Lumines Arise

Lumines Arise is a fresh and striking audiovisual experience that elevates the only game matching the brilliance of Tetris to a new level.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game that manages to capture the very feeling of the word ‘resilience’ quite the same way. And that applies to even the gameplay experience of methodically learning the systems and improving. I can easily see Lumines Arise being one of those yearly games for me, the select few I play through as a kind of comfort pick. And I guarantee you’ll find your own something out of it too – even if I can’t say exactly what that’ll be.

Lumines Arise is one of those games that will automatically make a great impression, thanks to its visuals and music, but also the engaging gameplay. This iteration of Lumines Arise might be its Ultimate version, since you get to enjoy those amazing levels with a brand-new presentation along with a variety of game modes for you to check out. There’s also VR support, which I didn’t get to try, but many players already consider that the best way to play the game for excellent immersion. Even without playing in VR, it’s clear that a lot of care and attention went into creating this modern version of Lumines. Visuals are exceptional, the soundtrack is along one of the best I’ve listened to in recent times, and the gameplay is great, albeit a tad repetitive as you get towards the latter part of the Journey. Still, if you have even the slightest interest in Tetris, Lumines or similar games, this is a must-play.

Lumines gets the Tetris Effect treatment, and it's incredible. Is anyone really surprised? Don't worry - the gameplay is enough to sustain you through the trippy synesthesia and then some.

Lumines Arise takes a now-iconic formula and revamps it in a way that truly stimulates the senses. When you’re in a flow-state, headphones in, matching blocks, vibing with the gorgeous soundtrack and being mesmerised by the dazzling visuals, time simply melts away. It’s the most diverse and interesting the series has ever been, punctuated by a killer tracklist from its talented composers. Sure to be a regular puzzler to pick up in anybody’s library, there’s simply nothing else quite like Lumines Arise.

Lumines Arise is an expressive, compelling puzzle game that manages to provide a carefully created experience that merges together sound, visuals and gameplay. It’s a spectacle of lights, colors and sounds that continues to be enthralling for long bursts. There are very few projects like it on the market, and it’s an easy recommendation for anyone who loves puzzles and contemporary music.

No matter how loud or soft the stage, playing Lumines Arise feels like meditation, a re-centering of the brain.

Lumines Arise modernizes the classic rhythm-puzzle formula with striking visuals, a reactive soundtrack, and polished gameplay that captures the spirit of its PSP roots. The game's core mechanics remain simple yet addictive, while its audiovisual design deepens the emotional impact of each stage. A few design decisions limit passive enjoyment, and the difficulty curve can occasionally spike, but Lumines Arise still offers one of the most engaging puzzle experiences in recent memory.

Lumines Arise is a triumphant return to one of the most unique puzzle series in gaming. While it doesn't reinvent the formula, it refines what was already brilliant by adding the Burst system and expanding content with various modes and flawless audiovisual direction. The game offers a rare balance between mental challenge and sensory calm in a synergistic experience. There are small flaws, like visually confusing levels and irregular matchmaking, but they barely detract from the overall strength. Ultimately, Lumines Arise is more than just a puzzle game—it's an immersive, rhythmic, and sensory experience, proving that when sound, image, and interaction come together with purpose, the result can be truly hypnotic.

Enhance delivers a stunning evolution of the series with mesmerizing audiovisual design, clever new mechanics, and plenty of modes, although a few sound/visual mismatches and occasional readability issues slightly interrupt an otherwise superb and hypnotic rhythm-puzzle experience.

Lumines Arise takes a block building classic, adds a splash of psychedelic firework paint and an absolute banger of a soundtrack, leaving us with a game destined to become an all-timer.

Lumines Arise is an accomplishment. By sticking to the base gameplay that made Lumines a staple in puzzle games for the past two decades, Enhance focused on bringing more bells and whistles to the experience while allowing the gameplay to shine on its own. With infectious audio beats and visuals that bleed off the screen, Lumines Arise beckons players to take a night off from the club to stay in. Lumines. With sharp gameplay, crisp visuals, online matches, and many modes and customization options, Lumines Arise is a puzzle gamer’s dream, and it will let you cut the line to get in each time you fire it up.

Lumines: Arise stands as an interactive work of art and one that truly needs to be experienced. The integration of visuals, gameplay and sound is phenomenal, creating a wonderfully addictive puzzler that stands shoulder to shoulder with Enhance’s previous effort, Tetris Effect. It’s a stunning reminder of how games can move us, not just through challenge, but through the harmony of sight, sound, and touch.

