Child Of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War - Switch

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Child Of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Switch)
Viewed: 2D Side-on, Scrolling Genre:
Adventure: Point and Click
Adventure: Role Playing
Compilation
Media: Cartridge Arcade origin:No
Developer: Ubisoft Soft. Co.: Ubisoft
Publishers: Ubisoft (GB)
Released: 1 Feb 2019 (GB)
Ratings: PEGI 12+
Accessories: Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Connectivity: Save data cloud
Features: Handheld Mode, TV Mode, Tabletop Mode

Summary

For this double pack Ubisoft has brought together two of its most interesting and visually appealing games in one indie-themed package.

Child of Light
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 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.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is another game made using the Rayman engine, although the through line between it and Child of Light is certainly more in the boundary-pushing aesthetics than it is in the nuts and bolts of production.

Another sidescroller, Valiant Hearts is a blend of light platforming, puzzle solving, stealth sections, rhythm-based gameplay and just a hint of combat. Taking players to the brutal battlefronts of World War One, it stars an eclectic cast and their dog as they're drawn together against the backdrop of total war. It's a story of friendship, love, sacrifice and tragedy delivered with a light touch of the comic.

The real star of the show is the design, though. Valiant Hearts is beautifully rendered in the style of bandes dessinées with great sound to match. Valiant Hearts is an incredibly human journey into one of the darkest moments in human history.