

The zone boss is as dull, and you'll be done with it in a tick. The characters' moves are simple, the "secrets" are much obvious ("Blatant Wonderworld," anyone?), the solution to the puzzles is a meter away and the few enemies around feel almost harmless. The first world is the perfect example of a child-oriented platformer, rather than one for all audiences. The goal of each level is not to reach the end, but to fetch as many hidden statues of the master as possible, as you need them to fuel the train to the next world.īalan Wonderworld starts quite slow and dull. This linearity is helpful, as towards the end there's a pretty obvious alternate route you take to seek what matters: the trophies. With just three or four signposts around, the level serves as a tutorial to learn the little you need to know about the game's rules. Not much, so you better go through the first gate to reach the farm and the wasted cornfield. At first, the hub area is just a tiny floating meadow, a few patches of flowers here and there.
Balan wonderworld release date full#
In the full game there'll be more than 80, with 10 of them already available in the demo.įrom the hub area you access World 1, which is the nightmare of a farmer whose harvest has been ruined by a storm. No matter if you choose to be Leo Craig or Emma Cole, this platformer is all about changing clothes again and again to make the best use of the unique abilities each costume provides. The script reduces dialogue to a minimum, and conversations are held in a fictional language, so we'll see whether it loses steam in terms of storytelling.Īs soon as the game starts, all these references to the past are gone, as Balan Wonderworld's gameplay is all its own, quite different compared to the NiGHTS and Sonics.

There'll be 12 at least, and many of them have been presented or teased already.
Balan wonderworld release date movie#
Each game world is the result of the fears of a character whose story is told in a short movie format. The production values Square Enix grants this new studio, together with the developer's ability to create something unique, seems like a match made in heaven. The CGI intro fills you up with enthusiasm. It's all the team's staples, something expected in a game that wants to harken back to the 90's but without being too retro. The characters, slightly big-headed and with shapely bodies. The colours' saturation, turned up to eleven. Mostly, due to that particularly graceful figure of Master Balan, a creature so weird you'll see yourself observing it, trying to decipher it. "NiGHTS!", screams the screen as soon as you start. The game is Balan Wonderworld, a multiplatform project that has just released in demo format for players on all platforms to check out. Therefore, Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima have found the resources to set in motion a new project, one of a scale they hadn't handled since many years ago.

Several SEGA veterans who created platformers back in the day, have reunited under Square Enix's umbrella.
