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"To all those wandering lost in the dark, may you be visited by a spark"
Child, tuck yourself in bed
And let me tell a story
Of Lemuria, a long lost kingdom
And a girl born for glory.

Child of Light is a Role-Playing Game released April 29, 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, Windows and PlayStation Vita, and released October 11, 2018 on the Nintendo Switch. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and helmed by the creative director and writer of Far Cry 3, Patrick Plourde. Inspired by classic JRPGs such as Final Fantasy, Chrono Cross and Grandia, the game combines side-scrolling platforming elements whilst traversing the game world, and a turn based combat system reminiscent of the latter JRPG series. The game itself utilizes the UbiArt Framework engine, the same technology used to power Rayman Origins and Legends, to create a 2D environment and art style reminiscent of watercolor painting.

The story centers around Aurora, the daughter of an Austrian duke, who one night falls ill and passes into a dreamlike slumber. Upon waking, Aurora finds herself having been whisked away from her home to the magical land of Lemuria, which has had its sun, moon and stars stolen by the Queen of the Night. Tasked with a quest to restore the lights to their proper place, Aurora and her companions must brave the many monsters and perils of this strange land if she is to defeat the Queen, save Lemuria, and return home.

Trailer 1 , Trailer 2.

A free downloadable book titled Reginald the Great was written by the game's writer to celebrate the game's first year anniversary, and according to the creative director is set a couple years after the events of the game. Other works within the universe have been planned, such as additional books and a television series, but none have yet to materialize. Around the release of the Nintendo Switch version, Plourde would tease the idea of a sequel via a picture of a Child of Light II design document. He would then admit the following year that while he has already planned out the story and structure of the potential game, he feels it's very unlikely that Ubisoft would put it into production any time soon.

In 2021, Plourde announced a crossover project involving Aurora and Igniculus, with more news incoming. On March 31, 2022, an answer was finally given, in the form of a free DLC update to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night that makes Aurora a playable character, searching for her friends that have been lost in Gebel's castle.


This game provides examples of:

  • Ability Required to Proceed: If you try to go left from the starting point, you'll run into a cliff you can't climb up. You'll need flight from the lady of the forest to proceed.
  • Action Girl: Aurora, our protagonist, is a heroic girl who fights evil with a massive sword and light magic. Genovefa, Norah, and Rubella also join the party and fight just as well as the other companions.
  • Advanced Ancient Acropolis: Some locations in Lemuria give off this vibe, with magnificent structures and palaces worn down by time. The Confessions hint that the ancient Explorers built cities long ago, but they were since abandoned and decayed. The Temple of the Moon contains an elaborate labyrinth said to be built by Erin. More notably, Cynbel Sea contains a brilliant icy temple, which holds what looks like an electrical generator, and even deeper within is the magnificent Palace of the Sun.
    Aurora: This prison seems ancient. Who made it?
    Óengus: Some say Erin, the explorer
    Who hailed from distant shores.
    Lemuria founded by the four.
  • Arbitrary Headcount Limit: One of the most extreme; you're limited to only 2 players at once (though you can swap both characters out during their turns). You will almost always be outnumbered in this game.
  • Atlantis: Played with. As the opening quote implies, the game takes place in Lemuria, while it's suffering a greatly destructive threat, but the game ends with Lemuria's rebuild under Aurora's reign. Also, unlike the mythical Atlantis, it's Aurora's Austrian kingdom that is the one lost in a flood, while she took all the survivors into Lemuria.
  • Badass Adorable: Aurora. She's a cute little girl who's capable of kicking monster ass with a giant sword and light magic. After she is aged up, she trades most of her cuteness for sheer beauty, but she remains pretty cute nonetheless.
  • Badass Boast: Aurora has this to say to an early boss fight:
    Move out of the way, lest I turn you to clay.
  • Benevolent Mage Ruler: The Queen of Light ...who is Aurora's mother. Aurora also becomes one in the ending.
