Review: Lumines Arise (PC)

Tetris Effect (by the same developer as Lumines Arise) was a breakthrough puzzle game in the way it utterly transformed how we look at action puzzle games as audiovisual experiences. It was, essentially, an interactive music video with some of the coolest, most rhythmically vibrant music. The way it inspired the fingers to dance across the controller, pulling you totally within a trance-like zone, is quite possibly the best VR experience I’ve ever had, and the non-VR version then proved to be every bit as mesmerising.

Since then, there have been a few attempts to capture that same vibe, perhaps most notably a better-than-people-give-it-credit-for revival of Fantavision. I was, however, always wondering whether we would see a return of Lumines, given that Lumines was the predecessor to Tetris Effect. And now we have it. Lumines Arise doesn’t disappoint on any level.

For those who haven’t played it, Lumines Arise is a block-dropping game, similar in some respects to Tetris. The play field is wider and flatter, essentially like turning Tetris on its side. The blocks still fall down from the top of the screen, but they all come in one shape – square, and that shape is broken into four smaller squares. Each of those will be one of two colours. Your goal is simple – create a square of four of the same colour by dropping these blocks down, and then they’ll disappear.

The wrinkle in the works is that there’s also a timeline bar that scrolls across the screen in time with the music, looking much like the timeline bars that you find in video or music editing software. It’s only when this timeline bar passes through a completed block that they’ll be removed from the playfield. This sounds simple, but it has some major impacts in how you play, as you’re rewarded for removing as many blocks as possible with each “sweep” of the timeline bar.

In other words, you’re playing this block-matching game to a very specific rhythm, set by the music. It’s not a rhythm game, as such, but it’s cleverly designed to make you interact with and really feel the music.

This is how Lumines has always played, and it has always been brilliant at it. This new Lumines doesn’t mess too much with the formula. It adds a Burst mechanic, allowing you to prevent the timeline sweep from removing blocks and allowing you to build up some eye-watering combos, but the game largely rests on its well-proven standard: It’s a joy to play because it is so simple, yet becomes so challenging once the speed starts picking up.

The real reason that people play each new one in this series is to see what’s in the soundtrack, and Lumines Arise is unparalleled in how immersive it is. Admittedly, I’m “cheating” a little in that I’ve been testing $1350 headphones while playing (look forward to the review of THEM soon enough), but with those headphones on I quite genuinely block out the entire world around me while I play Arise. My entire focus is dragged into those richly colourful blocks as the music pulses through my ears, and after one game, which can last for 30 or so minutes, I feel drained – but drained in a good way. The way that the very best artworks feed off your emotions and imagination like a vampire does, as you don’t feel even slightly disappointed at giving it such focus and energy.

The music builds as you play well, too. If you go too long without getting a good hit from combos, then not only will the blocks in the playfield start to build up, but the music retreats back to the most basic beats. Get in a few good rounds of combos, however, and not only does your points score go supernova, but the music explodes in the most incredible cacophony. You won’t even notice the points, though, because they’re not the real reward here.

The soundtrack covers just about every form of electronica you could imagine, as well as some R&B, poppy, jazzy and rocky riffs. Normally, I’d not listen to several of the genres in that soundtrack, but the tracks the developers have implemented are all certified bangers and, in the context of the game, there isn’t a single piece of music that I didn’t love. All this music and puzzling action is supported by an amazingly eclectic, abstract, and riveting set of backgrounds that are somehow an overwhelming display of colour and animation without ever distracting from the core gameplay loop.

The only thing I find somewhat disappointing is the way the gameplay modes are structured. I didn’t care for the missions, which require you to complete secondary objectives while clearing stages. That mode is a distraction from the core gameplay loop. Meanwhile, you need to complete levels in the “journey” mode before you can use them in the playlist for the real drawcard, the endless mode, which just adds to the work and time it takes to get to the REALLY GOOD part of Lumines, when you have free reign to set up a soundtrack to suit your mood and just immerse yourself in the block-matching audio-visual extravaganza. I can’t think of anything better to unwind with after a long day of work. I shouldn’t have to put a half dozen hours into the game to be able to properly enjoy that.

There’s also a multiplayer mode, but I have no interest in that. Lumines is about your interaction with the music and the playfield. An opponent – human or AI – would just undermine the purity of that. Perhaps some other people out there will appreciate it, but this is one puzzle game that’s at its most hypnotising when you can zone out of the real world with it.

The point I’m really getting at here is that Lumines Arise has a meditative-like quality to it. Lumines has always offered rich and vibrant soundtracks backed by gorgeous visuals and an incredibly intense, yet rewarding gameplay loops. Lumines Arise is the ultimate realisation of that vision, and quite possibly the greatest puzzle game I’ve ever played.