REVIEW : There Is No Light (PC)
Do not assume that I am a simpleton when it comes to old-school video games. There Is No Light just so happens to fit into a certain type of game that I enjoy, much like a Tetromino. When the SNES was at its peak, top-down hack-and-slash/adventure games dominated the market. Did I get the ominous undertones and stories they contained? The gameplay, though, was excellent.
So, while storytelling develops with time, the mechanics remain the same. There Is No Light contains quick-fire combat, a stats-and-skills system typical to contemporary games, dark (as the title suggests), and these features. However, it keeps the vintage visual aesthetic popularised by games like Zelda and Secret of Evermore.
But in the end, can it compete with both its historical and contemporary counterparts? Or will it fade to oblivion like so many others that adorn Steam? Let’s clarify that a bit, shall we?
You’ve Died. Oh Well, Up You Get
Initial similarities to the acclaimed genre of games from FromSoftware are difficult to avoid. Then again, it’s challenging when you’re a nameless protagonist who returns from the grave towards the beginning. Well, unless you want to compare it to Altered Beast or something to be a hipster.
As it is, the people of There Is No Light live underground lives and worship a being known as The Hand. The chapel that surrounds The Hand demands the annual sacrifice of a child in exchange for the protection of the Solar Knights and The Hand. So far, so cult-likely religious. When our hero’s child is abducted, things start to go wrong.
Our nameless protagonist, who was resisting the sacrifice, is struck down and left for dead on a body pile. However, the story and fate have other plans, as the mysterious Samedi (perhaps of Baron fame) brings the unfortunate man back to life. Samedi sends the hero, who resembles an undead creature, on a journey to expose the church and its wrongdoings after forging a sword from his heart and binding the hero to his services.
A Reaver of Souls, If You Will
In terms of gameplay, I’ve already practically summarised it. However, if you don’t possess archival information about the game like I do, allow me to catch you up. That is essentially a top-down hack and slash. The nameless must fight his way through numerous dungeons equipped with a sword, cunning, and a few unique attacks to recover parts of himself taken by The Hand. This naturally opens a locked door that contains the last objective.
To do this, one must leave Samedi’s small world and travel through hazardous biomes. The first was an old subway full of spiders (at least, that’s where I went; I’m not sure if you can go through them in any sequence).
You can also explore various ruins, run-down structures, and other grotesqueries that wouldn’t look out of place in Blasphemous.
Like a Soul Reaver title, each of these has a boss that contains the item we’re looking for. By eliminating these creatures, The Hand’s control over the situation will be lessened because a colour-coded component of the hero will be lost. Given how many references I’ve already utilised, it’s not wholly original, but it doesn’t have to be.
Although it is retro, which isn’t always a bad thing, it also has some contemporary elements.
Teaching a Broken Body New Tricks
While the combat is similar to that of Alundra and similar games, it doesn’t hesitate to use contemporary design elements. A skill/experience system develops, for starters. The standard method for doing this is to hit things to get experience points. These build up in bars and transform into skill points, which may then be used to “purchase” skills. It’s rather a typical fare.
The talents are also typical hack-and-slash fare, with things like health restoration, special attack cooldowns, and so forth. But as always, a player can somewhat customise their hero with the appropriate setup and preparation. For me, I concentrated on improving Omen, my sword, so that it would hit harder and reward me with health regeneration. You don’t want to take too much time off from the game when you’re trying to go far enough to write a review.
Nevertheless, it isn’t as in-depth as Souls or JRPG. Don’t expect different “builds” or other stuff because the fundamental principle is to “strike things with the sword.” Players are still urged to get involved and engage in combat with powerful beasts and the depraved church.
Do Go Off Wandering
There isn’t much diversity in its levels when it comes to exploring, which works in tandem with battle. Even though many of them appear to resemble corridors, they are not linear. The game isn’t classified as a dungeon crawler, so don’t anticipate huge, vast dungeons either.
Generally speaking, it comes down to “You have a choice of right or left. Dead end on the right; better to turn left instead. Sometimes doing things correctly (or using a similar example) will result in more experience or health, and other times it won’t. It is more up to the player to express their curiosity than it is for the game to provide deceptive avenues.
While there are some clever navigation moments, they are mostly contextual and serve as points of no return. In that fake 2D/3D aspect, it’s quite interesting to watch the hero leap to higher ledges or fall to lower ones. However, there are times when you can keep yourself out of something so that you can pass it by on a higher level.
But isn’t that how exploration is, isn’t it? The decision to explore or not is up to the player; it is not the fault of the game. Don’t feel pressured to because there is no consequence for not doing so.
This Religion Is Sick
There Is No Light has so far checked off every item on my list of classic adventure games. It has enjoyable combat that isn’t overly complicated. It offers exploration without penalising for straying. The narrative holds the reader’s attention, despite the clichéd theme of “Religious intent concealing evil goings-on.” So it stands to reason that I have little to complain about.
The only genuine immersion-detachment, if I were to pick, and I do because I critique therefore I, is in parts of the dialogue. There are a few strange sentences here and there, such as sentences that don’t make sense and seem to have no connection to the action. However, the developers of this independent game are from Russia.
They won’t have localization teams on hand at the level of Ubisoft, are they?
Again, there are no significant gameplay concerns to mention. While an independent game is available on Steam, you should prepare for a reasonable amount of random abnormalities as you play. I experienced a few instances of getting stuck in the background while the odd monster would simply vanish if I moved it out of the way. But compared to games of this size and calibre, it’s fairly polished.
Let’s Go, Nameless One
I enjoyed There Is No Light, to sum it up. My enjoyment of that particular game would demonstrate that. So yeah, a little biased, but it will let you see it more objectively than, say, playing Metal: Hellinger and disliking heavy metal.
However, if you haven’t played any of the aforementioned games, this isn’t meant to offend anyone. Retro gaming knowledge is not necessary to enjoy something that pays homage to that era. Just as refreshing as trying a game outside of your comfort zone is getting into something old but new.
REVIEW : Arcanium: Rise of Akhan (PC)
