![]() For this genre, freedom of movement is everything. This is the unforgiveable sin of Balan Wonderworld. Image courtesy of Square Enix The Heart of the Matterīalan Wonderworld is a 3D platformer where the player cannot always control when and how they jump. If Balan Wonderworld is a stage play, it’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: bloated, tonally incoherent, and a potentially career-ending misstep for anyone on the creative side of things. What starts off as interesting and even unique is eventually revealed as shallow, repetitive, and frustratingly difficult. Whether or not that works depends on how put off they are by the actual meat of the game.īecause for all its bright and colorful art direction, for all the big swings the game takes in terms of music and setting, the actual act of playing Balan Wonderworld is abysmal. ![]() These dancing NPCs do nothing but jam out they are set dressing that exists solely to charm the player. It’s a fun touch and adds another layer of whimsy to the already ludicrous proceedings. Music undergirds Wonderworld, to the point where every act is filled with NPCs dancing in time to the background music. It’s exuberant, joyful, and completely bizarre. A heartbreaking cutscene will play, the player will battle a grotesque NiGHTS knock-off, and then all the NPCs featured throughout the chapter will perform a choreographed dance together. Players only get the barest glimpse of plot just before the boss fight of each chapter, in short (but admittedly beautiful) animated vignettes. Chapter names range from provocative (“The Man Who Rages Against the Storm”) to utterly banal (“The Champion Who’s Stuck in the Past”). ![]() Each world is themed around an individual, and this is Balan Wonderworld‘s first and best idea: that each storybook world unfolds like a little Persona-style dungeon where players navigate the perverse manifestations of an individual’s guilt, shame, or fear. There are a dozen different worlds, broken up into two acts and a boss fight each. All players need to know is that mysterious trickster god Balan has summoned Leo and/ or Emma into a world of fantastical delights, to help a dozen or so individuals with problems ranging from artist’s block to the death of a beloved pet. Players can choose a playable character, Leo Craig or Emma Cole, though the distinction is meaningless as neither character has anything resembling an arc. Wanting to unburden itself from the shackles of complicated storytelling, Balan Wonderworld drops players immediately into the action with the barest justification of what they’re doing or why. The great ideas are there from the very start. For better and worse, the experience of Balan Wonderworld can be extrapolated from the short demo. The saving grace of the demo is that if players experience it and don’t immediately put their controllers down in disgust, then they might find something to love in the full game. A demo isn’t always indicative of the full product, but Balan skeptics should have looked at the warning signs and ran the other way. In Balan Wonderworld‘s case, the free demo that debuted early in 2021 was the game’s version of a dress rehearsal where the cast looks phenomenal and says their lines confidently and clearly, but the script itself is doggerel. It’s an old adage in theatre that a rough dress rehearsal is indicative of a successful opening night. But there are structural problems beneath the surface that take this game from an intriguing novelty to a frustrating timesuck. The team has a distinctive art style and on a surface level, Wonderworld looks fantastic. ![]() This game was pitched as a return to form for 3D platformers in a market long-dominated by one man in blue overalls and a plumber’s cap. Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima are known for their co-creation of Sonic the Hedghog, as well as Sega Saturn cult classic NiGHTS Into Dreams. That Balan Wonderworld lands with a thud is surprising, given the pedigree of the creators. Image courtesy of Square Enix Pre-Show Jitters ![]()
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