As a sendoff to the month of May, in which we sought to examine
narratives and narrative elements in Role-playing games, I thought it
would be proper to write a critical analysis article for a video game.
This is a review and revisit of Child of Light.
The
year is 2014, and Ubisoft Montreal is in the mood for something a bit
different. While the Japanese Role-playing genre is alive and well, the
western front largely relies on big-budget, high-investment immersive
sims in order to fill that same void. Some independent developers create
their own unique titles, but a high-profile Role-playing game utilizing
classic gameplay is an alien thing.
If we were to reflect upon the four years that have passed, we might note that, on the front of smaller-scale high-profile releases, not much has changed. Perhaps it isn't fair to judge, however- there cannot be any real "budding scene" if only one title attempted to fill that void. Child of Light was as much of an oddity at the time of its release as it is now, a relatively small, active-turn-based Role-playing game largely based on European motifs and imagery. If Child of Light hoped to inspire any sort of movement, it seemed to have failed, at least, on a Western front. These days, Tokyo RPG Factory and other smaller Japanese developers are still attempting to recapture the spirit of classic entries in the genre, while independent western developers like Zeboyd Games create nostalgic throwbacks to old franchises.
Upon its release, Child of Light received a number of high scores and was praised as something the industry needed at the time. While the aggregate review system still skews towards the positive in the gaming industry, this title in particular struck me as something of a disappointment. In the four years since its release, I have found myself looking back on the title and its various design choices with bafflement, wondering how certain aspects of the game could be so striking and enjoyable while others proved illogical and unbearable. If a discussion of Child of Light should seem like something coming from out of the blue, however, that strikes at the core of what I intend to examine here. That Child of Light made little impact upon the gaming community may be excusable- on the whole, those who follow the industry tend to consumer games at a rapid rate and must often switch gears from one genre to the next, searching for the next new release that truly resonates with them. But that Child of Light made no significant ripples within the Role-playing genre- a niche market that receives very little press- is much more damning. Child of Light received a fair amount of coverage because of its surprising nature at the time, but it did very little to make its mark upon the genre, resulting in a lone, Really Passionate Gaming article four years after its release.
In other words, let's look at how EFFed Child of Light was.
Starting on the Wrong Foot
From the opening moments of Child of Light, the game establishes two fundamental rules: everything will be written in rhyme, and that world design is not a primary focus. The former comes before the latter, as narration and character dialogue are structured in rhyming couplets. The rhyming, presumably utilized in order to give the game a fairytale-like aura (aurora?), is often forced and inelegant. Couplets are nice and neat rhyme schemes because they require little effort on the author's part to create a stable rhyme, and have a consistent and comfortable rhythmic pattern. In other words, creating couplet dialogue requires the verbosity of a twenty-syllable statement, and the capacity to make one sixth of those syllables rhyme.
Well,
traditional couplets do. Child of Light rarely adheres to any sort of
syllabic structure, however, drifting between eight-to-twelve syllable
lines with rare consistency. Some rhymes are placed within close range
of one another, while others are spaced far apart, between two
character's alternating dialogue. When characters are commenting to
themselves, this structure works, at times. The nature of the rhymes themselves are just as sloppy, however- the author writing both simple rhymes while challenging himself to come up with answers to words like "aurora." The end result is hardly becoming of any sort of epic, fairytale or otherwise. Writer Jeffrey Yohalem has received awards for his writing and has some esteemed credentials, but this specific style is beyond him, and I struggle to fathom why the developers wouldn't hire any mid-to-high profile children's writer with a penchant for rhyme scheme in order to perform the task. Of course, the simple answer is that creating couplets of narration and dialogue for a budget and
time-constrained project was reason enough to keep the job in-house. Just because
something is time and cost-effective, however, doesn't mean that the
resulting product is stunning.
I could go on to reference the work of central European folktale and children's literature, or perhaps popular rhyme schemes of the medieval era, but the point is moot. Writing is rarely the strongest suit of any video game, but it disappoints me to see a Role-playing game fail in execution in this way. Games like Final Fantasy VI use in-game opera and composition in order to communicate character narrative, while many modern Role-playing developers are highly self-aware regarding their tone and subject material. The developer intent was to create a fairytale aesthetic- they should have committed to this from every angle.
