I was thoroughly enchanted by Ubisoft’s fairy tale RPG platformer Child of Light, to the point where I was willing to overlook some pretty tenuous ‘rhyming’ dialogue. It helped that the art was utterly charming, and the world of Lemuria beautifully designed. And the song that plays over the credits didn’t make me tear up, so shut up.
Given all that, it’s nice to see Ubi release a free illustrated art book, Child of Light: Reginald The Great, to mark the first anniversary of the game’s release.
Reginald is an adventuring mouse (technically a Bolmus, if we’re being accurate), son of the heroic Robert, who aided heroine Princess Aurora on her quest in Child of Light. In the picture-book he meets up with a hedgehog called Roberta, and the two head off on adventures “that would take them far beyond the town of Populi and all across Lemuria.”
“From the start, we wanted to explore Lemuria from different perspectives and protagonists. The illustrated books are set a couple of years after the event of the game”, said Patrick Plourde, Creative Director at Ubisoft. “Since the game was released, we received hundreds of illustrations and cosplay pictures from our amazing community. We also received very touching letters on how the game helped some of our fans in their lives, too. For all this, we want to say thank you. This illustrated book is our gift to them.”
Is that a sequel pitch I hear there? Child of Light was a modest hit for Ubisoft, and the studio’s hinted before that it made enough to justify another entry. Plourde, who has since moved on to work on core products at Ubisoft Montreal, said that “if it had been (his} company, I would be driving a Ferrari and doing donuts.”
Personally I think Lemuria’s a world worth exploring further, and the prospect of playing a swashbuckling mouse appeals to the thirteen-year-old me who spent so much time reading Brian Jacques’ fantastic Redwall novels. Fingers crossed.
