If you love adventure, shadow puppets, and unique gameplay then Projection: First Light on Xbox One will enchant.

Projection: First Light is a tough one to recommend then. On the one hand it has a lovely visual and audio style that draws us in, and the idea of the core mechanic is great. In practice though it’s too fiddly and unreliable to sustain a several hour+ title, and it likely won’t hold the attention though to its conclusion.

Even though I enjoyed my time with Projection: First Light's clever 2D platforming, there's no denying just how flimsy it can be at times.

With a unique backdrop and clever use of shadows, Projection: First Light delivers what it intended. A calm and casual puzzle platformer that is a pleasure to play through. The story is delivered in a nice shadow puppetry fashion, though some may find it hard to follow because there is no talking or narration. The biggest downside is getting glitched into walls or stuck. If save points could have been the actual checkpoints, then maybe it wouldn’t have been as much of a problem. The design and music are great, as well as how the puzzles are tackled. But because you or items can be glitched in areas they shouldn’t be, it becomes a persistent hope that it doesn’t happen (again), requiring you to restart the level. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it’ll take some reworking of the game mechanics to really shine.