Wii U Game Reviews: Child of Light (Wii U Review)

Child of Light
Released on the Wii U, April 29, 2014, by Ubisoft, and developed by Ubisoft Montreal
Retail: $14.99
Wii U Game Reviews Score: 9.5/10

Starting last year, I made a promise that every winter break I'd pick out an uncompleted Wii U game from my collection and finish it. Last year's selection was Xenoblade Chronicles X. This year's choice was a no brainer. I've had Child of Light stuck in my head for the last five years. It's an astoundingly beautiful game that I've somehow continuously put on the backburner for half-a-decade. Well, no more! Over the week after Christmas of 2019, I finally finished Ubisoft's underrated RPG.

As famous trial lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, used to say, "If the tree is pink, just play, don't think."

Underrated? Didn't this game receive some accolades?
I haven't heard any real life people talk about this game, ever. That's a shame, as it's an incredible piece of work. For one, the art style and graphics are amazing. "Amazing" isn't a word I use lightly, and is, in fact, one I throw out rarely. In this case, though, it's one of the only words to do Child of Light's hand-drawn and painted graphics justice.

Even the anglerfish, which in real life escaped to the sea from a sulfurous crack in hell, looks beautiful.

Child of Light's backgrounds look like watercolor paintings. The game's director, Patrick Plourde, says (in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun) Child of Light's artwork and character design in general was inspired by golden age illustrators like Arthur Rackham, John Bauer, and Edmund Dulac, which, okay, but when I look at the characters, specifically, what I see is the work of my personal favorite illustrator, Alphonse Mucha. Especially considering Mucha was from the Slavic region of Austria where the game begins.

I don't know...

Maybe it's just me.

Nice run-on sentence. Does it really matter what influenced the graphics?
Whatever the influence, the result is stunning image after stunning image, to the point that I had to force myself to stop taking screenshots for this review. Child of Light is most definitely reaching for a fairy tale vibe, but these graphics elevate the game into the realm of epic myth. The character animations only accentuate the excellence, from the charming way the main character hefts around her oversized sword, to the way her foes scurry to meet her. I could watch the characters' hair blow in the breeze for hours. Truly incredible stuff.
That's nice. Does the music measure up, or did they just farm the soundtrack out to a faceless production company?
Musically, Ubisoft brought in Béatrice Martin, aka Cœur de pirate, to give this imagery a deserving aural counterpart. Martin mainly employs strings and piano, creating some memorable, haunting melodies, with drums at select moments, particularly during some bombastic boss battles, that fits Child of Light's dark, epic fairy tale quite well. While at times whimsical, the game's music is quite tinged in sadness, which is fitting, as Child of Light begins just as its protagonist, an adolescent girl named Aurora, dies in her sleep.

Really, though, what little girl doesn't want to die in her sleep, then fight giant spiders over a lava pit? Er...that got dark.

So you play as a living dead girl? Is this a Rob Zombie album?
No. Aurora wakes up to find she's no longer in 1895 Austria, but in a strange and magical land called Lemuria. Of course, Aurora wants to get back home, as she's a princess, and her father, the Duke, misses her terribly to the point that he's nearly grieved himself to death. Also, her stepmom just might be evil, and quite possibly the cause of her death. Thankfully, Aurora quickly finds a Lemurian ally in feisty firefly, Igniculus, along with a host of different specied party-members she picks up along the way, all who want to help her get back to the land of the living, though they also have their own side-stories.

This giant, living cave doesn't join your party, but on the flip side, it is a giant living cave.

In the service of this story, Child of Light's gameplay follows the general outline of a JRPG. Aurora roams the 2D world of Lemuria with only she and Igniculus from the party visible. Each can be controlled simultaneously with the Wii U Gamepad's two joysticks, respectively. When you see an enemy, you can try to go around it, or make contact with it to start a fight. At that point, the world blacks out for a moment, then goes into a combat screen, featuring Aurora, Igniculus, and a party member of your choosing, versus up to three enemies. Fighting is turn-based, but there is an active turn bar at the bottom of the screen, showing not only all combatants places, but how fast their turns are coming up. Naturally, faster combatants turns will come up more frequently. Once a character passes from the blue "WAIT" stage of the meter to the red "CAST" stage, they can select a move (if it's one of your two party-members, naturally, you'll select their moves), whether to attack, defend, use a potion, use magic.

Where's the "Find a Responsible Adult to Fight this Hellbeast" option?

You only use two party-members at once? That sounds really simplistic?
Wrong. This is where the two party-member combat begins to reveal unexpected depth. Certain moves take longer to carry out, and consequently move more slowly on the "CAST" portion of the meter than others. If an enemy attacks one of your characters while that character is on the "CAST" portion of the meter, your character is "INTERRUPTED," meaning their move is cancelled, and their turn is knocked backward on the action meter. You can also do the same to your enemies. Plus, Igniculus can also factor into the fight in this regard. The player can cause the useful firefly to beam his energy toward Aurora or the other party-member to heal them, or he can beam his energy into enemies to slow their progress on the action meter--perfect for getting in an attack before being interrupted...or for interrupting. However, Igniculus has a limited power meter, himself, and his energy must be used sparingly, though it recharges gradually on its own, and fight screens generally include a few fill-up stations for him to refuel.

