Sequels and Imitations:

A sequel to Child of Light was teased in early 2018 in a tweet heralding the original game’s release on Nintendo Switch*.

* Bankhurst, A., Child of Light on Switch announcement teases Child of Light 2, uk.ign.com, August 8, 2018 (accessed: October 31, 2018). 

Child of Light follows the story of Aurora, the daughter of an Austrian count, who wakes one day in the mysterious realm of Lemuria. Befriended by the firefly, Igniculus, Aurora finds the Lady of the Forest and asks her the way home. Instead, she learns that Umbra, Queen of Night, has poisoned Lemuria, and will claim the human world too, if she is not stopped. Armed with an ancient sword, and Igniculus’s light, Aurora sets off to retrieve the sun, moon and stars, and so save her family from Umbra’s darkness. As they travel, they meet many colourful characters, such as Rubella, a jester who cannot rhyme, and Robert, a mouse determined to win the heart of his true love. Each one brings new skills to the team, helping Aurora to battle the creatures Umbra has corrupted.

Child of Light combines elements from several different genres. As a side-scrolling game, all the action is viewed in 2-D and is consequently similar to a platforming game (even though Aurora can fly, and therefore does not need to worry about jumping between ledges). The inclusion of skill-trees, where players choose how to level up their characters is reminiscent of role-playing games (RPGs), as are the game’s side quests, which do not influence the main storyline but grant bonuses when completed. However, Child of Light is also a puzzle-solving game, requiring the player to decipher clues to get through each stage. These range from lighting up symbols to unlock a door, to finding the way through a labyrinth. 

The game’s battle system is turn-based, so every character has one action per turn to either attack, heal, cast a spell, or use an item. However, the addition of a timer means that these actions are played in a different order each turn. All combatants follow the time-bar from its start (where they choose their action) to its end (where they play it), their speed determined by the amount of power their chosen action requires. Attacking an enemy while they are at a certain point in the bar will ‘interrupt’ them, which sends them back to the start and means that they cannot attack that around. This adds an element of strategy not found in RPG turn-based battles, especially because Igniculus can be used to slow enemies, and so keep them where the player can "interrupt" them. 

Antiquity’s influence on the game is most obvious through the Latin names of its characters. These include, but are not limited to:

• Aurora (Latin: dawn),
• Igniculus (Latin: little fire),
• Umbra (Latin: shadow),
• Nox (Latin: night),
• Crepusculum (Latin: twilight/dusk),
• Rubella (Latin: red),
• Tristis (Latin: sad).

In each case, the names have been carefully chosen. It is apt that the heroine tasked with restoring the sun shares her name with the Roman goddess of dawn, and that her companion firefly is called Igniculus. Similarly, the three antagonists (Umbra, Nox and Crepusculum) have names that reveal their dark nature. Other uses of the Latin are subtler: for example, the Capilli (literally, "the hairs") are mages with lusciously long beards. Rubella’s jester outfit is red, and her brother Tristis is drummed out of the circus for being too miserable.

Interestingly, the names that are actually borrowed from mythology (as opposed to just being Latin words) tend not to carry the same relevance. For example, the character of Achilles is a mint-eating flying pig, and so bears no parallel to the mythical warrior. Similarly, though Aurora fetches the Waters of Lethe as one of her quests, no mention is made of their forgetfulness properties.

There are also traces of antiquity in the game’s architecture. At multiple points in her journey, Aurora passes shrines, fountains, or palaces, which contain statues dressed in togas and tunics. In particular, the icons of the goddess "Erin" bear a striking resemblance to Athena, complete with shield, spear and helm. Aptly, it is only by following symbols on Erin’s shield that Aurora manages to escape a deadly labyrinth, and so the Greek goddess of strategy is used to solve one of the game’s puzzles. Other statues are shown holding a caduceus and a lyre.

Given that these allusions are never explained in-game, only a player with existing knowledge of Latin or mythology will be able to appreciate their relevance. Players could, for example, see the name Aurora and think of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, rather than the dawn goddess. In fact, Jeffrey Yohalem, the writer of the game has alluded multiple times to the influence of that fairy-tale on Child of Light.*

It is thus likely that these Classical names and motifs are being used to create the sense of mystery and magic, befitting the game’s Lemurian setting, rather than for any explicit educational purpose. It is interesting that, in Ubisoft’s own description of the game, the word “mythical” is used several times, to describe the game’s “environments” and “creatures”.**

*  Grayson, N., Child of Light devs on poetry female characters, rockpapershotgun.com, September 13, 2013 (accessed: October 31, 2018).

** Ubisoft, Child of Light: key features, ubisoft.com (accessed: October 31, 2018).

Commercial Success:

Child of Light has been widely well-received. Review aggregator, Metacritic, gave each platform a mark out of 100, with 74 being the lowest (for the Xbox 360)* and 89 the highest (for the PlayStation 3)**. IGN, the entertainment media company, gave the game 9.3 out of 10.*** Reviewers have frequently praised the game’s beautiful artwork, unique combat system, and thought-provoking storyline.****

Genre: Computer game, platformer, role-playing, puzzle-solving

* Metacritic, Child of Light: Xbox 360, metacritic.co (accessed: October 31, 2018). 

**Metacritic, Child of Light: Playstation 3, metacritic.co (accessed: October 31, 2018). 

*** Bankhurst, A., Child of Light on Switch announcement teases Child of Light 2, uk.ign.comonline, August 8, 2018 (accessed: October 31, 2018). 

**** See, for example: Christman, A., Gaming on a Budget: Child of Light, omnibusjournal.com, May 1, 2015 (accessed: October 31, 2018); Liebel, M., Child of Light review: a mesmerizing fairytale, gamezone.com, April 28, 2014 (accessed: October 31, 2018).