb, Andrew (2013-09-10). "Why We Love Ubisoft's Child of Light". IGN. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
- ↑ "Lead Programmer Brie Code". Child of Light. Ubisoft. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for Wii U". GameRankings. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for PlayStation 4". GameRankings. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for Xbox One". GameRankings. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Child of Light for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- 1 2 Carter, Chris (28 April 2014). "Review: Child of Light". Destructoid. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ↑ "Child of Light Review from Game Informer". Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ↑ MC Shea, Tom (April 28, 2014). "Child of Light review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- 1 2 Liebl, Matt (28 April 2014). "Child of Light Review: A mesmerizing fairytale". GameZone. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ↑ Navarro, Alex (May 7, 2014). "Child of Light Review". Giant Bomb. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
- 1 2 Ingenito, Vince (28 April 2014). "Child of Light Review". IGN. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ↑ Futter, Mike (April 30, 2015). "Ubisoft Releases Free Child Of Light Art Book To Celebrate First Anniversary". Game Informer. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
External links
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