Lumo

A wonderfully crafted platformer that also serves as a love letter to much older games. It may be rather short, but if you're trying to get 100% completion, that would fill in more time for you as several of the achievements are extremely challenging. I do wish it had a more refined story though; it almost seemed like there was something there, but it just wasn't clear enough.

It's the second time I've played the game beginning to end, it's such a fun time and a smooth experience, every time I find a hidden room it makes me smmile, they're everywhere!

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I liked it for what it was. Nothing groundbreaking, but it was a decent little game. I had trouble with the controls until I found the right movement mapping for me. It could get frustrating at times because it is often hard to tell where you are on screen. One part at the end where you had to navigate a spiky maze in a bubble was terrible because you had no idea where the bubble was.

I would give it a high 5/10. If you love platformers you would probably get enjoyment out of this.

Man, I REALLY want to like this game more than I do. At first I didn't understand the mixed reviews. "People just don't know a good thing when they see it" I thought. But as things progressed it dawned on me why this was so. The game is simultaneously too old school in certain aspects, and not old school enough in others. The concession's made to "Modern Audiences" (obnoxious, derogatory tone) breaks the game.

Despite advertising itself as a nod to old isometric games, the game is very linear and it's always blatantly apparent where you have to go. You never get that sense of "oh man, but what about that area 6 rooms back? Maybe I should have gone there first?". Or, "man idk about this puzzle, maybe I have to come back later? or am I just missing something right now?". The game is also quick to lock you out of areas you've already completed, which leads to the other issue.

It's as if the developers HATED completionists. It is FAR too easy to lock yourself out of collectibles for no real discernible reason. Took a wrong turn? Wanted to go back and explore? Fell off a platform? Too bad, start from scratch. Later on it gets even worse. You'll miss a jump and fall into the room below, never able to get back. And because of the game's obnoxious autosave system there's no way to quickly exit and restart. No, start over scrub.

The only real practical way of 100%ing the game is to go into the game's folder and constantly back up the save files, alt F4 when things go bad, copy and paste the files back in the folder, and relaunch the game and sit through the company logo screens over and over and over. Many times you do all that just to make a single jump and fail it, then have to alt F4 and restart the entire process all over.

By the end I got SO incredibly fed up and frustrated with it. Simply axing the autosave system and being able to pause and exit to the menu would have went a long long long way. As would have just not cutting off whole sections for no damn reason. Why not allow players back into rooms to explore? Stupid.

And it's a real shame. Games like The Immortal, Solstice, Snake Rattle & Roll, get bad wraps for their isometric platforming, but are some of my favorite games of all time. Unfortunately they're also one of the rarest genre of games as well. There's not many of them. Games like Lumo deserve a lot more attention. There's a lot of heart and creativity here. Although it's bogged down by a few bad decisions I think it still deserves to be played. Simply for what it is.

Lumo: A Delightful and Challenging Puzzle-Platformer Adventure

Visuals

Immerse yourself in the charming and nostalgic world of Lumo. The game pays homage to classic isometric adventure games, featuring vibrant and colorful visuals that evoke a sense of wonder and whimsy. Each level is beautifully designed, filled with intricate details and imaginative environments. From ancient ruins to enchanted forests, Lumo's visuals create a captivating atmosphere that transports you to a magical realm.

Gameplay

Embark on a delightful and challenging puzzle-platformer adventure as you guide a young hero through a series of intricate levels. Lumo offers a unique blend of platforming, exploration, and brain-teasing puzzles. You'll navigate treacherous obstacles, discover hidden secrets, and unlock new abilities as you progress through the game. The controls are responsive, and the level design is cleverly crafted, ensuring that every step you take is a satisfying and rewarding experience.

Puzzles and Challenges

Prepare to put your problem-solving skills to the test in Lumo. The game features a wide variety of puzzles, ranging from cleverly designed platforming challenges to mind-bending brain teasers. Each level presents new obstacles and mechanics that require careful observation and strategic thinking to overcome. The puzzles are well-balanced, offering a satisfying level of difficulty that keeps you engaged without becoming frustrating. Solving each puzzle brings a sense of accomplishment and pushes you further in your adventure.

Nostalgic Atmosphere

Lumo captures the essence of classic isometric adventure games, creating a nostalgic atmosphere that will resonate with fans of the genre. The whimsical soundtrack sets the tone, transporting you back to the era of 8-bit and 16-bit gaming. The sound effects and ambient sounds add to the immersion, creating a charming audio experience. Combined with the delightful visuals, Lumo creates a sense of nostalgia and warmth that will appeal to both old and new players alike.

A Journey of Wonder and Discovery

Lumo is more than just a puzzle-platformer; it's a journey of wonder and discovery. As you explore the vibrant and enchanting world, you'll uncover hidden secrets, encounter memorable characters, and unravel the mysteries of the game's universe. The game's narrative is conveyed through subtle environmental storytelling and visual cues, allowing you to piece together the larger story at your own pace. Lumo's sense of adventure and exploration make it a truly captivating and immersive experience.

