Ubisoft’s twee role-playing game Child of Light will likely get a sequel, as creative director Patrick Plourde teased that there are “very cool projects in the [the series’] universe” afoot. He followed up with a photograph of the just-announced Nintendo Switch edition, which not-so-subtly shows a document with ‘Child of Light II’ written on it in the background. We don’t think that’s an accident. #childoflight #switch pic.twitter.com/M6k1xoXX8F Sorry for the long silence. But we have this little thing up and running August 8, 2018 A sequel, then, is on the way. We rather liked the original game when it first deployed in 2014, awarding it a whopping 9/10 [Who signed off on this? – Ed] and describing it as an “instant classic”. We’re not so sure about that verdict four years later, but it is pretty good. Blud.<doc-sep>Child of Light 2 has been teased alongside the announcement that Child of Light: Ultimate Edition and Valiant Hearts: The Great War are headed to the Nintendo Switch later this year. Shortly following the news of these ports by a Ubisoft blogpost, creative director Patrick Plourde tweeted out that he was "Sorry for the long silence. But we have this little thing up and running." As you can see, that "little thing" was Child of Light running on the Switch. However, that wasn't all, as if you look just behind and to the right of the Switch you will see a piece of paper/script that is partially covered but clearly says "Child of Light II," all but confirming the news of a sequel to 2014's Child of Light. Child of Light will be released on the Nintendo Switch on October 11, 2018, and tells the story of "Aurora, a young girl struggling to save the lost kingdom of Lemuria and her ailing father." On Switch, a friend can join you on your adventure and play as Igniculus. We thought very highly of the game, scoring it a 9.3/10, stating "with its gorgeous art, exemplary combat, and hand-crafted aesthetic, no RPG fan should miss Child of Light." Valiant Hearts: The Great War for the Nintendo Switch will be released on November 8, 2018, takes place during World War I, and "tells the story of five separate strangers, brought together by the horrors of war and their faithful canine companion." On Switch, Valiant Hearts will have full touch controls and will come with the interactive comic book, Valiant Hearts: Dogs of War. We scored 2014's Valiant Hearts a 7.7/10 and loved the art style and ever-changing gameplay, but felt the game was held back by some heavy-handed narration and intrusive historical facts. Adam Bankhurst is a freelance writer for IGN who has yet to play Child of Light and can't wait for it to arrive on the Switch. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst.<doc-sep>Ubisoft has announced that Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War, two of its smaller, but no less delightful projects, will launch on Switch before the end of the year. Both games originally released in 2014, when Ubisoft was clearly in one of its more experimental moods, and are fascinating, frequently wonderful additions to Switch's library. Child of Light arrives on Nintendo's console first, launching on October 11th, and is a sort of RPG-platfomer-meets-fairy-tale, telling the story of Aurora, a young girl from 1895 Austria, who wakes in the fantastical kingdom of Lemuria. It looks and sounds absolutely splendid, with a delicate watercolour art-style and serene soundtrack that perfectly suits its storybook ambience. And its appealing presentation is matched by a unique combination of side-scrolling acrobatics and unusual turn-based combat, which sees character attacks performed across a constantly moving timeline. There's a lot to like about Child of Light, even if its relative simplicity can make the whole thing feel rather insubstantial and faintly monotonous at times. Some, it's fair to say, might also struggle with the decision to tell Child of Light's story entirely in rhyme. It's a cute idea, but (as the above trailer hints at) the twee rhyming couplets get increasingly laboured and enormously grating very quickly. As Eurogamer's Martin Robinson vividly put it earlier today, "It was like being burned alive by aromatherapy candles". Even so, Eurogamer contributor Stace Harman liked Child of Light well enough back in 2014, awarding it 8/10 and calling it a "welcome reminder that the industry's major players still have the creative flair to push beyond the lucrative safe ground that they so often favour to create well-crafted, highly-polished gems such as this". Sorry for the long silence. But we have this little thing up and running :) #childoflight #switch pic.twitter.com/M6k1xoXX8F — Patrick Plourde (@patrick_plourde) August 8, 2018 This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings Interestingly, Child of Light's debut on Switch was teased in a tweet by Patrick Plourde, creative director at Ubisoft Montreal, earlier today. That's not the interesting bit, however; the interesting bit is that the accompanying image featured the clearly-not-accidental inclusion of a document possibly labelled "Child of Light II". Hopefully there'll be more news on that soon. Ubisoft's second Switch offering, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, arrives on November 8th - and is a game I absolutely adored when it first released. Set before and during World War I, it tells the story of five characters - Emile, a Frenchman drafted into the army, his German son-in-law Karl, American soldier Freddie, British pilot George, and Belgian nurse Anna - whose lives inevitably intertwine on the battlefield. There's even a playable dog called Walt. Valiant Hearts is, in truth, a fairly straightforward experience, unfolding through a mix of side-scrolling platform set-pieces and light, adventure-game-style puzzling. In this particular case though, the simplicity works in Valiant Hearts favour, letting its wonderfully engaging story maintain a deliberate pace. There's warmth, humour, rip-roaring adventure, quieter, poignant moments, and moments of utterly bleakness - even if the tone doesn't always entirely gel. And it's comic book aesthetic is never less than superb. Christian Donlan (clearly not quite as taken by the whole thing as I was) reviewed Valiant Hearts on release, suggesting that while it "struggles to make sense of itself as a game, in its odd, playful innocence and in its focus on four friends (and a dog) it at least offers a fleeting human perspective on a new kind of war that turned out to be far, far worse in its mechanised violence than anybody was quite expecting." Ubisoft hasn't yet said whether Child of Light and Valiant Hearts will be digital-only releases on Switch, or if physical versions are planned. I'll update this story should more details come in.<doc-sep>
Ubisoft recently announced Child of Light and Valiant Hearts are being ported to Nintendo Switch, but it may have hidden a sequel tease in the process. In a tweet from Ubisoft Montreal's Patrick Plourde apologizing for the long silence, a piece of partially obscured paper appears to read "Child of Light II." Technically the only visible portions are "of Light II" and pieces of the L and D in "Child." The implication seems clear enough, though. The title paper sits along with a longer document that is largely illegible. The page is so prominently displayed, for no other apparent reason than to tease fans with the almost-promise of a sequel. This doesn't mean the game is confirmed, however, as Ubisoft has not made any formal announcement. Child of Light is a hand-drawn RPG originally released across various platforms in 2014. It was meant to show off the UbiArt framework and used a combat system similar to the Grandia series. It follows Aurora, a girl who wakes up in a strange land after suffering from a terrible illness. Sorry for the long silence. But we have this little thing up and running :) #childoflight #switch pic.twitter.com/M6k1xoXX8F — Patrick Plourde (@patrick_plourde) August 8, 2018 In GameSpot's Child of Light review, Tom McShea praised its somber tone and continuously surprising art design. "There are so few games willing to explore that dull ache that I became mesmerized by Aurora's journey, even when I needed to step away from her plight while I regained my composure," he wrote. "Child of Light is a wonderfully realized, somber adventure, and I couldn't be happier that such a game exists."