Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles Review

Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles definitely knows how to make a first impression, I’ll give it that. The game drops you into a 3D environment, full of bright, luminescent structures and organic decoration. You’re in control of a cute little green blob, making adorable little squeaks and grunts as you move around. And, as you explore, you’ll come to realise the entire game world is a single space consisting of multiple puzzles, much like A Monster’s Expedition, one of my favourite puzzlers from last year. So, the scene is set for something pretty special here but, sadly, the sense of excitement isn’t sustained for long enough.

With light platforming elements, Lumote is first and foremost a puzzler. Your task involves mending the broken world, turning red piping into blue. Each small area has a type of receptacle that you can ‘plug’ into, which typically transforms red lines to blue, but may have other side effects. You can also sit atop, and gain control of, Motes—small blocks containing tiny creatures that you can move around the area. Motes can act as your proxy; leave them plugged in and you’re free to roam around with the colour-transforming connection maintained.

The mechanism is a clever one because it allows you to experiment using your own body before moving Motes around. However, since you’ll need all lines to be red for the level’s exit to stay open, you cannot be a part of the ultimate solution. Once everything’s positioned correctly, a gateway opens up to guide you to the next linear puzzle; rinse and repeat. There are fifty puzzles in all, which doesn’t sound like much, but they ramp up in difficulty quite significantly around about the halfway mark.

This isn’t quite a Sokoban-like, but the overall impression is similar: a constricted area in which objects must be moved around in consideration of the surrounding environment, obstacles, and other movable objects. There’s no danger of getting anything stuck, so there’s no undo function, and this all works more-or-less fine apart from the inescapable peril caused by wandering around platforms floating in an infinite space. It’s annoyingly easy to misstep and plummet to your death, at which point the level resets. I don’t really see a need for this added challenge; I’d much rather focus on the puzzles in a safe space that doesn’t require utmost spatial awareness.

Those initial awe-inspiring views are, sadly, an indication of its downfall. Because Lumote’s biggest problem is probably that 3D environment, and it’s convinced me that the 2.5D, fixed-camera approach of games like the aforementioned Monster’s Expedition is superior. Despite the bright lights, Lumote’s atmosphere often feels gloomy; perhaps it’s the solitary nature of the world and its enormous expanse. There’s not a lot of variety to the beauty, either.

Dedicated puzzle fans who persist with Lumote may well get some enjoyment from its multi-levelled platform/puzzling. But I didn’t find a huge amount of originality here, and the frustrations caused by navigating the world made it quite a hostile one to return to, something which I never really relished doing.