In summary, Lumo is a delightful and challenging puzzle-platformer that pays homage to classic adventure games. With its charming visuals, clever puzzles, and nostalgic atmosphere, it offers a nostalgic yet fresh experience for players of all ages. Whether you're a fan of retro gaming or simply enjoy immersive puzzle-solving adventures, Lumo is a game that will capture your imagination and keep you entertained from start to finish. Prepare to embark on a whimsical journey filled with wonder and discovery in the world of Lumo.

A buggy and frustating mess of a game. I really would have enjoyed it since I enjoyed the games it was inspired by but the game design choices (forced perspective 3D instead of isometric, collisions and gameplay depending on physics engine...) made it barely tolerable. Instead of focusing on exploring and puzzle, it's much more platforming and action oriented which would not be a big deal if the controls and level design were tight. If it's nostalgia you're looking for, you're better off playing the old hits one way or another.

As a huge fan of Solstice, I have to say this is a terrible attempt at a tribute to that classic. Controls are wonky and inconsistent, the atmosphere is absent, and the dungeon layout is entirely linear. I can't imagine anyone choosing to play this.

you do not get to play as the character depicted in ALL supporting artwork. the gameplay is not interesting, and brings only tedious to mind. you move slowly, doing things in-order with no freedom, only the ability to have wasted more time in a wholly uninteresting way.

even the cards and achievements have art for a more interesting character than the one you're allowed to play only after an extremely drawn-out and meaningless 'through the looking glass' intro.

don't spend money on this

The game is charming, but the gameplay is bland and gets very punishing as the game progresses, with mazes, time limits and annoying pitfalls. The fixed camera makes it hard to know where things are in 3D space, so simple platforming becomes very hard. I wanted to recommend it, but i can't.

Lumo is an isometric puzzles type of game, where events take place inside a broken computer at a science show in our neighborhood school, where gathering an SD card and a Raspberry Pi is your end goal to get your computer working again.

the theme and atmosphere have a silly whiff to it and, honestly, it just makes it better, you are a teen going to your school science show then your enter your broken PC as a walking infant to gather the necessary parts to fix it, there where you can also collect rubber ducks for whatever reason :)

Lumo is fun, creative, interesting, and intriguing, there is a genuine feeling behind its puzzles that keeps pulling you in to find out what's next and how more crazy and inventive Lumo can be. Audio and Music are arguably its weakest parts. controls and camera angles are sometimes irritating but nothing deal-breaking plus the game supports 3 different methods of controlling your main character.

Lumo isn't a game for everyone but if you like the general concept of it and give it a try, I don't think you would regret it, I enjoyed this game.

recommended.

Lumo comes across as a game of tug o' war: one moment you like it; the next not so much. Yes, it is an enjoyable platformer with a retro aesthetic, overflowing with pop culture references that feed directly into our nostalgia. And yet, its yanky control response, excessive hitboxes and rigid camera angle can make the overall gameplay unnecessarily hard. No guidance nor backtracking allowed either, resulting in many missable achievements. Knowing all of that, it is ultimately up to you whether Lumo is your cup of tea. As for me, today I recommended it. We shall see how I feel about it tomorrow.

Greetings!

This is my first ever review on Steam, and for good reason: this game is both wonderful and awful.

Game is wonderful because it really is rebirth of THE genre of old isometric arcade adventures that Knight Lore was first and legendary example. I've played such games, Knight Lore and Alien 8, as kid on my 48 K Spectrum in the mid of the eighties, and Lumo invoked those very fond memories of mine. Lumo is also beautiful and polished game working flawlessly on Linux that is also doubleplusgood.

So why is it awful in the same time? Because I'm an old fart who does not have patience any more for finding perfect stream of jumps and steps to get to that damn other side of the room. :-) This game becomes somewhat hard beginning with that Cursed Room of Many Chains and continuing into Land of Snow and Ice so I'll stop for now, and maybe forever.

But that's just me. There are easier and good 2.5D isometrics out there, for example Mr. Robot, a very fine game (works with Wine) but Lumo is not in that company. And this is not bad per se, it's just somewhat bad for me.

So, if you do have a patience for finding perfect stream of jumps and steps to get to that damn other side of the room, by all means go ahead and buy / play Lumo, especially if you are old Speccy fan. If you don't have that kind of patience any more... buy Lumo on sale and play it nevertheless, to the limits of your patience.

For me it really was a blast from the past to play Lumo, one of the earliest games I played was Equinox for the SNES, and it was a game I liked to play, and since I stucked with my SNES for many years I got to play Equinox a lot. I then bought a Wii in 2010, and hoped to jump into the next isometric puzzle adventure, only to find out the genre had gone the way of the dodo.

So why did I like the genre? It is mainly that the challenge in the genre lies in your perception and interpitation of the room, with a good level design this can be very tricky to find out, to the point that you might feel a death is unfair, and the next moment have some clarity on what went wrong, and look at the room in a new way. This has been done well in Lumo too.

In Lumo there are two modes Adventure and Old School. Adventure mode is the games easy mode where you have unlimited lifes. It is recommandable if you are new to the genre, since it can give you a taste of what the genre is about, with very little risk. If you are a hardcore gamer in this genre you won't get the same kick out of Adventure mode, and should really stick to Old School where you have 4 lifes to complete the game, and no way to save.

