Though Child of Light was launched back in 2014, I was only recently introduced to this gem. I’ve been quite frustrated lately—after playing Octopath Traveler, I couldn’t seem to find a game that captured that similar fantastical feeling. I longed for another game to blow me away with its exquisite art and exceptional music, and it seemed like nothing could quite measure up.
The last thing I expected was to find a hidden gem like this from Ubisoft.
It’s not that I think Ubisoft has nothing to offer. I enjoyed some of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and had a blast playing Rayman Legends with my family. But while Assassin’s Creed is notorious for being Ubisoft’s most popular series, it’s far from the most interesting or creative.
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Obviously, comparing the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed to Child of Light would be like comparing apples and… Assassin’s Creed. I do have a weakness for turn-based games, but my argument does not depend on that personal preference. Child of Light was a groundbreaking game for Ubisoft, and it’s the greatest work that the company has done so far thanks to its soundtrack, art, story, and quirky dialogue.
Though I can’t in good faith compare the soundtrack of Child of Light to the musical masterpiece of Octopath Traveler, it certainly still stands as one of the best. The soundtrack feels like a single, comprehensive piece that flows seamlessly from one song into the next without you ever noticing. As Child of Light’s story feels like a relatively short fairytale, the format of the soundtrack matches perfectly.
The fact that Child of Light was created with Ubisoft's UbiArt Framework already gives it a leg up on other games when it comes to creativity. The way that Ubisoft was able to turn concept art into in-game graphics makes Child of Light one of the most visually appealing games out there. While it’s true that UbiArt was also used for Rayman Legends, the way that the watercolor art was implemented in Child of Light to make it feel like “being awake in an underwater dream” made it an entirely unique experience from any other game.
This, coupled with the fact that Ubisoft only utilized UbiArt for very few games at all, makes Child of Light one of their most special projects. Rayman Legends, Valiant Hearts, Just Dance, and a couple others were created with the same framework, but Child of Light showcases the potential of UbiArt in a way that many of the others could not. The genre of the game worked perfectly with the UbiArt framework just as the soundtrack perfectly suited the story.
While the story doesn’t have what I would call an intricate plot, it is not only unique from the many games that follow the Ubisoft formula, but it flawlessly captures the feel of a fairytale bedtime story. This in itself isn’t necessarily unique, but the fairytale theme was so perfectly realized that it still felt fresh. As a long-time fan of The Lord of the Rings, I’m not new to falling in love with a story despite a lack of ingenuity in the plot. I realized a long time ago that The Lord of the Rings captured the hearts of so many because it took a very classic story of good vs. evil and showcased it in a brilliant way, and Child of Light replicates this through a fairytale instead of an epic fantasy.
The dialogue is the cherry on top to the perfect blend of fairytale components. All the dialogue follows a rhyming pattern, just as fairytales often do. They keep it quirky though, with the character Rubella, who comedically struggles to rhyme correctly and is always corrected by the other characters.
It’s a shame that more wasn’t done with UbiArt, as I’m sure other phenomenal games would have come from it. But as a silver lining, the lack of UbiArt games adds to Child of Light’s charm, though its qualities are more than enough to make it Ubisoft’s best game even without that extra boost.
Next: Interview: Octopath Traveler Composer Yasunori Nishiki On How HD-2D Influenced His Music
