Pilfer: Story of Light Review

Game: Pilfer: Story of Light
Genre: 3D Platformer, Action, Adventure
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Vincent Prom
Controller Support: Yes
Price: UK £8.50 | US $9.99 | € 9.75
Release Date: August 4th, 2023

Review code used with many thanks to Vincent Prom

Introduction

As mentioned within my Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara review, platformers were a massive genre of gaming between the 90s and early 2000s’ following the groundwork laid by series such as Mario, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. The platforming genre is an accessible and rewarding genre of gaming that can be used to help new players find an interest in gaming. Some titles even take this to the extreme, becoming difficult titles with amazing gameplay payoff.

Amongst Vincent Prom’s solo-developed indie titles, Pilfer: Story of Light and Crow Story it’s easy to see his inspiration from those traditional platforming series.

Story

A tale is recounted about the Light battling the Darkness and ultimately winning but not without sacrifice, stylised with a storybook presentation. Pilfer and his sister, Poppy, come across a shiny lantern. Poppy crouches up to the lantern and is kidnapped by a large cosmic owl called Caligo, who is part of the nefarious group Moonsong.

Poppy destroys the lantern to release herself from Caligo, but not before the floor is destroyed, and you are all taken to the Forgotten Ruins. Upon landing and looking around, you team up with a sprite called Lumi, who wants help finding the other sprites and agrees to help you find your sister. After you have escaped the Forgotten Ruins. You arrive on Crescent Island, where Lumi is from.

Gameplay

Within Pilfer: Story of Light, gameplay is very similar to titles such as Super Mario Galaxy. Pilfer has various abilities like other platforming characters, such as jumping, diving, crouching and wall jumping.

Within Crescent Island, the hub world, Pilfer can use obtained lanterns to unlock new worlds. Lanterns are received when completing challenges at different levels. You can open new music boxes that contain new worlds. Each world features unique platforming mechanics, which really helps differentiate the worlds from one another. In each level, you can collect coins that can be exchanged should you run out of health and star pages. These star pages can be exchanged for costumes, special levels and reading the diary excerpts within the library on Crescent Island.

Art and Sound

The storybook aesthetic reminded me of how Rosalina’s story within Super Mario Galaxy is recounted to the player. Pilfer: Story of Light seems to incorporate that aesthetic within all cutscenes and narrative context. Even within the game’s introduction, the music track’s start sounds like the same notes used within Rosalina’s story.

The storybook aesthetic is a cute addition; it goes well with the cell-shaded, low poly models present within the game. Contextually, the music of the game suits the title. Additionally, the menus are simple and clear. However, the user interface could use a little more stylisation to match the storybook aesthetic or similar stylisation to the game’s title.

Conclusion

Overall, Pilfer: Story of Light has much to offer, considering its small price tag. Additionally, options include speedrunning through levels and lots of collectables and customisation. Pilfer: Story of Life impressed me. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to play an indie 3D platformer.

You can pick up Pilfer: Story of Light here.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot.