The Light in the Darkness

Type: 3d, Narrative driven, Historical, 3rd Person

Developers: Voices of the Unforgotten

Publishers: Arcade Distillery

Date Released: 26th January 2024

Official Site: https://www.voicesoftheforgotten.com/thelightinthedarkness

For as long as I can remember there has been much discussion about whether video games are or can be “Art”. Often dismissed as mainly for children or as an inferior mode of entertainment, the last few years that video games have begun to be taken more seriously outside of the video game industry. The Last of Us TV series demonstrated to a wider audience that games CAN tell good stories but as well as that, more recently games have begun to deal with more difficult and sensitive topics such as sexuality, mental health, the effects of war and immigration to mention just a few. That said there hasn’t yet been a game that I am aware of that deals directly with the Holocaust. Until now.

To say this is a sensitive topic is a massive understatement. So it was with some trepidation I started up this game. But I needn’t have worried as the story was told sensitively and with nuance. The story is told mainly through a child’s point of view but there are times we play as the parents and friends of the family which helps give us multiple perspectives. You play as a family of Jewish Polish immigrants living in France in the late 1930’s. We play as the father Moses, the mother Blum and the son Joshua at different points in the story. We start off as Joshua as he goes to school and plays a game with his friends. He then visits his father at his shop where he works as a tailor. Before long the mother Blum receives a letter from her parents back in Poland who have written to her to let her know that after the Nazis invaded their country there is now a real threat to the Jews so they need to go into hiding for some time. Before too long the Nazis invade France and the threat becomes all too real for this family.

The game starts off with the Evian conference which took place in France in 1938. At this conference, world leaders from the US, UK, France and other mainly Western countries failed to come to an agreement to allow the Jews safe access to their countries. This helps to explain why the family in this game don’t simply leave. When Blum brings this up, Moses mentions that there is nowhere to go and he does not want to leave his family homeless. With seemingly nowhere left to turn and with friends turning on them the family will need to do whatever they can to survive and see who they can trust during this Nazi occupation.

We, the player, know the full context but the horror slowly dawns on the characters. One character who changes from Judaism to Christianity believes he is safe but we know better. Even when we hear that some people are being rounded up and taken on trains the family still can’t fathom the horror that is happening. And yet one of the most horrific moments in the game also demonstrates the banality of evil. A Nazi soldier carefully takes a child into his arms and lifts him onto a train. If we didn’t know the context we might believe the Nazi may have been the father. But once again we know where the train is heading and what will happen to the children when they arrive at the concentration camps.

Another impressive part of this story is that there are sprinkles of humour throughout. This could have been jarring in such a story as this but it’s done surprisingly well. One of the characters talks about the perfect woman he meets while nobody takes him seriously. At times he is self centred but there also moments we can see he is caring and willing to help. There is some real footage interspersed which include Nazi soldiers going up the Eiffel Tower or Nazi propaganda covering buildings in Paris. The game also doesn’t shy away from the Vichy government’s role in the Holocaust and shows it wasn’t just the Germans involved.

The scenes in the game are usually in the form of short vignettes and never go on for too long. Some may be a little too short and it would have been nice if a few had been slightly longer. Then again most scenes don’t need to be longer and the short scenes also help ensure the story moves at a good pace.

For the most part there aren’t many puzzles. Only once was there a moment where we need to organise boxes which may take some time to figure out and was also quite fun. It would have been nice if there had been more of these types of puzzles but it’s definitely understandable that the developers didn’t want these to detract from the story. Apart from a couple of other minigames, the majority of the game is spent walking and talking to other characters. Sometimes the walking speed was very slow but thankfully for the most part this wasn’t an issue. There are only a few choices we need to make while talking to other characters but none of these choices will affect the story. In my opinion this turns out to be a good choice from the developers as this shows that surviving came down to pure luck for the most part.

Graphically the game may look a little rudimentary but it never affected my enjoyment of this game. The characters all have exaggeratedly big eyes but this helps to make the characters more expressive and ends up being the correct choice in my opinion. Most of the time the game takes place in the family’s flat and the street outside. While the backgrounds might look a little bare the graphics still do their job.

Another way the game immerses the player into the game is through its music. While the soundtrack may be a little sentimental and unsubtle at times it was also varied enough to keep it interesting. There is also one particularly powerful moment when the Marseillaise is being played. Usually a bombastic loud anthem, this time it is subdued and very slow which makes this particular scene even more haunting and heartbreaking. There is no voice acting which would have certainly added to the immersion. However I didn’t really miss it as the writing was good enough to keep my interest in the game throughout.  

Unfortunately there are no manual saves which meant I needed to replay from the beginning of a scene when I needed to quit. This seemed unnecessary as this is a linear game so I’m not sure why there are no manual saves included. That said the game takes about one hour to complete so it’s perfectly possible to play the game all the way through in one sitting. While this game length may be an issue for many games, it feels like the right length for this game. It doesn’t feel rushed and it also doesn’t outstay its welcome. Considering the tough subject matter, it’s probably a good thing the game isn’t much longer as it allows us to get our breaths back after completing the game. The game is also free as the developers intended this to be used as an educational tool at schools and universities so wanted to make it readily available.

Whether games are “Art” will still be up for discussion but as long as games such as The Light in the Darkness exist, it can demonstrate to people that games can be a good way to tell stories about sensitive topics. The fact that this game is interactive means we can walk in the characters’ shoes and can help give us more understanding. With the rise in anti-semitism, anti-islamaphobia, anti-immigration and intolerance in general, games like these are even more important than ever before. It is essential that stories like these continue to be told and are not forgotten. While this game is about the Holocaust in particular, it can also help us understand other horrific genocides. This game can help give us some understanding of what groups of people who are targeted go through while it also reminds us that we are all human and simply trying to get by no matter who we are and what we may look like. The Light in the Darkness tackles this most difficult of topics with aplomb and needs to be played by as many people as possible. If more people did play this game then maybe, just maybe, there may be more tolerance in this world. We can but hope.

Pros:

·       Well written and important story

·       Difficult topic sensitively told with nuance

·       Expressive characters which we care about

·       Varied soundtrack help to make scenes more powerful

·       Real footage adds authenticity to story

·       Game can help people understand important topic

·       Story well paced throughout

·       Game can be played in an hour but length feels just right

·       Game is free

·       Game can be used as an educational tool at schools and universities

Cons

·       Not many puzzles or much varied gameplay

·       Very slow walking pace at times

·       Graphics may look rudimentary at times

·       Good voice acting would have helped immerse the player further

·       Some scenes feel a little short

·       Topic may be a little too sensitive for some people

No Manual saves