SHAKE YA BODY SHAKE YA BODY SHAKE YA BODY DOWN TO THE GROUND

i'm usually not a fan of puzzle games (especially those that request as much concentration as lumines) but this one's pretty damn good. overall concept is simple yet addicting, and the graphics and morphing stages are neat as hell and prevent things from getting stale. having parameters such as block/scroll speed be affected by different levels is a nice touch too - when going through classic mode, you really start to get a feel for which stages are gonna slow down and let you relax for a bit and which ones are gonna beat the shit out of you.

it's backed up by a really great soundtrack too. even if there are plenty of songs that arent playlist-worthy, it really sells the different levels and makes the anxiety of watching your blocks hopelessly pile up even more real. there are some great ones, though - i'll never forget the first time i made it to Lights (and immediately fucking lost lmao)

i didn't have much interest in most of the other modes (im a grown adult and idgaf about time attack), but it's still a really well-rounded package and a good deal for the price. only real nitpicks i have are some levels in classic mode have pretty flat color palettes (so it's hard to differentiate block colors), and that classic mode itself is pretty fucking long. having to lock in for 45 minutes to an hour each run (obliterating my eyes in the process) only to die in the second to last stage cause i mixed up the different colors of blue fucking sucked. it definitely made finally beating it more satisfying, though.

it's not gonna be a game i come back to super often, but finally getting the hang of this one felt great. if you're looking for an inexpensive puzzle game that's an easy way to kill a few hours, then this is the one, baby. shake ya body down to the ground.

Lumines is a game that in concept works really well, you have a simple 2 colour matching puzzle game that plays to music and shifts through stark visual themes and audio genres - however the stylistic choices make for a singularly ugly audio-visual experience.

The gameplay itself is always great to come back to, I actually have a lot of fun with the colour matching, finding patterns, trying to create combinations by placing the asymmetric pieces, and the challenge of timing your placement so you don't overlap with the sweeping bar. This is all well designed gameplay that is engaging and fun, but the accompanying music and art, and the way it's implemented results in an experience I can only tolerate in small bursts.

The music choices are a mixed bag, by which I mean it feels like someone dumped a bunch of discount demo tracks in a bag and pulled the play order out at random. The PSP games had a few early 2000's rock and pop hits that themselves didn't work together, mixed in with a variety of generic in-house songs from across the genre spectrum. These tracks are then broken down into samples which play based on your gameplay actions. Sometimes it works but often this approach turns the song into a random cacophony of noises with half the 'song' missing.

Remastered features the in-house tracks exclusively and hasn't managed to do any better with them. You jump wildly between genres, the playlist has no stylistic consistency, and for whatever reason the sound director on these games loves this specific blend of loud distorted noises that appear constantly. Any one of these issues by itself would be tolerable, but the resulting mix of miss-matched music, the way it's broken down and spat back at you as you play, and the clear lack of theme to the soundtrack makes every entry in the series the worst sounding music games I've played.

Lumines feels like the result of a really great premise for a game put in the hands of someone who has no artistic taste. The music is wrong, the sampling is wrong, and even the colour schemes that rotate with each track can range from great looking to 'I can barely see what I'm doing'. There's an artistic deafness to the series that runs deep into every entry. It's a testament to the strength of the gameplay that I end up coming back to each one, hoping desperately they got it right this time, only to be disappointed again. As such, remastered will remain a tolerable game to play on mute.

Finishing Lumines is making it through an all night dance. Its board, wider than tall, is less inviting to ordering, like usual on the genre, and more to finding comfortable spots. Some like to place on the sides, some more at the center, some like populated spaces, some prefer to start on quiet corners.

The pieces of Lumines don’t disappear, they go out to take a smoke after finding someone to talk to for a while, and then come back. Those pieces start dancing on their own, they are naturally attracted to form groups, the bigger the better, and sometimes some magician out of nowhere will grab everyone by the arm forming a chain. Raindrops on a windshield. Surviving through the night is hard. It is not because it is not fun, some songs you may not care about, others you may dislike, but once you are in, there are no enemies, it is impossible to escape. As the night goes on that empty board gets lively, sometimes it is hard to hold on and you need to quit early. You will try again another night.

Somehow, you know the perfect night should not exist. Mathematically, anything should go wrong at any time, the variables cannot escape chance. Somehow, that ideal night eventually comes, the last song is announced, the celebration of the celebration is done, the sun rises and everyone goes home. Nothing happened during that time, time just flew by, and somehow something unforgettable to look back forever on in the years to come had been forged.

This is what heaven looks like:
https://youtu.be/U6xNSg8rFPE?si=T2sZ98gGiZ0YSnCO&t=1763

De nombreuses heures passées sur PSP, un grand nombre déjà passées sur Switch et encore bien d'autres en perspective. 

Que dire de Lumines qui n'ait déjà été dit ? Pas grand chose... C'est un classique du genre depuis longtemps. Une alchimie parfaite entre le jeu musical, d'arcade et de puzzle bien sûr, avec de superbes effets visuels et sonores calibrés sur l'action et la musique. Pas un puzzle complexe, mais terriblement prenant.

La simplicité de son concept le rend d'ailleurs accessible à tous, même aux dichromates, c'est dire ! cela grâce à l'ingéniosité d'avoir borné le jeu à seulement deux coloris très différents à chaque tableau. En jeu, uniquement des cubes, composés de quatre autres colorés, pour seulement huit formes possibles et un système d'élimination par balayage horizontal. Son concept rapidement pris en main, l'excellence de sa réalisation sonore et visuelle, ainsi que les choix artistiques éclectiques font que je ne me lasse pas d'y revenir pour une ou deux parties.

Je ne saurais juger la qualité du remaster en tant que tel. Les heures jouées sur PSP sont loin maintenant. Toutefois, en ce qui me concerne, j'ai retrouvé la joie des parties passées...c'est tout ce que je demandais ! Les modes supplémentaires sont cependant un plus appréciable.

"World of silence
Creepin' sightless time
Port of sadness
Sleepin' flightless mind

World of silence
Blinkin' farthest light
Road of brightness
I will get there

And shinin', and shinin
And shinin', and shinin
And shinin', and shinin
And shinin', and shinin..."