Adorned with Aurora: A review of the game Child of Light

Montreal, a great European-inspired metropolis, thoroughly awed my teenage self on a visit during 2007. Recently, I had the opportunity to indulge my connection to the city. On Juneteenth (June 19) this year, I finished the 2014 game Child of Light, which was developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal branch. Typically, finishing a game is in the evening…but for some reason I felt the rare itch at 7 am to finish the game. There was no choice but to write about it at more length. Herein I talk about the incredibly charming Child of Light.

In this game, the backgrounds are littered with lovely landscapes with screenshots towards the end. Places of darkness, and places of light. Symbols of sun and moon appear often throughout the game. Within this neatly crafted world is a simple though heart-piercing narrative. The lively child Aurora falls ill from poison and grows cold to the touch. On the verge of death, she is whisked away to the mystical forest-strewn land of Lemuria, clad with magic. Upon first encounter, Igniculus – the firefly who provides light symbolically and literally to our heroine Aurora – mistakes her tears for dew that creates moss. (As an Oregonian, I really do feel this comparison.) Truly an adorable misunderstanding for a non-human being. Ultimately, this narrative follows the earnest trajectory of the Child of Light driving out the shadows and despair from Lemuria. Though simple, this story perfectly matches the wholesome nature of the land of Lemuria.

Instead of a traditional composer, Canadian indie pop singer Coeur de Pirate helms the music. Though without her vocals, the vibes are different – but there’s a melodic lyricism to the instrumentals retained. Urgent, sweeping strings powerfully orchestrated and cleanly recorded. Even within the orchestrated realm, there is a beautiful intensity in pieces like “Metal Gleamed in the Twilight” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olZMC6SKESo). Truly every note in this soundtrack hits and that’s a great feeling. In closing, Coeur de Pirate composes and performs the stirring credits theme, which beautifully complements the game’s whimsical feel.

Certainly, Child of Light is a peculiar game as an RPG that is around 15 hrs long on average. Though the game mixes platforming and RPG elements, there is never a sense of gameplay feeling shallow. At the same time, not a maddeningly complex game. An hour of your time can feel very rewarding – especially as you are likely to hit a reward or a checkpoint or boss.

There are many minor modifications to make in this game. You have several partners to choose from and can decide how to proceed. My favorite is probably Oengus, the mighty behemoth of a warrior seeking to be accepted back into this tribe; both a powerful warrior, and someone with a heart of gold who saves Aurora from imprisonment. A minor critique is that some of these partners feel forgotten, but that still creates a sense of replayability.

There are elemental forces – namely electricity, water, fire, and dark – that are beneficial against certain enemies. You can also craft certain gems that have elemental or other effects. Ruby, sapphire, emerald (my birth stone), onyx and even tourmaline. From these options, I can only imagine that a future playthrough may look quite different.  One odd glitch appeared: the Exit Game option refused to appear on my first play session, forcing me to close the game using a command outside the game. Fortunately, this never reappeared. Altogether, a very engaging game that would likely do well with a sequel to tighten the core mechanics.

As an afterthought, I thought about the international nature of games. Ubisoft is (in)famous for extremely long credits that thank people from every Ubisoft studio. In a way, this feels like a great nod to the international community of game creators. Headquartered in Montpellier, France but also with another branch in France alone (in Montreuil, which is an offshoot of Paris).

By contrast, Child of Light boasts a relatively small development team. The team is still more than happy to credit a variety of characters including two people named Guillame, the QC testers in the Indian city of Pune, and even Ubisoft Bucharest (the second largest branch). Apparently, according to a friend, text localization aimed for rhyming in every language as possible. This was certainly true in English (the version I played), but just imagine what the French and Japanese versions must feel like.

To write this reflection, I opened Child of Light again this afternoon and played through the short first chapter. Still, meeting Igniculus the Firefly again felt nostalgic. Such a clear sign of a great game.  Strangely enough, there feels like room for a second game – to tighten the mechanics and deliver an even better experience. Overall, a remarkable experience that makes me want to play GAMES again period.

To close off, here are some striking screenshots from the game: