Lumines Arise Revitalizes a PSP Puzzle Classic with the Breathtaking Tetris Effect Treatment

For those who had a PlayStation Portable and an appreciation for great games, Lumines Arise is a dream come true. This title sees Tetris Effect developer Enhance putting the Lumines puzzle formula through a stunning prism, with color-matching 2x2 blocks set to the rhythm of a beat, brought to life with awe-inspiring visuals that evoke a similar effect on the player's brain as the iconic stargate sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey. At this year's Summer Game Fest, GamesIndustry.biz suggested to the game's creative producer, Mark MacDonald, that giving Lumines the Tetris Effect treatment was exactly what many fans wanted next from the studio. 'We've heard that a lot,' MacDonald says. 'That's been awesome to hear, every time we've heard that from folks here.' The Lumines formula is simple yet has a very high skill ceiling, with players dropping two-color 2x2 blocks onto a grid to form squares of the same color, scoring points in the process. A 'Timeline' sweeps across the grid, removing matched blocks on its next pass and applying time pressure to match further squares or enhance the size of the square before points are added up. Failure occurs when the player can no longer fit a 2x2 square onto the grid due to overcrowding from failed color-matches. Lumines has a bit of Tetris in its design, but the audio-visual experience is vital, with grid colors changing and music intensity shifting as the player progresses. The last Lumines game was a 2018 remaster, which brought the original PSP title to modern platforms, including the Nintendo Switch. Seven years later, Lumines Arise takes the audio-visual side several steps forward, featuring over 30 stages and evocative music by Tetris Effect's Hydelic. Director Takashi Ishihara says, 'When we did Tetris Effect, and also the Connected part, as a team, we felt like we accomplished so much. We were able to take a very well-known, existing, globally huge franchise and add our taste, our flavor, our style, and still make it work.' Tetris Effect and its Connected edition subverted expectations, winning numerous awards, including being named Eurogamer's best game of 2018. Enhance, whose CEO is Rez and Lumines creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, found that both new and old fans still had a lot of passion for the Lumines series, leading to this being the company's next project. The basic puzzle formula remains, but a new 'Burst' mechanic allows players to charge up a bar and build a high combo by adding blocks to a growing square, giving the formula an extra adrenaline rush. The visuals for Arise are spectacular, with a variety of environments, from dancing chameleons in the jungle to fish swimming through oceans, and people walking the streets of Tokyo. Ishihara, responsible for the art side, says there are always more visual ideas than the team can fit into a game. 'As an artist, and as my art team can probably back me up on this, there's so many other worlds and environments and stages we would love to create, whether that's in a Lumines world or not.' The team's personal experiences shape the stunning worlds in Lumines Arise, with inspiration from travels, interactions, and even individual images taken from their offices. Ishihara's years at the original Lumines studio, Q Entertainment, also influence the game. In contrast to previous Lumines games, which included licensed music, Hydelic oversees the entirety of Lumines Arise, creating a unique soundtrack that reacts to gameplay. The sound and art teams collaborate during development, resulting in a better end product. 'There's some aspect to it that's like, 'we have to make something that's visually showing this cool thing that's happening on the sound side', and then the art team gets inspired and they come back with something, and then the sound team sees what the art team does and is like, 'oh shit, we need to step up our game',' MacDonald says. This back-and-forth results in a better end product, with the soundtrack broken down into individual components and reactivity added to the gameplay. The game features a Journey mode, with stages thematically tied together by music, creating an overall story arc and fluid experience. Despite its similarities to Tetris Effect, Lumines Arise has the disadvantage of not being as well-known as Tetris, with a gulf in comprehension of what Lumines actually is. The developers have thought about how to educate players to improve at Lumines, with more to be revealed around the game's demo release this summer. Enhance is using this game as an excuse to create the most definitive version of Lumines yet, including a multiplayer offering that exceeds previous attempts. The game is aiming for day one Steam Deck verification, with the demo already running smoothly on the system. In some ways, Lumines feels like a series waiting to have its moment, despite selling a few million copies over the past two decades. Arise's more elaborate treatment has the potential to finally elevate the franchise to the level of popularity it deserves.