VGamingLate: Child Of Light

Dear Reader,

Let me tell you about the Child of Light
An older game by Ubisoft, designed to surprise and delight
With a Princess trapped in a fairy tale land
And whose only vocal ability is to speak in rhyme
I gathered myself, not a merry band
And set off to finish the game without taking too much time

Child of Light tells the simple story:
Aurora, a princess, is whisked from her bed
Brought from Austria, to place of darkness and fury 
Her task is to escape before she is consumed by dread

In the 2D side scrolling adventure
Players guide the princess and her companion
A little fairy with illumination skills to defend her
From enemies hidden, to make the world less barren

As the game progressed, I fell deeper in love with the story
The tales told are clever, and not what I expected
It’s not a straight road that leads to glory
I was glad the Child of Light was a game I selected

Child of Light employes role playing elements
Such as levelling up and crafting experiments
You build Auora’s stats to help in battle
When she starts, she’s as slow as old cattle 
The levelling and crafting felt tacked on at first
But when I hit my stride, into life the game just burst
 
Along the way, strange people will join Aurora’s party
A rodent, a mermaid, a jester and more besides
They join her to help with her adventure and to act as guides
Most are kind and helpful, though one is full of wit and more than a little snarky

The artstyle, full of hand drawn watercolours, it's a really beautiful game.
Each character is full of personality and easy to remember
Although Aurora is the central character and gets all the fame
The support doesn’t fizzle out into an ember
Backgrounds are equally prevalent and well painted
The colours pop and I almost fainted
That last line was an exaggeration to paint the scene
I was taken back by what I’d seen

Musically the game is also quite striking
It’s twee and full of delightful plinks and twinkles
Later in the game though enemies are more than sprinkles
So the battle music becomes less charming and more biting 

Battles open on a singular screen
Enemies on the right, Aurora and her comrades on the left
Combatants are represented in a bar in the middle where all can be seen 
Once the player’s icon reaches the requisite action
It’s time to unleash an attack to leave the enemies bereft
But if an enemy strikes while Aurora charges her attack
This will lead to the battle’s protraction
As the character will be pushed back

It's a functional little battle system
Much like Final Fantasy games of yesteryear
But here are my words of wisdom
Battles can be drawn out and stuttery, although not severe

A delectable title is Child of Light
Its compact, not too challenging and a pure delight  
Battles can be janky and the music repetitive
But the enemies are almost nearly uncompetitive
Annoyingly the script isn’t perfect
Not everyone rhymes but the story is worth it

And to sum up my experience 
The Child of Light might be old
Sure the flaws it has, but I afford lenience
Because the world created is beautiful, not cold
A hidden gem that’s 6-7 hours long
Is worth your time I promise, I know I’m not wrong