Latest news with #Lumines
Engadget
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Lumines Arise combines that addictive puzzling flow with a killer soundtrack
After a symphony, online multiplayer and a remaster, the well-regarded (and often handheld) puzzler Lumines is getting Enhance's full synesthetic, Tetris-flowing, treatment. Lumines Arise is almost here. If you haven't played the game before, Lumines' premise centers on rotating and dropping four-square blocks made of one or two colors, building up larger squares of a single color. The game's timeline sweeps across the playfield – to the beat of the soundtrack – erasing completed squares in its path, while also giving you the brief opportunity to quickly drop more squares, add multiplier combos and score even more points. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Lumines Arise adds a new mechanic to the addictive yet simple puzzle. 'Burst' is a refillable bar that you can trigger with L2/R2, which locks a square on the playing field, allowing you to pile on subsequent blocks. You can initiate Burst once the counter has rolled above 50, although it maxes out at 100. As you might expect for a synesthesia-tickling game like Arise , Burst mode has its own low-key musical accompaniment. Lumines has never looked better. But that's not just due to 2025 hardware power, but also design choices for Lumines' skins – the unhinged wallpaper design and block themes that bubble up as you advance through puzzle stages. They're delightfully mad and, at times, distracting. (As you play, the view of your Lumines blocks will occasionally 'zoom' closer – this is intentional. Game Director Takashi Ishihara said this was to both add some dynamism to what are typically static blocks, but also to pull the players' attention back to the game at hand. Lumines Arise wants you to focus on the now, not the score, your Burst meter, or your customizable avatar.) My favorite part of the demo was the final stage, which featured two chameleons simply raving along to the dance music. The soundtrack is, naturally, a banger, too. Lumines Arise features new music from Hydelic, also responsible for the award-winning soundtrack of Tetris Effect: Connected . (The band has already launched one track, "Only Human," on Bandcamp – it's coming to other streaming services, too.) On another stage, two skeletal hands, seemingly strung up like puppets, twitch and wriggle as you shift and rotate your blocks. If anything, I think Enhance missed a trick not mapping the finger movements to a DualSense controller. I said that in front of Ishihara because I have zero sense of decorum — apparently, he'd had the same idea. I now consider myself a game designer. I got to briefly see Lumines Arise running on a Steam Deck, too. The time of the handheld console and PC is now, so it's nice to see a typically made-for-consoles game ready for this new gaming PC form factor. Ishihara teased that there's more to reveal ahead of Arise 's launch. The game will launch on both PS5 and Steam, and it will also feature VR compatibility on both platforms. While Enhance wasn't yet willing to reveal the details, there will also be some form of multiplayer, but it seems like it'll be in a different form compared to the more adversarial nature of Tetris Effect's multiplayer modes. Additionally, Ishihara wanted to highlight that the avatars, which dance and emote in sync with your in-game actions, now feature legs. That is important, apparently. Enhance is promising more answers in due time. Lumines Arise is set to launch in fall 2025.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
PlayStation State of Play June 2025: Everything Announced
Days before Summer Game Fest, PlayStation held its latest State of Play presentation, giving PS5 owners a glimpse of what they can expect for the rest of the year and into 2026. Aside from a wealth of new looks at games we already knew about, the State of Play had quite a few nice surprises as well. Below, we've compiled a full list of every single trailer and announcement that was at the June 2025 State of Play, in the order they were shown. The very first announcement of State of Play was a bombshell, the comeback of PlayStation's experimental music franchise Lumines. But the big twist is that it's being made by Enhance, the acclaimed studio behind the likes of Rez: Infinite and Tetris Effect. Another major surprise of the State of Play was the long-awaited return of Capcom's Pragmata, a brand-new property that looks as charming as it does bizarre. The sci-fi shooter starts some kind of astronaut accompanied by a small girl, as they blow away a wealth of gruesome-looking aliens. Yeah, it's weird, but compelling. Suda51, the eclectic creator behind No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned, is back with a fittingly wacky new game, Romeo Is a Dead Man. Gruesome, bloody, action-packed, and kitchy — this already looks like it could have everything you'd ever