She and the Light Bearer

About

"She and The Light Bearer" is a point-and-click adventure game with a fairy tale aesthetic, featuring a little firefly on a journey to awaken the Mother within a mysterious forest. The game is rich in art, poetry, dialogue, and music, and presents challenges and puzzles to earn the trust of the forest. With hand-drawn visuals and an instrumental acoustic soundtrack, players will be immersed in this musical and narrative experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 198 reviews

story62 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

The art style is stunning and beautifully hand-drawn, creating a visually captivating experience.
The music and sound design are calming and enhance the overall atmosphere of the game.
The story is heartwarming and features charming characters, making it a delightful experience for players of all ages.

The gameplay is overly simplistic and lacks challenge, making it feel more like a visual novel than a traditional point-and-click adventure.
The dialogue can be excessively long and tedious, leading to a slow pacing that detracts from the overall enjoyment.
Scene transitions are slow, which can be frustrating when navigating between areas, especially during repetitive tasks.

story
175 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
63%
2%
The story of "She and the Light Bearer" is characterized by its beautiful visuals and heartfelt themes, often described as charming and engaging, though some find it simplistic and linear. While the narrative incorporates elements of nature and folklore, it can feel repetitive and lacks depth, leading to mixed feelings about its execution. Overall, it offers a relaxing experience with a sweet, albeit straightforward, storyline that appeals to those who enjoy light, story-driven adventures.
- “The story is absolutely chock-full of themes and symbolism that'll melt your heart.”
- “The game is really wholesome and the story was engaging.”
- “A beautiful touching game and a beautiful emotive story.”
- “The story is obtuse and the dialogue is annoying and repetitive.”
- “The story is straightforward and leaves no other alternatives than to follow the script, and unfortunately the script doesn't encourage for a second run.”
- “The story, however, becomes just a mix of random deep words (hope, longing, etc.) about a (made-up) belief in ecology and mother earth or something; I don't even know.”
graphics
89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
35%
3%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful, hand-drawn art style and vibrant color palette, creating a whimsical and charming atmosphere that enhances the storytelling experience. Many reviewers highlight the visuals as the game's strongest aspect, describing them as cute, immersive, and reminiscent of a storybook. However, some critiques mention that while the graphics are stunning, the gameplay can feel simplistic and overly guided, detracting from the overall experience.
- “The art style is stunning, the music is very nice, and I loved each of the characters.”
- “The visuals are just amazing.”
- “The artwork is incredible, and the music was charming.”
- “She and the light bearer is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it was a real PC game (it's not)... it's a cash grab from greedy mobile devs. While the game features arguably charming artwork and overarching narrative, that's about the end of the merits it has for serious gamers.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Overall, whether you might like this or not largely depends on how much value you place on the beauty and charm of the visuals (as this is the main thing it has going for it); I'd probably skip it.”
music
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
42%
4%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and soothing qualities, enhancing the overall experience with a serene and calming soundtrack that complements the stunning visuals. Many players found the music to be memorable and engaging, often stopping to enjoy it during gameplay. While some noted minor issues with voiceovers overshadowing the music at times, the overall consensus is that the soundtrack significantly contributes to the game's aesthetic appeal and emotional impact.
- “The music is so complex and natural, so satisfying to the point where I stop playing just to listen to the music for a while with full volume on speaker.”
- “The music compliments the art very nicely, making the game an aesthetically wonderful experience.”
- “Absolutely loved streaming this game, it had such a whimsical and wholesome vibe to it and the art style, soundtrack, and animation were so beautiful - very aesthetically pleasing!”
- “My only two caveats were that the music did get a bit repetitive at points, and the loading screen between each room was a bit annoying, but the game is so short it isn't a big deal.”
- “As beautiful as this game is in terms of art and music, I cannot stand by the game design itself.”
- “I wouldn’t mute the voices all the way, but I would have quieted them quite a bit because they overpowered the music at some points.”
gameplay
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
80%
11%
The gameplay of "She and the Light Bearer" is primarily described as simple and repetitive, with many reviewers noting its reliance on straightforward point-and-click mechanics and minimal puzzle complexity. While the art and music are praised, the gameplay often feels more like a visual novel with excessive dialogue and little challenge, making it suitable for younger players but lacking depth for more experienced gamers. Overall, it offers a brief and easy experience, but many feel it could benefit from more engaging gameplay elements.
- “While She and the Light Bearer offers simple point-and-click gameplay, the art, writing, and music is where it really shines.”
- “Every now and then, the point-and-click mechanics are intertwined with riddles to solve and small puzzle minigames.”
- “Would also recommend for younger players as the gameplay is very intuitive and the story is family-friendly.”
- “The art is beautiful, but the gameplay is too repetitive.”
- “This is more of a visual novel than a point-and-click game; the art style is nice and it's well made, but everything you need to click lights up, and the straightforwardness of it all takes out a lot of the gameplay element and makes it feel like a tutorial.”
