This game completely passed me by when it was released, which means I
have only just now enjoyed an exceptional puzzling adventure. If you
also missed it, do yourself a favour and seek it out.
You play Lumi, a small girl busy making tea for her Grandfather who
is wanting to tell her something about the terrible trouble in the city.
Except he is kidnapped before he has the chance, and Lumi sets out to
find him. To do so she must navigate the elaborate, intertwined and
downright gorgeous Lumino City, overcoming all manner of obstacles in
order to do so.
The city hangs in the sky, and snakes about all over the place. It
really is a marvellous place. The whole thing has been built as a model
before being inserted into the game (don’t ask me to explain how that
works!) and the 3D nature of the source material is apparent. If just
admiring the construct isn’t enough, the changing perspective helps
create a depth and height that adds further lustre to the city. Try
climbing some of the ladders and tell me you don’t get vertigo.
Looks aren’t everything (we all know about pigs and lipstick) but
rest assured this is no sow.
While the story is thin (find grandfather) the path is beset with a
plethora of intriguing puzzles, worked into the environment that is the
city. Taken as a whole, these are every bit as good as the design, and
while some rework old favourites many are unique or presented in a fresh
way. The rotating house was exceptional, and something as simple as
placing the pieces on the solar panel shows how a puzzle can be so much
more if a bit of thought is given to its construction.
None of them are brain burstingly hard, but nor are they nuisance
value. Each of them required me to expend some effort, some more so than
others, including at times working out what it was the puzzle wanted
from me. I confess to peeking in the manual more than once (more of that
shortly) but generally was rewarded by persistence and fiddling. A
couple required a little bit of timing (e.g. in one you have to create
dots and dashes to spell out a word by flicking switches at the right
time), and a musical puzzle will make you start again if you play a
chord incorrectly, but I never felt they were unfair or overly
cantankerous. As a collection, I was more than well pleased.
I mentioned the manual. Lumi has in her pocket a manual dropped by
her grandfather, which contains all manner of information about all
sorts of things across the city. He is a sort of caretaker/handyman so
it makes sense he would have such a thing. In short, it will provide
answers to the puzzles, and sometimes a push first before the answer.
This too is nicely done - you have to solve a little equation relevant
to the particular puzzle in order to identify the appropriate page.
Lumi herself is highly engaging. A clip-arty sort of construct, she
has a will to get where she is going, wherever that might be. Her
grandad might be missing, but a cheerful demeanour remains. Which will
stand her in good stead in her interactions with the other occupants of
the city. Completing tasks for some of them is a necessary part of a
number of the puzzles.
And then there is the lemon in lemon sauce recipe. It cemented my
interest early on.
Lumi chats with other characters but it is all read via speech
bubbles. They are an eclectic bunch in Lumino City, with a range of
issues and interests. Music and a range of ambient sounds provides the
aural palette.
Lumino City is point and click through and through. Generally,
clicking somewhere will result in Lumi going there, and at times there
will be large circles indicating a level of activity. If for instance
Lumi needs to spring across a gap, clicking on the large circle on the
other side will cause her to do so. Sometimes the circle may only appear
when the conditions are right , but just wait till it does and click it,
and Lumi will act accordingly. There is no icon to indicate something is
of interest, but many things are so click away.
Lumi has a pocket in which she puts things she collects. Click to
look inside, then drag the item to the game world. Lumi will use the
item if it can be used in that place. She saves as she goes, and you can
continue where you left off, or jump back in at points along the way
should you wish to do so.
It ends a little suddenly but that is about the only thing I can say
about Lumino City that isn’t a plus. It really does warrant your
attention.
I played on:
OS: Windows 10, 64 Bit
Processor: Intel i7-9700k 3.7 GHz
