Sky: Children of the Light

 Switch
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 28
  3. Negative: 7 out of 28

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  1. tgk333
    Nov 7, 2021
    0
    Someone had absolutely zero idea what made Journey great.
    The entire first section of this game is nothing but wrestling control from you to show you an area you were already walking to, adding a giant glowing circle and an audio tone, and endless lore text the adds up to nothing more than the first 5% of Journey's story. (There were people here but then they died) Ten minutes of text.    Someone had absolutely zero idea what made Journey great.
    The entire first section of this game is nothing but wrestling control from you to show you an area you were already walking to, adding a giant glowing circle and an audio tone, and endless lore text the adds up to nothing more than the first 5% of Journey's story. (There were people here but then they died) Ten minutes of text.
    This game thinks you are a tiny baby. It doesn't trust you to walk for 10 seconds on your own. Its like if every ten words I forced your browser to redirect to a wikipedia page you don't care about.

    I officially do not care about thatgamecompany anymore. Basically, this game has retained the art style and gameplay of Journey, and infantilized everything else. Including super cool microtransactions so you can drain mommy's credit card.    … Expand
  2. Marindream
    Jul 28, 2021
    5
    I played this game quite a bit on mobile and enjoyed it most of the time. The score is great and flying through all the different areas is an absolute joy. It plays well on Switch and looks gorgeous though it does seem a bit laggy sometimes, especially with other players around.

    My biggest negative is how repetitive the game is (which took me a while to notice, to be fair). I'd urge    I played this game quite a bit on mobile and enjoyed it most of the time. The score is great and flying through all the different areas is an absolute joy. It plays well on Switch and looks gorgeous though it does seem a bit laggy sometimes, especially with other players around.

    My biggest negative is how repetitive the game is (which took me a while to notice, to be fair). I'd urge anyone to play through the story and visit Eden, but aside from that you probably shouldn't bother with the game further unless you have a lot of friends who also play. Outside of the story, the game is a massive grind fest to get cosmetics and it tries to push you at every turn to purchase the current season or even worse, candle packs and bundles. The prices of some of those are just absolutely disgusting and really made me lose some of the appreciation I had for ThatGameCompany tbh.

    Tldr: the game looks great and the story is fun enough to play through, but don't bother with the grind afterward cause it only exists to make you buy microtransactions.    … Expand
  3. tom974
    Jan 3, 2022
    5
    I waited much more from this one. Promising artistic direction, nice "Breath of the Wild" look, wide wild environments.. But the game is so empty, repetitive gameplay (you do the exact same one thing from the beginning to the end), the presence of other players is boring most of the time, inexistant stakes. Briefly said : globally disappointing.
  4. RayNheartZ
    Jul 4, 2021
    3
    Sky: Children of the light feels like a weird attempt to mix the beautiful graphics of journey, the music style of the Ori games, the feeling of exploration in Breath of The Wild and the charm of the Tearaway games, and nothing clicks. All you do in the game is: Walk a bit. Light candles. Walk some more. Find spirits. Sit down.

    The game advertises itself as a "social experience", but    Sky: Children of the light feels like a weird attempt to mix the beautiful graphics of journey, the music style of the Ori games, the feeling of exploration in Breath of The Wild and the charm of the Tearaway games, and nothing clicks. All you do in the game is: Walk a bit. Light candles. Walk some more. Find spirits. Sit down.

    The game advertises itself as a "social experience", but there is no clear way to communicate or interact with other people.
    Players are represented as these Gray creatures that walk and jump around and their movement is jerkier than beef jerky. And i'd rather pay for beef jerky than play this game again.
    There was this one "interaction" i had with someone, where they were running into me, begging i light their candle. (Or this is what i assume)
    There should be a better way to communicate with people, even if there is a language barrier.
    The friend system makes no sense because why would you want to go up to someone, ask to be their friend and then not do anything.