  • BFS: Young Aurora wields a sword nearly twice her size.
  • Big Bad: Queen Umbra, master of the monsters that plague the land.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Aurora's father dies after they see each other one last time, Aurora is forced to kill her step-sisters she looked up to (who are Umbra's daughters), her home in Austria has been destroyed by the flood, Gen's people have been wiped out, and Aurora's mother disappears shortly after reuniting. However, Umbra has been overthrown, Aurora and her friends managed to rescue her people from the flood and give them a new home, and Lemuria is now on the road to recovery under Aurora's rule.
  • Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: The Capilli. The male are all old, big nosed, bearded men since their race ages faster than humans. But still, the females look younger, have normal faces, with long hair and are fairly attractive.
  • Blinded by the Light: You can use Igniculus to blind foes, stunning them on the overworld and slowing them down in battle.
  • Boss Arena Recovery: And Enemy Arena Recovery. There are 2 wish plants scattered around a battle stage (3 for a boss) which can be touched by Igniculus to recover health and mana, as well as Igniculus' energy. Averted in Expert mode, where these don't drop health or mana, only energy.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing: There are "oversized" versions of normal enemies in certain hidden areas. These have much more health and deal more damage, and even get new music for their fight.
  • Came Back Strong: After Umbra kills Aurora, Aurora's mother revives her by using the magic of the sun, moon and stars, along with wishes given by each of her friends. Aurora comes back wearing a pure white dress (instead of the yellow one she had before) and a crystal crown, and proceeds to defeat Umbra.
  • Chain of Deals: The "Free Trade" Side Quest.
  • Chest Monster: There are two treasure chests in a Bolmus Populi's basement that contain Fire Reaper monsters. You need to open them if you want to complete the sidequest, however.
  • Co-Dragons: Umbra's two daughters who oppose Aurora.
  • Co-Op Multiplayer: Of the "Assistant" variant: a second player can control Igniculus so the first player doesn't have to. A developer video explained that this type of multiplayer was intended (as opposed to having a second player control one of Aurora's party members). One of them wanted a game where he could play alongside his children but not take too much control away from them by outplaying themnote , so that they'd solve most of the game's puzzles and battles on their own. Of course, given the controls, it's still possible for one player to play as both.
  • Color-Coded Speech: Characters' name tags and dialogue are color-coded. For example, Aurora's is red, Igniculus' is blue, and the Lady of the Forest's is light brown. Incidentally, Aurora has red hair, Igniculus is blue, and the Lady of the Forest wears a light brown hooded coat. That Norah's name tag and dialogue are black gives a hint to her true personality.
  • Combatant Cooldown System: The game features a battle system similar to the Grandia games, with a Visual Initiative Queue subdivided into a long Wait and a short Cast segment, and both Player Character and enemies' icons sliding across it in real time. Special attention is paid to the manipulation of said sliding: hitting an enemy just as it is about to act pushes it back towards the Wait end, so it is entirely possible to Stun Lock the opponent for good (but also vice versa). Additionally, one of Aurora's companions, Igniculus the Firefly, has the ability to blind an enemy, slowing down its cooldowns.
  • Coming of Age Story: This represents the core of Aurora's journey. She begins as a girl who only wants to return home to her father, but she's constantly reminded by Igniculus that she needs to complete her mission first. Her mother, in a memory, tells her that she needs to leave her castle if she wants to grow up and face the world. Óengus calls her out for being a coward and tells her that she needs to face Umbra for Lemuria, her family and her own sake. Ultimately, Umbra tempts Aurora with the chance to return to her dying father, but she rejects this to save Lemuria. Her father gives Aurora his blessing to do so, and then he dies.
  • Continuity Nod: Taking a few years after the events of the game, Reginald the Great gives appearances to the characters in the game, like Aurora, the Golem from the DLC, Finn, Robert, and Genovefa.
