Missed a big release? Don’t worry, I have you covered with the release roundup from the week – the big ones to the little ones!
This week sees the first couple of interesting releases in a while, and the biggest would probably be beautiful hand painted fantasy RPG developed by… Ubisoft? Yes that’s right folks, Child of Light is Ubisoft Montreal’s latest title, and while the company has never worked on a RPG like this before, the game still shines bright. Being the one of the latest games using the UbiArt Framework (Rayman Legends) the game looks amazing, with a beautifully realized fantasy world full of charm and magic. The game follows Aurora, a Austrian Princess who one day awakes to find herself in a land of dragons, fairies and evil enchantresses. It’s up to her to stop the evil enchantress from taking over the lands by rescuing the Moon, Sun and stars from her grasp and find her way home. The plot is a simple one, and while it never exactly gets much deeper than this, it’s charming in its own fairytale book way. The writing of the game is interesting, as it’s entirely done through rhyme. Now while many people have expressed hatred of this writing technique, I personally find it very charming, and while sometimes conversations get a little odd just to try keep the whole thing in rhyme, I still think its worth your time (Dammit!).
Child of Light takes a lot of ques from classic JRPG’s like Grandia and Final Fantasy, so the combat is turned based, but with a interesting twist. At the bottom of the screen you see a timeline of when you and the enemies can attack. Now you can interact with this by slowing down enemies before they reach the attack range and setting them further back on the timeline by interrupting them before they get to the attack range. This mixes battles up quite a bit, allowing quite a lot of tactical advantages by slowing down enemies and then attack them just at the right time so they are pushed back before they can attack. From what I have played of Child of Light so far, I can say it is absolutely breathtaking. The world is amazing, the characters are all likable, the soundtrack is superb and the combat is simple to learn yet difficult to master. If this is the future of Ubisoft Montreal’s step into smaller more unique titles with the UbiArt Framework, count me in. The sheer amount of charm, detail and imagination on offer here is a lot more interesting than some hooded templars.
The other big title of the week is the latest in the Mario Golf series with Mario Golf: World Tour for the 3DS. It’s been quite some time since the last Mario Golf title on the GBA, and really with this latest entry in the series, not a whole lot is changed. It’s Mario Golf through and through, you play in 3 18 hole-course tournaments across different themed levels based on the Mario series, From Underwater levels complete with cheep cheep hazards, to areas where you are shrunk down to a pin and avoid Piranha Plants. These courses are split into the traditional career hub known as the Castle Club, or the new Quick Round Mode, allowing easy access to short rounds. The Quick Round mode includes new challenges for Star Coins, such as beating particular characters, clearing a time etc. Now you can play Mario Golf online, as the 3DS allows you to play online with friends or compete in tourneys online. The Mario Golf series has never been the most innovative, and that’s okay.
The gameplay works well on the 3DS screen, with quick slashes and taps to give the game play a nice little touch of movement. If you love Mario Golf then you’re going to pick this up, and if you’re new to the series and want to see why people play the worlds most mundane sport with an Italian plumber and dinosaurs, then this is a perfect starting place.
Daylight–PC/PS4-29th April
Child of Light–Xbox 360/PS3/PC/Wii U/PS4/Xbox One-30th April
Botanicula–iPad-1st May
Stick it to the Man–Wii U-1st May
Mario Golf: World Tour–3DS-2nd May
The Amazing Spider-Man 2–PS4/Xbox One/Wii U/3DS/Xbox 360/PS3/PC-2nd May
