The Town of Light

 Xbox One
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 20
  3. Negative: 5 out of 20
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  1. SuperkenGaming
    Jun 8, 2017
    6
    The town of light
    Unsettling
    The Town of Light is a psychological horror adventure game Here you play as Renee… A former patient of the old abandoned psych ward you visit in the 1940s… You revisit to learn the truth about your time here… You also learn about the disturbing practices of these hospitals throughout your journey… This is very much a walking simulator type game... And    The town of light
    Unsettling
    The Town of Light is a psychological horror adventure game
    Here you play as Renee…
    A former patient of the old abandoned psych ward you visit in the 1940s…
    You revisit to learn the truth about your time here…
    You also learn about the disturbing practices of these hospitals throughout your journey…
    This is very much a walking simulator type game...
    And Renee is very much a crazy person...
    She talks to herself while you play the game…
    The first task the game gives you is to find a doll...
    And she insists the doll is cold and not feeling well…
    So you have to find a way to warm her
    this sets the tone for the kind of experience you’re going to be going on
    The Town of Light is a pretty enjoyable 2 to 3 hour long journey...
    The hospital is decently sized... not too big, not too small…
    So going back and forth to the different areas to trigger a new scene or memory, or learn more about Renee’s mental disorder isn’t too big of a hassle…
    As the game definitely sends you all over the place and back again…
    Tons of back tracking here… listening to Renee as she worried and checking out the spot she tells you to go to…
    And looking at the not so helpful map on the wall to know where you should be going…
    It isn’t back tracking for the first moments of the game, obviously as everything is new..
    This is when the game is the most intriguing, but the middle chunk of the game just feels like a chore as you’re going over the same spots in the hospital again to open a new door for a quick bit of dialog…
    Sometimes acting as the voice inside of Renee’s head making choices or explaining things to her…
    So this game does definitely have a great and creepy ending...
    Getting there almost doesn’t feel worth it... As this really is just a game of going to the right spot…
    The Town of Light does psychological horror right though…
    I was definitely creeped out while playing which made this shallow and repetitive game at least a little enjoyable to go through…
    A give The Town of Light
    a 6/10    … Expand
  2. osprey
    Jun 9, 2017
    4
    This game is a chore to play. Pretty bad voice acting doesn't help. Forced replay and timed sequence in maze is really annoying and diminishes the message they are trying to convey. I was expecting much more from this game and found it shallow and uninspired.
  3. Joellemm
    Apr 1, 2018
    4
    Its a shame that the developers achieved what they set out towards, a harrowing, realistic look into early 20th century asylums (coming from a psychology graduate), and yet it exists within an unpolished and frustrating framework. The criticism is directed towards the poor framerate, distorting textures, painfully slow walking speed, poor voice acting, and minimal directions.
  4. TheGamesShed
    Jun 19, 2017
    6
    The Town of Light is a curious beast. Developed by LKA.it and co-published with Wired Productions, this low cost PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC title puts you in to the shoes of a 16 year old patient of a mental institution in Italy in days gone by.

    Searching for answers is the name of the game here and the premise is simple enough. Explore, find and listen. There’s a lot of    The Town of Light is a curious beast. Developed by LKA.it and co-published with Wired Productions, this low cost PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC title puts you in to the shoes of a 16 year old patient of a mental institution in Italy in days gone by.

    Searching for answers is the name of the game here and the premise is simple enough. Explore, find and listen. There’s a lot of exploration, some finding and LOTS of listening.

    This game is mainly story driven, so going into it expect slow-paced gaming. You track your way through a now abandoned and rubble-strewn building searching desperately for clues about your youth. Your memory is entirely a haze, lifted piece by piece with every clue you uncover. From memory flashbacks to reading journals to fill in blanks, this disturbing story comes to an horrific conclusion upon completion of the game.

    The story is far from pretty and we’d strongly advise you not to let your child play this game. It has adult themes and nudity and difficult subject matter which will really get the old brainbox working overtime.

    The gameplay is far from complex but the execution is excruciating in places.

    You spend the majority of your time in this game wondering from room to room clicking the action button on every surface trying to figure out what exactly it is the game wants from you.

    After a good hour or so, I came to realise that it was vital to listen to every bit of narrative. The narrative guides you to your next objective. Either a puzzle to turn on a shower or a room to seek in order to find a missing letter. Some of the puzzles in this game are beyond complex. They are next to impossible to work out unless you mash every surface of every room (I’m talking about the boiler / kitchen and the dark room scenario, for anyone who has played it through!). Additionally, although the narrative is critical in this game, it drags on and on, to the point where you’ll quite easily become distracted / bored.