- “The gameplay is very simple, and the puzzles are not too hard.”
emotional
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
96%
4%
The emotional aspect of the game is widely praised for its heartwarming and touching narrative, complemented by stunning art and a beautiful soundtrack. Players report feeling a range of emotions, from joy to sadness, often shedding tears during poignant moments, while the engaging characters foster a strong emotional connection. Overall, the game is described as a wholesome experience that resonates deeply with players, making it a memorable journey.
- “You might shed a tear.”
- “This game doesn’t just infuse you with peace while you’re playing it; the ending to She and the Light Bearer is beautiful, moving, touching, and both heartbreaking and inspires a lasting sense of hope.”
- “I was emotionally invested (happy, sad, curious) throughout my entire time playing it.”
- “There were like 3 or so 'puzzles' where you had to turn rings into the correct position, and one time I actually had to go back to the previous room and write down the melody it was playing... but other than that, it was just clicking on marked spots and listening to the ever-repeating non-language accompanying the boring story.”
humor
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is consistently praised for being cute, funny, and wholesome, with well-written dialogues that enhance the overall experience. While some voice acting may be less appealing, the charming characters and engaging story contribute to a delightful and occasionally darkly humorous narrative. Overall, players appreciate the blend of fantastic visuals, music, and humor that makes the game enjoyable.
- “It's super cute, funny, and wholesome.”
- “The dialogue is also really well-written and occasionally very funny, and the story overall is sweet and engaging.”
- “It is a funny tale that grows quite dark - however, persevere for a wondrous and uplifting ending.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, with repetitive movement and dialogue contributing to a lack of engagement. While achieving 100% completion is relatively easy, the necessity to revisit previously explored areas and the simplicity of the puzzles detract from the overall experience.
- “Moving from place to place is tedious for a point-and-click game.”
- “Overall, it's fairly easy to 100% the game, but again, it's tedious.”
- “The puzzles are not that difficult, and having to revisit previously completed areas is tedious and can be quite annoying.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The atmosphere of *she and light bearer* is highly praised for its beautiful graphics and immersive art style, which create a fairy tale ambiance balanced between light and dark elements. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke different atmospheres throughout, contributing to a relaxing and engaging overall experience.
- “This makes sense for this game, because it is all about the complete experience: the beautiful graphics, providing a fairy tale atmosphere - they found a good balance between the dark and the light in their design.”
- “The art style is immersive because of its beauty (the biggest plus of this game) and subtly changes all the time, causing different atmospheres.”
- “She and Light Bearer is a short game with a simple story, very easy puzzles, and a beautiful atmosphere.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Overall, the game's replayability is considered low, with some players feeling it offers little incentive to play again. However, those who appreciate a well-crafted narrative may find value in experiencing the story multiple times, despite its limited replay potential.
- “If you want long games or games with high replayability, then maybe it's not for you; but if you want a beautiful tale that is created with love, then yes.”
- “The replay value is, at least to me, zero.”
- “Replayability? More like replayability equals twice?”
- “There is no incentive to replay the game after finishing it.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers praise the character development for its cute and strong designs, highlighting the creativity and appeal of the characters, particularly noting the orchid design as a standout feature. The art style complements the character designs, enhancing their overall charm and interest.
- “I like the character design (the orchid roped me in) and the art style.”
- “The character designs are creative and interesting as well.”
- “Cute and strong character designs!”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
While the game is praised for its art, music, and story, users have reported stability issues, particularly with glitches when using Xbox controllers, which display PlayStation indicators and hinder movement. Improvements in dubbing and controller compatibility are suggested for a better experience.
- “This is an excellent game with great art style, music, and story, but there are some issues that need improvement, such as the dubbing, which could be in a real language like French or English. Additionally, there are glitches with Xbox controllers; when trying to play with an Xbox controller, the game shows the PlayStation controller indicators and we cannot move around with the joystick.”
- “The game has a lot of potential, but the stability issues are frustrating. Frequent crashes and bugs make it hard to enjoy the experience fully.”
- “While the gameplay is engaging, the constant lag and freezing make it difficult to stay immersed in the game.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization of "She and the Light Bearer" has been criticized as a cash grab, with users feeling that it is poorly adapted from a mobile app to a PC platform. While the game boasts charming artwork and a narrative, these elements do not compensate for its perceived lack of value for serious gamers.
- “She and the Light Bearer is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it were a real PC game (it's not)... it's a cash grab from greedy mobile developers. While the game features arguably charming artwork and an overarching narrative, that's about the end of the merits it has for serious gamers.”
- “The monetization strategy is overly aggressive, making it feel like the game is designed more to extract money than to provide a fun experience.”
- “I was disappointed to find that many features are locked behind paywalls, which ruins the overall enjoyment of the game.”