When I was lucky enough to see an early build of The Matte Black Studio‘s LUCID back in 2022 at PAX East, it was one of those moments where I felt like I stumbled into something that was about to be the next big indie game. Fast forward to 2024 and LUCID has jettisoned itself somehow lightyears ahead of what already looked and felt like a competent platformer. The world’s first Celestoidvania, is the rare example of a game that shows its homage to the lineage of games that built up to this point while also retaining its own DNA and feel that allow it to continue to grow and flourish off of the roots it so graciously is grown from.
Set in a crystal-punk world, you play as a young Sentinel named Oenn on a quest to revive a fallen Giant and to restore the balance of the Celestial Fabric. The game spends a good chunk of time onboarding into the mechanics and although that may take a little bit, once you ingratiate yourself in the different abilities you’ll be dashing, slashing, and soaring through a pixel perfect platformer. Crystal Arts are the foundation of mobility and combat in your journey and unlocking and mastering those will only elevate your skills and abilities allowing you to traverse areas quicker or even reach previously unattainable goals or quests. Animations popping underneath expertly crafted pixel art had genuine draw dropping reactions when certain interactions occurred or how fluid everything was in motion. The detail dripping from every instance of exploration had me fixated on how beautiful everything looked and sounded while trying to hit every jump, ledge, and enemy. All of this love oozing out is noticeable and welcomed and has my expectations overflowing with what a full game of this could be to experience.
There was a moment in the demo that led me to an area that had an optional timed challenge where you needed to utilize your abilities to hit a certain amount of crystals. After countless attempts at trying to remain in the air dashing across the room it finally clicked, and the sweat subsided and my breath unfroze as we all erupted at the goal being realized. This rush, hitting the flow state, seems to be a rhythmic pulse that will inhabit the entirety of LUCID and I am here for it. When a game is precise, and movement is tight the successes you reach are up to you whether you flail or flourish and LUCID has the potential to offer small and large doses of that dopamine hit.
My excitement to get time locked in with LUCID was reaching critical levels as the days leading up to PAX East 2024 were crossed off of the calendar on my fridge. I couldn’t wait to see how far LUCID had come over these last two years, and after spending about an hour with both the game and Eric from The Matte Black Studios I continue to feel extremely confident that this game is something special, something worth supporting, and maybe might just be the next big indie.
Pass The Controller 
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