Luma Island Review – No Trouble in Paradise

Luma Island Review

Over the past several years, so-called cozy games have exploded in popularity. It isn’t hard to understand why. Surrounded by an uncertain, strife-filled world, people love to imagine a simple, rewarding life free from danger and conflict. Games like Stardew Valley and now, Luma Island, fit the bill. What could be more relaxing than puttering around your farm, mindlessly chopping wood, or gossiping with the friendly townsfolk? I know that it works for me and millions of other players.

Freedom to Choose

In the beginning, Luma Island feels very much like other cozy farming games. You create a character, you’re given a little trailer parked near the coast and a couple of basic tools. Immediately, the familiar loop kicks in: gather, build and craft, unlock new plans, rinse, and repeat. It’s all exceptionally pleasant, of course. Pretty soon the game sends you to town, and you start to meet the locals and pick a profession.

Initially, you select from one of seven professions: cook, brewer, treasure hunter, blacksmith, fisherman, jewelry crafter, and archeologist. All are rated according to difficulty. Some professions like cook, fisherman, or brewer are simple, requiring little more than gathering or growing resources. Other professions are more obviously challenging, like treasure hunter and archaeologist. These careers are less about staying in one place than adventuring around the map. They also require some specialized equipment and weapons, because those professions include some puzzle solving and monster fighting. There’s a risk of death and lost treasure, too, something that cooks don’t need to worry much about.

One of the ways Luma Island is brilliantly different is the way it allows for different approaches. Players can treat it like a typical cozy farming game, or push the experience much closer to an adventure RPG-type game. Even the fisherman can explore or treasure hunt, of course, though they may not be equipped for the challenges. And then, playing the game with a group of up to four friends adds an additional layer. Finally, though players pick a starting profession for free, they can add additional ones later for a price. Play the game long enough, and you can master everything.

Find the Luma

Luma Island takes its name from magical creatures called Luma. One of the player’s goals is finding Luma eggs and hatching them. There are 15 different Lumas and they provide special assistance, guides to treasure, and a resource called Luma Energy. Luma Island has a fully imagined backstory and lots of lore to uncover. There are locked temples in each zone, each of which provides a bit of narrative and, naturally, treasure.

While the game’s NPCs are varied, quirky, and entertaining, they’re not love interests. They’ll always live in the friend zone unless developer Feel Free Games decides to add a romance option. The studio has hinted that romance, marriage, and families might be coming, but not said when. Generally, your character has pretty superficial relationships with the game’s NPCs, which is a little disappointing.

However, joining with other players in co-op allows for role-playing. Co-op also addresses one of Luma Island’s flaws. There’s a great deal of grinding for resources and upgrade materials. At first, the new recipes and tools unlock at a rapid pace but it doesn’t take long for the progression to slow. Some players will love the relaxed tempo, while others might get impatient. Upgrading tools and having a group speeds the process along.

A Bright New World

While the character creator is a bit limited, on the whole, Luma Island’s art and world are colorful and attractive. The biomes are varied and almost everything is interactable. If you can see it, you can probably pick it up, chop it down, or use it in some way. The minor problem with this comes courtesy of the one-button-does-all mechanic for different interactions and the fiddly nature of objects being very close. While we’re griping, exploration is made more difficult due to there not being a compass on the map, and inventory management is clunky the way old ARPGs used to be.

Luma Island offers something for everyone with a love for relaxing and inviting games. Grinding aside, the farming, crafting, and exploration aspects are all equally viable experiences. There are some minor frustrations and a few shallow moments, but on the whole Luma Island offers an endlessly appealing escape from the real world.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***