Light Fall

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Light Fall is a platformer with a solid presentation and some really great mechanics. This game has some really wonderful qualities that make it stand out… I just don’t think those are the qualities the folks who made this game wanted to highlight.

The gameplay here starts with some classic platforming with some really excellent physics that reminded me of games like Super Meat Boy and N++, with precision jumping, wall jumping, and dodging through traps to get through the level. However, that’s just where it starts – this game builds on that excellent gameplay with a really cool mechanic – the ability to create a floating block. Players can use this block as a footstool (even three or four times in a row), or to block hazards, or even to manipulate the environment.

What’s really great about this is that it gives players some degree of creative control over how to attack any given section of a level. Want to use that block to make the platform you’re aiming at easier to hit? Save it as a last-ditch way to save yourself from falling? Or perhaps build upwards and try to leap over everything in one go? It’s this sort of flexibility that makes this game seem like it’d be ideal for speed runners as well as just average players looking to play the game their own way.

The game’s presentation is excellent as well, with a really nice color scheme that has black objects against a colored backdrop. The music here is pretty good too. But then… I have to get to the stuff that irks me.

This game has a story, about a planet under attack by external forces and the deities charged with protecting it. It’s not an especially original or noteworthy story, but it’s one the game constantly tries to force down your throat with its constantly-talking narrator and between-level still-frame cut scenes. I would have been perfectly happy to have just enjoyed the game’s quiet beauty and skill-based platforming challenges, but every damn level I have to keep listening to that damn owl keep yapping and yapping…

What’s also unfortunate is that the game has some frustrating difficulty spikes here and there, as well as some odd valleys as well. There are definitely areas that seem like they might have been difficult if your character didn’t have the ability to create blocks, but with them it’s a breeze, almost as if whoever designed those sections forgot the player could do that. Also, the game feels a bit on the short side, something you can complete in about 4 hours.

I really wish Light Fall’s designers had done a better job integrating this game’s story into the gameplay itself, or doing away with it entirely and spending that effort on fixing up the levels’ difficulty curve and extending the game’s length. However, as much as I hate this game’s narration, the gameplay is so damn good that I still highly recommend it, especially for those who enjoy a good platformer with unique mechanics.

tl;dr – Light Fall is a platformer with excellent physics and a really great “magic box” mechanic that makes it really fun to move around, and the game’s presentation is superb… that is, except for the throwaway story and the annoying narration. However, while this game isn’t without its problems, fans of platformers should still give it a try, as it’s still a blast to play.

Grade: A-

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