  • Contractual Boss Immunity: Surprisingly averted with most negative statuses. All bosses can be hit with all negative statuses, including Paralyze. Played straight for moves with a One-Hit Kill chance; it will not trigger on bosses.
  • Control Room Puzzle: There's a simplified one involving two switches to open the vault inside Magna.
  • Cooldown Manipulation: Every character in combat enters a "preparation phase" between them selecting a move and using it, and if they are attacked during this phase, the attack is interrupted and they are moved further down the cooldown meter. A lot of the tactical elements of combat arise from attacking enemies in their preparation phase to interrupt them, and knowing when to defend instead of attack if you think an enemy will interrupt you before you can finish preparing.
  • Counter-Attack: Many opponents will use a counterattack if damaged by the wrong attacking type. Some of them can counter if you interrupt them.
  • Crutch Character: Norah, who starts out fairly overleveled and has several incredibly useful abilities that you'll find yourself taking advantage of in combat. Thankfully these skills are also spread out among future party members, so you won't miss her too badly when she leaves.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: There is plenty of lore and history in this game outside the main story that are never fully explained. Much of this is detailed in the mysterious Confessions, which can be found flailing in the wind at various points in the game. Sections of the confessions mention ancient explorers, a "Rift," a past conflict, and a modern-day girl named Sophie Ashton Ellis who wrote seven of the confessions.
  • Culture Chop Suey: Óengus and the Kategida clan are horned, hulking proud warrior race guys drawn from many sources. They are decked out in Asiatic masks and Ancient Groman armor, have Scotirish names, a strict code of honor, and erect teepees and totem poles.
  • The Cutie: Aurora is an adorable little girl who experiences a lot of hardship and pain that leaves her close to breaking, but remains a very kind and sweet person overall.
  • Daddy's Girl: Aurora.
  • Dark Is Evil: Umbra and Cordelia.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Óengus. He looks menacing and is initially working for the villains, but instantly switches sides once he finds out Aurora's identity.
  • Dead All Along: Aurora wakes up lost and alone in Lemuria, and only wants to go home. Over the course of the game you learn that she was actually fatally poisoned in her sleep by her stepmother, and was Dead to Begin With.
  • Dead to Begin With: Aurora was murdered with poison by her stepmother in the game's backstory. She awakens confused and alone in Lemuria, though eventually learns the truth.
  • Defend Command: Much more useful than in many other games, as it not only allows your next turn to come much faster, but also reduces up to 80% of incoming damage when fully upgraded. Useful when combined with maxed-out Taunt, allowing Óengus to attract enemies' attention and potentially recover more damage than the enemies can deal.
  • Developer's Foresight: Minor one, but at the ending, the last stained glass shows all your party members, and if there are some you haven't recruited by the time you reach the ending, they will be missing from the image.
  • Downer Beginning: Aurora's father finds her dead in her sleep, during the intro no less.
  • Dramatic Wind: Aurora's long red hair is always flowing like it's in a breeze, even if there isn't any. Actually, all the human women have this including Norah. The only time Aurora's hair even somewhat hangs down is if she's standing under a waterfall, and even then it keeps moving.
  • Dual Boss: The first boss pits Aurora against two Living Statues.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Fire beats Earth enemies, Water beats Fire enemies, and Lightning beats Water enemies. Light is strong against Dark enemies and isn't resisted by anything.
  • Evil All Along: Norah a.k.a. Nox.
  • Extended Gameplay: Continuing your game after defeating the Big Bad and watching the credits lets you explore Lemuria at your leisure, allowing you to hunt down any items and confessions you may have missed and finish any leftover sidequests before starting New Game Plus.
  • Fairy Companion: One of Aurora's companions is a floating orb of light named Igniculus who helps light up dark passages as well as aiding Aurora in combat.
  • Fairy Tale: The game is presented as one, and its story takes heavy inspiration from classic fairy tales.
