Behind the scenes with stunning RPG Child of Light, out today

Today sees the release of Ubisoft‘s beautiful side-scrolling RPG Child of Light, on PS3 and PS4. Developed using the distinctive UbiArt Framework engine that also powered Rayman Legends, it’s been picking up some great reviews this week and is shaping up to be one of the year’s must-play digital downloads. To mark its arrival on PlayStation Store this afternoon, we caught up with Creative Director Patrick Plourde to find out more.

Hi Patrick, thanks for your time. Can you introduce yourself and explain your job on Child of Light?

Patrick Plourde: I’m Child of Light’s Creative Director. For this project I came up with the concept of the game and help the team achieve the overall vision.

Why did you choose a princess as the game’s main character?

Patrick Plourde: I wanted to create a story that would modernise fairy tales where the Princess doesn’t wait for Prince Charming to save her, but would face the challenge by herself.

Aurora is small, and at first seems rather meek, but ends up brandishing her sword like a true warrior ready to fight…

Patrick Plourde: The idea is that she has the strength within herself, but she is not ready to face that challenge yet. She’s still a child, in her body and mind. That’s why the crown and the sword are too big at the start of the game. It’s a great way to illustrate that fact. When she finally grows up, then they both fit. This helps convey that she is ready for taking her responsibility and is now an adult.

It seems like youngsters might identify with her. Do you think Child of Light is suitable for younger gamers to play?

Patrick Plourde: Yes it’s entirely possible. Sometimes co-workers bring their kids to work and they can play it with no problem. Pokémon is one of the kids’ favourite games and it’s a JRPG, so the gameplay is really accessible.

“My first idea for the game was to make a classic JRPG like Final Fantasy VI, but using Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork directly in game.”

Which stories, artists and games really inspired you while you were creating Child of Light’s universe?

Patrick Plourde: My first idea for the game was to make a classic JRPG like Final Fantasy VI, but using Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork directly in game. So I started to look at his work and I was really inspired by his Fairies book. I really like the atmosphere of the paintings.

I also discovered the artists of the Golden Age of Illustration – Arthur Rackham, John Bauer, Edmund Dulac and Kay Nielsen in particular. They were doing illustrations for children books at the end of the 19th Century, mostly of fairy tales.

I then began to see a fit between fairy tales and RPGs: they are both about growing up. So from that point the game would be an RPG inspired by classic fairy tale symbolism.

The combat system looks a lot like that of PS1 classic Grandia. Were you inspired by it at all?

Patrick Plourde: Of course! For me it’s one of the best active turn-based fight systems out there, so it made sense to use it as our game’s foundation. What’s great about the system is the fact that you have openings to interrupt enemies attack without being twitch based. The secret of a great turn-based game is that every move you must make a tactical choice and not simply spam the attack button, and that’s what this system brings to the table. The fact that managing time is critical and open up countering opportunity also means that the second player – who can slow down enemies – has an important role in how the fight unfolds.

“The secret of a great turn-based game is that every move you must make a tactical choice”

Music plays a very important role in bringing a game universe to life. Why did you choose Cœur de Pirate for the OST?

Patrick Plourde: At the start of the conception I was looking for two things. Firstly, to have a soundtrack focused on piano compositions, and secondly, to be able to work with an artist from Montreal. So after listening to a bunch of albums, my first choice was Coeur de Pirate.

I could hear the main character through her music. It’s feminine, young, hopeful. For me those qualities would be a perfect match with what I wanted to create. Then we met and that’s where she told us that she was a fan of Final Fantasy. So she really understood what we wanted to make. From there we would send her the script of the game, then a demo. On her side she would send us drafts that she recorded on her piano at home; we could sometime hear her baby crying in the background! That back and forth was pretty much how things worked for the whole game.

What are the main differences between the PS3 and PS4 versions?

Patrick Plourde: The major difference is with the resolution – 1080p on PS4 and 720p on PS3. Both are 60 fps. PS4 also supports Remote Play with PS Vita. We use the Vita touchscreen to control Igniculus and it’s great to play off-TV. The game really looks amazing on dat OLED! J

How did you find developing with the UbiArt Framework engine on PS4?

Patrick Plourde: For us making the PS4 version was really smooth. The UbiArt Framework is more about finding a unique and strong art direction then pushing the machine technically. If there is one thing that we could push for a sequel, it would be to push further the integration of particles with the fluid simulation.

How long do you think it will take most players to finish Child of Light?

Patrick Plourde: The average playthrough is around 12 hours.

What is your proudest achievement on Child of Light?

Patrick Plourde: There are so many things I am proud of, but to be able to work with such a great team is at the top. It was the best production that I’ve worked on. Everybody was so passionate to make the game as good as possible. All that love and care really shows in the game experience itself.

Finally, our communities also wanted to know if the game will be localised in different languages?

Patrick Plourde: Yes! The game is fully translated in eight different languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Japanese. This was a major challenge since we wanted to keep the rhyming structure in all languages.