Tag: Lumo

Lumo Keeps You Thinking

After solving some mind-bending puzzles, Lumo is a game I just couldn’t get out of my head. Between Horizon, Zelda, and Nioh it somehow managed to pull me back in. Wanting to see how deep the strange rabbit hole goes is a great motivational tool. It’s so weird and unique that diving deeper was needed just to get a better sense of what Lumo is. Starting where we left off the last episode we journey through a door that I was able to open off camera. This brings us to a conveyor belt rife with danger; a few jumps and we’re back in the room that was closed off last time. Using the new entrance to jump on some crates we move forward in our adventure.

Platforming Is the Name of the Game in Lumo

The first room is a throwback to the Donkey Kong of old, barrels, and dodging; the twist is you’re going down not up. Next up is to spin a wheel to lower the water level so we can progress downward. It’s pretty cool that everything in the game is given the bare essentials of simply jumping on it. This seems to the theme of Lumo, jumping will solve any problems. Moving through a ball rolling room that took me far to many attempts were in the room where we lowered the water level. Jump some boxes and to the other side through a portal, we go.

Dropping Balls to Move to the Jumping Gauntlet

Coming to a small ball puzzle that’s as simple as moving the balls into holes by moving some boxes. We get a small gauntlet on our way to our final goal. Jumping over spikes on some conveyor belts proves to be a little taxing. Next up is some slow-moving platforms that aren’t much of a challenge. Spin another wheel to open a door and going through the door causes something I did not see coming.

The big ball we just dealt with not too long ago is now after blood and it’s coming at full speed. Having to jump over ground spikes as well as dodge ground spikes, the goal is to make to the exit before the gate closes. The fact that he goes back for his hat was a nice detail that I appreciated.

Magnets for the Win

After escaping that brush with death we come to a little magnet claw-like game. It’s fairly simple as you just need to move the magnet to the shiny thing and bring it back. You can’t go to fast as it’ll get stuck on the geometry and just stay left behind. Now I can’t personally tell what the thingy is but as with the SD card we got last time I’m guessing it’s something tech-related. Filling out more of our little notebook we cross the water we’ve been forcing downward and come to a room with four doors. This is for the next episode as this one has been pretty fruitful.

Let’s jump into some mind carts!

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.

The Start of Lumo Is a Little Offputting

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

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

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

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.

Let’s continue this journey into the unknown.