Lux Pain is Poirot for the supernatural.

The Nintendo DS has a broad selection of games covering pretty much every genre out there, from racing and shooting to fighting and puzzling. But there is one genre that DS does better than the any other home console thanks to the Stylus and Touchscreen; and that’s Point and Click Adventure.

Not for the younger audience

What makes Point and Click adventures on Nintendo DS so popular is its accessibility; you don’t have lots of complicated controls and combos to learn, you simply do what it says on the tin; point and click. Lux Pain is no different in that respect. It follows the same successful formula laid out by previous point and click titles – Another Code: Two Memories, Hotel Dusk, the Ace Attorney series and Mystery Case Files – with an engaging story and easy controls.

Lux Pain does however have one very big difference. Despite its Anime appearance, it is a very adult game set in Kisaragi City, a town plagued by mishaps and murders. A worm called Silent which was born through Hate and Sadness has infected humans and is forcing them to commit these heinous acts. Two victims of this are the parents of Atsuki, the hero of the Lux-Pain. To avenge his parents Atsuki goes through a dangerous operation to acquire the Sigma, a special power which gives him the ability to seek out worms and destroy them.

So the story for Lux-Pain is not a particularly happy one when you have death and despair lurking all over the place. There hasn’t been a game this dark on the Nintendo DS. We’ve had bizarre games in the form of Flower, Sun and Rain and mysterious games with Hotel Dusk, but never dark and psychologically twisted like Lux Pain. Yet, oddly, that is what makes Lux-Pain appealing.

In Lux-Pain you must talk to the people that you meet, investigate your environment and look for worms. As you question people you’ll discover clues about them and other people that you will, at some point, meet. Some of the information could be true, some of it could be false; it’s to you to discern fact from fiction. The story itself unfolds through a combination of cut scenes and static images with voice over and text. It all depends on the significance of the character and the information that you are receiving.

Two views, one goal

The touch screen is where your attention is mostly focused as this is where you will control the game, watch the animations and also search for Worms. When talking to other characters you will have two pictures of them and the environment: one on the top screen and one on the lower screen. The lower screen is how you see the world as it is while the top screen shows the “Sigma” view. This means you see the aura of the people you’re talking to, indications of whether they’re happy or sad, and of course where you can find the worms.

To search for worms you will need to rub at the area indicated on the touchscreen. Once the worm is found you can then read its emotional charge – usually self loathing and suicide – and eliminate it from the search.

Strange and twisted-yet oddly appealing

Lux-Pain feels like an interactive book; you choose the area that you are going to search next, interact with the other characters and search for worms. Normally this would be quite on-the-rails and restricted. But the formula works well for Lux-Pain because if you were given complete freedom the whole thing would become over complicated, particularly given the amount of information you have to process in your search for Silence.

A lot of effort has gone into the presentation of Lux-Pain. From the voice acting to the animated cut scenes, it all blends together to bring you a truly unique experience. Lux-Pain is definitely not for the younger gamers. It is clearly aimed at the more mature Anime fans who own a DS, and speaking as one myself a very welcome experience at that.

Preview by: Tom "Sigma-powered" Daly
Preview Published: 19.09.08