With Tetris Effect, designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his team at Enhance, Inc. managed to make something old feel new. There are few things as well defined in video games as the falling blocks of Tetris, and yet with the studio’s trademark immersive sound and visual design, the game was transformed into something else, with every element pushing you toward getting into the proverbial zone. Now the team has done the same thing with Lumines. And while the result isn’t quite as crisp as Tetris Effect, Lumines Arise is still one of the most absorbing puzzle games I’ve ever played.
If you haven’t played before, Lumines is sort of like a version of Tetris built around music. (In fact, it began life when Mizuguchi wanted to make a music-themed Tetris but was initially stymied by rights issues.) 2x2 blocks fall from the top, each made up of a combination of two different colors, and the goal is to place these blocks so as to create solid-colored 2x2 blocks on the playing field, which will then be cleared from the screen. The twist is that the screen doesn’t clear automatically; instead, you wait for a “time line” to wipe across the playing field in sync with the music, which gives you a chance to build up combos of blocks to all be erased at once.
Lumines Arise doesn’t change any of this core functionality, though it does add a new mechanic called “burst,” which lets you hold off on clearing the screen for longer, resulting in absurdly satisfying combos. Mainly it layers in visuals and sounds that are designed to create that zen-like state inherent to the best puzzle games. The main portion of the game is a mode called “journey” — there’s also multiplayer and some challenge stages — where you play through a series of themed levels, which jump around in style and tone.
If you’ve played a Lumines game before, you won’t be surprised to learn there is some great electronic music here, with levels filled with thumping beats augmented by lots of bright, flashy visuals. This stuff is great, though it’s not that far off from past Lumines titles. Where Arise gets interesting is when it becomes weird and surprising. In many instances, the blocks become other things, and they grow as you create matches. In one early stage, instead of blocks, you’re matching vegetables, so as you create bigger combos, giant tomatoes start to fill the screen. It’s playful and strange and just one of the many flavors in Arise. There’s an R&B level set to the backdrop of a rainy Tokyo at night, a stage where you match jellyfish, and another where connecting spider eggs results in little hatchlings running over the screen. For Tetris Effect fans, there’s also a spiritual sequel to that game’s incredible jazz level.
For the most part, all of these audiovisual elements enhance what Lumines already is. Particularly if you’re playing with headphones on, which I heartily recommend, the effects can create an almost trance-like state as you focus on the mechanics of matching up blocks while the sounds and visuals wash over you. This led to me playing some of the best Lumines of my life. (I’m still terrible, though.) Often the effects in Arise are more dramatic and ambitious compared to Tetris Effect, which creates some really memorable moments, like when a giant holographic snake is nodding along to EDM beats while you fiddle with blocks.
Sometimes, though, these effects go just a touch too far and interfere with, instead of augment, the gameplay. In some of the levels the visuals become hard to parse, with colors or symbols that are a little too close to each other, making it easy to mix them up, particularly when you’re stressed out with a screen full of blocks. There are only a handful of stages like this, and it’s possible they’ll be adjusted in a future update, but right now they run counter to the mood Arise tries so hard to create. They take you out of the game instead of immersing you further in it.
Even with that issue, though, this remains the best version of Lumines. The core of the game is as good as ever and is infused with just the right amount of style to turn it into something that’s constantly shifting, all while helping you stay in the right headspace for high score chasing. Lumines might not be as iconic as Tetris, but Arise shows just how similar they can be.
Lumines Arise launches November 11th on the PS5 and PC.