  • Feuding Families: The Confessions hint at an ancient feud between family lines, which was caused by a "Hollow Pact" regarding a "Rift." At the very least, Queen Umbra and her daughters, the descendants of Cynbel the Wise, are in conflict with Aurora and her mother, the descendants of Erin the Conqueror.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: Well, Fire, Water and Lightning, although quite a few water moves are ice-based.
  • Fish out of Temporal Water: Sophie Ashton Ellis, the writer of the last seven Confessions. She came to Lemuria from at least the early 2000's (since she makes reference to finding something "online") and her writings illustrate the difficulties she has in adjusting to a land that has eighteenth century civilization at most.
  • Fish People: Genovefa's race. An evil ogre finds them particularly tasty. There are also two different variants that serve as enemies in the Cynbel Sea.
  • Flunky Boss: All but two of the bosses are this.
  • Forced Transformation: Finn's dwarven friends were all turned into crows.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Igniculus is described as a firefly by several characters, including himself, but looks more like a ball of light than an insect. It is revealed in a late-game sidequest that he isn't a firefly at all, but rather a summoned elemental.
    • Since the game is a Fairy Tale, Genre Savvy players will probably be suspicious of Norah from the start; but the game itself includes a few warning signs that she is not nearly as nice as she initially appears to be. Analyzing some of Norah's dialogue will reveal a distant haughtiness peeking through the cracks in her façade, including a dismissal of Lemuria as unsuited for royalty like Aurora and herself. Almost every "nice" thing she says to the rest of the party is either a Stealth Insult, or slightly condescending aristocratically. Her disgust at Robert and the other Bolmus Populi is in stark contrast with the rest of the party's accepting attitudes, even going so far as to once threaten to kill Robert if he comes anywhere near her, which is a very good sign that something is wrong.
    • Once the importance of Aurora's crown is established in the first confrontation with Umbra, it's pretty clear what's going to happen when she loses it in the second encounter.
  • Framing Device: The game is presented as Aurora's story being recounted by a mother to her child.
  • Game-Breaking Bug: The console versions at first had a bug that corrupted save data, rendering all hard-earned progress moot. Thankfully, a patch for it was released.
  • Genius Loci: Magna, who's pretty much a living, humanoid cliff.
  • Genre Throwback: To 16-bit era JRPGs.
  • Giant Mook: There are "oversized" versions of normal enemies in certain hidden areas. These have much more health and deal more damage, and even get new music for their fight. The giant griffon before the Temple of the Moon and the large sea monster in the ocean depths before the Sun Palace are mandatory ones.
  • Giant Spider: Plenty of them exist. In fact, there are two different types for Mooks, each with Underground Monkey variants, and a third type as a Mini-Boss of sorts. A particularly huge one serves as a boss.
  • Glacier Waif: Two enemies in the Cynbel Sea resemble scrawny fishmen that look like Fragile Speedsters. Both are actually quite slow and hit very hard, one takes greatly reduced physical attack damage, the other has a crazy amount of health.
  • Golem: The DLC Golem character.
  • Good Animals, Evil Animals: Good animals include mice, pigs, birds and flying fish. Evil animals include spiders, wolves, boars, griffins, pterodactyl-like creatures, crocodiles and dragons.
  • Good Princess, Evil Queen: Despite the fact that everyone calls her "princess", the protagonist Aurora is the daughter of an Austrian Duke. The villain is the evil Queen Umbra. They wind up being a true example of this trope following the reveal that Aurora's mother was the Queen of Light, so she truly is a princess of Lemuria. Aurora herself ranks up to Queen by the end but keeps her good nature.
  • The Goomba: The giant grasshoppers have very low health, deal little damage, and don't have much in the way of special abilities.
  • Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter: The entire game's script, from the narration and dialogue to even the in-game hints are written in poetic verse. Justified as the story is being presented in the style of a fairy tale. The last seven Confessions completely avert this, however, being written in plain language.
  • Great Escape: Aurora and company escaping the Forgotten Tower.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: The goblin and crocodile guards in the Forgotten Tower aren't the brightest of guards.
