Light's End
	Genre: RPG Developer: Ryan Thorlakson
Publisher Region Released Microsoft NA 06/18/2009 Unknown EU ??/??/????

Your Account Options

You currently have no privileges related to this game profile because you are not signed into an HonestGamers account. Please log in, or click to register for a free user account.

More Reviews by Gary Hartley
	Akai Katana (Xbox 360) So many deaths, so many bullets…
	Blaster Master 2 (Genesis) Blaster Master 2 exists only as a sobering example of completely missing the entire bloody point.
	Pure (Xbox 360) Pure will just have to settle for being more fun to play than it really has any right to be.
	J.U.L.I.A (PC) This makes it a recommendable video game featuring a strong narrative, fantastic storytelling and a real sense of personality.
	Zero Wing (Genesis) Instead, let’s all listen to people who have never played the game quote the ‘hilarious’ intro until the urge to club them with a half brick becomes too strong....

Best Xbox 360 Games
	Batman: Arkham City Average Rating: 10.0; Reviews: 2
	Mass Effect 3 Average Rating: 10.0; Reviews: 2
	Mass Effect 2 Average Rating: 9.7; Reviews: 3
	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Average Rating: 9.6; Reviews: 5
	Earth Defense Force 2017 Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2
	Saints Row: The Third Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2
	Red Dead Redemption Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2
	Assassin's Creed II Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2
	Hitman: Blood Money Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2
	Trials Evolution Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2

Looking for a good read?
Check out a selection from our database of more than 8000 reviews! Suskie has weighed in on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction for the Xbox 360 and figures it rates 9 out of 10. What do you think? Read the review, then be sure to leave feedback or chime in with one of your own!

Staff Review

Review by Gary Hartley
April 02, 2010

Light’s End came into my life unexpectedly when a botched download attempt left my newly online 360 with a trial version of the game sitting on its already bloated hard drive. Call it fate; call it serendipity, but the odd accident catapulted me into a hand-drawn simplistic mining village almost completely filled with rugged, bearded miners, a warehouse full of jewels and a world on the mend from a civil war that’s torn it in half.

Crystal, though, cares not for this plight. She’s a teenage girl and, as such, hates everything that thinks they know better! Pining for her boyfriend, who left the sleepy little village to join the remnants of the Royal army, and suffocating under the oppressive thumb of her overbearing father, she’s filled with prepubescent angst. She bites out at her father, sneaks out at night with the rest of the disenfranchised teenage girls and as such, thanks to some tight dialogue, isn’t especially likeable. She’s selfish, overbearing and wrong in almost everything she says or does, yet still maintains the attitude that she’s the only person in the world that makes any sense.

Even when she sneaks into the mine in the game’s opening, her unsavoury personality is what takes centre stage. Trespassing in the forbidden caves, she finds an unusual statue that, when disturbed, issues a white flame into her body. Most people would be freaked out by this, but Crystal’s too preoccupied running a self-serving dialogue of how worthless her life is and why suicide is the only option open to her. Something turned completely around when the mine starts to cave in and she’s left cowering in the corner, pleading for her life not to end.

Though she opens the story, Crystal is not Light’s End’s true protagonist. You play, instead, the role of the white flame she released and, as such, you can jump from her body into anyone she’s near to and control them instead. When the floor beneath her starts to crumble, you must jump into the body of her worried father who chased her into the mines and pull off a thankless rescue attempt that has you leaping from body to body until the girl is safe.

This mechanic lends Light’s End a unique feel; there’s no battle engine to be found or any statistics to build; it’s purely a character-based puzzler where you need to jump from differing perspectives throughout the game to keep the story moving along. When Crystal makes it to Sol, the game’s biggest town, she’s left with the problem of tracking some people down. A homeless guy has the information she needs, but he’s unwilling to cooperate without something to eat in return. Just going up to store owners and asking for food for her new hungry chum doesn’t result in success, but manipulating the townsfolk into a calculated chain reaction of planted gossip and sweet-talk through the mouths of those you can possess will slowly reveal the solution for you. The situations can radically differ: you might need to chase down threads of gossip to open one door or use several people to fill a target with pride in another. There’s a definite thought process you need to adopt in order to snake your way through all the game’s obstacles, but the solution is never too far away nor too well hidden.

But perhaps Light’s End‘s biggest selling point is just how good the writing can be on occasion. Though there’s an over branching plot about the decaying kingdom’s warring faction between the old Royalists, the anti-monarchy rebellion and a group out outlawed bandits, it’s very much a character-driven tale. Through the subsequent childish and insolent actions she takes, Crystal quickly finds she needs to grow up when she the world outside of Daddy’s gaze doesn't glady baby her. Likewise, other characters can surprise you with their growth, disappoint you with their actions or sober you with their sacrifices. All the while, the game is split into chapters narrated by a mysterious lonely voice speaking out against the injustice of a harsh, intolerable world. What starts life as a collection of loose threads ends it as a fully woven tapestry.

At between three to five hours, Light’s End is never going to be a rolling epic of a game, but it’s the perfect example of why indie developers remain so important to our industry. In many ways, it’s a unique experience that belies the homely graphics and instead has faith in its own sense of depth and intelligence. It might be a game I discovered by accident, but this makes it no less rewarding.

Feedback

Facebook()

Forums(9)

You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!

Info | Help | Privacy Policy | Contact | Advertise

© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Light's End is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Light's End, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.