Developer: Gleb Mirolyubov
Publisher: Gleb Mirolyubov
Platform: PC, Mac
Tested on: PC
Divinest Light – Review
With the same style as Limbo and Inside, Divinest Light doesn’t hide where it got its inspiration from. The game has a very indie feel to it, not in the sense that it literally is an indie game (which it is) but in the sense that you can tell it’s a first effort made by a single person. That person being Gleb Mirolyubov. This can be both an asset or a negative, depending on which area of the game you’re looking at.
Story
In terms of story, Divinest Light doesn’t offer much. It’s a little disappointing considering the rather intriguing world the game sets up, which does invite the player to wonder about the underlying story of the character. After an extremely short opening cutscene that sees our main character falling from the sky in a blaze of light to end up in a dark forest, we are thrown right into the gameplay and with no text, the rest of the story has to be inferred. Of course, a plot doesn’t always have to spelled out to the letter to have an impact, but in Divinest Light you will be groping in the dark for a smidge of context.
Graphics
As mentioned above, Divinest Light has clearly taken major inspiration from Limbo. The dark monochrome world you travel through could be lifted straight out of that other game, including the use of foreground and background scenery to add a sense of depth. Even our little character fits in perfectly with the aesthetic. It works though, with a nice art style and fun use of color to make important things pop from the screen.
Sound
The soundtrack is where Divinest Light manages to surprise us. Where the rest of the game speaks with abundant evidence of being an indie development – which, once again, isn’t a bad thing necessarily – the music has unexpected depth to it. Not only do the somber piano tracks fit the atmosphere perfectly, but they are also pretty memorable and easy to get carried away in. Overall this is the greatest addition to the game. The sound effects are also solid. As the game has no real dialogue, Divinest Light has no voice acting.
Gameplay
Divinest Light is a puzzle-platformer that uses a rather interesting light mechanic to keep the gameplay unique. Your player character, quite literally a child of light, loses their brightness as they walk in the pitch-black forest. When their light runs out they die, but standing in the convenient beams of divine light you can find around the woods charges them up again. The result is an interesting edge to both the puzzle-solving and the platforming, as you always need to hurry along a bit more than usual to keep yourself from dying.
The platforming itself is pretty decent and the puzzles have some interesting concepts. They usually consist of finding items and using them in certain ways, such as using a mushroom to lure a hog into a trap so you can pass safely. Dying is incredibly easy and a lot of trial and error goes into finding the solution sometimes, though the checkpoints are spaced nicely and keep things from becoming too frustrating.
The biggest drawback of Divinest Light is the runtime. Completing the game takes roughly half an hour, and that’s being liberal and including the trial and error bit above where you will be dying a lot. This might have to do with the game being designed as a mobile app originally. Once you finish, you can restart from any chapter, but there is virtually no replay value.
Conclusion
Divinest Light offers a short experience with a good foundation and some interesting new stuff. The light-shadow mechanic is fun and shouldn’t be too hard for inexperienced players, while the nice look and music also help. Overall it just doesn’t have enough story or last long enough to leave a more impactful impression on the player.
Divinest Light - Review,
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