MrNinjaSquirrel
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This is from my blog. If you want to check out the original, you can do so here
Stop-motion animation is a personal fascination for me. I love the hand drawn and hand molded look the frame by frame effect creates. But up until now, this has been almost entirely restricted to movies and TV shows. State of Play Games is breaking new ground, and finally giving video games the stop-motion treatment. Though it's far from perfect, Lume offers a one of a kind graphics effect that simply has to be seen to understand. The gameplay might have taken the back seat this time, but once you step into paper world of Lume, it's hard not to be entranced by the simple yet elegant design, and the uncontrollable desire to explore.
When you visit your Granpa's house for tea, you discover all is not well. For some unknown reason his power has been cut off, and he's left you alone while he goes to seek help in the village. But he isn't leaving you in the dark with nothing to do. An avid inventor, he's created many a clever lock and power converter, in case something like this ever happened. So with no sign of your Granpa returning, it's up to you to figure things out, and illuminate the night once more.
A classic adventure game, Lume feels very old school. You move around the scenes with a traditional point and click interface, looking for items you can interact with, and solving puzzles to access different parts of the house. These puzzles are very clever, and there is a great feeling of accomplishment upon discovering the answers. But Lume is actually a bit too clever for it's own good. They're very few hints in the game, or direction, and this can make progressing rather frustrating. I often spent far to long retracing my steps around the house, only to find that I need only click a few spaces down. Some of the puzzles are also far too cryptic, and I had to resort to an online guide a couple times just to find out what I was supposed to be doing. I expect adventure game veterans will not run into nearly as much trouble as I did, but casual or first time adventurers will no doubt get stuck pretty quickly, and possibly stop playing entirely. I think Lume would have greatly benefited from a hint system, if only to get you over a hump and onto the next segment.
The real reason to give Lume a look though, is it's incredibly unique visual design. As stated earlier, it uses a stop-motion film technique, with an entirely paper set. What you are seeing is essentially an interactive movie, and it's a very cool look. The characters are reminiscent of the classic Mr. Men books, with a bit of Paper Mario flare. I really liked the subtle ways that the developers used the camera to change from one room to the next. The camera pans and shakes just enough to lend a hand made touch to the game, without feeling overused or making you feel sea sick. At times, it's obvious that it needs a little refinement, with a few transitional animations being pretty rough, but overall it's one of the most unique and creative art designs I've seen in a game, and I can't wait until more developers adopt the effect. The sound design is very minimal, and really doesn't exist for the majority of the game. You'll occasionally here a lock click or a book open, but that's about it. The soundtrack is a subtle track using acoustic guitar and light piano, creating a dreamy sort of feel to the whole game. It's really good, but even the best songs get repetitive after a point. I hope there is more in future games, because it really is well written and fits perfectly with the game's tone. It's hard to recommend a game based solely on it's presentation, but Lume deserves at least a look for it's art alone.
Verdict
Lume is a very unique game in some ways, and also very routine in others. The choice of using stop-motion to create the games graphics really paid off, and it's a joy the entire way through just to see the beautiful sets come to life. But it's obvious this was the main focus of the game, leaving the gameplay feeling rather sub par. I repeatedly got stuck and annoyed at the lack of focus, and any game that requires me to use a guide just to complete it has obviously gone awry at some point. For it's price, you only get about 1-2 hours of gameplay, perhaps less if you are particularly good at solving puzzles, and this will make it a tough sell to many. If you can get past the learning curve, Lume is a very enjoyable game that will delight you with it's hand drawn creations. Those less akin to this style though will almost certainly find themselves befuddled by the puzzles, and left wanting.
Final Opinion: 6.5/10 Hit or Miss
Note, this review is based off of the Linux version of the game. Though it is also available on Windows, Mac, Android, and IOS, these versions are not reflected in this review, and any differences there in.
Stop-motion animation is a personal fascination for me. I love the hand drawn and hand molded look the frame by frame effect creates. But up until now, this has been almost entirely restricted to movies and TV shows. State of Play Games is breaking new ground, and finally giving video games the stop-motion treatment. Though it's far from perfect, Lume offers a one of a kind graphics effect that simply has to be seen to understand. The gameplay might have taken the back seat this time, but once you step into paper world of Lume, it's hard not to be entranced by the simple yet elegant design, and the uncontrollable desire to explore.
When you visit your Granpa's house for tea, you discover all is not well. For some unknown reason his power has been cut off, and he's left you alone while he goes to seek help in the village. But he isn't leaving you in the dark with nothing to do. An avid inventor, he's created many a clever lock and power converter, in case something like this ever happened. So with no sign of your Granpa returning, it's up to you to figure things out, and illuminate the night once more.
A classic adventure game, Lume feels very old school. You move around the scenes with a traditional point and click interface, looking for items you can interact with, and solving puzzles to access different parts of the house. These puzzles are very clever, and there is a great feeling of accomplishment upon discovering the answers. But Lume is actually a bit too clever for it's own good. They're very few hints in the game, or direction, and this can make progressing rather frustrating. I often spent far to long retracing my steps around the house, only to find that I need only click a few spaces down. Some of the puzzles are also far too cryptic, and I had to resort to an online guide a couple times just to find out what I was supposed to be doing. I expect adventure game veterans will not run into nearly as much trouble as I did, but casual or first time adventurers will no doubt get stuck pretty quickly, and possibly stop playing entirely. I think Lume would have greatly benefited from a hint system, if only to get you over a hump and onto the next segment.
The real reason to give Lume a look though, is it's incredibly unique visual design. As stated earlier, it uses a stop-motion film technique, with an entirely paper set. What you are seeing is essentially an interactive movie, and it's a very cool look. The characters are reminiscent of the classic Mr. Men books, with a bit of Paper Mario flare. I really liked the subtle ways that the developers used the camera to change from one room to the next. The camera pans and shakes just enough to lend a hand made touch to the game, without feeling overused or making you feel sea sick. At times, it's obvious that it needs a little refinement, with a few transitional animations being pretty rough, but overall it's one of the most unique and creative art designs I've seen in a game, and I can't wait until more developers adopt the effect. The sound design is very minimal, and really doesn't exist for the majority of the game. You'll occasionally here a lock click or a book open, but that's about it. The soundtrack is a subtle track using acoustic guitar and light piano, creating a dreamy sort of feel to the whole game. It's really good, but even the best songs get repetitive after a point. I hope there is more in future games, because it really is well written and fits perfectly with the game's tone. It's hard to recommend a game based solely on it's presentation, but Lume deserves at least a look for it's art alone.
Verdict
Lume is a very unique game in some ways, and also very routine in others. The choice of using stop-motion to create the games graphics really paid off, and it's a joy the entire way through just to see the beautiful sets come to life. But it's obvious this was the main focus of the game, leaving the gameplay feeling rather sub par. I repeatedly got stuck and annoyed at the lack of focus, and any game that requires me to use a guide just to complete it has obviously gone awry at some point. For it's price, you only get about 1-2 hours of gameplay, perhaps less if you are particularly good at solving puzzles, and this will make it a tough sell to many. If you can get past the learning curve, Lume is a very enjoyable game that will delight you with it's hand drawn creations. Those less akin to this style though will almost certainly find themselves befuddled by the puzzles, and left wanting.
Final Opinion: 6.5/10 Hit or Miss
Note, this review is based off of the Linux version of the game. Though it is also available on Windows, Mac, Android, and IOS, these versions are not reflected in this review, and any differences there in.