Child of Light - PS3

There's a land called Lemuria. Besieged by sinister forces, it has fallen into the dark. Fortunately, there's one girl who can restore it to its former glory. Aurora, a child stolen from her home, must travel back there and restore the sun, moon and stars from beneath the thrall of the Queen of the Night. Helped by the firefly Ignicuus and a party of unlikely allies, Aurora will face the stuff of nightmares in this twist on classic coming of age tales.

Developer Ubisoft Montreal has, in a nutshell, taken the stuff of fairytales and put them into a blender with elements of Japanese roleplaying games, traditional platformers and the sort of art style that would make any storybook illustrator jealous.

Built using the same game engine used to create the Rayman platforming titles, Child of Light has the sort of gameplay you would expect to find in classic 2D platformers. Despite only being able to move across two planes, however, players will find a huge world to explore, with plenty of hidden areas and puzzles lurking in the shadow.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft Montreal has put into place the sort of turn-based combat not normally seen outside of Japanese games. Two party members can fight at once, with the option to switch characters in and out of play to make the best use of the strengths they have.

Probably most appealing about Child of Light, however, is the way the whole game comes together with a rich, lavish art style, packed with layers of detail and atmosphere. Child of Light is a very intriguing package. more