If I had to describe it, this game is survival-themed Half-Life but instead of being The Gordon Freeman, you're just Some Guy trying to get out of Black Mesa with everything trying to kill you.

This is Lumines wearing the Tetris Effect influence proudly on its sleeve.

I've played the original to bits and have been anticipating this game since it got announced. Played some of the Journey mode and I'm happy with the songs and the blocks so far.

I remember when I played the OG Lumines, i'd look at the blocks and think of how delicious it would be to bite into them. Lumines Arise has those very same blocks.

The sound design is great and especially satisfying to hear at some levels. There are accessibility options available if there's too much going on on the screen, but I haven't needed to use it yet.

Time Attack modes have been moved to multiplayer, and your versus mode is with other people. There's a fair bit of additions with the tutorial and challenges as well.

The core gameplay of Lumines has been preserved and I'm all the more happy with it just an hour into the game. It's late here, and I know I'll play more after work.

Still cheaper than an actual power washer.

Lost all my lemons to the devil. :(

The edgy humor comes straight out of the late 90s/early 2000s. It is a game that is unapologetically itself, even though the skateboard's constant cursing - censored or otherwise - gets a bit annoying at times.

You control a cat on a skateboard, and slice-and-dice your way through a literal gorefest of unicorns. Platforming is pretty fun, each level that I've played so far has its own unique mechanics to switch everything up.

I'll probably come back to Gori another time when I'm feeling up to it, but I've been pretty happy with my early impressions of it.

DISCLAIMER: I beat the base ending last night and I figured that 47 hours into the game was more than enough to put in a fair review.


Silksong was first and foremost a DLC for Hollow Knight, and it shows this clearly on its sleeve. Instead of playing as the Knight, we're put in control of Hornet, who comes with her own moveset and toolkit. She is a far cry on how the Knight plays. With the Knight, you rush into bosses head-on with the nail along with spells and charms. Hornet is a different dance, where you lean more into her movement before striking with her nail. In place of spells (though Hornet does have access to silk skills), she relies on a variety of tools to dish out different attacks.

So much so that at times, you can't rely on playing Silksong the way you do with Hollow Knight. Whatever skills you've picked up from the Knight, get ready to reprogram yourself to play as Hornet.

Hornet's initial kit is awkward. Her pogo comes down diagonally unlike the Knight's vertical pogo. You do unlock incredibly fun movement tech for her as you progress in the game, which are essential to use in all her fights! She also has to conserve a certain amount of silk (which is this game's focus) to heal. Unlike the Knight getting to choose when to heal a mask of health, Hornet's heals are 3 masks at once, which have to be timed at opportune moments lest you be hit by another incoming attack. Given that plenty of attacks hit hard in the early game (which is still a surprise and questionable choice to me), the 3-mask heal seems to balance this.

I remember being able to facetank and play aggressively as the Knight in the first game, but with Hornet I have had to test my patience a lot more. It's punish or be punished. I am no god gamer by any means, but I'm a tenacious one that eventually some muscle memory would help me get on by once I figure out a boss' attack patterns.


Comparing to Hollow Knight, Silksong definitely has a higher skill ceiling and at times feel incredibly punishing to the player. Earlier I mentioned that early game enemies and even the environment hitting Hornet hard for more damage than expected (which I feel you only experienced in mid- to late- game Hollow Knight), and this gives players who aren't used to these games a shorter timeframe to learn a fight before they die. I'd imagine that throwing yourself into a boss repeatedly without making much progress is infuriating to the point where one would consider dropping the game altogether, and this is a sentiment that I see widespread online when it comes to Silksong discourse.

The most important thing in any video game anyone plays is to have fun. The fun can certainly get sucked out of you at times with early game Silksong. Though, as you get more experience with Hornet's moveset and abilities, and if you are willing to spend some times reading the enemies, then this game is absolutely worthwhile.

You "git gud" by learning and you do that by playing. Even if it takes weeks or months, you'll get there eventually if you enjoy your time enough. However, there's nothing wrong with dropping Silksong if you realise that it's not for you.

There have already been some balance patches at the time of me writing this. So here's hoping there are a bit more tweaks here and there that make the early game a more enjoyable experience. To be honest, after you reach the mid- to late- game prior to the base ending, it becomes a lot more fun to play.


As someone who loves the first game and have played it every other year, it definitely was worth the wait for me. I'm no stranger to difficult games, so I was willing to put myself through the tough early game. If you love the world, story, and the lore, Silksong has more of it. However the gameplay itself may be a turn-off. The most important thing, I feel, is to acknowledge that Hornet is not the same as the Knight, and attempting to play Silksong in too similar of a way to Hollow Knight will only make your experience miserable.

While I have enjoyed my time with Silksong, there are still some nitpicks that I have. Even though rosary (which is the Geo of the game) scarcity is a pain and there is a valid lore reason regarding it, not being able to get it reliably without having to farm does make it a slog at times. The devs counter this by introducing a mechanic to stash away your rosaries, and it did take awhile for it to click. A lot of bosses themselves give little to no reward and usually just gate progression, which is different from Hollow Knight where you still get some money when you beat them.

I personally did not have complaints about the runbacks to bosses in the game (for the most part once you get used to Hornet's maneuverability, it's not all too bad), there was one area (Bilewater SUCKS) that was incredibly unpleasant to go through and I have no wishes to go through it ever again. WORST area in the game, that is.

Just like Hollow Knight, you still get even more game to play after beating the base ending. Silksong is a HUGE world to explore. I've spent more time with my first playthrough of Silksong compared to my 108% Hollow Knight file (I played just enough and not everything, the pantheons are too punishing okay).


Not ONCE have I heard Hornet say "SHAW!"

And Bilewater. That place can go suck a rancid egg.


Silksong is a marathon, not a sprint. By the time I've beaten the equivalent of Hollow Knight's secret boss for the "true" ending, I'm actually...kind of exhausted and relieved that it's over.

Do I still recommend Silksong? Yes, definitely. But at the same time, you might just want to beat it once and not touch it for a couple of years (at least, that's how I personally feel). If anything, this game has made me want to go back to play Hollow Knight again.

An excellent fly-based fishing game with a side of combat.

This is Lumines wearing Tetris Effect proudly on its sleeve. I love Lumines, I've played hours across multiple platforms, I love it even more than I ever did Tetris. This will be a day one purchase for me.

I'm hoping we get more songs similar to the first Lumines game. Appreciate the accessibility settings too because there's a LOT more going on in the screen compared to the first game.

My Horse Prince walked so Umamusume: Pretty Derby could run.

EDIT: it's been 50 hours I played this as a JOKE and I am in too deep

Have always wanted to play this ever since I saw someone else play it on a PSP, and now I CAN

Runs great handheld on Steam Deck, make sure to use wired headphones or use the audio directly from the Deck.

Also pretty sure the Patapons are the bad guys lmao