Game Features:

The Light of the Darkness is a sidescroller, with elements of action, RPG, platform, exploration and story. Inspired by games like Castlevania, Odin Sphere, and other sidescrollers as ActRaiser. The game is still in development but, has five main features so far:

- "Metroidan" Exploration:

The player have some degree of freedom to explore the environment. There is no "level 1" then "level 2" then "level 3" and so on, but one big environment to be explored. The player can go forth and go back. Choose one way or the others. The need to reexplore the environment is constant as the player acquires new skills that will allow him to explore areas that were previously unreachable. The world is full of mysteries, dangers and challenges.

To explore the environment the player have a range of skills including flying and gliding, pushing things, spells and many items to solve puzzles.

Click here (HD version) and see a example of the level design in the game in HD:

- Evolution based on absorption of essence:

The Light of Darkness is a game based on attributes. These attributes determine a range of skills that is used in the exploration and combat. Evolution of these attributes are done every time Sephius absorbs the essence creatures or structures in the environment like gems.

In the universe of The Light of Darkness, creatures have no blood or flesh, but a vital energy called essence. The essence carries virtually all aspects of a creature, even some memory, knowledge and strength. Sephius can also absorb different types of essences needed for his health and mystical abilities evolution. The types of essences are:

In the universe of The Light of Darkness, creatures have no blood or flesh, but a vital energy called essence. The essence carried virtually all of a creature, even some memory, knowledge and strength. Sephius also can absorb different types of essences needed for health and his mystical abilities evolution. The types of essences are:

• - Peripheral Essence: In gaseous form, determines the health of Sephius.
  
• - Mystic Essence: In liquefied form, allows the player to perform spells and allows to learn new spells.
  
• - Deep Essence: In solid form, determines Sephius attributes such as strength, endurance, efficiency and quantity of peripheral and mystical essences.
  
• - Temperate Essences: In gaseous form, temporarily modifies Sephius´s status.
  

Creatures and entities Sephius faces also have features based on attributes. The relationship between Sephius´s attributes and creature's attributes determines values like damages, critical damages and so on.  

- Use of spells in combat and puzzles:

There is a big role for spells in the The Light of the Darkness, not only in combat but also in the exploration. Like attributes, spells are acquired by absorbing essences. Each type of creature allows Sephius to develop a specific type of spells. Essences of rare creatures can grant more powerful spells or abilities.  

The use of spells also influences the appearance of entities in specific places of the environment. For example, an excessive use of fire spells can stimulate the emergence of fire entities. This way the player needs to be more cautious when casting spells, especially in combat, as the game gets more challenging. 

Another very important element of the game is the combination of spells. In the game there are weak spells (almost instant cast projectiles), and strong spells (higher damage and area spells are generally slower to be casted). Strong spells are executed through the combination of weak spells. For example, the combination of a breath (air) spell and a fire spell creates a blast of fire. A breath (air) spell air and ice produces a blizzard. Light with ice creates a crystal that can illuminate the scene. Some combinations may not result in anything useful, while others may even result in damage to the player as with the mix of water and lightning. During the game, player has to try these combinations to find what they generally results. There is a whole arsenal of spells that can be developed, with exciting combinations to be discovered as the player progress through the game. 

In combat, spells must be used wisely. Each type of creature has different resistances and weaknesses. Some obvious as do not cast ice spell in ice entity, but some are less intuitive.  

The spells are also very important in the exploration and in the overcoming of obstacles on the way. Spells have many forms of interactions with environment. You can, for example, freeze water, solidify lava, illuminate dark places, move objects, destroy structures and create platforms. 

- Combat:

There are three basic elements involved in the combat in the game: physical attack (sword), mystical attack (spells) and defense (shield). Light of the Darkness have many kinds of creatures. Each creature has its own weak points. Some of them are more vulnerable to spells, others more vulnerable to physical attacks. 

The mechanics of physical attacks is simplified for a better flow of gameplay. By default, Sephius has a sequence of three basic attacks (being the last one the strongest) and a special sequence with 5 attacks that can be performed by focusing the sword for a few seconds. There are also special attacks as a "rising strike" and a "slash", which are executed with simple button combinations.  

Player can use a shield against creatures who use projectiles or spells and against normal physical attacks. The shield have a level of resilience and may be destroyed if overused.  

- History:

As the universe of The Light of the Darkness goes beyond the game, the story is very important to enrich the game experience. Voiced dialogues and cut scenes provide context for the events in the game giving a deeper emotional feeling. 

In menus, the player may know more about the universe, the creatures and characters that appear on the game. Each item, spell and creature have its own history and relationship to other events in the universe. In the website there will be available more histories that will complement what the player sees in the game.

We are also open for feedbacks, ideas, or anything people would like to see improved or added to the game. 

We are trying to produce a video, showing some of these features. We will update here in the future.