Lumo Is a Mind-Warping Experience
Lumo is a truly unique game that teaches you through gameplay and imagery rather than pop-ups and text prompts. it’s not quite as clear as it could be. In the video above I do have some trouble learning the game’s nuances early on. The odd 3d perspective does have a touch of a learning curve but is also a key part of the challenge. You have to know your surroundings and gauge jumps accordingly. This can be a bit tough as turning the room can be a chore. You can only turn the screen a little bit left and right using the triggers. If you could turn the entire room you’re in this wouldn’t be as big of a problem as you could get a better grasp of your surroundings.
In Lumo this 3D perspective practically is the game
The Start of Lumo Is a Little Offputting
The beginning of Lumo is drastically different from the rest of the game
Lumo starts with choosing a boy or girl and a color. I have no idea why this is needed. Since as soon as you get hit with a Tron-like beam in the opening seconds you become a little magician that doesn’t show the choice that was just made. The graphics stay a tad similar between the two worlds but the game is more so set in the dungeon-like areas. You’re thrown into a small room with no abilities and left to your own devices. From here on out it’s up to you to learn how the game works with visual cues and your wit. Exiting the first room we see we need a key and an arrow points us in a direction. This is how the game operates, it has no voice, no scrolls to readjust the environment and gameplay.
Moving from Room to Room Is Progress in Lumo
In Lumo you have to retrieve the ability to jump
Lumo is about going from room to room and figuring out how to progress through the said room. You have to move through a slew of rooms to get to the ability to jump, which is used to progress elsewhere. That’s sort of the pattern in Lumo, get stuck go somewhere else and get the ability or knowledge you need to progress where you once were. Dying in Lumo isn’t a nuisance thankfully since you are going to be trying different tactics to solve various rooms. Just a quick respawn with no load times and you’re good to go. Once you get the ability to jump the game opens up. Grabbing a once unreachable book gives you access to the save and settings menu; this is honestly pretty cool.
Pushing Boxes, Dodging Fire Pillars and Braving Poison Water Is All in a Day’s Work
Dodging giant fire pillars is just one of the many traps in Lumo
Coming back to the fact that Lumo teaches you, game mechanics, through its gameplay; stumbling around is just the name of the game. It took me a tad too long to learn how to use items in Lumo, a rainbow box is moved by jumping on it, this is a typical item theme. If an item is needed or used odds are it just needs to be jumped on. This includes an adorable box with eyes that loves the main character for some unknown reason. Utilizing boxes, pushing, and befriending love-struck boxes you’ll collect keys, rubber ducks, mixtapes, and SD cards. What you do with all these items I haven’t the slightest clue yet, but I’m excited to push forward and figure it out.
Lumo Keeps the Surprises Coming
Taking a nice elevator ride to a secret is one of the many joys in Lumo
Lumo is a game teeming with personality, it has hidden music tracks on an elevator ride to a robot pavilion. Lumo oozes charm, from the Trophies you unlock to the little bits scattered throughout, you’ll have a smile on your face throughout. As you progress you get more and more things to tinker with. There’s a cannon that can help open doors, a teleporter to move you throughout the world, balls to move over poison water, a giant soap bar to make bubbles to jump on.