Lumo 2 by developer Triple Eh? Ltd and publisher Numskull Games—PC(Steam) review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
For all you
other finely aged wines out there like myself, have you ever thought to
yourself “I remember how hard old games used to be and how they gave no
direction”? For you younger sprouts, have you wanted to try some old-school
games from before fluid controls were a thing? Back when the only map you had
was the one you drew yourself? Well, if so, look no further than Lumo 2, a
sequel to the 2016 game I picked up on PSVita that made me want to throw a
table out the window in the best way.
Lumo 2 can be
broadly summed up as “Isometric platformer about a wizard trying to get MSPaint
to work”. You get dropped in a very greyscale room, and after some exploration
discover a door that leads to space, your first level. The game starts out easy
enough. Walk around a little, go through the door, pick up some red jetpack
things, and success? When you’ve “finished” (lol, nah, you’ll be back) the space
area, or if you return to the hub, you deposit the red items into a cauldron,
and colour starts to return. Aha! I see what’s happening. In order to unlock
the next area, you need to finish the minigame hidden in the previous area.
Don’t think
just finishing the minigames will be enough though, you may “clear” a stage
with less than 30% of the colour based McGuffin. It’s ok though, because new
areas introduce new tools that expand your mechanics. Can’t jump high enough?
Well, acquire an ability to help. You can then return to a previous area and
discover a whole new load of secrets.
Speaking of
secrets, there are also bonus collectibles to find: ducks and boomboxes, each
with their own mechanics. Ducks require you to leave a room without dying to
acquire them, and boomboxes require you to collect a bunch of tapes in order
within a certain time limit. Yes, some of these are rough as sandpaper, have
fun. Thankfully, death is pretty cheap in Lumo 2. Basically, you just get sent
back to where you entered a room from. While it may be a little frustrating
while trying to collect all the paint or for the ducks and boom boxes, you aren’t
booted from the whole zone.
Lumo 2 is a
very big homage to older-school gaming, in style, controls, and even aesthetics
and references. Each area you explore will have a bunch of references you may
or may not recognize, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the game. With very
basic controls, pretty much just a jump, fall quick, and two other special
mechanic buttons, that’s about all you need. A sort of floaty fall also adds to
some of the platforming as you try and maneuver yourself into position.
Right, so
let me be blunt here: Lumo 2 is frustrating. Not in a “what the heck this is
awful” way, but in a “Cthulhu curse thine entire family tree I missed that jump
for the twenty ninth time in a row. I’m gonna do it again” sort of way. I’m
pretty sure about half the rooms I walked into in Lumo 2 I was yelling “this is
stupid!.......ok one more try” over and over again while I tried to collect all
the extras and paint. Don’t even get me started on the hidden rooms, especially
the Prince of Persia homage room? Sneaky bugger put some added effects in there
that made me think I was glitching until I realized what was going on. Touché
sir.
Now comes
the biggest issue: Lumo is kind of janky. I’m about 90% sure it’s a design
choice to make Lumo 2 seem more retro, but good god when I lose height on a jump
for no real reason or get stuck in a corner because I can’t jump out from
behind a box, it’s frustrating. Good news is, everything you’ve collected stays
collected, so just quit and restart and you’re good to go. Don’t even need to
close the game.
Fair
warning, apart from the fact that Lumo 2 can be swear inducing, you do need a
controller to play, so I hope you have one or a workaround! Plus side is, you can
move with both the control stick and directional pad, so if you want more
precise movement, the directional pad is the way to go, but if you need some
more control? Thumbstick has got your back.
All in all, Lumo 2 is a great, if not frustratingly difficult at times, homage to old-school gaming. It’s fun, it’s a great challenge, and it’s a real nice boost to my nostalgia. While the controls are pretty rudimentary, and death is extremely cheap, that doesn’t mean the game is easy. Sure it is accessible to a lot of different players, but be well aware of the difficulty going in if you’re aiming for the 100% completion. If you’re curious, you can also check out the first Lumo for pretty cheap, just to know what you’re getting yourself into. If you’re a fan of isometric platformers, I definitely suggest giving this a go.
Score: 8 / 10
