4.5/5 ★ – pinksteady's review of Sky: Children of the Light.

A zen-like recreation of Journey on mobile I remember playing Sky: Children of the Light when it was in an open beta, and finding the whole thing completely underwhelming. However, giving it a proper go this time around, using a PS4 controller to avoid touch controls (and give so much more screen space to view) was a completely different experience. This game is almost like a retelling of Journey (also by the same devs), with a few evolutions for the mobile era. You are a caped spirit-type thing and you spend your time exploring gorgeously rendered levels for spirits and other ethereal discoveries. In doing so, you grow the power of your cape, allowing you to fly further and higher and reach previously-unobtainable locations for even more adventuring. All progress is lightly wrapped up in a story of long-passed beings whose spirits you are freeing. Your journey takes you deeper into the lore of the land, culminating in a rather grim yet spiritually-meaningful conclusion. Without giving too much away, once you complete the game you restart and can play through again, with some slight changes, and this is a cycle you are free to repeat as often as you want (and in fact to fully unlock everything in the game this is required). Taken as a free, solo experience you can’t really fault it (did I mention it is free?). It is really pretty, with a great soundtrack, fluid animations and a good balance between exploring and progressing. It works even better with a controller by the way, which I highly recommend. Sky does have to appreciated for its multi-player-ness as well. Similarly to Journey, you encounter others like you on your travels, and this opens up some additional gameplay possibilities. You can make friends with them and although you don’t really type to each other, the game includes loads of emotes that you can use to convey your reactions or intentions. Casually making friends with someone and serenely exploring the world together is a really lovely aspect of the game. Obviously, as this is a free game, there are in-app purchases galore on offer. This is a ‘pay-to-look-good’ model - the upgrades are all cosmetic and used for bragging rights and status in the world I suppose. And that’s fine with me, I was able to fully enjoy the game and I didn’t pay a penny. I even joined the Discord for a while where others were helping me with some of the trickier parts of the game, and even logging on to guide me in-game. The community/multiplayer aspect really is a unique element to this mobile game. I’d highly recommend giving it a go, even to just do it solo and experience the odd social element.