Sony opened its June 2025 State of Play with a surprise reveal: Lumines Arise, the next-generation evolution of the iconic puzzle franchise, developed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s team at Enhance—the creative minds behind Tetris Effect.

Set for release this fall, Lumines Arise will launch on PlayStation 5 and support optional PS VR2 integration for an immersive puzzle experience. A playable demo is scheduled to arrive this summer. You can watch the debut trailer here:

In a detailed blog post on the official PlayStation Blog, director Takashi Ishihara explained that Lumines Arise has been crafted from the ground up as a spiritual successor to the original Lumines games that debuted on the PlayStation Portable two decades ago.

He described the game as more than just a puzzle title—it's designed to evoke deep emotional responses through its visuals, music, and gameplay. “You emerge from darkness in the first stage—just a taste of what you saw in the announcement trailer—and each of the over 30 stages takes you through wildly different worlds,” Ishihara wrote.

From lush jungles and vibrant oceans filled with life, to tense environments with striking snakes, and futuristic landscapes like neon-lit Tokyo streets and infinite cosmic voids, every level is infused with visual artistry meant to trigger synesthetic sensations.

At its core, Lumines Arise retains the series’ signature mechanics: players rotate and place 2×2 blocks made of one or two colors, arranging them into solid-colored squares that disappear when the Timeline sweeps across the grid. This mechanic builds combos under rhythmic time pressure, all synced to an immersive musical soundtrack.

As the Timeline moves to the beat, players feel haptic feedback through the DualSense controller while being visually drawn into the dynamic scenery. It’s in these moments, Ishihara explains, that players enter a flow state—losing themselves in the rhythm, their pulse rising, breath held, fully immersed.

If you’re catching up, here's everything else announced during Sony’s State of Play June 2025 showcase.