    The graphics are basic at best and stock assets seem to be the order of the day here. Quite late on in to the game and away from the main facilities, things start to improve, but this fleeting change of scenery is snatched away all too quickly and arrives far too late.

    The gameplay mechanics are also very simplistic. You’ve a torch, which is rarely used and you have an action button. The action button pretty much serves to do everything in The Town of Light.

    Movement is slow and at times this can become very annoying. If you’ve seemingly trundled around the entire facility several times looking for a clue, the prospect of dashing around every room one more time is a nightmare as it takes so, so, SO long.

    It’s not a terrible game at all, but do not expect the pace you’d come to expect with these so-called walking simulators. This is more an exploration of the human condition and an intriguing tale than a traditional game.

    For trophy hunters there is plenty of reward here too and the price point is cheap enough for you to dabble.

    All in all, not at all a traditional game, but certainly something which will give you food for thought in respect of how mental illness was so badly misunderstood in all too recent history. So nearly hitting the mark, The Town of Light could have been so, so much more.    … Expand
  5. SenorKoquonfaes
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    The premise of a story-driven game centred around the exploration and experiences within 20th century asylums and uncover the truth as to what the main character's experience was had me intrigued. Sadly, this is about the only positive thing I can say about the game.

    The decision making was far too cryptic for my liking. It felt like I was just making wild guesses and then finding out    The premise of a story-driven game centred around the exploration and experiences within 20th century asylums and uncover the truth as to what the main character's experience was had me intrigued. Sadly, this is about the only positive thing I can say about the game.

    The decision making was far too cryptic for my liking. It felt like I was just making wild guesses and then finding out if I was right or wrong. Certain decisions are tied to achievements, so perhaps there's replay value, but that's predicated on wanting to actually replay the game, which I do not.

    The voice is acting is not very good, the movement in this game is slow, even by walking simulator standards and the frame rate gargles gravel far too often for a game that's not overly striking visually nor flashy and engaging.

    I was hoping for the game to dive into something deeper and more enrapturing, but by the end of it, I just felt like I was playing something far more hollow.    … Expand
  6. gusmaciel
    Sep 17, 2021
    7
    o Jogo é interessante, porém lento devido ao peso da história e a forma como conta. Mas vale a pena para conhecer está história interessante.
  7. GuzmanEconomist
    Feb 22, 2022
    9
    Historia: 9/10 este es su punto fuerte, la protagonista trata de recordar su pasado, buscando en el lugar donde ha vivido toda su vida, esto lo hace mediante recuerdos que se desbloquean con las notas o acciones que haces.
    Jugabilidad: Es un Walking Simulator, lo veo bien para esta experiencia. el juego te hace preguntas de opción múltiple que parecen afectaran a la historia pero al final    Historia: 9/10 este es su punto fuerte, la protagonista trata de recordar su pasado, buscando en el lugar donde ha vivido toda su vida, esto lo hace mediante recuerdos que se desbloquean con las notas o acciones que haces.
    Jugabilidad: Es un Walking Simulator, lo veo bien para esta experiencia. el juego te hace preguntas de opción múltiple que parecen afectaran a la historia pero al final no sirven para nada.
    Gráficos: 10/10 lo jugue en la versión de Xbox One y se ve bien para lo que es, pero donde mas brilla es en pc.
    Rendimiento: el juego en Xbox One tiene caídas muy notorias de Frame, solo presento un bug que me regreso 15 min.
    a mi opinan es un 9/10 por lo que me costo 35 pesos mexicanos (1.8 dolares)    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

89
#89 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2017
56
#56 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. Gamers' Temple
    Sep 12, 2017
    65
    Despite all of its problems, The Town of Light has a very interesting story and it's worth a play just to experience it at least once.
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  2. Windows Central
    Aug 3, 2017
    70
    The Xbox One version suffers from lengthy loading times and occasional frame rate hitches, though the strength of the story and atmosphere mostly offset these issues. If you're intrigued by The Town of Light's exploration of mental health and abuse and can stand a slower-paced, less-than-challenging game, this one might just cure what ails you.
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  3. XboxAddict
    Jul 5, 2017
    56
    The Town of Light’s narrative is incredibly heart wrenching, and at times very disturbing and difficult to watch without eliciting some sort of emotional response. The ending I received will be remembered for quite some time, and I appreciated the short live action summary once the game was concluded, but that made me realize something very important; The Town of Light would have been much more engrossing and powerful as a short film instead of a game, it simply feels like the wrong medium for such a tale.
    Read full review
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