There's very little by way of distractions. There is also a map, but it’s rudimentary.Īs stated, the visuals are a treat with each room thoughtfully constructed. The menu screen shows a journal that notes every item obtained and even the occasional sticker. If I wasn’t pulling my hair out so much from dying, I would definitely consider going back to acquire everything. Power-ups glow and have the strong ringing bell sound of Crackdown 2’s ability spheres (a game Noyce also worked on). Typically, these are placed above water so players need to jump on the duck and precisely jump back to safety. ![]() The first major item to collect are tiny, yellow rubber ducks. One of the pleasures of Lumo isn’t just finding a hipster cassette collectible, but how small moments evoke a bygone era. ![]() In the case of Rock Band there was a calibration option here, there are three ways to control the character, but I never found a sweet spot that worked right for either the analog or directional control scheme.īack to the good stuff, there are plenty of nods to classic gaming throughout. There’s a mine-cart chase where it’s really apparent hitting circle to jump does not register on time. Remember back in the day when we all had to sync our plastic guitars for Rock Band because when we hit yellow, it wouldn’t register at the right moment? It can be like that. I’ll give game designer Gareth Noyce (who worked on triple-A titles like Fable 2) the benefit of the doubt and assume he’s going for “old-school hard,” but even then certain moments can feel glitchy. Still, being confined in such a small area can be taxing since it’s hard to tell if this required preciseness is deliberate or just not well thought-out. There are checkpoints in each room so thankfully you don’t have to go back any farther. The main character is not at all svelte so it can be really easy to over-jump or land but then fall off altogether. Too often you’re tasked with jumping (your first ability) onto tiny floating squares or ledges. Sadly, navigating these colorful medieval confines can be frustrating. You can also slightly move the camera a bit to the left or right to see around an obstructing pillar, although this, more times than not, acts as a kind of tease. Moving from room to room can be quick until you reach the third or fourth one, which is usually a puzzle or brainteaser, control-based or both. Imagine rooms where the boundaries of the walls are enhanced by an outer space backdrop (a simple but really effective way to show the layout). There is no dialogue, voiced or text, which is fitting.Īll alone in a dungeon, you are tasked with moving the wizard hat-wearing being through a series of rooms that are small in design, almost claustrophobic. You’re given no context as to whom this person is before they are zapped Tron-style into a console dungeon crawler. What begins with a young girl (or boy, depending on player preference) checking out an arcade/console convention quickly morphs into the meat of the game. Now that I’ve played the final version, I’m still a fan of this isometric puzzler, though the majority of my time was spent dying over and over again. Lumo plays off nostalgia with the confidence of a development team who grew up with a lot of sprite-based adventures. ![]() As a gamer growing up in the Nintendo era, I was immediately drawn to such a beautifully art-directed indie title featuring a lead character that looks a lot like Vivi from Final Fantasy IX. When I played the demo for Lumo last month at PAX East, I was over the moon with the art style and the tone.
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