  • Happily Married: According to Word of God, by the time Reginald the Great takes place, as the main character is the son of Robert and Margaret.
  • Hard Levels, Easy Bosses: Most bosses aren't that hard. Random encounters, on the other hand, can and will murder you if you can't interrupt well or don't use the correct category of attacks.
  • Hate Sink: Nox, Queen Umbra's youngest daughter. She's a despicable liar who manipulates others around her (including her own little stepsister) under the guise of a kind-hearted façade, breaks into a sadistic Slasher Smile when revealing her true colours, and has no empathy, conscience, or any redeeming factors.
  • Healer Signs On Early: Rubella is the first companion that you can recruit, and is the only one to know healing spells. She is also ahead in power and level compared to Aurora, and her normal attack is very fast, allowing her to stun opponents very easily, making battles much easier. Later on, pretty much everyone will do more damage than her, Aurora included, but when she joins your team, she truly is a blessing.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Óengus.
  • The Hero's Journey: Aurora just woke up alone in Lemuria and founds herself learning to fight in order to found a way to return home. After realizing (in the worst way) that the portal back home was a trap, she understood that she must defeat the evil in this land and save her new friends; later she's tempted by the Big Bad with an easy way to return home but she declines it after seeing her father a last time, who's proud of her doing the right thing. She then loses her protective crown, gets killed and revived (fitting the Apotheosis), meets the Goddess (in the form of the Queen of Light) and defeats the Big Bad.
  • The High Queen: More like the High Duchess, Aurora's mother was this. She's actually the Queen of Light; Aurora also becomes that in the ending.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Finn uses his pipe to cast spells, while Genovefa uses a harp. On the mook side, the headless living statues can throw their decapitated heads as an attack.
  • Improbable Infant Survival: Subverted in the very introduction, where young Aurora dies of poisoning in her sleep. Her soul however, is sent to Lemuria.
  • Karmic Jackpot: If you help the elderly elemental return to the everlasting light plane by gathering six other elementals, you receive three faceted spinels. A single faceted spinel can boost either attack 25% or move forward on the timeline 20%, so you can do either of these for three party members. At this point in the game, it's still probably a very elusive Oculi reward for you.
  • Kid Hero: As the title suggests, the protagonist of this story is a child.
  • Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Most enemies are either resistant to physical damage or resistant to magical damage, often taking very little from the incorrect source.
  • Leaked Experience: Characters that are not in the party will still gain experience and level up.
  • Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: The conflict between light and darkness is a theme throughout the game, where Aurora is a light-using young heroine opposing the forces of Umbra, Queen of the Night, who has stolen the sun, moon, and stars. Oh, and Light Is Good and Dark Is Evil.
  • Light 'em Up: Being the titular Child of Light, Aurora naturally learns light-elemental spells.
  • Light Is Good: Played very straight, though there's one example of Light Is Not Good and one example of Dark Is Not Evil.
  • Light Is Not Good: Nox/Norah.
  • Little Miss Badass: Aurora may be very young, but she can kick as much ass as any RPG heroine. She has to drag her sword behind her but can still use it effectively when necessary.
  • Losing Your Head: This happened to Golem after he was thrown out from the Lemurian palace by Umbra, and is first encountered as a talking rock head. You need to find his arms, legs and body in order to put him back together.
  • Lost Technology: According to the Confessions, the Explorers shaped the land of Lemuria with their abilities and built cities. Remnants of their legacy can be found in various buildings and structures. The Mahthildis Forest inexplicably contains an empty but still-operational industrial factory. A colossal locked chamber within the heart of Magna is said to have been made in ancient times by Rambert, and is still used by the Bolmus Populi to store their wealth. The Temple of the Moon contains an elaborate, shifting labyrinth said to have been built by Erin. Perhaps the most sophisticated creation is a branching electrical conduit in the Cynbel Sea, attached to what appears to be a power generator.
  • Magical Land: Lemuria.