A World at Conflict
Child of Light looks stunning. The UbiArt Framework Engine is used to create multi-layered, moody environments that truly give the game a sense of a fantastical and alien world. When Aurora awakens in the woods and sets off in search of answers, the quiet and spooky locale threatens her with its size and mystery. She pushes boxes and climbs on branches, triggering clockwork mechanisms on her way through the opening dungeon, until she meets a mysterious lady who bestows her with the power of flight.
Again, creating a battle system and aesthetic are work enough for a small team, but the decision to invalidate much of the grounded exploration from the start of the game in lieu of flight is a bizarre choice. Aurora feels dwarfed by the world around her in the opening of Child of Light, but the gift of flight rips the player out of that feeling immediately. In turn, flight also allows the logical structure of the world to crumble. Despite its fairytale nature, the opening of Child of Light, with all of its box-pushing and jumping as a sense of realism to it. The oppressive nature of enemy encounters is maintained even when Aurora draws her first massive sword. But by allowing her the chance to fly, the level design goes from weighty and grounded (literally) to abstract and unbounded. While this freedom is liberating for the player after the first thirty-or-so minutes of gameplay, the resulting environmental design accommodates flight in all of the wrong ways.
"Platforming" challenges and exploration become laden with narrow tunnels lined with spikes and flames, and flying enemies pepper the environment. But the freedom of movement negatively impacts the moment to moment gameplay, as well, as the ability and difficulty of pulling off surprise strikes is almost entirely negated, and many enemy encounters can simply be flown around. One particular segment taking place on the shoreline has so many open skyboxes that the player barely has to encounter any sort of environmental resistance. The incentive for engaging in the world, of course, is to defeat enough enemies so Aurora can take down the next boss in order to advance the story.
Lost Light
What makes these two aspects so harsh is that they come into play at the very start of Child of Light's twenty hour playthrough, setting the tone for the entire experience. While these two flaws comprise roughly one half of the game, what remains is more than just passable- it is actually very good. Child of Light's combat is fabulous once it reaches its peak, with a varied set of partner characters that exploit unique elements of its gauge-style time system. The more enjoyable play styles appear in the latter half of the campaign, though the earlier party members serve fundamental support roles that compliment Aurora and the learning player well. The Oculi system, while not initially transparent, is a fabulous equipment system that merges passive buffs with armor and elemental resistance. Being blessed with this precious resource through exploration and enemy engagement creates incentive enough to interact with the admittedly bland world. Battles and exploration are set to thrilling and melancholy tunes that do what they can to slather additional atmosphere atop Lemuria.
All of this, however, is still only half of the puzzle. Video games are a medium that combines a myriad of elements to create an aesthetic. Some forego narrative, instead peppering the player with small snippets that require their effort and incentive to obtain. Others have long a cinematic cutscenes with complex narratives. These elements must merge with gameplay and give purpose and momentum to player interaction, giving them a sense of presence within the world.
Instead, Child of Light attempts to tell a fairytale that abruptly has a twist ending that mashes its established worlds together in a dissatisfying manner. All this, of course, after reading some marred poetry and going through a world that feels artificial and lacking context despite its alluring visuals. Its solid combat system is a saving grace, not elevating the remainder of its content but rather feeling like wasted potential. While a memorable combat system is almost a requirement for Role-playing games, a title cannot rely on this aspect alone. There is little other content outside of Oculi crafting to be found- the game features no currency system, and its eleven side quests only grant Oculi, stat-enhancing Stardust, and party members as rewards. While the retail pricing implies that Child of Light is a smaller-scale game, the experience itself is bare bones.
Conclusion
When discussing narrative and delivery in Role-playing games, it is important to identify production values, the quality of script, and the actual narrative structure, and see how these elements assist or detract from an experience. While the aesthetics and production value of Child of Light is impressive enough, it does little to elevate the mediocre script and odd narrative twists. Aesthetics are a crucial aspect of storytelling and the level of immersion in a title, and establishing strong visuals is a fine way to dazzle and sway an audience. Indeed, much of Child of Light's reception focused both this element and its combat, which made a positive enough impression to sway its aggregate score towards positive.
There is a reason that no one is still talking about Child of Light. There are essential flaws that hold this title back from true greatness, which further emphasize the importance of narrative strength and the way in must compliment game design. While great gameplay mechanics and deliberate developer intent are any title's greatest asset, it is important to remember the importance of narrative and writing in a title, as it can often make or break a Role-playing game.
