Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 02/Nov 03:48

Mai: Child of Ages – Review

Oscar Wilde famously said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s a statement that resonates throughout all forms of art, including video games. Vampire Survivors inadvertently created a genre in its own right, and Balatro led the way for gambling-inspired roguelikes. The Legend of Zelda series has also become a well of inspiration for game developers to tap from: Games like Saga of the Moon Priestess or Oceanhorn 2 proudly wear their Link-inspired origins on their sleeves. The same can be said for Mai: Child of Ages, the latest title from Suicide Guy developer Chubby Pixel. Even to a casual observer, Child of Ages’ similarities to both Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker are obvious. Can Child of Ages reach greatness through those foundations or do they stand in the way of the game carving out an identity of its own? Story When we first meet our heroine, Mai, she’s still a young child, living a peaceful, cozy life with her grandfather. While exploring the island that she lives on, Mai encounters a mysterious plant that links her to Uroboro Stone, a relic capable of bending time. Interacting with it accidentally transports her years into the future, catapulting her from her colorful world into a bleak, ruined landscape — the same island, but now devastated and lifeless. Now an adult, Mai realizes that something terrible has happened to the world. Using her newfound power of time travel, our heroine travels between the past and the future, seeking to prevent the cataclysm that desolated the world from happening. Along the way, she faces the consequences of humanity’s past, the fragility of memory, and the enduring bonds of love across time. The story that unfolds is a slow burn that leaves ample breathing room for Mai’s emotions, resulting in a surprisingly poignant and philosophical tale that belies the cute visuals. Graphics Visually, Child of Ages falls somewhere between the aforementioned cel-shaded visuals of The Wind Waker and the works of Studio Ghibli. Environmental storytelling is something that the game excels at: the idyllic environments of the past are bright, warm, and saturated, whereas those of the future are desolate, industrial wastelands. The low-poly art style works well here to convey the contrasting atmospheres, even if the game’s textures aren’t particularly detailed. Even then, Child of Ages leaves some things to be desired in terms of performance. The game suffers from noticeable pop-in as well as frame rate dips, especially in large open areas. While the character designs are generally good, with Mai in particular standing out with her fiery red hair and white dress, the animations occasionally aren’t. Character motions sometimes come across as floaty or janky. As a whole, Child of Ages is artistically strong, but technically modest, prioritizing atmosphere and feeling over graphical polish. Sound What Child of Ages lacks in voice acting, it makes up for with an emotionally charged soundtrack. Eric Ferrari composed over 50 tracks for Child of Ages, providing a wide range of melodies that dynamically reflect the game’s shifting eras and emotional arcs. The innocence of Mai’s childhood is represented with gentle, ethereal tunes, whereas the war-torn setting that adult Mai finds herself in sounds darker and more orchestral. Boss encounters and key story moments are underscored by dramatic music that heightens tension. The game’s ambient sound design complements the atmosphere even further, with the sounds of soft waves, wind, wildlife, and mechanical hums contributing life to the world. Gameplay Time travel isn’t just a part of this semi-open world adventure game: it’s a core gameplay mechanic. Taking control of Mai, you’ll travel between different time periods using the Uroboro Stone, alternating between child and adult versions of our heroine. There is a balance difference between the two timelines, with the past putting more emphasis on environmental puzzles and the future focusing on combat and navigating desolate wastelands. The connections between the two timelines are persistent, however: restoring a bridge in the past makes it usable in the future, making child Mai’s contributions to adult Mai’s quest feel meaningful. The two-layered puzzle structure is where Child of Ages shines brightest, with inventive and fun puzzles that encourage both experimentation and observation. Solving them is satisfying, as there are plenty of “aha” moments to be found in them. Contrasting with the puzzles are combat and exploration, neither of which really sticks the landing. Child of Ages’ combat mechanics are fairly simple on paper. Fighting enemies is done in a hack-and-slash style, with Mai being able to attack, block, and dodge. While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with a simple combat system, in practice, combat feels clunky and stiff. It’s lacking in depth and more often than not comes across as little more than a palate cleanser in between the much better environmental puzzles, even when facing off against bosses. Moving Mai around feels slow, and it’s difficult to get into the flow of combat as a result. As for exploration, the game features both semi-open areas and dungeons. These often require light platforming, but that same stiffness from combat comes back here, supplemented with floaty jumping, resulting in a somewhat awkward feeling control scheme. Child of Ages takes a page from the book of Metroidvania, as there is some backtracking required to reach different areas after you’ve gained new abilities. Normally, we’d applaud this approach, as one of the things we enjoy about exploring in games is sniffing out hidden collectibles in hard-to-spot places. There are plenty of those here as well, like lore fragments about the cataclysmic war that turned the world into a wasteland. Where Child of Ages drops the ball here is how navigation works: the game opted not to present players with a navigation UI. Without a minimap or quest markers, larger areas become confusing to navigate, with the lack of clear direction turning traversal into a frustrating, tedious affair. These shortcomings are present enough that we can’t overlook them, but they do become easier to swallow when we start to look at value. Child of Ages will set you back a frankly ridiculously low €14.99. While it doesn’t quite live up to the games that it takes inspiration from, we can’t exactly hold it to the same standard either if it only costs about one-fifth of those. You’re still getting over 20 hours of adventure here too, making Child of Ages one of the best “bang for your buck” titles we’ve seen this year. We’d have been okay with the game being €10 more expensive if it meant some of our gripes hadn’t been removed. Hopefully, Chubby Pixel takes notes for a potential sequel. Conclusion If we had to describe Child of Ages in one word, it would be ‘ambitious’. While the execution of the gameplay is uneven, this semi-open world adventure game succeeds elsewhere. The captivating coming-of-age narrative is made stronger by the melancholic music and Ghibli-inspired visuals, both of which add emotional depth without feeling forced. A little more time in the oven had undoubtedly resulted in a better game, but even as is, Child of Ages offers a journey worth embarking on.