Combining great gameplay that is easy to learn but challenging to master, with visuals that look great and music that always nails the tone, Lumines Arise suffers from only a few minor hiccups.

With Lumines Arise, Monstars and Enhance show once more how to bring a timeless classic to the modern era without breaking the mold. The trusted gameplay of Lumines shines brighter than ever, accompanied by stellar visuals and a banger EDM soundtrack. The less than optimal readability of certain levels is the only thing worth puzzling over, but that's a small obstacle to clear.

Music to our ears, Lumines Arise is a stellar puzzle game that provides the ultimate timeline cleanse.

Designer and producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his team once again proves that they are among the best at what they do. Again they take a simple yet addicting and deep gameplay premise and infuse it with sound and visuals that create an almost unique experience. While it has some small flaws outside of its main draw it is stunning, gorgeous and always exciting.

With Lumines Arise, Enhance has once again successfully updated a classic puzzle game, as they did with Tetris, transforming it into a true audiovisual spectacle, and incredibly immersive if you play in virtual reality. Sound, graphics... everything comes together to create an electronic symphony that's hard to resist if you're a puzzle fan.

Lumines Arise isn’t content with simply being a sequel; it may well be the definitive realization of Mizuguchi’s vision. Accessible, deep, artistically sublime, and featuring a VR component that makes it almost transcendental, it is an essential title for anyone who loves puzzle games and high-level audiovisual experiences.

While my memories of playing it in the past weren’t great, the masterful music and visual presence combined in Lumines: Arise really turned me around on the series. It’s not one to miss!

A deep, demanding and hypnotic puzzle game that blends music and gameplay into one seamless flow. Lumines Arise isn’t for everyone, but once it grabs you, it becomes impossible to let go.

Lumines Arise, despite not being the full package, is a once-in-a-generation puzzler where Enhance has, as they did with Tetris, extracted the spirit of an iconic puzzler, they have taken all of its fundamentals, and form-perfected it alongside irresistible, cosmic audiovisual splendour that really does need to be seen, heard, and played to be believed.

Like Tetris Effect before it, Lumines Arise lives up to the franchise's legacy. It's slick, stylish, and as addictive as ever. Despite my complaints and critiques of the game, especially those level transitions that take you out of the rhythm you've established, I look forward to spending hundreds of hours with Lumines Arise over the next decade or so. There was nothing quite like Lumines back in the day, and even though there are similar titles available today in 2025, there's still only one Lumines. A must-own for any puzzle game fan.

Lumines Arise revisits the series’ absorbing fusion of sight, sound, and strategy, pulling players into another round of trance of rhythm-driven puzzling. Even if its soundtrack doesn’t quite eclipse past highs, Enhance and Mizuguchi craft a mesmerizing revival that proves the franchise still hits as hard as any beat drop.

Clearly aimed at players who are still attracted to this genre, Lumines Arise enhances its formula in every way. We could have hoped for a few more backgrounds and slightly more intuitive controls.

The first brand-new entry in the series since 2012, Lumines Arise retains everything that made it a success and delivers a synesthetic experience in which music, visuals, and gameplay blend together to immerse the player in what’s happening on screen. At the same time, the simplicity of what’s offered can leave the impression that something is missing from the experience — especially when it comes to the variety of challenges.

With Lumines Arise, the Tetris Effect developers delivered another puzzle game that is gorgeous to look at and works well. I do feel it isn’t as approachable as their previous effort. But this is a very capable Lumines game that offers a range of single-player options that left me quite impressed.

These games have always come with oddities, but the central mode is so staggeringly joyous and compelling that it draws my eye and my attention and leaves me powerless to do anything else. Unlike Tetris, Lumines didn't need a borrowing from Lumines to become even better. All it needs - and this may just be me, and I know we have the Steam Deck - is a release on Switch 2, where that glorious panoramic screen that you hold in your hands is waiting to take this absolute dazzler back home to its portable origins.

Lumines Arise is a radiant revival that perfectly captures the rhythm and emotion the series is known for. The experience is simultaneously soothing and challenging, offering a unique game that both longtime fans and newcomers will appreciate. While the VR mode leaves a bit to be desired, Lumines Arise is an absolute joy that should be experienced without hesitation.

Lumines Arise is just as effective as Tetris Effect, block matching to a beat becomes a transcendent experience with a radically different ruleset. This is an excellent evolution of the PSP original that uses a wide game board and a musical wipe to create a constant sense of teetering on the edge, daring you to build big combos even when they take you close to wiping out. Lumines Arise's brilliant visuals and synesthetic grooves wonderfully fit this already musically minded puzzle ruleset.