What did you think of Child of Light? Is its aesthetic enough to keep you engaged? Do you know of any other games with dialogue written in rhyme? As always, please feel free to leave a comment and subscribe for more updates as we move on to other subjects.
The
year is 2014, and Ubisoft Montreal is in the mood for something a bit
different. While the Japanese Role-playing genre is alive and well, the
western front largely relies on big-budget, high-investment immersive
sims in order to fill that same void. Some independent developers create
their own unique titles, but a high-profile Role-playing game utilizing
classic gameplay is an alien thing.If we were to reflect upon the four years that have passed, we might note that, on the front of smaller-scale high-profile releases, not much has changed. Perhaps it isn't fair to judge, however- there cannot be any real "budding scene" if only one title attempted to fill that void. Child of Light was as much of an oddity at the time of its release as it is now, a relatively small, active-turn-based Role-playing game largely based on European motifs and imagery. If Child of Light hoped to inspire any sort of movement, it seemed to have failed, at least, on a Western front. These days, Tokyo RPG Factory and other smaller Japanese developers are still attempting to recapture the spirit of classic entries in the genre, while independent western developers like Zeboyd Games create nostalgic throwbacks to old franchises.
Upon its release, Child of Light received a number of high scores and was praised as something the industry needed at the time. While the aggregate review system still skews towards the positive in the gaming industry, this title in particular struck me as something of a disappointment. In the four years since its release, I have found myself looking back on the title and its various design choices with bafflement, wondering how certain aspects of the game could be so striking and enjoyable while others proved illogical and unbearable. If a discussion of Child of Light should seem like something coming from out of the blue, however, that strikes at the core of what I intend to examine here. That Child of Light made little impact upon the gaming community may be excusable- on the whole, those who follow the industry tend to consumer games at a rapid rate and must often switch gears from one genre to the next, searching for the next new release that truly resonates with them. But that Child of Light made no significant ripples within the Role-playing genre- a niche market that receives very little press- is much more damning. Child of Light received a fair amount of coverage because of its surprising nature at the time, but it did very little to make its mark upon the genre, resulting in a lone, Really Passionate Gaming article four years after its release.
In other words, let's look at how EFFed Child of Light was.
Starting on the Wrong Foot
From the opening moments of Child of Light, the game establishes two fundamental rules: everything will be written in rhyme, and that world design is not a primary focus. The former comes before the latter, as narration and character dialogue are structured in rhyming couplets. The rhyming, presumably utilized in order to give the game a fairytale-like aura (aurora?), is often forced and inelegant. Couplets are nice and neat rhyme schemes because they require little effort on the author's part to create a stable rhyme, and have a consistent and comfortable rhythmic pattern. In other words, creating couplet dialogue requires the verbosity of a twenty-syllable statement, and the capacity to make one sixth of those syllables rhyme.
Well,
traditional couplets do. Child of Light rarely adheres to any sort of
syllabic structure, however, drifting between eight-to-twelve syllable
lines with rare consistency. Some rhymes are placed within close range
of one another, while others are spaced far apart, between two
character's alternating dialogue. When characters are commenting to
themselves, this structure works, at times. The nature of the rhymes themselves are just as sloppy, however- the author writing both simple rhymes while challenging himself to come up with answers to words like "aurora." The end result is hardly becoming of any sort of epic, fairytale or otherwise. Writer Jeffrey Yohalem has received awards for his writing and has some esteemed credentials, but this specific style is beyond him, and I struggle to fathom why the developers wouldn't hire any mid-to-high profile children's writer with a penchant for rhyme scheme in order to perform the task. Of course, the simple answer is that creating couplets of narration and dialogue for a budget and
time-constrained project was reason enough to keep the job in-house. Just because
something is time and cost-effective, however, doesn't mean that the
resulting product is stunning.I could go on to reference the work of central European folktale and children's literature, or perhaps popular rhyme schemes of the medieval era, but the point is moot. Writing is rarely the strongest suit of any video game, but it disappoints me to see a Role-playing game fail in execution in this way. Games like Final Fantasy VI use in-game opera and composition in order to communicate character narrative, while many modern Role-playing developers are highly self-aware regarding their tone and subject material. The developer intent was to create a fairytale aesthetic- they should have committed to this from every angle.
