Candleman

If you've ever wanted to be a candle having an existential crisis, then you need to play Candleman. First released on Xbox One back in 2017 and then later ported to PlayStation 4 and computers, this delightful fairy tale from Spotlightor Interactive is finally making its way to the Switch for the very first time. It's a dimly lit adventure that sees a walking candle find purpose in a dark and unclear world. And if the inspiring story doesn't light your wick, then the imaginative level designs and constantly changing obstacles surely will. Switch owners are in for a real treat.

This is the story of Candleman, a walking candle stuck in an old shipwrecked boat. He's not sure why, but he's different from the other candles. They just sit there, silent and cold. But he can walk around and ignite his flame, allowing him to burn bright and light the way through the dark and scary world. That's just enough for the candle to go on a journey full of discovery, wonder and purpose.

As a walking candle with no arms, your interaction with this world is limited. Candleman spends most of his time wandering through an underlit stage looking for candles to light. As a sentient candle, our hero is able to spark up a flame at the push of a button. This will illuminate the room and help him find the exit. But you only get ten seconds of flame per life, forcing us to use his power sparingly.

This is one of those simple concepts that feels a little too basic at first. You walk through a linear stage, jumping on platforms, lighting candles and looking for the exit. But what I really like about is how each chapter adds a new wrinkle to Candleman's quest. You'll go from floating on a leaf down a fast-moving river to creating temporary platforms with your flame to opening up a flower bed using nothing more than light. One of my favorite levels has you walking on platforms that can only be seen in a mirror. It forces you to pay attention to the reflection and keep track of subtle clues when the mirror goes away.

It's this unpredictability that helps to keep Candleman interesting throughout the twelve atmospheric stages. This is the complete journey, which includes the three additional chapters originally released as downloadable content. Although it's only a few hours long, this is the kind of epic adventure where you feel like you've gone on a real journey when everything is said and done. Without saying a single word, the sentient candle manages to convey a lot of emotion and go on quite a roller coaster ride.

A lot of this comes down to the moody presentation. The developer has found quite a few ways of making the darkness look and feel unique, which is no easy task. I like that the story is good about pushing us from one distinctive environment to another, with each offering a different visual flourish. The music is also appropriately moody, giving the entire journey a real sense of dread.

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But for as much as I like the look and atmosphere of this game, I'm disappointed by the easy difficulty. Even with a barrage of creative obstacles to overcome, most of the platforming and puzzling is painfully simple. I went huge stretches of this game without losing a single life, and even if you accidentally miss a jump or get gobbled up by a phantom, Candleman is good about checkpoints and giving you plenty of chances to get it right. The path is always straight-forward and pushing you in a linear direction, which isn't as exciting as the journey suggests. The most challenging part is finding all of the candles in each stage, because there are always a couple tucked away in unexpected spots.

This is one of those games that I thoroughly enjoyed playing through and have no problem recommending, but I'm not sure I'm ever going to want to play it again. There isn't a lot to this world that is pulling me back in, even though there are probably a few candles I should track down and light. It's a sweet story with a thoroughly satisfying ending, but it's also straight-forward to a fault. Most of the great ideas and clever obstacles that get introduced are just as quickly discarded in favor of something else, and it often feels like there's a rush to get to the next part of the journey. That's great for the pacing of the story, but I can't help but shake the feeling that there's a lot more they could have done with the platforming.

Candleman is a charming and often unpredictable adventure starring a little candle with big aspirations. This is a five-hour journey with atmospheric stages filled with inventive platforming puzzles and a lot of great ideas. It's also a bit on the easy side, thanks in large part to straight-forward level designs and obstacles that never put up much of a challenge. The good news is that the tightly-paced story and immensely satisfying conclusion make up for the lack of difficulty, ultimately making Candleman an adventure everybody should go on, no matter what system you own.