    In conclusion:
    Sky: Children of The Light is a mis-mash of good ideas that don't work, lacks communication and has no clear goals.
    The fact that you have un-skippable cutscenes is a sin and does not make sense.
    3/10, wouldn't recommend to people who hate flat art-styles, barebones gameplay and mechanics, lack of communication features and lore that makes no sense.    … Expand
  5. B-Bog
    Jul 4, 2021
    3
    Boring "game" with barely any gameplay to speak of, that, in the end, is all about getting you to fork over money for microtransactions. If you expected something on par with Journey, you're going to be sorely disappointed.
  6. neksser
    Aug 16, 2021
    10
    I played this game on my iPhone when it was first released, and I totally loved it, now I only play on my Nintendo switch, and feels even better. Beautiful story, relaxing, I can`t stop playing this never-ending game.
  7. r0mer0
    Sep 9, 2021
    0
    The game is extremely repetitive, but has pretty visuals. Music is okay for a free game. Bugs, crashes and frame rate drops are common. Straying from the path to explore can easily result in falling out of the level. Apparently, the very vocal fan base demands these errors to remain unfixed. Almost cult-like, they will defend the game and the developer against valid criticism.

    Be aware    The game is extremely repetitive, but has pretty visuals. Music is okay for a free game. Bugs, crashes and frame rate drops are common. Straying from the path to explore can easily result in falling out of the level. Apparently, the very vocal fan base demands these errors to remain unfixed. Almost cult-like, they will defend the game and the developer against valid criticism.

    Be aware that Sky:Children of the Light is 'free to play' — not free of cost. It is possible to reach an ending and see the credits in the first play-through, but the reward system is designed to force re-playing everything over and over. Finishing the game would require playing for an insane amount of time, or spending a lot of money on in game purchases.

    The game is expertly fine-tuned to get the player hooked. If you have any sort of OCD or can easily get addicted, stay away from it.    … Expand
  8. SuperkenGaming
    Jul 12, 2021
    8
    Sky: Children of the Light
    Magic.
    Sky Children of the light is a free to play 3 hour long advemnture game all about exploration, and it is pure beauty, Sky comes from the same team that worked on flower and journey, and let me tell you.. the music, the visuals, its feels like youre immersed inside of a movie..Sky is absolutely gorgeous, I couldn’t help but smile is id fly through the    Sky: Children of the Light
    Magic.
    Sky Children of the light is a free to play 3 hour long advemnture game all about exploration, and it is pure beauty, Sky comes from the same team that worked on flower and journey, and let me tell you.. the music, the visuals, its feels like youre immersed inside of a movie..Sky is absolutely gorgeous, I couldn’t help but smile is id fly through the air, being carried by the wind, while this beautiful music plays. in Sky children of the light youll be running ar flying around, finding these lost souls, upgrading your wings, and moving onto the next section, but around you are other players in real time, trying to do the same, so youl lbe able to make friends, interact with them, help guide them to spirits, I felt so much joy running through this world.
    My only complaint is that sky does the annoying colectathon thing at the end, of oh no you didn’t find enough of these golden children, go back and replay the levels until you’ve found enough..
    Other than that, Sky Children of light is great, its mesmerizing, so relaxing.. no combat, no real enemies, just explore, unlock cosmetics and emotes, make friends with random people, take in your surroundings, breathe, and enjoy the ride.
    I give Sky: Children of the Light
    an 8/10    … Expand
  9. Espere322
    Sep 5, 2021
    10
    Don’t trust the reviews. Play it, see for yourself. It's free after all, right?
  10. PMG-Writer
    Aug 7, 2021
    8
    That's not always an easy way to describe Sky: Children of the Light. At the same time, the storyline in the gameplay makes a lot of plus points. Sure, you can play the game alone. But the interesting interaction in this game is simply more intense and exciting. In addition, there are beautiful graphics and an outstanding soundtrack. If you would like to experience a completely differentThat's not always an easy way to describe Sky: Children of the Light. At the same time, the storyline in the gameplay makes a lot of plus points. Sure, you can play the game alone. But the interesting interaction in this game is simply more intense and exciting. In addition, there are beautiful graphics and an outstanding soundtrack. If you would like to experience a completely different game on the Nintendo Switch, you should definitely download the free title "Sky: Children of the Light".… Expand
  11. MastermindZ
    Sep 6, 2021
    0
    Sky: Children of the light is a mixed experience, and it is not as good or not as bad as people say

    The good: - Outstanding graphics. - Good score - Good designs and textures - Awesome world building The bad: - No characters that actually have a name and no story - Ridiculously easy - Forced difficulty spike, at the Eye of Eden, compensating that the rest of the game has    Sky: Children of the light is a mixed experience, and it is not as good or not as bad as people say

    The good:

    - Outstanding graphics.
    - Good score
    - Good designs and textures
    - Awesome world building

    The bad:

    - No characters that actually have a name and no story
    - Ridiculously easy
    - Forced difficulty spike, at the Eye of Eden, compensating that the rest of the game has zero dificulty, everything kills you.
    - Bland levels and gameplay: As 90% of the game consists on turning candles on and levels can be easily walked through.

