This week I was conflicted on what game to play because the Summer Steam Sale was going on and I really wanted to play a newer game but I fell on a platformer that was released late in 2023. It caught my eye because of the absolutely adorable-looking protagonist and their search for shards of light. This week is Faerie Afterlight.

Faerie Afterlight is a 2D platformer from Clay Game Studio and published by Mastiff. The game was released in September 2023 for the PC and Nintendo Switch. The game retails for $20.

You play as a little blob of darkness named Kimo who has been born for the sole purpose of bringing about the end of light. Light and darkness have been in an infinite struggle forever, but this time the Lord of Darkness had an ace up his sleeve and managed to land a fatal blow to the kingdom of light, and fragments of light have been scattered throughout the land of Lumina. Kimo meets a faerie named Wispy and they set out on an adventure to restore the fragments of light and bring an end to the darkness by working in harmony as opposed to fighting each other.

Protecting the fragments are beings known as Titans, who are usually the strongest in each area in Lumina. There are four areas within Lumina to explore and each village has its own story that ties them to the faeries and the overarching world. One area, Sonata Glade, is a place of learning, a great library dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, and the darkness has seeped its way into one of the most revered scribes and he is trying to flood the area, destroying everything. Roseate Thicket on the other hand was a society based on equality but when the darkness took control of the leader it utilized a more ruthless caste system that required everyone who was not worthy to live far underneath the ground.

I was invested in the world of Faerie Afterlight from entering the first area and it kept me hanging on throughout the entire game.

Faerie Afterlight is a platformer with a tiny bit of combat to mark the requirement of the bingo board. You are just given the ability to jump for a moment and when you are introduced to Wispy is able to control enemies to help with any kind of puzzle that may come about. There are not many enemies littered throughout the world of Faerie Afterlight, but they are present when a puzzle is nearby or a pivotal point for health and energy is needed to continue.

Combat like I said is limited in Faerie Afterlight only because the enemies really don’t necessarily fulfill the combat requirement but for the puzzle requirements and then can be dispatched for goodies. Some enemies, once controlled, can either sling-shot Kimo to greater heights or even allow Kimo to float in the air. They are nice little inclusions to the main platforming/puzzles but in the combat department, you are only ever really fighting exclusively the titans that are located in each area. Kimo has only a few chances to get hit before resetting (it can be upgraded in shops) and Wispy has an energy gauge so what she can do is limited to how much energy you have.

Boss fights are fun and require a few tries to be able to memorize their attacks, and take them down. A lot of the time you have to watch closely to see what the big baddie is doing to be able to counterattack accordingly because Faerie Afterlight tells you absolutely nothing about how the bosses behave. It is up to the player to figure out how to take down the baddies, for instance, one boss took me more than ten attempts because I was unaware that the game wanted me to play pong to stance-break the boss. I literally had to go look up what to do because I was completely stumped.

Once defeated, Kimo and Wispy are rewarded with a bunch of currency, a new ability, and the chance to restore a fragment of light to continue forwarding the plot. Currency can used in shops all over Lumina to purchase things like free fast travel, health, and energy upgrades.

Most abilities are to get you to the next area and do a little bit of backtracking to get some extra loot and story beats, like a Metroidvania, but in Faerie Afterlight the player is not really backtracking as much as games that really fit that genre. There is really only one time when you should really have to backtrack but most of the time you are backtracking just for little things, not for story progression.

I love the look of Faerie Afterlight. It is so colorful and each area is so creative in its design. In the beginning, you are just learning to platform and you are passing by giant, colorful fish. Then just like that you are entering a flooded library with foliage everywhere and then eventually you’ll enter the temple of light to stand in awe of the architecture and the world that lives above everything that is going to hell.

The sound design match the beautiful and exotic nature presented by the visual design. The music is very calm and fluid. It conveys such a nice tone that keeps the experience relaxing when the game is calm and ramps up when a titan steps forth and a boss fight ensues. The melodies from Sonata Glade and Roseate Thicket are definitely some of my favorite tracks from the game.

Faerie Afterlight is a confusing little game. I had fun platforming and listening to the music and soaking in the visual design, but when put into perspective; other than those things, there isn’t really anything else going on in the game. You have fun interactions with a few NPCs but nothing really engaging or meaningful, The combat is borderline non-existent, and the puzzles really lack depth.

I think I still like Faerie Afterlight even after the fact. I had fun in the world that Clay Games Studio created. Coupled with the great music, art, and platforming, I think that I can overlook the non-existent combat and easy puzzles.

7/10