If my real life was an RPG, I wonder what I'd be leveled up to at this point? My defense stat should at least be high enough for me to take a bullet by now, right?

But that...
To make matters even more complex, enemies also have strengths and weaknesses in regard to certain magical elements, like lightning or fire, so you'll want to make sure you have the right party-member equipped with the right magic attacks at Aurora's side. Of course, each character's magic meter drains, as well, but thankfully, they can be recharged with potions (as can health and Igniculus' meter...and there are potions for speeding up your action meter...or slowing down your enemies' action meter...), and also refill when your characters level up. As in most JRPG's, Aurora and her party-members, even those not partaking in the fighting, gain experience points from every fight, and the characters level up, and gain stronger stats, like speed, strength, and defense, the more experience they earn. They also learn skill points, which can be put to use on a three-pathed skill chart with unlockable moves and stat increases. It's up to the player to choose the path.

Which one of these paths leads to some Ibuprofen for the headache all these options are giving me?

So as you can see, despite seemingly leaning heavily into its artistic production values, Child of Light hides a deep fighting and leveling up system within its beautiful aesthetics. I haven't even mentioned the oculi-crafting, which involves collecting gems strewn about Lemuria, and how equipping and combining sets of them for each character gives additional stat, attack, and defense power-ups, as well as specific elemental buffs for attacks and defenses. There's just so much here, but the game's systems somehow never tip Child of Light into overwhelming territory.

What's with kids these days and "Crafting?" Go knit a sweater, you damn hippies!

The gameplay doesn't entirely rely on fighting, either. Aurora and Igniculus have to work together to solve a variety of environmental puzzles, as they explore and progress through Lemuria, usually, but not always involving Igniculus light-casting abilities. These puzzles can be tricky, but always feel fair, and never hinder overall progress. They're generally quite fun and satisfying. There are also obstacles like spikes or lava, which have to be avoided, as they hurt Aurora and deplete her HP while exploring. Of course, Igniculus can both heal her, and refill his energy meter in the overworld, as well.

I forgot my Roman numerals. What's V? What English number has a "V?" That would help give some context. There's a "V" in "SEVEN," right? Oh, yeah, I'm going to crush this puzzle.

So you've got a game set in an absolutely stunning and imaginative fantasy world, with a beautiful soundtrack, featuring deep and enjoyable gameplay. Child of Light is near perfect.
Does it have several issues, though?
However, the game does have several issues. There's no voice acting, and characters speak in text boxes...in rhyme...always in the same rhyme pattern, rhyming the second and fourth lines. This not only gets a little stale, but the similar speech patterns make it a little difficult to distinguish each character's individual voice. I get that the developers were trying to further reinforce the fairy tale atmosphere, but it's a bit much.

How you talk hurts my head/What's with the rhymes?/I shouldn't have drank/All that Early Times

Child of Light is also on the shorter end of the spectrum, as far as JRPG's go. While I actually prefer that to a 100+ hour monster game-length, I'd rather something in the 30-50 hour range. Finishing Child of Light's main story barely takes 20 hours, if that. Thankfully, the game does include a "NEW GAME +" mode, where you can play through again with every upgrade and level enhancement you earned the first time, to explore with more ease...considering the land is full of hidden treasure chests and "confessions"--letters that add further depth to the game's story and world--further exploration is most definitely a bonus. This also offers a chance to complete all of the game's many side-quests.
Thankfully, even though Child of Light is short, it doesn't attempt to pad--
Speaking of pad, how does the game make special use of the Wii U's Gamepad?
Er...I'm sad to say, it doesn't. Of course, you can play on the Gamepad separate from the TV (like all Wii U games, within 15-20 feet from the Wii U), but unfortunately, if you've got the use of both the television and your Wii U Gamepad, the same image is broadcasted to both screens. A map or separate inventory screen would have been a cool addition to the Gamepad during TV play, ala the Zelda HD remakes. Alas, twas not to be. Anyway, thankfully, Child of Light doesn't attempt to pad its length with tedious backtracking-- there's a fast-travel mode so you can bounce around the places you've already visited in Lemuria with ease. The map also lets you know just what you've collected.

DISCLAIMER: This game does not feature one single damn lemur!!!

Outside of nitpicks, it's tough to find much to complain about here, outside of the short length. Child of Light is a deep, beautiful game. In fact, before my final scoring, here's a giant screenshot dump. I doubt whatever Wii U game I play over Christmas break 2020 will look this good!