Despite seeming promising early on, the co-op in Child of Light is severely disappointing. The second player can take control of Igniculus to assist in puzzle solving and combat. Early in the game, this seems fairly compelling, since there are a few puzzles where use of Igniculus' abilities are instrumental in coming up with a solution. This gives both players something meaningful to contribute, and though simple, working out the solutions in tandem is fun.
Unfortunately, the number of puzzles tapers off severely, and you're left with a second player who can use Igniculus to slow down enemies in combat, which isn't as useful once your party gains a number of debuffing options, or provide emergency heals to a teammate, which is only really necessary once in a while, as healing items are extremely easy to hoard.
It's frustrating because it would certainly be possible to split the player controls between the two active party members in combat, which could make strategic decision-making interesting. As-is, it feels like more of an afterthought.
Child of Light is well-worth experiencing. It fills an interesting niche, since it's a European-style fairy tale told through a Westernized JRPG lens. It also says a lot that my co-op partner, despite getting bored once they didn't have as much to contribute, stuck around til the end.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Child of Light is a side-scroller and RPG all rolled into one. Up to two players control Aurora and Igniculus. Aurora uses her various platforming skills, including using flight, to explore the world and also has various combat skills to dispatch enemies with. The second player controls her following ball of light, Igniculus, who supports her outside of combat by revealing hidden areas and interacting with objects, as well as inside combat with healing powers and stun effects.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.