want from a Suda game. We got out first look at full gameplay for Silent Hill f, and it looks utterly horrifying in every way. The methodical exploration of Silent Hill seems to be alive and well here, along with facing the most hideous creatures you've ever seen. We also now have a release date of September 25. Koji Igarashi's spiritual successor to Castlevania is finally getting a sequel, and it looks even more Castlevania-esque than the first game. Sporting a gorgeous cel-shaded art style, it looks like this sequel will sport multiple playable characters, a wide array of costume options, and plenty of different weapons to equip. Bandai Namco debuted a new trailer for Digimon Story Time Stranger, the gorgeous-looking new RPG for the franchise. Taking place largely in Shibuya, Time Stranger, at least visually, looks like a massive step up from the past Digimon Story games. Also, we now know the game will launch on October 3, 2025. The cult classic strategy game is finally coming back, with Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. Interestingly, there will actually be two versions of the game in this release — a newly remastered version with full voiceovers, and the original game completely unchanged. From the creator of Getting Over It, Baby Steps is sidesplittingly funny simulation games. As you might expect, the entire goal here is to literally just walk, taking one painful step after another. Hirogami, as you might guess from the name, is a new action platformer inspired by the ancient art of Origami. It looks a bit like the PlayStation classic from Media Molecule, Tearaway, but with an action twist. Konami shared a new trailer and a release date of July 31 for Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, the 2D action-packed revival of the classic platforming games. With a demo out now, Cairn is a mountain-climbing simulation game where you play as a young girl named Aava, traveling up Mount Kami. It features realistic climbing mechanics where you have to adjust posture, find the right handholds, and more. The master of remasters at Digital Eclipse are back at it again with a truly epic collection. This massive endeavor features 20 different versions of classic Mortal Kombat games, faithfully preserved and enhanced. Konami debuted a new trailer for the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, this time largely focusing on the iconic boss fights of the game, and more gameplay. We even get a look at the update Ape Escape crossover. Koei Tecmo's take on the Soulslike is coming back in a big way with Nioh 3. This sequel already looks exceptionally action-packed, and introduces two new dynamic fighting styles themes around 'Ninja' and 'Samurai.' Even better, a demo is available to play right now. Yet another legendary franchise making a comeback, although in a little bit of a different way. The Thief games were one of the key franchises that created the Immersive Sim, and now it's heading into a brand new dimension with VR. Tides of Tomorrow is a fascinating-looking story-based multiplayer game, where you have to 'uncover the choices' of your fellow players and deal with their consequences. All while it takes place on a colorful ocean planet. While we didn't get a good look at the new content, PlayStation did announce that more Challenge Levels are on the way for Astro Bot. And yes, that'll include new bots to rescue, including one from Ghost of Yotei. This free-to-play voyage RPG looks like a more arcade-y take on Sea of Thieves, fill with pirates and hijinks on the high sea. But, interestingly, it features turn-based combat and an island building section. A new game from Giant Squid and the creators of Journey and Abzu, Sword of the Sea is a gorgeous exploration game filled with chill vibes. It's launching on August 19, and will be available for free through PlayStation Plus on day one. One of the biggest surprises of the show was our first look at 007 First Light, the brand-new James Bond game from Hitman developer IO Interactive. This origin story follows a new Bond when he's an airman in the British army, chronicling his rise as the legendary 007. Ghost of Yotei got a tiny new trailer that seems to hint at a wolf companion, while announcing a full-blown State of Play dedicated to the game coming in July. Arc System Works, the studio behind beloved fighting games like Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ, is bringing its talents to the Marvel Universe — and it already looks incredible. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls brings an entirely new style and aesthetic to these beloved characters, with four-vs-four battles that look as intense as you'd expect. As overwhelming as that flood of announcements might be, don't forget the week is just getting started with even more events over the next few days, including the Summer Game Fest Showcase and Future Games Show. Make sure to check back at CGMagazine for news from all the big events.
