Saving Memories From Ages Past: "Let's Play" Sky COTL

[Baudshaw]

So, this is a bit of an odd situation. I've wanted to do an LP for this game, but since I already play it, it's a unique scenario. The game does have a definitive "ending", but they keep coming up with new expansions, so I've been playing on and off for nearly three years now. Because of this, this will be a part storytime/ part tutorial/ part playthrough of Sky: Children of the Light. I'll narrate my experience with the game as how I first played it in 2020, as well as recalling my reactions and stories from this era. I'll also use screenshots I took in the present, as I do not have any screenshots from before 2021.

With that said...

Part 0: Introduction

Sky Children of the Light (shortened to Sky COTL or just Sky) is a social adventure game released by thatgamecompany. They also released Journey, Flower, and Flow. In the game, you traverse a ruined kingdom while trying to establish a new society as a Skykid, angel-like creatures who were sent down from the heavens to restore the world. There are a lot of social aspects, with it being technically considered an MMO, although it lacks many of the combat and high fantasy aspects present in traditional MMOs. It is free, and is available on iOS, Android, PS4, PS5, and Switch, with a Steam version coming out soon.

There are six 'eras' in my playthrough of the game.

Era 1: The Main Story (May-June 2020).
Era 2: Dabbling with the Community (June-December 2020)
Era 3: Early 2021 Break (January-June 2021)
Era 4: Semi's Squad (June-November 2021)
Era 5: Epic Lore Time (December 2021- August 2022)
Era 6: Beyond the World of Sky (September 2022- Present)

I will also be recalling stories about the various expansions that took place. There have been fifteen expansions as of now:

Era 1: None
Era 2: Enchantment, Sanctuary, Prophecy
Era 3: Dreams, Assembly
Era 4: TLP, Flight
Era 5: Abyss, Performance, Shattering
Era 6: Aurora, Remembrance, Passage, Moments, Revival

 

[Falselogic]

Love to see a new Let's Play! I've gone ahead and added it to the list!

 

[Baudshaw]

And another note: it’s okay if you can comment here with questions or concerns. In fact, I encourage it. I want to see what other people think of Sky!

 

[Baudshaw]

Part 1: The Morning Dunes

Anything that is different than what is shown in the screenshot will be underlined. Also, my nostalgia storytime moments will be set in bold.

The first cutscene of the game is extremely vague. At first, all we see is a ruined building (maybe a castle of some sort), a gate, and a desert with nothing but an abandoned boat.

It's a showcase for the first section of the game: nothing but ruin and desolation.



I find myself (without a cape on your first playthrough) facing a small hill, with the sun obscured. Ignore the yellow thing at the top for now.

I walk inside the cave and light up some white candles. These are meant to help you progress the story or add detail to the world in some way. It turns out, this is the real intro cutscene.

A simple quote, but a nice one to start the game off with. It establishes how much of a driving Light (with a capital L, mind you) is to the world.

I learn some fairly basic knowledge about the world, and they WILL hammer in how important stars and light are.

I'm not mad at this introduction, but it failed to leave that much of an impression with me.

At least this is interesting. Now, we know the overarching goal of this game: save the long-lost spirits who once inhabited this world.

And at the end of the cave, we get this. What a visual marvel (when it's not being compressed). I see multiple points of interest, but the one that catches my eye is the large castle in the distance.

When I first played the game, I didn't know there even was any sort of multiplayer or social option. I thought it was just a single player mobile adventure where you have to free all the spirits and save the world. I was mostly enticed by the graphics and atmosphere. I didn't even see another player after I left this area, and I thought they were NPCs for a bit.

This is a Winged Light, an embodiment of pure light that helps the character by giving them the ability to fly.

Your cape is tied to your flight power: receiving this Winged Light gives you a cape for the first time, and the more you collect, the more advanced your cape becomes.

There are many factors to flying, but for now, it's quite simple. When I'm on the ground, pressing the fly button will cause me to rise up in the air vertically. Once I'm in the air, I can toggle between a vertical mode and horizontal mode- which allows me to fly upwards or forwards, respectively.

These yellow blips are Butterflies. By calling to them, they will give a temporary boost to your flying, lifting you up.

The first namedrop. It's not really an "isle", besides the fact that it's surrounded by clouds on all sides. But as we'll see, you can easily go over them.

Here's a symbol of a long pointed stick. Don't know what it is yet? Don't worry, I had absolutely no clue when I first started playing.