A World at Conflict
Child of Light looks stunning. The UbiArt Framework Engine is used to create multi-layered, moody environments that truly give the game a sense of a fantastical and alien world. When Aurora awakens in the woods and sets off in search of answers, the quiet and spooky locale threatens her with its size and mystery. She pushes boxes and climbs on branches, triggering clockwork mechanisms on her way through the opening dungeon, until she meets a mysterious lady who bestows her with the power of flight.
Again, creating a battle system and aesthetic are work enough for a small team, but the decision to invalidate much of the grounded exploration from the start of the game in lieu of flight is a bizarre choice. Aurora feels dwarfed by the world around her in the opening of Child of Light, but the gift of flight rips the player out of that feeling immediately. In turn, flight also allows the logical structure of the world to crumble. Despite its fairytale nature, the opening of Child of Light, with all of its box-pushing and jumping as a sense of realism to it. The oppressive nature of enemy encounters is maintained even when Aurora draws her first massive sword. But by allowing her the chance to fly, the level design goes from weighty and grounded (literally) to abstract and unbounded. While this freedom is liberating for the player after the first thirty-or-so minutes of gameplay, the resulting environmental design accommodates flight in all of the wrong ways."Platforming" challenges and exploration become laden with narrow tunnels lined with spikes and flames, and flying enemies pepper the environment. But the freedom of movement negatively impacts the moment to moment gameplay, as well, as the ability and difficulty of pulling off surprise strikes is almost entirely negated, and many enemy encounters can simply be flown around. One particular segment taking place on the shoreline has so many open skyboxes that the player barely has to encounter any sort of environmental resistance. The incentive for engaging in the world, of course, is to defeat enough enemies so Aurora can take down the next boss in order to advance the story.
Lost Light
What makes these two aspects so harsh is that they come into play at the very start of Child of Light's twenty hour playthrough, setting the tone for the entire experience. While these two flaws comprise roughly one half of the game, what remains is more than just passable- it is actually very good. Child of Light's combat is fabulous once it reaches its peak, with a varied set of partner characters that exploit unique elements of its gauge-style time system. The more enjoyable play styles appear in the latter half of the campaign, though the earlier party members serve fundamental support roles that compliment Aurora and the learning player well. The Oculi system, while not initially transparent, is a fabulous equipment system that merges passive buffs with armor and elemental resistance. Being blessed with this precious resource through exploration and enemy engagement creates incentive enough to interact with the admittedly bland world. Battles and exploration are set to thrilling and melancholy tunes that do what they can to slather additional atmosphere atop Lemuria.
Instead, Child of Light attempts to tell a fairytale that abruptly has a twist ending that mashes its established worlds together in a dissatisfying manner. All this, of course, after reading some marred poetry and going through a world that feels artificial and lacking context despite its alluring visuals. Its solid combat system is a saving grace, not elevating the remainder of its content but rather feeling like wasted potential. While a memorable combat system is almost a requirement for Role-playing games, a title cannot rely on this aspect alone. There is little other content outside of Oculi crafting to be found- the game features no currency system, and its eleven side quests only grant Oculi, stat-enhancing Stardust, and party members as rewards. While the retail pricing implies that Child of Light is a smaller-scale game, the experience itself is bare bones.
Conclusion
When discussing narrative and delivery in Role-playing games, it is important to identify production values, the quality of script, and the actual narrative structure, and see how these elements assist or detract from an experience. While the aesthetics and production value of Child of Light is impressive enough, it does little to elevate the mediocre script and odd narrative twists. Aesthetics are a crucial aspect of storytelling and the level of immersion in a title, and establishing strong visuals is a fine way to dazzle and sway an audience. Indeed, much of Child of Light's reception focused both this element and its combat, which made a positive enough impression to sway its aggregate score towards positive.
There is a reason that no one is still talking about Child of Light. There are essential flaws that hold this title back from true greatness, which further emphasize the importance of narrative strength and the way in must compliment game design. While great gameplay mechanics and deliberate developer intent are any title's greatest asset, it is important to remember the importance of narrative and writing in a title, as it can often make or break a Role-playing game.
What did you think of Child of Light? Is its aesthetic enough to keep you engaged? Do you know of any other games with dialogue written in rhyme? As always, please feel free to leave a comment and subscribe for more updates as we move on to other subjects.
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