Metro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
PS5 State Of Play: Everything announced from Nioh 3 to Pragmata
Sony's State Of Play may have lacked first-party games but there were plenty of surprises, between a new Lumines and a remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics. While State Of Play presentations are usually headlined by a first-party title from Sony, the company's latest showcase took a different approach. Some titles from PlayStation Studios got a mention, between a brief look at Ghost of Yōtei and new levels in Astro Bot, but the big closing moment belonged to Sony's collaboration with Guilty Gear creators Arc System Works on a new Marvel fighting game. While it is technically a PlayStation Studios production, it's not exactly the new God Of War spin-off some expected. Elsewhere, the other big reveal was perhaps the new James Bond game from Hitman developer IO Interactive, with a youthful, fresh-faced 007. It may have lacked a surprise from one of Sony's big names, but the rest of the presentation was filled with some pretty great announcements. You can check out a rundown of the highlights below. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. The creators behind Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite opened the show with another entry in the Lumines puzzle game series, titled Lumines Arise. The game is scheduled to launch on PlayStation 5 and PC in autumn 2025, with optional PSVR2 and PC VR support. A free single-player and multiplayer demo is planned for the summer. This is the first entry in the series since 2018's Lumines Remastered, which was also developed by Enhance Games. Capcom's sci-fi action title was originally unveiled back in 2020, but it was delayed indefinitely in 2023. Two years later, however, and it's reappeared in pretty promising shape. The gameplay looks somewhere between Vanquish and Astral Chain, with a promised 'two-in-one twist of action and strategy' as a young girl named Dianna sits on your back and throws out assist attacks during battles. It's set to be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC in 2026. Japanese developer Goichi Suda, aka Suda51, revealed his new 'ultra-violent science-fiction' game, Romeo Is A Dead Man. The opening of the trailer sports a cel-shaded comic book style, but the gameplay appears to be more visually grounded, albeit with the bloody spectacle you'd expect from the creator of No More Heroes. You play as Romeo Stargazer, an FBI investigator who hunts wanted criminals across space. The game is set to launch in 2026 on PlayStation 5. Konami's next mainline instalment in the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hill f, received a creepy new trailer, which showed off some of the spectacularly messed up monster designs. The trailer also confirmed a September 25, 2025 release date across PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. It might be just before the Halloween season, but this looks set to haunt you for weeks. This long-rumoured remaster was finally revealed, with the name of Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles. This is a remaster of the original PlayStation game from 1997, which wasn't released in Europe until the 2007 PSP port, The War Of The Lions. This includes the original game with the War Of The Lions translation, along with a new enhanced version with fully voiced dialogue, a renewed interface, and other improvements. It's set to be released on September 30, 2025 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The Bloodstained saga continues with this new 2.5D side-scrolling action role-player, which is set in the same world as Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night. The new Ethereal Castle map is described as being the largest yet, and the gameplay hinges around swapping between the two protagonists, Alex and Leo. While you directly control one, the other assists in combat, and you can switch between the two at the press of a button. Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement is set to launch in 2026 on PlayStation 5. Digital Eclipse, the studio known for retro gaming compilations like Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, are back with a new Mortal Kombat retrospective. The collection boasts over 20 different playable versions of the classic games, across arcade, console, and handheld entries. A bunch of these titles come with modern enhancements too, including online play with rollback netcode. It's set to be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC in 2025. One of the only VR games at the showcase was Thief VR: Legacy Of Shadow, which is set to launch across PSVR2, PC VR, and Meta Quest next year. This is the first Thief game in over a decade, and it comes with a new protagonist called Magpie, who is described a 'cunning thief orphaned by Northcrest's brutality and shaped by the streets'. It's being developed by Vertigo Games and Maze Theory, in collaboration with Eidos-Montreal. Five years after the last instalment, Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja officially announced Nioh 3 and there's a limited time demo available right now until June 18 on PlayStation 5. More Trending This sequel, which is slated for next year, features two combat styles between Samurai and Ninja. The former is similar to the Nioh combat seen in past games, while the Ninja style serves up quick movements, aerial actions, Ninjitsu techniques, and other abilities. While these were the main highlights, there were several other smaller announcements, with new trailers for Sea Of Thieves-like Sea Remnants, Tides Of Tomorrow from the creators of Road 96, and Sword Of The Sea from the team behind The Pathless. There were release dates for several indie titles too, with Baby Steps slated for September 8, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound arriving on July 31, and survival climber Cairn planned for November 5, with a demo available now. As for Ghost of Yōtei, Sony announced it will offer a gameplay deep dive on the sequel in July, ahead of its launch on October 2, 2025. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: What are your Nintendo Switch 2 first impressions? MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 will outsell all PC handhelds in 2025 claims report MORE: We've got a Nintendo Switch 2 console – here's when to expect our review
