Lumines Arise Review: PS5’s Best Puzzle Game Arrives

lumines arise ps5 best puzzle game — (Photo Credit: Enhance)

Enhance Games is best known for their incredible versions of Rez and Tetris, and now they’ve given Lumines a stylish and incredibly captivating facelift. With plenty of modes, this is everything puzzle game fans could have wanted. Simply put, Lumines Arise is the PS5’s best puzzle game and one of PlayStation VR2’s best titles.

If you’ve played Lumines before, it hasn’t been significantly tweaked here. You’re still dropping squares onto a grid, trying to create blocks of the same color to eliminate them. Music and gameplay are intertwined as puzzle pieces are cleared at a regular interval, and this creates a thrilling experience. It’s almost entirely like playing the PSP original, although there is a new burst mechanic (very similar to Zone in Tetris Effect) that allows you to create an even bigger size and gain a ton of points. It’s a fun yet intelligent addition as it doesn’t get in the way of the core gameplay and instead rewards players who use it well.

There is a wide range of single-player modes on offer. You can create custom playlists to your liking, but the main solo offering is the journey mode. This is a guided tour through the game’s 35 stages, each of which includes different visuals and music. It’s a spectacular moment as the stages build together, and it can really test your playing. There’s also a mission mode, which serves initially as a tutorial and then a really difficult test of skills as it goes along.

There’s also a nice suite of multiplayer modes (you won’t have to worry about this getting a Connected-type follow-up) available at launch. Burst Battles are the main versus mode, and as fun as ever, as the new burst mechanic is a game-changer and allows you to launch a comeback if used correctly. There are also weekend events, time attacks, survival modes, and a fun daily challenge mode called Quick Burst that has you attempting to get the biggest burst possible. There’s a lot on offer and you’ll keep coming back to it.

But the best part of Lumines Arise is the unmatched audiovisual experience. Just like Tetris Effect, this is a game that is thrilling to play on a nice OLED television and truly captivating when playing on PlayStation VR2. It’s the first game that made me feel like my investment was truly worth it, as it’s an incredible experience, as the world surrounds you, and you can truly lock into the puzzle gameplay. I’ve never been more locked in and “at one” with a game from an experience point of view. It’s truly engaging and needs to be experienced.

Lumines Arise Review: Final Verdict

Lumines Arise takes Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s puzzle game masterpiece to a new level. With plenty of mesmerizing stages and gameplay that is as entrancing as ever, this is one of the best puzzle games ever made.