Today, I’m doing something a bit different. Normally in my reviews I touch on Accessibility issues and offer some suggestions. This is the first time I’ll be doing that as a preview of a game that has yet to release.
Lumines Arise now has a demo available for download. You can go ahead and check that out if you want to experience some of this game for yourself. I’d highly recommend it, because it’s already shaping up to be as impactful a title as its predecessor, Tetris Effect.
For context, my vision issues are severe, likely far more extreme than what most people would expect. A worst-case scenario, if you will. So, with that in mind, let’s get into how I got on with the Lumines Arise demo.
I was told ahead of time that the game had a suite of Accessibility settings, which I’m always pleased to hear. But it didn’t start off well when the first thing I am presented with is a wall of text, the EULA, on top of a pulsating background, making it very difficult to read. Text dialogs in the game are all handled like this, and it makes things far more difficult than it needs to be. For my particular case, contrast is key to readability, and light on dark is easier on my eyes. What we have here is not a lot of contrast, and the background keeps changing. I had to take a screenshot, alt-tab out of the game, and zoom into it to be able to see what the game was showing me.
The pulsing aesthetic is sort of the game’s vibe, so I understand why it is there. On the PC, at least, where I play most of my games these days, it is possible to detect whether Accessibility is needed from the start. Forza Motorsport, Diablo IV, and other games detect whether Accessibility options like a high-contrast theme or screen magnifier or narrator are running, and adopt a high-contrast UI or turn on TTS. I think this approach would help a lot in the front end.
Once the Main Menu comes up, you can move your cursor around and click on the various game modes. Free movement of the cursor is available with both the Mouse, as one would expect, but also with the gamepad. This is a minor one I can get around, but personally, with a gamepad, I always preferred the cursor snap to the next option rather than float around.
After a brief tutorial, we get into the game, with its default settings. Going into the options you have the game settings, and Accessibility settings one tab over. So, the options are not hard to find, which I like a lot.
One thing I will call out right away is that there has been an effort made to make the pieces visually distinct. In this demo they seem to all be circles and diamonds.There may be others I have not yet seen, but if this holds true for the full game then that’s already a win in terms of being able to discern what’s going on.
There are a number of settings here, including playfield transparency, background motion, the camera zoom level, colorblind filters, and two phobia filters. I wouldn’t expect less, given most of these options were also present in Tetris Effect.
The various camera distances are what I’d expect, and the Very Near option was the most comfortable for me, which was also the case in Tetris Effect. Though, in this demo, when you enter the Zone, the Zoom Level resets. This is likely an oversight or bug, and it might not work that way when the final game comes out.
Playfield Transparency is a key option, being able to make the playfield opaque is a key setting to increase contrast. To make things even easier to see for people with low vision, an option to make the next piece and upper area where pieces enter also opaque would be ideal.
The Colorblind filters work as you would think they should. If I could make one suggestion here, though, it would be to add a deliberate, grayscale filter which makes one of the jewels light gray, near white, and the other dark grey, so there is always a very distinct contrast between the two. I realize this one would take some work, but I’m putting it out there anyway.
There is one other setting I want to mention, and that is the Text Size option. This has a range from 90% to 110%. With high-resolution displays today, this setting could probably go higher. In my case, 110% doesn’t make much difference. This should also work in the front end, if it doesn’t already. As I said, the difference for me between 100% and 110% is not enough to make much of a difference in readability. If the screen real-estate is there, take it up to 200% in10% increments.
I have left the biggest Accessibility and Difficulty option for last. This one is substantial, it shows the studio’s willingness to do what it takes to get as many people playing the game as possible, even if it fundamentally changes the gameplay.
That setting is No-Stress Lumines. There are three settings, Type 1 to Type 3. These change the game so the blocks do not fall until you decide to drop them, have the playfield clear if you top out, or both. This completely changes the dynamic of the game, changing it from a very fast-paced and intense game, to something that can be played more methodically, but does not lose any of its sensory impact.
By the end of the demo, I still got that pulse-pounding thrill of completion, having been feeling the music in my headphones and through the controller vibrations. The only thing that really changed is that without this setting I wouldn’t be able to get through it all, and with it, I could.
With what I have played so far, and the Accessibility options that are already here, I am very excited for the game’s full release later this year. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing what visual and audio treats the team at Enhance have cooked up.
Today, I’m doing something a bit different. Normally in my reviews I touch on Accessibility issues and offer some suggestions. This is the first time I’ll be doing that as a preview of a game that has yet to release….
