Child of Light is developed by Ubisoft Montreal, published and released by Ubisoft in April 2015 on windows and consoles and later on Nintendo Switch in October 2018. It is a 2D platformer Role-Playing game developed in their in-house game engine UbiArt Framework.
image source: google image
The game begins with a narrative story about the duke’s daughter Princess Aurora falling asleep and waking up in an unknown land, clueless as she is confused about whether it is a dream or reality. After walking a few miles and weeping as she has no idea where she misses her father as she is all lonely and alone in that mysterious land. Suddenly she hears a small voice
She meets a little blue firefly named Igniculus who seems new to the world like a newborn baby, acts as an advisor and companion to Aurora and tells her to follow him as a lady waits.
Igniculus-The Firefly (Pixel art by Tanishka Shareef)
Beginning from the 1st chapter-The girl and the firefly, Igniculus' companionship with Aurora made her journey easier as she followed the lead. Igniculus is a playable character and can be controlled by another player, so it makes it easier for the other player to control the main princess character. Since I played it on my window laptop, I could easily control Igniculus with my mouse as well as Aurora with the keyboard.
Igniculus has been helpful by guiding the path by illuminating light in darker places, which also requires refilling the light by collecting orbs along with health points and mana points for the main player. It is also known as wishes.
While it also helps Aurora in places where she can’t reach and also in unlocking chests and solving puzzles to unlock doors.
The combat system of this game is turned-based. Hence, during the combat fights with the help of Igniculus, the enemy's actions can be slowed down by flashing light which blinds them for a few seconds. This helps Aurora (the main player) to act faster against the enemy. But also, by blinding, the enemy can also consume all its energy and light. Hence, Igniculus need to simultaneously refill its light. But during a combat fight, if you are playing a single player, where the main player Aurora is fighting and the Igniculus is refilling, it might be a little distracting to control both at the time as you need to act and defeat the enemy fast. So, you learn to balance it well between the keyboard which controls Aurora and the mouse which in controlling Igniculus.
Overall, Igniculus who is a second player plays a supporting role throughout Aurora’s journey starting from a lost little girl to evolving into a young teenage girl finding her way out from the unknown land called Lemuria.
Igniculus and Aurora both go into self-discovery throughout the journey where Igniculus is unsure about its identity, and discovers their true identity as the level progresses. According to my perspective Child of light does justice, as unlike any classic fairy tale, it doesn’t end with a prince coming to rescue the princess and getting married. Aurora the princess finds her way back along with the support of her little guide- Igniculus and the other few characters as the level progresses. The game focuses on the princess's journey alone on the path of self-discovery and portrays her as a strong female character. It would be exciting if Ubisoft Montreal comes with a sequel to this game.
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