Lumo

Genre: Puzzle-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Lumo is a Puzzle-Platformer first released on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One in 2016, and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2017. This game has players taking the role of a young kid transported into a videogame, where he appears as a squat character dressed as a magician. To escape, he’ll need to navigate dungeons, solve puzzles, and collect items strewn throughout the dungeon.

Lumo’s presentation makes use of fairly simple 3D visuals viewed from an isometric perspective. Despite the visuals’ 3D nature, players have extremely limited control over the camera, which can really make the Platforming in this game frustrating. One wonders, if there was to be so little control over the camera, why the game was made using 3D visuals at all, especially given that the result is a game that takes up over a whopping 3.5GB in your Nintendo Switch’s memory. And while this game certainly doesn’t look bad, there’s nothing here that seems like it justified that file size.

The other element of the presentation, the sound, is sufficient but not especially noteworthy. The music here is largely subdued but does a decent enough job building a mood. However, most likely the sound you’ll be noticing the most is the high-pitched sign your character makes whenever they die, something you’ll probably be hearing a lot of.

While this game’s platforming is pretty frustrating, its puzzle design is quite good, and there are quite a few puzzle elements here that are rather clever and well-used, such as a magical box that disappears when you jump from on top of it, only to reappear beneath you the next time you jump. Probably the best part of this game is figuring out the puzzles and getting to new areas.

Unfortunately, so much of this game’s massive labyrinthine map is just repetitive looking stone-walled dungeons, and the map the game gives players isn’t very helpful either. It is far too easy to lose track of where you are and where you need to go, and the lack of signposting can often mean it’s not clear exactly where you should be going in the first place. In fact, there are definitely moments when you’re not sure if you can’t make a jump because the game’s platforming is so bad, or because you’re not supposed to be able to go there just yet.

Lumo is not without its charms, and players who are patient enough to tolerate its terrible platforming and confusing labyrinth of dungeons may find themselves delighted by its puzzles and exploration elements. However, I think just as many players are likely to be turned off by the game’s flaws.

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tl;dr – Lumo is a Puzzle-Platform game that has players taking the role of a short wizard exploring a labyrinth of dungeons. Unfortunately, the limited camera makes for terrible Platforming, and the repetitive labyrinthine dungeons make it easy to get lost. The Puzzle design here is good, and players patient enough to tolerate the game’s issues may find this to be an enjoyable take on the genre. But this is definitely not a game for everyone.

Grade: C

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