After playing through the entire game and doing most of the side content, I'm still torn. I can't recommend it in good conscience however.

Gameplay: The combat feels like a classic JRPG but with some real-time elements that allow you to control a secondary character (or let someone else use the mouse to do so). This guy can collect healing objects for you, or even slow down your enemies on the timeline which is incredibly useful and adds a new dynamic to trying to interrupt your enemies. Overall I enjoyed the classic combat. My one major gripe is that you only ever can have 2 of your party members out at a time, which seems absurd to me. Especially since your enemies routinely have 3.

Art: You can't say enough about the art style. It's got a brilliant storybook feel that is woven throughout the story as well. The color palette and style is bold and refreshing. Animation leaves a lot to be desired however, as they all look more like paper cutouts hanging from strings.

Story/Writing: This is what ruins the game for me. The story is hopelessly childish and unoriginal, which leaves me wondering what the target audience is. I do realize that this matches the visual style, but there must be ways to achieve a story that is appealing to adults while maintaining the whimsical visuals. Things like Trine 2 or Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons did this wonderfully. Overall the story was sickeningly saccharine. In contrast, Brothers started out extremely fanciful, but quick got dark and serious in it's themes. They're both coming-of-age tales, but Brothers pulled it off in a much more brilliant and emotional way (and without words, yet!). In Child of Light, you'll never care about any of the characters. Speaking of words, I must say a few about the poetry. I feel as if the poetry could have saved the hokey story. However, the poetry was dreadful. The writers made no attempt to compose with any meter or rhythm, but instead stuck stubbornly to their A-B-A-B rhyme scheme regardless of the cadence of the sentences. Shakespeare is rolling in his grave. I love great poetry when it has a solid rhythm and bounce to it (See Penny Arcade's Twisp and Catsby stuff!), but this sounded more like a junior high student writing poetry for the first time. Even the rhymes were a stretch from time to time, and left you gagging or saying "oh come on, really?!".

In conclusion, I give this a "NO" with a very heavy heart. I wanted to like it so bad. There were parts of it I really enjoyed. But I found myself rushing from battle to battle in order to enjoy the combat, while the story left me wanting. I don't mind a good kid's story. But this wasn't just a kid's story, it was downright childish and lame. If you think the beautiful art and great combat can redeem an ignorable story, then maybe give this a try. But for me, it wasn't worth the 10 hours.

After playing through the entire game and doing most of the side content, I'm still torn. I can't recommend it in good conscience however. Gameplay: The combat feels like a classic JRPG but with some real-time elements that allow you to control a secondary character (or let someone else use the mouse to do so). This guy can collect healing objects for you, or even slow down your enemies on the timeline which is incredibly useful and adds a new dynamic to trying to interrupt your enemies. Overall I enjoyed the classic combat. My one major gripe is that you only ever can have 2 of your party members out at a time, which seems absurd to me. Especially since your enemies routinely have 3. Art: You can't say enough about the art style. It's got a brilliant storybook feel that is woven throughout the story as well. The color palette and style is bold and refreshing. Animation leaves a lot to be desired however, as they all look more like paper cutouts hanging from strings. Story/Writing: This is what ruins the game for me. The story is hopelessly childish and unoriginal, which leaves me wondering what the target audience is. I do realize that this matches the visual style, but there must be ways to achieve a story that is appealing to adults while maintaining the whimsical visuals. Things like Trine 2 or Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons did this wonderfully. Overall the story was sickeningly saccharine. In contrast, Brothers started out extremely fanciful, but quick got dark and serious in it's themes. They're both coming-of-age tales, but Brothers pulled it off in a much more brilliant and emotional way (and without words, yet!). In Child of Light, you'll never care about any of the characters. Speaking of words, I must say a few about the poetry. I feel as if the poetry could have saved the hokey story. However, the poetry was dreadful. The writers made no attempt to compose with any meter or rhythm, but instead stuck stubbornly to their A-B-A-B rhyme scheme regardless of the cadence of the sentences. Shakespeare is rolling in his grave. I love great poetry when it has a solid rhythm and bounce to it (See Penny Arcade's Twisp and Catsby stuff!), but this sounded more like a junior high student writing poetry for the first time. Even the rhymes were a stretch from time to time, and left you gagging or saying "oh come on, really?!". In conclusion, I give this a "NO" with a very heavy heart. I wanted to like it so bad. There were parts of it I really enjoyed. But I found myself rushing from battle to battle in order to enjoy the combat, while the story left me wanting. I don't mind a good kid's story. But this wasn't just a kid's story, it was downright childish and lame. If you think the beautiful art and great combat can redeem an ignorable story, then maybe give this a try. But for me, it wasn't worth the 10 hours.