Game Review: Light Apprentice

I have had the pleasure of diving in to the captivating world of the Light Apprentice, and after hours of game time, I’m left craving more. What initially seemed like a child-like RPG quickly turned into a memorable and captivating experience that many big games can only hope to offer.

The story begins in the depths of a catacombs, where the mysterious Tlob wakes up Nate, the game’s protagonist. Together, they must make their way out of the catacombs, where the player has the option of either fighting or escaping the monsters you encounter. 

As a fan of the genre, I was a little skeptical of the game at first, but this game offers more than a typical RPG experience — and Light Apprentice even manages to outdo many similar games. 

A Living Comic Book

The entirety of the game is presented as a dynamic comic book, giving the world a light-hearted, stylish, and beautiful atmosphere. With every cinematic, you’ll see the pages of the comic book turn, which instills a sense of excitement and fluidity in Light Apprentice‘s approach to storytelling.

The game switches from its 2D style to some slightly more traditional 3D visuals during combat and exploration — however, even still the game manages to maintain its beautiful aesthetic. The colors and action give Light Apprentice the classic feel of a comic and brings characters to life in a way that many games don’t. 

The story is not the most unique in the genre, but the characters and the setting are more than enough to keep you interested. A lot of the fun of the game comes from its story, so all I’ll say is that Nate’s role is more than meets the eye. The rest of the cast sport a variety of personalities, and their team dynamic is is reminiscent of some of the squads from you favorite childhood game.

The soundtrack does a good job of bringing the interactive comic book to life, with hints of mystery and intrigue that help solidify Light Apprentice‘s atmosphere. However, if you are expecting a groundbreaking soundtrack, you won’t find one here — this is very much your typical fantasy RPG music. 

Light Apprentice is only the first volume of what is planned to be a four-volume game, so there are still many questions to be answered and lots mysteries to be solved. The first volume only feels like a prologue to what is to come, but I am looking forward to what the sequels have to offer.

Thrust in to the Fight

At its core, Light Apprentice‘s combat follows fairly standard turn-based JRPG conventions, but it expands on it quite a bit. The game puts you into a pretty simply fights early on, but as the game progresses combat will change a lot — and for the better. Each of the characters in your party has their own set of abilities that can be invested in, giving them their own unique flair in combat.

One unique combat feature is that you don’t necessarily need to defeat enemies in order to win combat. In fact, you can play the game without having to defeat any enemies, instead stunning them and fleeing combat. The decision to destroy enemies or flee is up to you, but each will offer their own rewards and affect character interactions. 

You Get to Choose… Kinda

The biggest decision you will make while playing Light Apprentice will be if you choose to eliminate enemies or if you are going to go the pacifist route. This choice isn’t important because of its narrative consequences, but because it will shape the way you conduct battle, forcing you to invest in certain abilities.

You can evolve your characters and invest in the characters you want to see grow. Part of the choice involved is how you want to evolve your characters and which abilities you invest in — each run through can be different if you change the way you advance your characters.

Light Apprentice also allows you to make some narrative decisions over the course of the story, such as if you want to approach a creature or to attack it. It may allow you to find an item or skip a battle, but there isn’t much payoff regardless of which you choose. In the long run, the consequences for your choices are minimal and does not have any effect on the events of the game.

The idea of choice in the game essentially allows the player to play how they want to and attempt to make each playthrough different — however, no matter how you choose to play, you will still to get the same story out of it.

The Verdict

If you are looking for a brand new type of RPG, then this is not the game for you. If you are looking for a good RPG with a fun and unique setting that will keep you entertained for hours, then Light Apprentice is your game. It will provide a sense of adventure and excitement that many games miss.

My only complaint with the game is that it is too short. However, being the first of a four-part adventure means that more is to come and I look forward to playing the next few volumes.

Light Apprentice is available on Steam, in the Google Play Store, and in the iOS App Store.