    Over all, a 5/10. A glorified walking simulator with awesome graphics and soundtrack. It is a game that exists. I don't have any strong feelings either way, a rather bare bones rpg and quite a delight for the eyes and ears. It is just boring and something that promised much more.    … Expand
  12. Bearbiegamer
    Jul 6, 2021
    10
    Having played this game for a year on an iPad I was delighted to see it come to Switch. I’m amazed at the poor reviews here, and the lack of understanding of the game, though it takes time to really grasp, and these reviews seem to be a bit premature, so I guess that explains it. It is a beautiful looking game with options to make friends or not. As well as the purchase of items toHaving played this game for a year on an iPad I was delighted to see it come to Switch. I’m amazed at the poor reviews here, and the lack of understanding of the game, though it takes time to really grasp, and these reviews seem to be a bit premature, so I guess that explains it. It is a beautiful looking game with options to make friends or not. As well as the purchase of items to change appearance there are numerous spirits which provide stances and movements to help communication. Maybe the awkward movements described by one reviewer are attempts to communicate playfully. Greyed out figures are just players you haven’t met yet. You do have to make friends to a certain level in order to actually chat to another player, and a lot of chat outside of the game goes on in Discord, as well as lots of YouTube guidance from regular players. Don’t give up, this a fabulous game once you get your head around it, with some truly magical, scary, exciting touches and a challenging final level that goes beyond anything I’ve seen before. I’ve being playing games since Zelda Ocarina of Time so lots of experience to go on… Expand
  13. rainhoghost
    Jun 30, 2021
    10
    a beautiful game, amazing gameplay, great story and a great "multiplayer" , the best nintendo switch game in 2021
  14. minutejade
    Jul 6, 2021
    10
    Can’t think of a single bad thing about sky tbh, social aspect is especially really nice, don’t play it by yourself you’ll probably be bored smh
  15. Fudochi
    Apr 21, 2022
    10
    This is very special open world social game to relax and free your mind. From the creators of Journey and the Flower.
  16. GameraxSacagz
    Aug 3, 2023
    9
    All the people that is rating the game low doesnt get it, thw game is just to be chilling around, looking the bautiful places, hearing the music, etc. Its just a game to relax and i loved it.
  17. shadowunicorn
    Aug 27, 2023
    1
    Sky is an appalling grind fest if you came from Journey, with rather cringeworthy attempts at being profound – it just looks good if used to mobile.

    I’m saying this as someone who played Sky during early beta and as a past student of game design – during class we studied Journey, with my teacher having seen Robin Hunicke, a Journey designer, analyse it live in person. (Thatgamecompany    Sky is an appalling grind fest if you came from Journey, with rather cringeworthy attempts at being profound – it just looks good if used to mobile.

    I’m saying this as someone who played Sky during early beta and as a past student of game design – during class we studied Journey, with my teacher having seen Robin Hunicke, a Journey designer, analyse it live in person. (Thatgamecompany basically shut down after Journey and most people left, confirmed from an interview w/ Matt Nava & Chris Bell)

    Sky fares poorly as a flying game, a social game and a narrative:

    For a game called Sky, there is surprisingly little amount of time where you’re far from ground, and very few areas which have level design with emphasis on vertical height. Additionally this is poorly balanced unlike in Journey or in a beautiful flying game, Laya's Horizon. It's possible to get a lot of wing power in Sky and frequently expected (e.g. for daily quests) that you go over the early levels which are optimized for players with not a lot of wing power – not like in Journey where you can’t have vast amounts of wing power from the end during early levels. So what ends up happening in Sky is: very often you’re trying to fly and skip over the ground areas most of the time – this is a poor experience because you're encountering nothing where you’re flying, and you’re skipping the areas where the content is. It means that you’re often flying, landing to recharge, flying, landing to collect a thing. Meanwhile Laya's Horizon has flying hoops, obstacles & boosters everywhere in the air, and your flying run ends if you land, so you’re encouraged to stay airborne for as long as you can.