It's also indicative of a Spirit Gate. It shows how many spirits you need to save before continuing. I had already saved the spirit, but for new players, the gate would show '0/1' and be blue and solid.

Here is a spirit, using similar design conventions as the player character. They appear as bright blue to new players.

The spirit shows the importance of candles to this ancient society, and- oh, right. This game was made in 2019, so the suspiciously shaped figure holding a stick is just a coincidence.

A boat in the desert may seem stupid, but there will be a reason for it. And that castle is getting closer.


The vast majority of cutscenes are wordless, by the way. Each spirit you save will reward you by giving an emote (this one is Point.) Past me thought this was a weird choice, but it makes sense a bit, as we are "children" of the light, both metaphorically and physically. Maybe they're teaching us these expressions?

The spirit gate is crossed! And if you've already collected a Winged Light beforehand, it will show up as a faint outline.

I now have collected 2 winged lights, and my cape has leveled up! Well, what does this mean?

By acquiring a certain amount of Winged light, I can gain an additional 'wing' for your wing meter. Every time I rise up vertically or boost forward horizontally, I consume a part of the wing meter, which is the yellow icon on the top of the screen. If I don't have any, I'll weakly glide before going down. There are many ways to regain it, such as going near a cloud or calling butterflies. Think of it like a stamina meter.

This is what the wing meter looks like with 10 levels.

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And, that's all for today! I hope you're enjoying this screenshot LP of Sky. Come join me next time where we go to the elusive castle in the background!

 

[Baudshaw]

Part 2: The Abandoned Temple

Last time, I did my first flight towards the Isle Temple. It's easier than it seems; the wind pushes you upwards and forwards.

The scale of it is truly massive, but it could use some more detail.

The interior is smaller than what it seems like from the outside, though.

Light them up, and I get murals of other structures that exist. Another castle-like structure, a sort of stupa, a double-layered castle, a fortress, a tower, and... where have we seen the last one before?

Ah, right. It seems not all of them are in the best shape.

Anyways, I walk near the bluish door in the middle and light up two diamond thingies, which activate the door.

It seems that the technology of this world is quite advanced.

Oh, other players?

When I first played the game, this was the point in which I met other players. All of them had the exact same default look: beige shorts, a beige tunic, a brown tunic, and androgynous hair. I assumed they were NPCs and ignored them for the time being.

I've always loved the aesthetics of this castle. There's a bit of fog and a large amount of natural light, making it feel like a courtyard.

I sit at the shrine area, and...

And yes, all cutscenes have those two annoying black bars on the bottom on top.

But here's a more clear version of the mysterious castle from earlier. We can see now that those "pillar" things are towers of their own.

Remember the suspiciously shaped figure holding a stick? This is their grand appearance! Yet it seems their face is broken. There's also the mysterious castle from before, now on a huge mountain.

Candles are going to be extremely important in this game. We'll see later the many different ways NPCs and other players use them.

Here, they use it to repair their face and spice up their clothes.

Man, I can really see the beauty of this game- wait, where did all the water come from??

Presumably commanding birds to lead the way.

In the modern versions of this game, completing this will say "Journey on to the next realm. The remaining Elders are there for you to wake them up."

Sadly, I didn't have this dialogue when I was new, but this is still cool. It establishes that these big dudes are named Elders, that there are more of them, and that they need to be woken up.

Darn, it's bright! Won't be the last time they'll flashbang us like this.

This is one of my favorite parts of the game: an endless, pristine sea of clouds. Here, you can really explore your flying skills, with no hand-holding needed. But you can let the birds carry you if you're still not too comfortable, like I was when I first started. They help you fly by giving you wing energy, but they don't boost you as much as the butterflies.

There's also these big creatures to the right of me, called Mantas. We'll get to them later, right now they're mostly for show.

Apologies for the poor quality photo, it was the only one I had. But this is the title drop, which shows you that what you did before was simply an introduction (albeit, a good one). This is only the beginning.

Finally, after flying through this ocean of clouds, we find a small piece of land.

Where does it lead me? Well, find out later, as that's all for today! I hope you're enjoying this screenshot LP of Sky. Come join me next time as we discover the secrets of the other Elders.

 

[Falselogic]

On hiatus

 

[Baudshaw]

Yeah, they updated it to have a different intro sequence entirely. I might have to start over...

 

[Falselogic]

All good. No judgement here. Just updating.