  • Magical Mystery Doors: You have to go through a labyrinth of these to complete Óengus' Plight. It's actually not that hard though- just find the door with the symbol of the shield in the background
  • Magic Knight: Aurora is balanced at both melee combat and spellcasting.
  • Meaningful Name: The girl bringing back the light to a world trapped in an endless darkness, of course, is called Aurora. Similarly, the Big Bad or Queen of the Night is appropriately named Umbra, which means 'shadow', and her daughters are named Crepusculum ('twilight') and Nox ('night').
  • Mighty Glacier: Óengus, who sports high attack but rather slow speed and low magic defense. The Golem is this even more so, with high attack, defense and decent magic defense, but is much slower than Óengus.
  • The Mole: Aurora's step-sister Norah, who's really Umbra's daughter Nox.
  • Mook Medic: Certain enemies are able to heal their teammates. The Reaper enemies can even revive other foes via "Reanimate".
  • Motion Parallax: The 2½D Ubiart Framework game engine builds the levels out of hundreds of 2D planes arranged in a 3D space. This makes complex parallaxes possible.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: When questioned about how he learned to fight, Robert responds that compared to business meetings, combat with giant earth spiders is light.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: One trailer shows young Aurora in the Piscean village and Cynbel Sea areas. She has a Plot Relevant Age Up before going to either area, but the developers didn't want to spoil such a big part of the story, so they cheated a little.
  • New Game Plus: As usual, it lets you carry over your levels, skills and Oculi, but it also vastly increases the strength of all enemies, making the ones in the first area just as strong as the ones right at the end of the final area in the first playthrough: this is mostly a good thing, since the amount of EXP you get from killing them increases just as much, allowing you to reach high enough level to max out everyone's Skill Trees.
  • Nice to the Waiter: An inversion with Norah. She treats the Bolmus Populi race with disgust and disdain, which gives a hint to her evil nature.
  • Non-Ironic Clown: Rubella.
  • Non-Standard Game Over: At the beginning of the game, before you get the Sword of Mahthildis, it's actually possible to get a game over. At the small ravine where you first see Magna walking in the distance, you can drop down to the ledge at the bottom-right (although it's a very tricky drop to make), and to the right is a pit with a ghostly enemy. If it catches you (and there's no way to escape this pit), Aurora dies immediately and the Game Over screen plays.
  • Obviously Evil: The duke's new wife, who appears in the introduction in dark purple and Fur and Loathing, in contrast with everyone else who wears Gold and White Are Divine dresses.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: Take some ordinary background music and a regular battle theme, add this, and you have the Epic Boss Battle Music in this game.
  • Ominous Owl: Two of them accompany Queen Umbra in the final boss fight. They're arguably more dangerous than the boss herself due to being much faster and sporting a party-wide push-back ability.
  • One-Hit Kill: Aurora's Light Ray series of spells have a 10% chance of causing instant death to regular Mooks. Óengus has a passive ability that gives him a chance of instakilling a mook he attacks. If the effect triggers, an "Obliterated" status will appear on the enemy.
  • One-Winged Angel: Cordelia, Nox and Umbra transform into two sea monsters and a dragon respectively to fight Aurora and company
  • Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Averted. The Capilli live on the surface and cast magic, of course. They also age very fast- Finn looks like an old man and he's only 13.
  • Our Elves Are Different: If the pointy ears, magical abilities, and slender build are any indication, Rubella and Tristis are elves of a sort. Their official name is the "Aerostati," a race of Lemuria known for dwelling in balloons.
  • Overnight Age-Up: After retrieving the moon, Aurora suddenly becomes a young lady for the rest of the story. The Duke has no problems recognizing her and never questions it. To be fair, nobody could fail to recognize that long red hair of hers.
  • Palette Swap: All over the place. The game uses them to help denote the element an enemy may have. Also, it's pretty obvious that adult Aurora uses Norah's battle model, though her hair, crown and dress help them look quite a bit different.
  • Pig Man: One of the enemy types. They're slow but strong.
