Nintendo Switch Review Code Provided by Zordix Publishing
Giving players a game that has simplistic designs that are put together in a fashion that turns out to be challenging in various ways is the fundamental aspect of platformer game design. Rock Square Thunder nailed that concept when they created The Lightbringer and Zordix Publishing brought it to both PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch! Providing a mix of enemies, bosses, puzzle elements, and general map design, this game is challenging in a time-consuming fashion. While that isn't always the best of designs, it is quite a perfect setup for those looking for a good game to start working on their platforming skills.
Story
As the only one able to cleanse the slime-covered monoliths, The Lightbringer must take on the task of cleansing the vile corruption covering the land. Guided by your sister's spirit in a poetic style, you must prevail where she has failed. Without you, the world will remain corrupted and darkness is sure to slowly consume the land. Restore the power of the monoliths so that they may bring light to the beautiful world once more!
Gameplay
You have your basic movement controls with the left analog stick being your character’s movement and the right analog stick being your camera movement. As you turn the camera, you will need to adjust your character movement as it is based on the camera’s direction. This actually works out really well when it comes to proper controls and the first few levels give you great chances to practice these controls. Aside from that, you also have your jump, double-jump, and boomerang throw.
The boomerang is your combat weapon, but this game doesn't feature a ton of combat in it. Enemies act more like a moving obstacle that can be destroyed, but if they touch you then you will lose a heart of health. As you continue through the game, you will be introduced to new enemies as you encounter them, so be ready for new threats when you enter new lands.
Your boomerang also acts as a puzzle element. Some triggers have to be hit with the boomerang from a specific height, so once you reach the platform that lines you up with the target, charge up your shot and let go. You can aim your shot as well, which helps a lot, and when you are close enough the arrow will lock on the target and turn green.
Other than that, elements you can expect to come across are finding keys for locked doors, picking up boxes and placing them on weighted buttons on the ground, spinning a gear-functioning mechanism, finding the gear for the mechanism, stepping on lifted buttons that press in when you stand on them, and a few other elements. There is a good variety of puzzle elements to use in order to complete levels, most of which are fairly easy to solve and are more time-consuming than challenging.
Ultimately, while you are solving puzzles and killing enemies, your goal in each level is to collect enough green light orbs to cleanse the monolith. I couldn't tell what the minimal amount needed was for each level because I always ended up being no more than five or six orbs short of collecting them all when I finished levels. There are also red crystals, lore bells, and health increase potions to find.
Boss fights were a mixed bag, to be honest. At the end of each land, you would have a boss fight in order to proceed to the next area. Some bosses were decently designed and others were a hassle, but not in a fun challenging way. When you reached these levels, just be ready to have a big fight where you have to target the slimes that are bringing life to the rock creature.
Visual and Audio
Giving a cartoon-style look to the world was definitely a great choice. It kept things beautiful and vibrant throughout, even when you are in the cave areas. This art design choice made the game have a friendly atmosphere, including while you were in the boss fight levels.
As for the audio aspect, I would say they did just enough here for there to be something to consider as the game’s audio. Music was subtle and more of a background tune that just keeps the player from sitting in silence. Sound effects were well placed though, so there's that.
Replayability
Unless you plan to go through and find everything there is in each level, there really isn't a reason to play the game more than once.
What Could Be Better
I think they could have done better on the boss fights. To avoid spoilers, I'll only mention the one I liked the least and that was the dragon boss in the second chapter. There were no phases or changes to the fight throughout, but rather it was a waiting game. Land as many hits as you can while it circles at a level you can hit it at then just wait for it to come back as it circles above you and rains random enemies that either spread out throughout the small map or just miss completely and might as well not have been thrown. It just felt cheesy and lazy by design where it was more about putting the concept of a challenging fight in the fate of a time-wasting fight.
Making the boomerang such a fundamental tool and weapon in this game was a good idea. However, if you are going to do that, make sure it works properly all the time. There were plenty of times where it just wouldn't hit a target that it locked on to and I had to find just the right angle for it to register the hit. Luckily, this never happened in combat, but it still was frustrating when it did happen.
Conclusion
The Lightbringer is a pretty fun platformer that would be perfect for beginners! If you are skilled at platforming titles, you will likely still have some fun with this game, but the issues it has will be very apparent to an experienced platformer player. While the design is fine through most levels, there are minor aspects that can take the edge off the whole experience. Still, I had fun with the game and definitely recommend it to those looking to get into this gaming genre.