I personally stuck to the Adventure mode, since the difference between Adventure and Old School isn't explained in the main menu. I have had a hard time to not compare Lumo with Solstice and Equinox, especially because of the nods this game delivers towards those games, which made me feel like there should have been more enemies in the game, this is however a thing I can let pass though, since as I wrote earlier the real challenge is the rooms. The problem however is that it takes until the middle of the game, for some of the rooms to be particular tedious which makes this game less challenging.

I will end by saying that because of my nostalgia and longing for another isometric puzzle adventure game, it is hard for me to say where exactly I would put this on a 1 - 10 scale, it would pass so it would be 6 or higher, but I think it would end on a 7/10. I will admit that this genre might not be for everybody, and some might think of this game as a "fake" 3D game, but if you are up for having your perception challenged, or want to try a genre that has been away since the 90's, this game will be for you.

I fell in love with the game's look and reverence for old PC games but I gave up after a few hours because the isometric perspective led to me having to redo platforming puzzles repeatedly. The subtle nudge you can give the camera is useless at compensating for this and in most of the elaborate rooms it's disabled anyways. Perfhaps in 3D or VR the perspective would be easier for me to discern but as is my frustration outweighed my enjoyment. Really sorry to say I uninstalled before finishing.

Great game .. on the surface. It's all good until one particular screen in the ice levels. You're slipping all over the place and have to navigate through the air at very odd angles (not great for an isometric game), whilst avoiding slipping on the slippery blocks when you land, all in order to reach a high-up door.

All I'll say is that whilst I can see how to complete this level, I have been unable to do so due to over-fiddly controls. This level has broken the game for me as I have been unable to pass it. I quit after trying over and over for an hour plus.

For this reason I cannot recommend this game. The frustration is not worth it.

Gets really repetitive and old really quick, only one song played the hour I played, all the rooms look the same, puzzles aren't hard but instead consist of frustratingly difficult and precise jumps which are made harder by the isometric view.

Lumo is a hardcore action-platformer that takes place in an isometric perspective. While much of the challenge derives from the isometry, which makes judging movement and platform locations tricky, there are tons of skill-based sections later on that require you to make jumps with reactive precision timing. There is quite a bit of replay value due to the many hidden secrets and the "Old-School" speedrun mode, which has limited lives. You have to be a savage platforming god to beat the Old-School mode, and I'm plenty willing to take on that challenge. Recommended for platforming enthusiasts.

I'm a ZX Spectrum fan. This isn't past tense either, I've never stopped being a fan of the mighty 8-bit machine. I loved,with a passion, games like Knight Lore, Alien 8, Head Over Heels, Fairlight and the much underappreciated Inside Outing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VFO5FU8ePQ

So, I come into playing Lumo with much bias and love for this style of game. It's exploratory genius and I won't be putting this down until completion and that includes me swearing at the monitor due to my countless deaths in trying to collect the ducks. I've seen a number of "debates" to what constitutes as an isometric game... I don't care. This game delivers on nostalgia with a modern twist. If this style of isometric look can be called a genre, then I think it's a credible genre of game. For too many years RPG's used similar perspectives to much love. I prefer a great little platform game and to see a style like this resurrected makes me grin and run home to play like I were back in school. Yes folks, and UK citizens of my age will understand the emotion of me referring it to Beano day. Yep, metaphorically, Gareth Noyce is the paperboy and delivered me a Beano of a game. Highly playable, gorgeous graphics and brilliant subtle music and sound. Top notch applause to all involved.

I played this for about an hour so far and I really like it.

Graphics: Very pretty! The style is simple and charming. The character is well made, and smoothly animated and moved. There's just enough clutter to make each room interesting without making them overwhelmingly messy, which is a good balance.

Audio: Beautiful music and the sound effects blend well with the rest of the game.

Gameplay: it's very classic isometric platforming, with puzzles to solve and loads of little secrets and collectibles. There's very little hand-holding, you simply figure things out for yourself, which is very well done - the progression is steady. It starts out easy and gets quite challenging. It's very charming and fun!

The control scheme is nicely configurable and can easily be changed on the fly, which is great.

There's several game modes: "Adventure" and "OldSchool". Adventure gives you unlimited time and lives, whereas Old School limits time you get in each room and lives you have to spend, with no saves or maps. I've been playing Adventure, since I'm not insane. I'll give Old School a try later.

If you miss the old Spectrum / Amiga isometric puzzlers, or you have no idea what I'm talking about, try this out - it's a fun, charming puzzle game.

The creator must be a fan of Solstice for the NES because it looks and plays extremely similar. Which is a fantastic game because there so few of these kind of games that actually exist. Solstice is my favorite game of all time, so this hits right at home. Gameplay is so smooth with many options for your control scheme. The music is great, lots of hidden secrets, some challenging puzzles as well. I wish the Story was more flushed out but that doesn't really matter in the end. I can't wait to play this game through to the end. Fantastic buy and would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys puzzles, platforming, or if they are just looking for something a bit different. 9/10!