Lux-Pain Review for Nintendo DS

System: DS	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Killaware	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Ignition Ent.	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: March 24, 2009	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

These worms are found by scribbling back and forth on the touch screen as though it were a lottery ticket and, once they're made visible, need to be touched for a few seconds to be removed. These worms then turn into a small phrase such as "Suicide Incident" or "Hate Being Alone" that are then reinserted into wherever they were taken from to reveal random chunks of text relating to your previous conversation. After completing this, you'll be given experience points based on how many worms were collected and how long the process took that will eventually lead to Atsuki having more time and scratching ability during later worm hunts.

Lux-Pain screenshot

While the game's confusing story and sheer lack of gameplay make Lux-Pain a pretty abysmal package overall, it does have a few good things going for it. For one, the graphics are actually quite pleasing. The anime characters all have an appealing look, as do the game's mostly static backgrounds. Different effects such as the pulsating backgrounds found when reinserting worms and the way the screen looks while scratching away at it are pleasant surprises. Another astonishing addition to Lux-Pain is just how much voice work they were able to cram into a tiny DS cart. Not every line of dialogue in the game is voiced but there is definitely more present than one would expect. Of course, while it is delivered fairly well and the total amount is impressive, it is also all pretty poorly localized, often not matching its accompanying text. This is a small gripe but it does serve to further confuse anyone actually trying to follow the game's mess of a storyline.

In the end, Lux-Pain just ends up feeling like a confusing, boring, and poorly localized novel with occasionally interactive pictures. The game's story is tough to follow, even if you aren't struggling to pay attention, and even tougher to care about since it is literally all over the place. This is also unfortunate considering the story appears to be the main draw here due to the fact that there really is no gameplay to be found. Unless you are a huge fan of constantly scratching your head and only occasionally scratching your DS's touch screen, you can do much better than Lux-Pain when looking for an entertaining experience.

By Adam Brown
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.7

Graphics
Although most of the backgrounds are completely static pictures and characters' animations become very repetitious, Lux-Pain still looks pretty good overall.

2.5

Control
The controls work but are virtually non-existent. Perhaps this game should have been called Let's Tap, since that is pretty much all you'll be doing as you make your way through countless dialogue boxes.

4.4

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
There is a ton of good quality yet poorly localized voice work squeezed into this DS cart, and the music is fairly enjoyable as well.

1.0

Play Value
Most of Lux-Pain's gameplay is derived from wading through innumerable dialogue boxes by tapping the stylus or pressing a single button. If this sounds like fun to you, save yourself some money by buying a book and arbitrarily clicking your mouse 1,000 times while reading it.

1.5

Overall Rating - Avoid
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Investigate your surroundings and gather hints by conversing with characters in the game.

Explore the massive world of Kisaragi City.

Use your stylus to conduct autopsies of Silent worms found throughout the game.

Psychic Powers enable you to save potential victims from Silent. Use your stylus to find the parasite before it reaches the heart of the victim.