Dear Chlorine,
Role-Playing Games (RPGs) have evolved and stood the test of time. A successful RPG is built around a strong story, mixed with both tactical and exciting combat, and the ability to entice the players to explore the in-game world.
Combat can further be broken down into three types; as I mentioned, RPGs either have a tactically-inclined turn-based combat style (think Pokemon), purely action-packed hack-and-slash (Diablo or God of War, though one might argue that these should be in a different genre), or a mix of both.
I’m pretty sure that growing up, you’ll only encounter and play these hybrid types. With the exception of Pokemon, purely turn-based RPGs have pretty much died out.
In my opinion and experience, no RPG has been as successful in mixing all these criteria better than Child of Light.
Child of Light is a coming of age story. It is the journey of Aurora, a princess who finds herself trapped in Lemuria, a dream-like world.
The game uses a unique watercolor art-style, which is awesome and relaxing to look at. I know I should have gotten a ton of screenshots, but I got so hooked I only managed to record one battle, and it happened very early in the game too.
As you can see, there is a bar at the bottom of the screen that indicates when a character will make his/her move. The speed at which the character’s icon moves depends on his/her speed stat. If a character gets hit while casting (red zone), he/she gets interrupted, which adds an additional layer of strategy – should I cast a lengthy but powerful spell, or a quick one to interrupt the monster that’s slightly ahead of me on this timeline.
You control two characters on the battlefield but there are lots more on your party. Unfortunately, since the video was taken early in the game, I didn’t have anyone else at this point in the game. Still, once you unlock the other characters, switching becomes a regular task.
Unlike other RPGs (like Pokemon) where switching takes up one turn, in Child of Light, upon switching, the new entry can immediately make a move. This adds an unbelievable amount of flexibility and gives you tons options. For instance, you can switch in your fastest character to distribute your potions, then switch him out for your tanky character when his life is low. Switch the other party member to a healer to heal once, then switch it back to a damager to hurt the opponents.
The excitement doesn’t stop there, however. While all these is happening, you can move Igniculus, the floating blue droplet referred to in the game as a firefly. Igniculus can always move during battle, and you can use him to either heal your party members, or delay an opposing monster. Igniculus uses a separate resource which is obtained from plants scattered in the battlefield, so you’d have to gather them too, all while the actual battle is happening.
Again, it’s boundlessly strategic and extremely exciting.
Finally, I did mention that a good RPG should invite the player to explore its in-game world. If the artwork isn’t enough, the main character, Aurora, can fly! The animation is majestic and fairy-like – you’ll never get tired of exploring!
Finally, Child of Light’s story is one of the best feel-good stories I’ve seen in a game. I’ll keep this short at the risk of giving out spoilers – It’s a coming-of-age tale, where the main character grows and learns about her identity and her destiny, on the way to becoming a heroine.
Playing the game is a nice life lesson too:
Life is an experience. No matter how hard the obstacles, as long as you enjoy the journey, you’ll have no regrets.
By the way, the whole game lasts for about 10-15 hours, which many consider to be too short for an RPG. However, considering that it only costs $15 and that you can always repeat the game on the New Game+ mode (and you probably will), I’d say it’s worth every penny.
It’s also available on almost all consoles (PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U) and on Windows, but as you can see on the video, I played it on the PS4.
