Would I be correct to assume that I’m the only one here whom remembers the 2009 WiiWare release of LIT by WayForward Technologies (whom is otherwise better known for Shantae, DuckTales Remastered, Contra 4, and Double Dragon Neon)? The game starred an emo-teenager — named Jake — whom woke up one day to find his school was taken over by a menacing darkness, and all of his teachers were replaced with demons. Thus — regardless of Jake’s outlook on life — it became up to him to light the school back up, and furthermore find his girlfriend — named Rachel — before the slithering darkness consumed the both of them.
In order to do this Jake needed to light up the environment, because it apparently seemed that all but the hardiest of otherworldly demons were deathly afraid of stepping into the light. This light would then form pathways were Jake could safely walk; yet he’d need to be careful since supplies were limited, and — to make matters worse — the building’s failing electrical system meant he’d be royally screwed over if he blew a circuit breaker. While many reviewers found the game play interesting — and the puzzles to be diabolically enjoyable — the general consensus was that LIT’s controls left something to be desired, since they made it stupidly easy to perform accidental suicide-maneuvers.
Fast forward to 2015 — however — and WayForward is now releasing an updated pseudo-sequel to LIT (out now, free), aimed at simultaneously celebrating both Halloween and their company’s 25th anniversary.
While the basic premise is still the same — with Jake needing to create safe light-passages, and manage limited resources — he won’t ever have to worry about overloading any circuit breakers this time around. Now instead he’ll only be able to turn on lamps if he has any spare light bulbs on hand (which will always be used in the same stage their found within), and he additionally recovers these back whenever he turns a lamp off. Personally I would say this change makes LIT far easier to grok, seeing as how the previous game would sometimes ask you to destroy unneeded lamps — with your slingshot — if you couldn’t reach them anymore (and they were permanently broken afterwards).
The controls work by having you grab and drag Jake about, whom may be freely moved through any floor tile that’s presently lit (either via a lamp, a TV, or a shattered window). Meanwhile, any loose items — such as light bulbs, TV remotes, slingshot pellets, and matches — are all grabbed automatically just by running past them (even if the tile they’re sitting on isn’t properly lit). You can use these light bulbs whenever you’re standing next to a lamp (and afterwards tap the lamp again to take back the light bulb), whereas slingshot pellets can be used to break any windows you have a straight line-of-sight with.
TV Remotes — which are used by tapping their icon once grabbed — enable you to cycle through the various TVs found in each class room, and this cycling always occurs in a consistent order. Matches — on the other hand — require to first tap match icon, and then select an adjacent square to set ablaze (it probably goes without saying, but this temporary fire will eliminate Jake if he waltzes into it). Apparently it would seem that greater demons — whom aren’t afraid of a little sunlight — can only be destroyed with fire, and they can furthermore only be destroyed when they’re somewhere you can see them.
These monsters come in one of two varieties: Black Demons whom stand still — usually blocking a key path — while patiently waiting for you to burn them, and the far more troublesome Red Demons. Red Demons will move to chase you whenever there’s a clear line of sight between you both; but only if they’re standing in a lit area, and then furthermore only as far as the light itself. I guess there must be some sort of demonic union rule that prevents them from chasing you through the darkness itself; either way, you’ll need to carefully herd these demons into carefully placed traps of burning-demise.
Using these controls you’ll have to lead Jake across sixteen different diabolically challenging puzzles, many of which will often leave you positively confounded as to what you’re missing (yet there’s always an answer, seeing as how I finished the game). After a level is completed you’ll be told how much time was spent, as well as the number of steps taken, compared with that stage’s ideal par (and all formerly completed stages may be freely retried at your leisure). Although finishing any of LIT’s stages will simply be a matter of figuring out which actions need to be taken, and then executing them all in the correct order, beating a level within this par will be a grueling test of your efficiency.
Those whom finish all of the game’s sixteen levels within LIT’s ideal par-time will achieve the game’s good ending, although this is perhaps where my primary — and pretty much only — complaint resides. Although the game plays out just fine when you’re being careful, you’ll quickly discover a variety of places where LIT fails utterly when you’re rushing to do everything super quickly. The first of these dilemmas is that LIT will often refuse to move Jake whenever you’re standing next to a lamp, which is positively aggravating when most of these levels feature par-times with razor-thin time-margins.
Far more annoying — however — is when you’re trying to grab Jake, yet the game instead believed you meant to yank the light bulb from whichever lamp you’re currently standing next to. This will sometimes result in an any army of dark tentacles immediately springing up and pulling Jake down to his doom, and is certainly a far more common occurrence when you’re putting that peddle to the metal. I guess this is one aspect of the original I wish they hadn’t carried over, since the Wii game had the lamp button be the same as the one for using your active tool (leading to accidental deaths when hurrying).
Still — despite these issues — it’s rather hard to argue with LIT’s asking price, seeing as how the game is being given away — without any IAPs whatsoever — for absolutely free. Joining previous games with a similar business plan — such as PigeonMan (our review) and City on Fire (our review) — LIT is supported purely via tiny banner ads at the top of your screen, which are thankfully placed so that they never awkwardly get in the way. Therefore — while the game’s good ending might be somewhat of an unnecessary hassle to reach — simply experiencing LIT, which is certainly a fun excursion all unto itself, can still be had for a bargain price well worth the package offered.
Verdict
LIT is a well-handled psuedo-sequel to the 2009 WiiWare puzzle-filled experience, wherein an emo-student had to save his high school — now overrun by shadowy demons — by lighting the place back up (all in order to create safe walkways). The game contains 16 different stages filled with mind-bending puzzles — many of which are guaranteed to leave you utterly stumped — all for the grand price of totally free, with no IAPs either (instead, the game is subsidized entirely via tiny banner ads). Although this is all great — especially during your initial play through — reaching LIT’s good ending, which requires every level to be finished under par, will likely drive you bonkers due to some sadly inopportune control scheme choices made by WayForward.