Child of Light Review

 

After making the leap to Xbox One and viewing my – admittedly limited – games collection, I noticed that there was something missing, in that the current Xbox One titles are lacking in RPG’s. Now it’s arguable that such games as Dead Rising 3 and Black Flag have roleplaying elements to them, but there are no true RPG’s available to players. It’s true that with Destiny just around the corner and Dragon Age: Inquisition set for release in October that we won’t need to wait long, but in the meantime here’s a little gem to help you get your fix.

Despite critical acclaim, with such a hype for Watch Dogs, Ubisoft’s arcade release Child of Light was significantly over shadowed and swept under the rug somewhat. The story follows Aurora, a Child of Light as she adventures through the fairy tale-esque land of Lemuria in search of the Sun, Moon and Stars stolen by the Queen of Night.

Players travel through the levels as a 2D platformer, solving puzzles and collecting items to progress to the next areas, much in a way like fellow arcade hit, Limbo. The game encourages re-playable exploration of areas by making collectable items only available after later sections of the game are completed, such as players acquiring the ability of flight. Combat is turn based with an ‘active time battle system’ much like within the Final Fantasy series, with Aurora and one of seven party member facing up to three enemy monsters. Aurora’s party consists of a variety of creatures ranging from magical gnomes to feral beasts from all across Lemuria, each with their own stats and skill trees.

However your best friend within the game is Igniculus, a firefly and the first person Aurora encounters when she awakens in Lemuria. Igniculus aids players both in and out of combat with his glow, measured by his own glow meter. Out of combat, his glow lights dark passages, blinds foes and unlocks magical chests, whereas in combat Igniculus can heal friendly characters as well as slowing enemies on the timeline.

The game also includes a crafting system with Oculi, precious gems scattered across the land that provide special effects to damage, defence and skills. When combined in the crafting menu, these gems can create more powerful Oculi or entirely new Oculi types.

Playing Child of Light is like moving through a painting with its stunning yet simplistic visuals and inkblot transitions, accompanied by a beautifully orchestrated musical score, it creates a truly charming gaming experience. Child of Light provides a fairy tale adventure filled with friendship, betrayal, victory and loss, and for £11.99 is the perfect way to settle your RPG cravings.  

Dragon Age: Inquisition Gameplay

 

There has been a lot of previews to Bioware’s upcoming title Dragon Age: Inquisition, revealing everything from recurring characters to unexplored regions of Thedas. The most in depth of which being Bioware’s two part E3 demo gameplay series, narrated by creative director Mike Laidlaw.

The series showcases the most in depth look at the world of Dragon Age and the mechanics of player combat and navigation. It is immediately clear from the gameplay footage at just how far Bioware has come since Dragon Age II and just how big of a leap the studio has taken visually. We are introduced to a beautifully and painstakingly crafted world, much bigger than anything we’ve ever seen from a Dragon age game. In order to traverse the enormous maps, Bioware has finally introduced mounts to the series, ranging from your standard bay horses to more ‘exotic’ creatures.

Combat proves to be more fluid than ever before, jumping in and out of battle seamlessly. However, Inquisition also pulls back to its tactical roots, drawing inspiration from Dragon Age: Origins’ combat system. Players now have the option of playing more strategically than the previous Dragon Age titles – ducking in and out of the tactical combat camera to inspect enemy weaknesses and issue orders to party members to exploit them, before jumping back into real time. This also encourages players to utilise their entire party, playing as each character, rather than controlling them via pre-programmed orders for every fight.   As well as skills and spells powered by stamina and mana, a new ‘focus’ system has been introduced, allowing players to unleash powerful, strategic team attacks for tougher foes.          

Inquisition features a wide new range of monsters and villains to take on - naturally dragons remain the Alpha dogs when it comes to enemies, ranging from mere hatchlings to the fearsome High Dragons. With such impressive foes, Bioware has altered how players engage with the winged beasts, including the ability to attack a dragon’s limbs and wings, bringing it down and turning the tides of battle.

You are forgiven to believe that Inquisition is based around combat with its sophisticated tactical and real time battles and random dragon encounters – yet Inquisition remains true to the series and continues to be narrative based and story driven. The members of your party are enough to alter the story during specific quests, allowing options that would be unavailable to players with different characters accompanying them.

Any fans of the series or simply gamers excited for the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition should take a look at the mini-series and allow the creative director to inform you of the games’ features, as you’ll find it difficult to come across anyone else to talk about Inquisition as passionately as Laidlaw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDVdSPpCj7M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe_KAi9flTY