Overview: A block-dropping puzzle game where the player clears blocks by forming 2x2 squares of the same color.
20230120:
I played Lumines for the first time today. After playing one round, I later returned to play once more. The second time I played, I started getting greedy with some reckless stacking to get combos. But apparently at level 30 there's a noticeable speed-up and I wasn't prepared to try and lower the field at that point. In my third run, I focused on clearing and it seems this skill is very important. I lost control of clearing the field and slowly it got worse. Thankfully the music switches to a slow track in the next phase, but not enough for me to clear the field back to the bottom.
Setup: Amazon Luna. Keyboard.
Gameplay Log:
Basic. Level 31. Score 49,601. Play time 00:28:28.
Basic. Level 30. Score 45,691. Play time 00:29:07.
Basic. Level 38. Score 94,324. Play time 00:37:25.
In-Game Total Play Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
20230121:
Today I learned there is a way to rotate counter-clockwise. The default button is right shift. One can also use the left and right mouse butons to rotate the piece.
I tried using the right shift together with arrow keys but it was not convenient to use. That is, mentally, it is easier to try and rotate clockwise three times quickly rather than occasionally switch between clockwise and counter-clockwise. However, there were times where I put it to use. I briefly tried to use the ASD keys instead of the arrow keys as well but that felt inconvenient. Maybe I should give a controller a try. I would note that during this fourth attempt, I noticed that at best I look at the next piece in queue, but often not at all. But when the game gets faster, I think that would be the only way to play (by always looking at all the pieces in queue and planning where they will go).
Gameplay Log:
Basic. Level 49. Score 108,602. Play time 00:47:43.
In-Game Total Play Time: 2 hour 22 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+Simple, yet difficult.
+Great music
Neutral:
~Learning curve
-The drop always starts from the middle
Cons:
-It appears one can only rotate the game piece in one direction
Rating: 3.8/5
Summary:
A big part of what makes Lumines such a fun game is the music. While it isn't obvious at first, the pace of the game matches the beat of the music, and the pace dictates the rate at which pieces drop and the line scans across the screen. And so even though the game is not a rhythm game, I became more aware of the music as I played.
Lumines Remastered (PC) (2018)*
*Lumines (PC) (2004)
Relevant Links:
None at this time Lumines (Wikipedia.org)
Lumines Remastered (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Lumines Remastered (steamdb.info)
Lumines Remastered (Steam Store Page)
20230120:
I played Lumines for the first time today. After playing one round, I later returned to play once more. The second time I played, I started getting greedy with some reckless stacking to get combos. But apparently at level 30 there's a noticeable speed-up and I wasn't prepared to try and lower the field at that point. In my third run, I focused on clearing and it seems this skill is very important. I lost control of clearing the field and slowly it got worse. Thankfully the music switches to a slow track in the next phase, but not enough for me to clear the field back to the bottom.
Setup: Amazon Luna. Keyboard.
Gameplay Log:
Basic. Level 31. Score 49,601. Play time 00:28:28.
Basic. Level 30. Score 45,691. Play time 00:29:07.
Basic. Level 38. Score 94,324. Play time 00:37:25.
In-Game Total Play Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
20230121:
Today I learned there is a way to rotate counter-clockwise. The default button is right shift. One can also use the left and right mouse butons to rotate the piece.
I tried using the right shift together with arrow keys but it was not convenient to use. That is, mentally, it is easier to try and rotate clockwise three times quickly rather than occasionally switch between clockwise and counter-clockwise. However, there were times where I put it to use. I briefly tried to use the ASD keys instead of the arrow keys as well but that felt inconvenient. Maybe I should give a controller a try. I would note that during this fourth attempt, I noticed that at best I look at the next piece in queue, but often not at all. But when the game gets faster, I think that would be the only way to play (by always looking at all the pieces in queue and planning where they will go).
Gameplay Log:
Basic. Level 49. Score 108,602. Play time 00:47:43.
In-Game Total Play Time: 2 hour 22 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+Simple, yet difficult.
+Great music
Neutral:
~Learning curve
-The drop always starts from the middle
Cons:
-It appears one can only rotate the game piece in one direction
Rating: 3.8/5
Summary:
A big part of what makes Lumines such a fun game is the music. While it isn't obvious at first, the pace of the game matches the beat of the music, and the pace dictates the rate at which pieces drop and the line scans across the screen. And so even though the game is not a rhythm game, I became more aware of the music as I played.
Lumines Remastered (PC) (2018)*
*Lumines (PC) (2004)
Relevant Links:
None at this time Lumines (Wikipedia.org)
Lumines Remastered (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Lumines Remastered (steamdb.info)
Lumines Remastered (Steam Store Page)
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