Child of Light is a wonderful RPG made with the battle system of Grandia and artistic drive of a poet.
From start to finish, Child of Light makes itself known as being a super pretty game with very flowery language. The large majority of characters speaking in an A, B, C, B rhythm really also helps submit to it's fairy tale aesthetic. Even the cast of characters feel they come out of a children's book with them having problems like a mouse having to search for treasure, a monster that is scary looking, but is super helpful and friendly, and Aurora herself being a lost princess trying to find her way back home. For the most part the game is light in tone, but it does have it's dark moments that really help with the idea of growing in this game. In fact the majority of the characters often have a growth moment or realization thanks to Aurora's help.
On top of the neat little story, Child of Light also has an interesting combat system where defending is entirely a viable option, and one that I honestly haven't seen repeated in any game before or since. Combat is akin to Grandia's timeline based attacks where each character has to wait for their turn to attack till they hit the end part of the gauge, and can even bump back certain characters if they time their attacks well. Each character is given a different set of abilities, attacks, and buffs that help make for interesting team set ups. Aurora is always out and is often your most powerful unit on the team, but the way you can pair her with others gives you options on how you want to play. From having support through debuffs or healing to just having another attacking party member or anything in between. Child of Light has a shockingly robust amount of options with it's minimal design choices. There are even different skill trees and bonus gems that can help suit your play style and how you want each member to grow. Heck, there is even a way to fuse bonus gems that given into stronger effects or entirely different ones if you want.
In the end, Child of Light is a labor of love, and something I am very happy to have played. From it's looks, to it's charm, and especially to it's combat; Child of Light is a game with a lot of thought behind it. If you haven't given it a chance yet, I suggest trying it as soon as you can.
From start to finish, Child of Light makes itself known as being a super pretty game with very flowery language. The large majority of characters speaking in an A, B, C, B rhythm really also helps submit to it's fairy tale aesthetic. Even the cast of characters feel they come out of a children's book with them having problems like a mouse having to search for treasure, a monster that is scary looking, but is super helpful and friendly, and Aurora herself being a lost princess trying to find her way back home. For the most part the game is light in tone, but it does have it's dark moments that really help with the idea of growing in this game. In fact the majority of the characters often have a growth moment or realization thanks to Aurora's help.
On top of the neat little story, Child of Light also has an interesting combat system where defending is entirely a viable option, and one that I honestly haven't seen repeated in any game before or since. Combat is akin to Grandia's timeline based attacks where each character has to wait for their turn to attack till they hit the end part of the gauge, and can even bump back certain characters if they time their attacks well. Each character is given a different set of abilities, attacks, and buffs that help make for interesting team set ups. Aurora is always out and is often your most powerful unit on the team, but the way you can pair her with others gives you options on how you want to play. From having support through debuffs or healing to just having another attacking party member or anything in between. Child of Light has a shockingly robust amount of options with it's minimal design choices. There are even different skill trees and bonus gems that can help suit your play style and how you want each member to grow. Heck, there is even a way to fuse bonus gems that given into stronger effects or entirely different ones if you want.
In the end, Child of Light is a labor of love, and something I am very happy to have played. From it's looks, to it's charm, and especially to it's combat; Child of Light is a game with a lot of thought behind it. If you haven't given it a chance yet, I suggest trying it as soon as you can.