Child of Light hopes to help parents teach their kids

Ubisoft's Patrick Plourde hopes the upcoming Child of Light will create bonding moments between parents and children with its two-player mode.

Ozzie Mejia

September 13, 2013 6:00 PM

3

Patrick Plourde has previously stated that his upcoming RPG, Child of Light, would essentially be the opposite of Far Cry 3. On top of making it a modern fairy tale, he also hopes to use the game's two-player mode to help parents bond with their children.

The intention is evident through the game's story structure. Young princess Aurora sets out to save the kingdom of Lemuria, accompanied only by an unnamed companion sprite, who illuminates the game world, assists during combat, and generally acts as a faithful guide.

The parallels between Aurora's companion and a parental figure aren't unintentional. Plourde tells Gamasutra that Aurora's companion allows parents to communicate values to younger players without sounding "preachy or instructive." He contrasts his approach to Ni No Kuni, which uses a whimsical world to offer an exclusively solo experience. "I guess we want to spend time not interacting, so you wait until your kids go to sleep to play a Studio Ghibli game?" Plourde says. "I think it was an opportunity missed; there’s not enough bonding moments in games."

Child of Light is expected to arrive in 2014.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?