    The design of social aspects with strangers in Sky are largely forced and insincere – for example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had other players glitch to bypass multiplayer doors in Vault and leave, rather than helping other people open them. If you do make connections with other people, it’s not really developed through gameplay like in Journey, because it’s not immediately rewarding to stay with a stranger in Sky. You’re more likely to develop it through chat if anything, than through deliberate gameplay on the part of developers (as an indication of this, players are mostly like to hang out with people who speak their own language).

    In Journey, for one thing, the other player looks like you AT FIRST GLANCE regardless of robe color, which helps to foster empathy. And in Journey, it’s always immediately rewarding to be with them because your movement is always slow when alone (eventually you have to mostly stick to walking only). So having another player nearby helps you to recharge your cape pretty fast for flying (balanced w/ both vertical & horizontal direction) AND both of you can continue to move independently. Meanwhile in Sky, other players are always shadows at first, and can have glamorous cosmetics that are designed for showing off and inducing envy so you want to have them too — not conducive for empathy. For movement in Sky, you can jog, and recharge with butterflies, wax etc – so movement is not as hindered when alone, meaning that having other players are not as symbolically important but just a convenience for your movement. And when other players are flying with you, only one person can lead. This hold-hand feature was probably designed because when flying horizontally, it’s very easy to diverge from nearby players quickly. But holding hands while flying is a very passive multiplayer experience, so it’s not surprising that people frequently describe themselves as "batteries".

    And now to the grind. Good old Minecraft offers a richer, better and more sincere multiplayer experience than Sky. You can build, fight mobs, explore worlds, collect. In Sky, relationships are reduced to exchange of commodities, and to get those commodities involves very repetitive mechanics. To collect a lot of commodities, people memorise the exact specific locations of candles, plants, tickets and what-have-you. For daily quests, you have to figure out where the places are – the wiki is a fan-made resource that people rely on to make up for the poor design. There are 6+ currencies you can grind for, and that’s what you’ll mostly be doing together. Yippee. The grind is deliberate, to make you fork over ridiculous $$$ to skip it.

    Finally the narrative arc is an incoherent, superficial copy of Journey – an emotional flatline. It’s as if they copy-pasted, without knowing why things worked, while forgetting to copy some parts, and adding stuff without incorporating it properly. E.g. Eden is a meaningless difficulty spike. There are 7 gods that you see 2-3 times with no emotional development. Krill can spot you through walls, making them annoying, not profound. It’s impossible to make out the story of spirits. In Journey there's a lore explanation for the flight power symbols, but none in Sky. Etc.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

39
#39 Best Switch Game of 2021
56
#56 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. CD-Action
    Sep 1, 2021
    70
    Thatgamecompany stole our hearts with Journey, and Sky looks like a natural evolution of that concept, as it draws from the ideas, mechanics, setting, character movement and art direction of its predecessor. The problem is, you can only surprise people once with a specific trick. Even if it’s focused slightly different and puts greater emphasis on online features, this “new Journey” will never make the same impression as the original, fresh experience. [09/2021, p.61]
  2. GAMES.CH
    Jul 26, 2021
    86
    Sky: Children of light is a fantastic looking adventure, where you can fly and explore a magical world. Communication happens over emotes and you can find friends by taking their hands. It's a free to play game with the options to purchase style items for real money.
    Read full review
  3. Noisy Pixel
    Jul 22, 2021
    65
    For a video game to demand the player derive their own meaning from it is asking a lot. This makes Sky: Children of the Light a challenging proposition even as a free release on Switch. For many, it may be a few hours of wandering about before they are put off by the aimlessness of it all. Still, at least for its niche audience, they will likely self-select into this unique gaming community. Sky is a pointless online video game experience driven by the player’s own subjective interpretation, but that’s perhaps the entire point.
    Read full review
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