[PlayStation 4] Light of Life Review

Light of Life from Ratalaika Games and Renan Games is a new indie platformer on PlayStation. Check our Light of Life review!

Light of Life is a challenging precision platformer about an elf named Elanor who possesses an incredible power!

The magical Life Fragments have been stolen by malicious goblins, and it’s up to Elanor to use her trusty bow and arrow to recover them.

Light of Life from Renan Games and Ratalaika Games is a simple platformer in which you’ll help your character reach the goal in over 100 different single-screen levels. Gameplay-wise, you’ll move the character with the left analog stick or the D-Pad and will be able to attack using arrows by pressing the Square button. There’s a relatively weird mechanic in which you’ll have to use arrows to propel yourself to jump over larger gaps. You’ll have to face away from the gap you want to jump over, jump, and then press the Square to propel yourself.

On the level design side, I thought that it was very simple. Every level fits on a single screen, and you’ll have to jump over spikes, saws, or other obstacles over and over again. I also already mentioned that the game went somewhat overboard with the jump-propelling mechanic. I definitely would have liked more variety in the gameplay or level design. One thing I did like is that the optional tutorials are only pictures of which buttons must be pressed to overcome an obstacle. Apart from the title screen and the credits, the only other text displayed in the game is when you have finished one of the few different worlds. You’ll be greeted with, and I quote: “Wolrd Completed.”

As for the game’s presentation, it has a pixel look, and it emulates the feel of a very early-gen 16-bit game. The soundtrack was okay. At first, there’s only a single theme per world, and it loops within a minute which was a shame because, by the time I had finished a world, I was already sick of it.

If you’re reading this review, you’re likely aware this is a Ratalaika Games release, so you want to know how fast you can add a new Platinum trophy to your collection. The answer is 15 minutes. This game is also Cross-Buy between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions, so you achieve two new Platinum trophies in under half an hour if you own a PS5 console. The trophies basically require you to finish the 20 first levels of the game – the first world – and then the Platinum is almost yours. Almost, because the only non-progression-related trophy asks you to die 100 times, and you’ll likely need to grind for it a bit. Hint: level 19 is great for this.

If you’re looking to add two new Platinum trophies to your trophy collection, then you can’t go wrong with Light of Life since it’s priced at $4.99, and you can get the Platinum trophies for both the PS4 and PS5 versions within half an hour. Are you ready?

Disclaimer
This Light of Life review is based on a PlayStation copy provided by Ratalaika Games.