Strayed Lights

At its core, Strayed Lights revolves around a simple, intuitive, and unique combat system, and with this strong base in place, it’s no wonder the game shines as bright as it does.

Embers' debut game is beautifully presented, with an interesting but flawed combat system. Lovely music (thanks to Journey composer Austin Wintory) and exciting boss battles make it worth your time.

Strayed Lights is something rare in the gaming industry; a game that genuinely surprises us. The combat is unique and accessible. The story is told in a subtle, heartfelt way. The music and visuals are stunning. However, a string of technical bugs, repetitive combat, and inconsistent platforming sections mar what would otherwise be a stellar offering from a new studio. If it ran better on the Switch, we would be giving it a much better score.

Strayed Lights is ultimately frustrating because there’s a brilliant game lurking somewhere here. Upon finishing the game, I understood the story to be about conquering corruptive behavior and going on a spiritual journey inward, but it’s let down by subpar platforming and gameplay. I would even argue that the game might not have needed combat at all and could have worked better as an explorative adventure instead. Perhaps Embers might consider this for its next project.

Your view of Strayed Lights is going to depend on what kind of player you are. If you love playing defensively, then you'll like what's on offer, as it mostly works with a few hiccups. If you're more of an attacker, then the slower-paced fights and lack of minion variety doesn't make for an appealing adventure. The game is short enough that it doesn't drag on for too long, making it worth experiencing for those who are intrigued.

I found Strayed Lights too quick to finish and with little content. The lack of dialogue or notes ruins what could’ve been an interesting story. The combat and bosses were fun, apart from the final boss since its attack let up.

Strayed Lights looks beautiful and has a deep combat system that is rewarding for those able to click with it. It just didn’t click for me. Much like the NPCs in this game, I felt lonely and desperately needed a hug. Though I honestly like what this game is going for. The presentation feels cinematic, with large open areas to explore and epic boss battles. So it’s another of those examples of a game I like but just could not connect with its parry system. I have enough real-life stresses currently, which is not helping. With that in mind, I still recommend it, but a demo would have been really helpful for players to test the waters before they commit to purchasing. If you have fast reflexes and don’t mind long battles, then go into the light and have fun. But if you’re looking for a calmer experience, then seek light elsewhere.

Strayed Lights is a beautiful game that tells an abstract yet meaningful story. However, its unique battle system grew repetitive, and some performance issues took some of the fun away.

I wanted to praise Strayed Lights as its marketing seemed phenomenal, but it feels like the marketing team managed to merge images and gameplay scenes, essentially representing a non-existent title. Skipping Embers Games' wonderful screenshots for this review, I felt deceived, as Strayed Lights isn't the product I expected and isn't what other sites praise. It has potential but is mediocre in execution, offering nothing in the few hours it takes to complete.

Strayed Lights offers up some solid combat encounters, a beautiful world, and an excellent score that makes it worth playing even if some other parts like the story and exploration aren’t as great. The game is very cinematic and nailing the parrying against basic enemies and bosses is satisfying. If you’re OK with getting through it in just a few hours then I’d give this one a solid recommendation.