Lushfoil Photography Sim Review (PS5) – Look At This Photograph

Photo modes have been one of my favourite aspects of video games over the past few generations. The ability to take stylish screenshots of a game’s world or create a masterpiece to feed into my amateur photographer tendencies is a perfect side objective to get lost in. But what if taking photos wasn’t just a side gig to saving the day but the main mission? Lushfoil Photography Sim is just that… Until it’s not, unfortunately.

Developed in Unreal Engine 5 by Matt Newell, Lushfoil Photography Sim takes you across the world to faithfully detailed, picturesque locales. Being developed in UE5 means that the environments you explore are awe-inspiringly realistic. The level of fidelity and detail in each level is like peering into what big studio games have the potential to look like in the not-so-distant future – and this is just one developer’s work.

The immersion these levels are trying to achieve works, for the most part, but I can’t help but be sucked out of it by everything not photography related that goes towards a progression system. Like in real life, and in simulator fashion, photography isn’t what pays the bills, but it’s the other busy work you do that allows you to enjoy taking pictures.

Can I Take Your Picture?

The first level, and your intro to the basic mechanics of Lushfoil Photography Sim, begins in the south of Italy. You’re on a trail surrounding a lake known as the Lago di Braies. Off in the distance is the Seekofel mountain, a marvel unto itself that I immediately wanted to take pictures of. From the first-person perspective, I press ‘X’ to raise my DSLR’s viewfinder, zooming in to capture the mountain’s exuberant detail.

When you’re looking through your camera, there’s a menu pop-up that distinctly looks like a camera’s settings, if you’re familiar with one. Whether or not you have the technical know-how of what an F stop or ISO is in the configuration menu, the game does a neat job of immediately changing the look of the shot you take as you mess around with it.

This quells the daunting task of learning what any of the settings mean, but through experimentation and tinkering, you’ll easily learn the gist. For those who do know a camera’s settings, your only advantage is that you’ve got the pleasure of going through your settings faster when taking the perfect shot. If the adjustments are altogether too much, then you can also have automatic settings that’ll adjust accordingly to create a perfectly normal picture.

Lushfoil Photography Sim offers decent feedback when focusing on your subject in the photo. Half-pressing ‘R2’ provides a slight tension in the DualSense, and pushing through has that satisfying click of when you take a photo in real life.

Leaving The Flash On

At this point, I was in my element. Finding angles and framing that I found eye-catching around in my environments, tinkering with the camera’s settings to source that sweet spot of contrast and lighting, then before you know it, I’m out of space to take more photos. Bear in mind, I’m still on the first level, and I’ve somehow maxed out the in-game memory.

This was roughly 20-ish photos, I managed to double that by changing the file/image sizes by half, creating small photos. However, I was already quite disappointed that I had to kill my darlings to make room for future levels. Then the reality of progression became apparent. To unlock new levels, you’ll have to find the collectibles from the level you’re in.

These change depending on where you are, but they’re essentially mid-sized trinkets that relate to the location. On top of that, there’s a notice board on each level with photos pinned on it. You have to recreate them alongside the collectibles, which all add up to the game’s progression system.

At this point, I found myself objective-brained. I didn’t want to take photos I thought looked cool, I needed to take ones the game wanted me to instead. If I’m not doing that, then I’m looking at the floor for these collectibles to show up. Any excitement I had about exploring stunning locations and taking pictures disappeared, and I was now playing a collectathon.

In The Darkroom

Had I been able to save my photos onto my PS5’s internal storage and taken almost triple the amount of photos, I probably would have played as I set out. But with limited storage space, across 9 levels, all with variations that you’ll find through exploration, I couldn’t justify taking pictures for enjoyment’s sake. You can find areas in the levels that’ll transition to the same location but with different weather, creating an impressive variety within your masterpieces.

You can also find new equipment like a Film Camera, Digital Camera, Drones, hell, you can even ride a bike in France. There’s even more that I won’t spoil because there’s a genuine sense of exciting natural discovery here, but it all feels slightly undermined by the fact that I can’t just take pictures willingly and enjoy at my own pace.

Deleting photos and then taking new ones can also become glitched. I found the solution was to reboot the game back up, but again, I shouldn’t have to be deleting them in the first place. Outside of my existential existence of not being my own photographer but the game’s, there’s a true effort at being one of the most relaxing experiences to date.

With a soundtrack that varies from lo-fi beats to piano ballads, you can’t help but get lost in some of the locations the game provides. I lost some serious time without noticing. It’s slow-paced and stripped-back by comparison to its peers, and that almost objectiveless wander easily puts you in a zen state.

Developing The Film

Whilst this isn’t quite the photography opus I was hoping to find, Lushfoil Photography Sim is an immersive sightseeing experience that, for better or worse, captures the photographer’s experience. Running out of space and getting sidetracked with busywork instead of concentrating on the perfect image aside, the systems and settings are a perfect representation of photography.

There’s an amazing variety in the lush locales that are all equally as gorgeous, as well as some neat hidden items and mechanics that unfurl the more time you spend with the game, making it feel as rewarding in hour one to my last. Maybe incorporating different styles of photography by introducing more vernacular areas or more subjects to photograph would have felt like a fuller experience, but for now I can live out my Perfect Days fantasy and take photos of the sun through the trees.

Lushfoil Photography Sim is out now for PlayStation 5 (review platform), Xbox and PC via Steam.

Developers: Matt Newell

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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