Balan Wonderworld, Proven Demo

Ballon WonderWorld Game You Didn’t Expect: Square Enix was expecting a countdown with a surprise, at that time, to reveal it to the whole world, in a clear note of those bizarre and daring experiences, distinguished Seka from the golden period. Director Yuji Naga and character designer Naoto Oshima – the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog and are back, as it was twenty years ago, by an insecure and unpredictable world that cannot be captured even if taken out of custody. Collaborate to animate from the same spirit of the past.

Guided by the master Balan, Not only the symbol of the game, but also the intriguing character of Duba, who is also the real director of the Ballon Theater, with the aim of enjoying incredible adventures for the players through twelve different stories set in multiple realities. In the shoes of youth Emma and Leo, We must stop the evil Lance’s plans to trap the audience in Wonder World, and then turn their fears and negative thoughts into creatures hostile to the two protagonists. To do this, to save these people, we will have several suits, each characterized by specific abilities that will allow them to cross with greater safety.

Presented in this way, with a creative player and undoubtedly colorful and lively game world, the title re-proposes those adventures that made history but missed. However, despite good intentions, what was proven Ballon with WonderWorld demo (Available on all platforms from midnight on January 28, 2021, except for Steam, it will arrive in the afternoon) We have no idea where the game is going.

Game without precise identification

The first thought was Balan Wonder World No well-defined sign: At first glance it looks like a 3D action platform, however it is difficult to design it with the seamless variety it offers. While in other contexts it can give a positive impression, in this case we have seen that the Mice-n-scene surrounded by different phases and actions are confusing, however, they are never fully seen – like many tiny microbes within the expanded universe, everyone behaves in their own way without caring too much about others . Let’s start with the so-called Tim’s Island, Which serves as the main hub linked to the twelve stories in the background of the whole adventure, which can only be accessed from time to time by fulfilling certain conditions (i.e. finding the right number of Balan statues): from here we read the whole first chapter, including the second act and the boss fight, the fourth and sixth part.

However, despite its bizarre nature and color, Ballon WonderWorld did not catch us from the first moments or even reach the end of all the parts, we explored them in detail using Lots of clothes Available – We feel it is good, but not enough to justify the constantly changing gameplay, but rather with a complex decorative management system. You can take a total of three outfits with us at once, one copy can be added, and the last place in the queue to accommodate the newcomer by collecting the others will be removed: a key to unlock the outfits you always need, you can find them next to the gem attached, and regardless of whether you have already received that outfit for the first time. Although it is not difficult for him to open the gem, taking and reusing a key each time makes the process frustrating and difficult in a short period of time, rather than interacting with it.

Taking damage When a garment is worn, it will be removed from the list, and we must withdraw our steps to search for the relative gem to retrieve it; A process that, again, does not cause boredom for a long time, however it is difficult to succeed considering the simplicity of the game. Also, while the uniqueness associated with a single costume is interesting, in most cases wearing it only makes you and can only do the intended action (e.g. jumping, arson, etc.) makes the game even less fluid: each costume change is accompanied by a very short animation, the protagonist or Add to that the fact that the protagonist surrounds himself / herself and then presents himself in the desired outfit. As for the constant need to change strategy, even the constant interruption of the flow of the game can slowly affect our nerves.

From campus it is clear that Ballon WonderWorld is an experience dedicated to reuse, as each chapter is structured so you can’t finish 100% in one fell swoop, but have to unlock costumes on subsequent levels. However, again, it is one Reuse Without the actual bite: for the summary of actions, at least for those addressed in the demo or for the very few sections that need to be returned with new clothes, we have returned our steps to the spirit of the spirit Completeness But there is never any motivation to do so. The impossibility of changing clothes once you get into a position (we can determine the set before starting, drawing the ones that have already been recovered) makes it necessary to remember exactly what you need because some clothes are not part of that particular chapter and can be found on the level.

In short, many small details are piled up and Balan did not create the desired experience in Wonder World, thanks to that A difficult amount of dynamics. At a certain point, by retrieving Balan’s gold cap, we are incorporated into a short visual quick-event (VQTE) section called Balan’s Battle, in which we press the commands indicated to reproduce Balan’s movements and receive drops. Statues of victory and gold. This is a moment of completely decontextualized game, which introduces another variable to get useful objects, leaving the added feeling of creating numbers.

Both Difficulty The difficulty of going through the game and the levels is minimized, a boss fight is very simple and pushed back into motion, again, only on the basis of the promise of getting more ball statues – what is needed is progress in the game. The stage design of this early stage did not call us to wonder, nor did it involve much, but we set it aside for a thorough experiment in the future: right now, despite the considerable amount of clothing available, Ballon Wonderworld did not have that charm that brought the past back to the forefront in a modern way – or who knows, it was his fault. Even artistically it does not seem to be very impressed, only enjoys an intense color palette with a very dull design. Undoubtedly like a dream, however we do not know that this is a good thing.

Ballon Wonderworld is a very confusing experience that tries to insert any game features without really improving, chasing the myths of bizarre and daring games that could not present them to the past – at least, not in it. Demo. From a few game design choices to the mechanics of creating numbers and riding waves of creative inspiration to slowing down the game, the game of Yuji Naga and Naoto Oshima still has a long way to go to convince us.