Good and evil, light and dark. It’s an age-old battle that has raged in books for millennia before taking the fight to film, TV, the odd rock concept album, and eventually gaming. For every hero saving the day, there is an equal villain trying to destroy it. In Strayed Lights, this polar battle is the key feature of the core gameplay loop.
Hyper Light Bringer
Strayed Lights, the first title from French studio Embers, is an atmospheric action-adventure with fast and fluid combat that is built around an Ikaruga-style system. One where the colour of attack plays a huge part in whether you’re dealing damage or taking it.
You play as a flaming spirit seeking transcendence that awakens in a dark world. You’ll quickly come face to face with a corrupting dark force. After a ‘brief’ encounter with this force, you are thrown head first into the mix.
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Your goal is to explore this corrupt land. You’ll find and free as many spirits from its grips as you can, before having another brief encounter with the force itself.
Heavy Lore Breaker
Strayed Lights tells an extremely open-ended tale. One which which requires a bit of leg work to really find out what’s happening. This isn’t helped by the game having no named characters, lines of dialogue and only a handful of cut scenes over its 5-to-6 hour runtime.
The game’s insistence on the player unfurling the tale as they go is not a bad thing though. It means you will draw your own conclusions from your time with Strayed Lights. That said, it lacks any real hook, and this does impact how invested you may be in the whole thing.
Gameplay wise it’s a bit easier to follow and has a really interesting mix of ideas at work with some working more than others at times.
Holy Trinity
The core battle mechanic is all built around parrying. Even though you can attack to really get the upper hand, a well-timed parry will see draining your opponents posture meter and leaving them wide open to attack. This parry mechanic works in a similar way to the system seen in the likes of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
On top of this there is an Ikaruga-style colour system, where you can switch between orange and blue at the press of a trigger and to get the best impact you have to execute your parries in the corresponding colour.
This will also win you back a bit of health too. And with no healing items in the game – this facet of combat becomes an important strategy. Enemies can also attack in purple and you should beware that these attacks are unblockable.
Front-Loaded
When Strayed Lights‘ comes together and gets up to speed, it’s a fast and fluid experience. You never feel like any fight is truly lost. There is a perpetual feeling that a well-timed parry can turn even the direst situation around.
But the issue is the game plays its hand too early on the combat front, as once you have nailed the core loop that’s it. Strayed Lights never really changes or evolves for the rest of its runtime, sadly.
While there are a few different enemies to learn how to engage in battle, but nowhere near enough to truly keep you on your toes by upping your tactics or forcing you outside your comfort zone. Though boss fights will see you having to gear up a bit more, this is to be expected.
Outside of battle, you’ll be exploring what it is a very linear affair. Some areas may look open, there is often only one path with only a few offshoots. These are worth your time however, as they often reward you with upgrade orbs.
A Visual Experience
Strayed Lights is striking with an extremely bold art direction. The game’s use of different colour gradients create a real ethereal feel to the world. The game’s spirits carry tones of the likes of Ori and the Blind Forest. Strayed Nights is truly something to behold.
The soundtrack has been crafted by Austin Wintory who has worked on Journey, ABZÛ, and The Banner Saga series in the past. And Wintory delivers a grand affair with more than a hint of wonder that sits alongside his best.
Strained Night
Strayed Lights delivers a solid title undermined by the fact that it’s front-loaded and its gameplay loop never really evolves. The combat system and its world are worthy of praise but after an hour or two of Strayed Nights, you’ll have really seen everything it has to show.
Additionally, the open-ended tale may not sit well with some who are looking for a more focused adventure.