  • Plot Tailored to the Party: Most of the party members you obtain just so happen to be effective against the upcoming boss.
    • The two statues are vulnerable to light, which Aurora uses.
    • The giant deals quite a bit of damage and is accompanied with two wolves that can slow, Rubella can heal off the damage and prevent the slowing.
    • The serpent trio is vulnerable to elemental damage, which Finn specializes in.
    • The giant spider counters interrupts with haste, therefore it's a good idea to slow it down or paralyze it with Robert/Norah.
    • Cordelia's dragon form is weak to physical damage, which Óengus excels at.
    • Nox's dragon form deals water-elemental damage, which Gen naturally resists.
  • Precursors: The game's mysterious lore describes ancient Explorers who shaped the land of Lemuria and built cities in it. Much is revealed in the Confessions; apparently, there were "Four" named Mahthildis, Cynbel, Rambert, and Erin, who respectively used their resources to shape nature, the ocean, the plains, and the mountains. The Explorers left "in search of vision." It turns out Umbra and her daughters are the descendants of "Cynbel the Wise," while Aurora and her mother are descendants of "Erin the Conqueror." Consequently, Umbra believes they inherited the rightful privilege to rule Lemuria, but Aurora rejects this, declaring the ancient, crumbled civilization a failure.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: We have two princesses, one of which is still just a child, a firefly fairy, a 13-year old mage dwarf who's Younger Than He Looks, a golem, a Rat merchant/archer, a monster guard, a fish folk child and two jesters—one who's permanently depressed and the other can't even rhyme properly.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Norah's eyes change color from brown to a dull red after she tricks Aurora into entering the tampered Magic Mirror to the Forgotten Tower and reveals her true, evil nature to her.
  • Rhymes on a Dime: Pretty much the entirety of the game's dialogue is spoken in rhyme. There are points where this isn't the case, and those are meant to be shocking.
  • Rule of Symbolism: Aurora specifically dies on Black Friday and comes back to life on Easter Sunday.
  • Sad Clown: Tristis.
  • Scenery Porn: The game's art style lends to a presentation not unlike a moving picture book, leading to some absolutely breathtaking visuals and backgrounds.
  • Semi-Divine: Aurora and her mother are descendants of Erin while Umbra and her daughters are descendants of Cynbel, both of whom are pretty much deities.
  • Sequel Hook: The Isle of Nereida is unexplored in the game, the developers have confirmed they want to explore more of the world, and in the Confessions, there are mentions of writings by a "Balthazar," a powerful Secret, and a modern-day girl named Sophie who came to Lemuria in search of a friend, and is pursued by men with guns.
  • Shout-Out: Aurora's "Princess of Wind" costumes bears some resemblance to Nausicaä. The art director is a Studio Ghibli fan.
  • Shows Damage: Both players and enemies will hunch over when their health is in critical condition.
  • Skippable Boss: The serpent trio can be skipped by exiting the Capili village well instead of helping Finn.
  • Sky Face: The first chapter has the Queen of the Night's face floating in the storm clouds.
  • So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear: Giving any Stardusts to Norah is a total waste, since she betrays you halfway through the game.
  • So Proud of You: When Aurora tells him that she can't leave the Lemurians to their fate, even to save her father, said father's last words are
    My... Aurora... Good...
  • The Sociopath: Nox is heavily implied to be one.
  • Socketed Equipment: All playable characters have fixed equipment, but you're able to equip Oculi to them in order to give enhancing effects.
  • Sprite/Polygon Mix: Aurora, Norah, and other humans are 3D models while residents of Lemuria are 2D sprites resembling storybook cutouts. The Confessions basically confirm humans are outsiders who stumbled into the fairytale world of Lemuria.
  • Status Buff: Several of them, all of which last for a few turns.
    • Elevate Damage increases damage dealt by that character.
    • Ailment Protection protects from Slowed and Paralyze.
    • Haste makes the character move faster on the Wait portion of the Combatant Cooldown System.
