Light of Alariya

About

Light of Alariya is a single player role playing game. It was developed by SMU Guildhall and was released on March 1, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Light of Alariya is an open-world, third-person, exploration puzzle game in which you traverse ancient alien temples and ruins to restore the power of the stars and awaken your sleeping civilization.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

73%

Audience ScoreBased on 166 reviews

story19 positive mentions

stability14 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a relaxing atmosphere, making it enjoyable for casual play.
The puzzles are simple yet engaging, providing a fun exploration experience in a well-designed world.
As a free student project, it showcases impressive effort and creativity, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of exploration games.

The controls are janky and can be frustrating, with issues like getting stuck on terrain and poor boat navigation.
The game suffers from optimization problems, leading to inconsistent frame rates and visual glitches.
The story and gameplay feel underdeveloped, with a lack of depth in puzzles and a disappointing ending.

story
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
61%
5%
The game's story is generally viewed as intriguing and rich, with a poetic quality and a compelling premise centered around a civilization affected by a cataclysmic event. However, many players feel that the narrative lacks depth and character development, often becoming repetitive and simplistic, with a short playtime of around 1-2 hours. While the atmosphere and visuals are praised, technical issues and gameplay mechanics detract from the overall storytelling experience.
- “Whilst there are some good points about this game, the rich storyline, the detail they have put into the landscape and buildings to enrich the story they're trying to tell, one of a civilization that has been afflicted by a cataclysmic disaster.”
- “The story is rich and accomplishments are awesome.”
- “In conclusion, I'd say it's a solid short game that tells you a nice story of a civilization long forgotten.”
- “The story doesn't have much depth, the puzzles are very simplistic, and the more I played, the more it just felt like Sable but worse.”
- “You mostly go around looking for tablets, but once you figure out what happened to all the people, the story is stagnant--all the tablets basically tell the same story, in one way or another.”
- “Ultimately I was so frustrated by the glitchiness that I couldn't really enjoy the story, and for that reason I can't recommend this game.”
gameplay
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
60%
9%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with players appreciating the visual appeal and relaxing atmosphere but criticizing the mechanics for being janky and imprecise. Issues such as getting stuck on geometry, floaty jumping, and a lack of evolution in puzzles detract from the overall experience. While some found enjoyment in the simple mechanics and narrative, many felt that the gameplay did not live up to its potential, leaving a desire for more depth and refinement.
- “The movement-based mechanics make for a smooth experience, although the player does get caught up on small ledges at times.”
- “But overall this game is a nice experience with a story and some cool mechanics.”
- “Cool setting and aesthetic, the swinging mechanic was fine and the way the boat controlled felt right.”
- “The game is visually appealing and relaxing with nice music, but it has notable issues like getting stuck between rocks and problematic ship mechanics.”
- “Collision mechanics make some areas nearly unplayable.”
- “Gameplay as a whole is my biggest complaint; there's no evolution to the game at all.”
graphics
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
29%
15%
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their appealing visuals and artistic style, with some reviewers noting a beautiful aesthetic and good artwork. However, many players report significant issues, including glitchy performance, poor optimization for lower-end systems, and inconsistent lighting effects, which detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are a highlight, they are marred by technical problems that suggest the game was rushed and not thoroughly tested before release.
- “The graphics in this game are really quite good, which at least makes the game look more appealing.”
- “The visuals are also very pretty, even if the desert is pretty barren.”
- “I really liked the graphics, it has a Zelda feel, but in a good way.”
- “This game is also full of glitchy graphics, with characters that don't always mesh properly with the environment, getting stuck on small details like bits of tile sticking up from the ground.”
- “Quite frankly, this game seems rushed and unpolished, and it should have undergone thorough testing for graphic glitches before being released.”
- “Overall, the game is not optimized for every system, even though it is free. It has too many bugs, and if you don't have a dedicated GPU laptop or desktop, you won't be able to play this. The developer hasn't implemented toggle graphics settings, and everything is set to max settings, which makes it worse.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is marked by a variety of glitches and bugs, particularly with the boat steering and character movement, which can lead to frustrating situations like getting stuck or falling through the map. While some players experienced significant issues, many noted that these glitches were not game-breaking and could often be worked around. Overall, the stability is inconsistent, with minor bugs present but not severely impacting gameplay for most users.
- “The boat steering mechanism is absolutely atrocious; then there's the problem of sometimes getting stuck in crevasses, and when you try to reset the character, it glitches and you spend eternity falling through the world.”
- “Unfortunately, this game ran poorly on my machine, and there were plenty of visual glitches.”
- “I experienced three glitches where I fell out of the maps and also fell into unclimbable pits twice, leading to five quits to the main menu to get out.”
optimization
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
15%
62%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with users reporting poor performance, high resource demands, and numerous bugs. Many players noted that it struggles to run smoothly on lower-end systems and lacks adjustable graphics settings, which exacerbates the issues. Despite these shortcomings, some players still found enjoyment in the game, acknowledging its indie origins and potential for improvement.
- “From a UE5 game, that's actually well optimized.”
- “But it's not a bad game overall; it's about 2 hours of good time with decent controls, performance, and graphics.”
- “So yeah, that is the only criticism I can come up with. Please work on optimization, but yeah, definitely recommended.”
- “The game has poor optimization, requires a lot of resources for normal operation, and has a lot of bugs.”
- “Overall, the game is not optimized to play on every system. Even if it is free, it has too many bugs, and if you don't have a dedicated GPU laptop/desktop, you won't be able to play this. The developer hasn't implemented toggle graphics settings (low-max), and everything is already set to max settings. The game is made in Unreal Engine 5, which is currently in beta stage, and this is one more thing that makes it worse. The developer seems to lack knowledge about memory management.”
- “Although the game is a bit poorly optimized and quite laggy, which makes moving around and solving some puzzles quite frustrating.”
music
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
77%
23%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its pleasant and relaxing qualities, contributing to a nice atmosphere that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the original score and solid sound design, noting that it complements the visually appealing artwork and engaging storyline. However, some mention that while the music is enjoyable, it may feel more suited for a larger title from a professional studio.
- “From the good I can note: pleasant music, cool idea, interesting concept, well-designed locations, the storyline is fascinating, and it is easy to get all the achievements.”
- “The artwork is good, the music is pleasant, and the narration is great.”
- “Very pretty game, solid music, feels like the opening for a much longer title out of a proper game studio.”
- “Music is fair enough.”
- “Original music score.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its pleasant visuals, engaging music, and enjoyable narration, creating a relaxing experience for players. While some users noted minor issues with character movement and frame rate, the overall ambiance and storytelling contribute positively to the gameplay experience.
- “Very nice atmosphere, pleasant to play, no unnecessary fight scenes.”
- “The atmosphere is nice: the visuals, the music, the narration.”
- “Nice relaxing atmosphere and music.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization aspect of the game is viewed positively, as players feel it effectively showcases the quality and appeal of the SMU Guildhall program.
- “This game itself is the best advertisement for a pay-to-win model.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “I feel pressured to spend money just to keep up with other players.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its amusing ragdoll physics and the presence of entertaining glitches, which add to the overall comedic experience without significantly impacting gameplay.
- “There's hilarious ragdolling, and I encountered several glitches or bugs, but nothing major that ruined my progress or anything.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, suggesting that while it serves as an interesting tech demo, it lacks engaging gameplay elements to sustain interest over time.
- “Pretty good as a tech demo, but as a game it's a bit tedious.”
- “The grinding feels endless and takes away from the enjoyment of the game.”
- “I found myself doing the same tasks over and over, which quickly became boring.”