Today, I’m doing something a bit different. Normally in my reviews I touch on Accessibility issues and offer some suggestions. This is the first time I’ll be doing that as a preview of a game that has yet to release.
Lumines Arise now has a demo available for download. You can go ahead and check that out if you want to experience some of this game for yourself. I’d highly recommend it, because it’s already shaping up to be as impactful a title as its predecessor, Tetris Effect.
For context, my vision issues are severe, likely far more extreme than what most people would expect. A worst-case scenario, if you will. So, with that in mind, let’s get into how I got on with the Lumines Arise demo.
I was told ahead of time that the game had a suite of Accessibility settings, which I’m always pleased to hear. But it didn’t start off well when the first thing I am presented with is a wall of text, the EULA, on top of a pulsating background, making it very difficult to read. Text dialogs in the game are all handled like this, and it makes things far more difficult than it needs to be. For my particular case, contrast is key to readability, and light on dark is easier on my eyes. What we have here is not a lot of contrast, and the background keeps changing. I had to take a screenshot, alt-tab out of the game, and zoom into it to be able to see what the game was showing me.
The pulsing aesthetic is sort of the game’s vibe, so I understand why it is there. On the PC, at least, where I play most of my games these days, it is possible to detect whether Accessibility is needed from the start. Forza Motorsport, Diablo IV, and other games detect whether Accessibility options like a high-contrast theme or screen magnifier or narrator are running, and adopt a high-contrast UI or turn on TTS. I think this approach would help a lot in the front end.
Once the Main Menu comes up, you can move your cursor around and click on the various game modes. Free movement of the cursor is available with both the Mouse, as one would expect, but also with the gamepad. This is a minor one I can get around, but personally, with a gamepad, I always preferred the cursor snap to the next option rather than float around.
After a brief tutorial, we get into the game, with its default settings. Going into the options you have the game settings, and Accessibility settings one tab over. So, the options are not hard to find, which I like a lot.
One thing I will call out right away is that there has been an effort made to make the pieces visually distinct. In this demo they seem to all be circles and diamonds.There may be others I have not yet seen, but if this holds true for the full game then that’s already a win in terms of being able to discern what’s going on.
There are a number of settings here, including playfield transparency, background motion, the camera zoom level, colorblind filters, and two phobia filters. I wouldn’t expect less, given most of these options were also present in Tetris Effect.
The various camera distances are what I’d expect, and the Very Near option was the most comfortable for me, which was also the case in Tetris Effect. Though, in this demo, when you enter the Zone, the Zoom Level resets. This is likely an oversight or bug, and it might not work that way when the final game comes out.
Playfield Transparency is a key option, being able to make the playfield opaque is a key setting to increase contrast. To make things even easier to see for people with low vision, an option to make the next piece and upper area where pieces enter also opaque would be ideal.
The Colorblind filters work as you would think they should. If I could make one suggestion here, though, it would be to add a deliberate, grayscale filter which makes one of the jewels light gray, near white, and the other dark grey, so there is always a very distinct contrast between the two. I realize this one would take some work, but I’m putting it out there anyway.
There is one other setting I want to mention, and that is the Text Size option. This has a range from 90% to 110%. With high-resolution displays today, this setting could probably go higher. In my case, 110% doesn’t make much difference. This should also work in the front end, if it doesn’t already. As I said, the difference for me between 100% and 110% is not enough to make much of a difference in readability. If the screen real-estate is there, take it up to 200% in10% increments.
I have left the biggest Accessibility and Difficulty option for last. This one is substantial, it shows the studio’s willingness to do what it takes to get as many people playing the game as possible, even if it fundamentally changes the gameplay.
That setting is No-Stress Lumines. There are three settings, Type 1 to Type 3. These change the game so the blocks do not fall until you decide to drop them, have the playfield clear if you top out, or both. This completely changes the dynamic of the game, changing it from a very fast-paced and intense game, to something that can be played more methodically, but does not lose any of its sensory impact.
By the end of the demo, I still got that pulse-pounding thrill of completion, having been feeling the music in my headphones and through the controller vibrations. The only thing that really changed is that without this setting I wouldn’t be able to get through it all, and with it, I could.
With what I have played so far, and the Accessibility options that are already here, I am very excited for the game’s full release later this year. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing what visual and audio treats the team at Enhance have cooked up.
by Filippo Dinolfo
