The Luminist

About

The Luminist is a single player action game. It was developed by Lucid Dream and was released on July 26, 2019. It received positive reviews from players.

An inconvenient electrical failure turns into an unspeakable nightmare as Dietrich becomes trapped in an abandoned subterranean mining town full of horrid creatures.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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89%

Audience ScoreBased on 35 reviews

story7 positive mentions

atmosphere3 negative mentions

The game has a compelling atmosphere and impressive graphics, creating an engaging horror experience.
The story and world-building are well-crafted, showcasing the potential of the developers and making it a worthwhile short experience.
It's a free game, which adds value and makes it accessible for players looking for a quick, entertaining adventure.

Gameplay mechanics, particularly aiming and movement, are clunky and need significant improvement, making combat frustrating.
The game is very short, lasting around 20-30 minutes, which may leave players wanting more content.
There are technical issues such as lag, bugs, and awkward camera angles that detract from the overall experience.

story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
64%
11%
The story is centered around an electrical failure and the investigation into the town's condemnation, featuring intriguing lore and world-building elements that enhance the experience. While the narrative is compelling and well-crafted, many players noted that the gameplay mechanics detracted from the overall enjoyment, with issues like sluggish controls and technical glitches. Overall, the story is appreciated for its originality and atmosphere, but it suffers from a lack of polish in execution.
- “The story involves an electrical failure and a search for clues about the town's condemnation.”
- “The story itself is pretty neat and the concepts the game introduces are also original and something I haven't quite seen before.”
- “It's short and has a couple of bugs, but it has a compelling story, great world building, and design.”
- “The ending felt bland and it could've been improved on as the main character just closes the door and the story ends there.”
- “Unfortunately, gameplay (for me at least) has a way more significant stance than storytelling as despite the plot being well written, the game was hard to play with sluggish movements, janky aiming, and an awkward perspective.”
- “Overall, 'The Luminist' isn't terrible by any means and offers a pretty dark story as well as an unsettling environment for the player to journey through, but the number of flaws revolving around gameplay made this particular experience for me not as great as it probably would have been had things been more polished.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users noting significant flaws such as poor aiming, sluggish movements, and a lack of save points. While some mechanics are praised for their creativity, overall execution feels unpolished, detracting from the experience. Despite these issues, the game is considered decent for a student project, with a compelling story and atmosphere that somewhat compensate for its gameplay shortcomings.
- “The attention to detail, world-building, level design, optimization, and overall gameplay is immaculate.”
- “Surprisingly tight little game with an engaging premise and simple but solid gameplay.”
- “Graphics and sound together create a horror atmosphere; the story and gameplay are simple but decent enough.”
- “Mechanics need work; aiming was truly horrible.”
- “The gameplay has its flaws, namely the lack of save points.”
- “Unfortunately, gameplay (for me at least) has a way more significant stance than storytelling, as despite the plot being well written, the game was hard to play with sluggish movements, janky aiming, and an awkward perspective.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The graphics in the game are generally well-received, featuring appealing visuals and effective lighting effects that enhance the overall aesthetic. However, some players note inconsistencies in texture quality and a nostalgic, cartoon-like style reminiscent of the '90s and early 2000s. While the visuals contribute positively to the atmosphere, optimization issues may affect performance, particularly for those with lower-end systems.
- “The graphics in this game are really quite good, which at least makes the game look more appealing.”
- “I love the aesthetic and feel of the world, including the simpler look which is reminiscent of high-budget cartoons from the '90s and early '00s.”
- “Graphically it looks quite beautiful and you can tell that a lot of work was put into visuals.”
- “Graphics are a bit PS3 era and things are limited, but it's free, so I'm not complaining.”
- “Keep in mind that when you are starting the game, it's not greatly optimized, so switch the graphics settings to 'high' at most so it doesn't ruin your experience with lag (also, you can't change it mid-game and there's no save feature because it's so short).”
- “Textures are either very detailed or barely detailed, leaving a huge graphical inconsistency throughout the game.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its dark and creepy tone, effectively enhancing the horror experience. The combination of graphics and sound contributes significantly to this immersive environment, complementing the storytelling and gameplay. Overall, reviewers commend the game's ability to create a compelling and unsettling atmosphere.
- “The atmosphere was great, and the storytelling was well done.”
- “The atmosphere is dark and creepy as it should be.”
- “Graphics and sound together create a horror atmosphere; the story and gameplay are simple but decent enough.”
- “This is a tough one; I really want to recommend this for its story, look, audio, and atmosphere.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The music in the game receives high praise, with many users rating the menu music a perfect 10/10 and noting that it complements the game's atmosphere effectively. The sound design, including voice acting, is described as well-executed and immersive, contributing to a positive overall experience without any complaints.
- “Music is also nice and suspenseful and suits the setting nicely, and the voice acting is also done very well without sounding too forced.”
- “Overall, sounds and music are done well and no complaints are present here.”
- “Nice options in the menu, sounds and volume are good enough, and the music is also nice.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is marred by noticeable glitches and lag issues, particularly in horde mode, which can lead to players getting stuck. While the overall experience is enjoyable, these technical problems detract from the gameplay and need addressing for a smoother experience.
- “Overall a decent game, fun and well described, but some glitches should be fixed and the lag issues... I don't know how and why, but it should be fixed as well if possible.”
- “And yes, there are very easy glitches, but once reached, you can get stuck. The horde mode is pretty funny.”
- “I was on the menu, clicked the horde mode, and started playing it for around 15 minutes until I decided to search for glitches and others.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
While the game's world-building and level design are praised for their detail and overall gameplay quality, players have reported performance drops and issues with character animations that hinder a smooth experience.
- “The attention to detail, world-building, level design, optimization, and overall gameplay is immaculate.”
- “'The Luminist' is a short third-person horror adventure game where you play as 'Dietrich', an engineer that works in what looks like a mine overseeing the technical equipment and ensuring everything runs smoothly.”
- “There are also performance drops, and the animations of your characters and the enemies get in the way of a fluid experience.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted as both engaging and entertaining, particularly in the story mode and horde mode, despite some minor glitches that can affect gameplay. Players find the comedic elements enjoyable enough to share their experiences in video compilations.
- “Started playing the story mode and it was pretty funny and interesting.”
- “The horde mode is pretty funny.”
- “If you want to see the bugs and glitches I wrote about in this review in video form, you can check out my funny gameplay compilation video of this game on YouTube!”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While some users note technical issues like camera oddities and aiming problems, the emotional experience of the game is deemed worthwhile, making the thirty-minute playthrough a valuable investment.