    • Unstoppable protects from getting interrupted.
    • Physical Armor reduces physical damage dealt to the character.
    • Magic Armor reduces magical damage dealt to the character.
    • Taunt forces the opponent to attack the user. At max level, it also heals the user each turn.
    • Regenerate is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
  • Status Effects:
    • Slowed slows the character down on the Wait portion of Combatant Cooldown System. Igniculus can blind an opponent to slow them down on both the Wait and Cast sections, this stacks with Slowed. It wears off after a few turns.
    • Paralyze stops movement altogether on both portions, and also prevents Counter Attacks and interrupt counters. It wears off after some time.
    • Obliterated causes instant death. Thankfully, this is only inflicted by player abilities.
    • Knockback pushes the character back on the cooldown.
  • Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: Rubella doesn't rhyme at all, in complete opposition to the rest of the game. Lampshaded by Igniculus. A much more dramatic variant occurs when the Duke dies before he can finish saying "Goodbye" to Aurora.
  • Super Not-Drowning Skills: Aurora and her party do not need air while exploring the Cynbel sea.
  • Temporary Online Content: At release, players had the ability to send Occuli to their UPlay friends. After Ubisoft shut the servers for this down, the achievement/trophy for doing so became unobtainable.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: Before the final battle, some of your party members get a moment with their beloved ones. Finn is praised by Avo, Óengus reconciles with his brother who accepts him back in the clan, and Robert gets Margaret to check her schedule to plan a date.
  • Thunderbolt Iron: The material for Óengus's sword he never uses.
  • Tie-In Novel: Reginald the Great, a free downloadable book written by the game's writer, was made to celebrate the game's first year anniversary, and according to the creative director is set a couple years after the game.
  • Time Travel: Some Confessions imply that the mirror does this, as there's mention of a modern-day girl named Sophie who came to Lemuria in search of a friend; she wonders in her writings if she traveled through time as well as space.
  • Trapped in Another World: Aurora is transported to Lemuria after her untimely illness and death.
  • Underground Monkey: Enemies can come in elemental variants that have different stats and deal elemental damage.
  • Unnecessary Combat Roll: Robert performs one of these backwards in his dodge animation.
  • Video Game Flight: Once Aurora gets her wings, she can fly around freely in all directions. It's a rare instance where this is an early-game ability, but the rest of the game is tailor-made for the player to use it to the fullest.
  • Video Game Setpiece: Near the start of the game when Aurora gets to a river, you can see Magna walking in the background, causing a small quake every time she takes a step.
  • Villainous Princess: Queen Umbra's two daughters, who double as her Co-Dragons.
  • Walking Spoiler:
    • Norah is extremely difficult to talk about without mentioning that she's really Queen Umbra's youngest daughter Nox, who had been deceiving Aurora with a fake personality from the start.
    • The Lady of the Forest, due to really being the spirit of the Queen of Light, Aurora's mother.
  • Warrior Princess: Aurora's a child princess who fights evil with a huge sword and light magic. Queen Umbra's daughters may count as well.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: You never do find out what became of Mr. Elme or Sophie Ashton Ellis, presumably his friend or student, just that they each came to Lemuria and left behind some writings.
  • Wicked Stepmother: Umbra to Aurora.
  • Wolfpack Boss: The three elemental serpents fought in the well. They don't take as much damage each compared to other bosses, but there's three of them, and the green serpent is especially nasty due to being fast and having a paralyze ability. And the 3 groups of armored spiders fought inside Magna. They have great magic resistance and love using Sting to slow you down, which leads to even more beating. Rubella's Ailment Protection is pretty much mandatory.
  • Younger Than They Look: The Capili race ages very quickly. Finn (who looks like an old man) is only thirteen. Aurora herself in the later parts of the game; she physically becomes a young woman, but is still technically a child.

Now, my dear, the fire has died,
The night is dark and deep,
Close your eyes, let go
And drift off to sleep.


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