Art style that's intriguing mixed with some cool mechanics

Jan 22, 2014 14:10 GMT  ·  By

What we know: Child of Light is a mix of platformer and role playing video game that is being published by Ubisoft and is developed by its Montreal studio, set to be launched in the second half of the year on the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, the Wii U, the PC and current-gen consoles.

The entire experience is built around a little girl called Aurora, who has been kidnapped from her home and needs to perform a series of quests that pit her against a powerful Queen of the Night.

A playable companion will be included and a number of other allies will show up in order to help her complete her quests and return home.

In order to reach her goals, Aurora needs to move across the world, avoid environmental threats and battle enemies using a system that’s inspired by the early installments of the Final Fantasy series.

As Child of Light progresses, players will be able to upgrade their stats, discover new modes and deal with more powerful monsters.

The game will use the same engine that also powered the last Rayman games, so expect the same bright colors and easy to follow level design.

A big part of the development team has previous experience working on Far Cry 3.

Why it matters: Child of Light is the kind of pitch that nowadays would probably be created by an indie team rather than a studio that’s associated with a major publisher like Ubisoft.

If the game, with its innovative mix of genres and ideas, manages to become a success, it will show that big companies are able to take interesting ideas and launch them, creating a middle market that has been missing for some time.

The full list of Incoming 2014 Games articles can be read on Softpedia.