Balan Wonderworld (Yuji Naka + Square Enix)

[Tracker_TD]

Played the demo.

It's pretty bad. I'm not too burned because I didn't have my expectations too high in the clouds after the initial gameplay showings, but some of the design decisions made with this game are just... baffling, even by those standards. They've got balls of brass putting $60 on this. 

Switch port is atrocious, and for a game like this I don't understand why it has to be that way. 

[Wraith]

Honestly thought what I played was garbage. The gameplay never looked particularly impressive but it's hard to fathom how much of a let down it is until you get it in your hands and feel just how much of the basics of 3D mobility feels off. The slow walk speed and the lack of a real arc when you jump make it feel like something you'd dig up on Dreams, not a full fledged 2021 release. It feels like the team has somehow missed out on every 3D game that has come out since they've last gotten together and thus hasn't implemented anything from any of them to improve game feel. Getting these core aspects wrong alone makes many aspects of the game feel like a chore before even you get to the game's costumes. 

The game values simplicity to a fault. I'm all for streamlined titles that trim the usual fat that go into given genres but Balan feels like a reversal where the fat was the only thing that was kept. They've committed to one action button for the sake of simplicity, but it kind of feels like a misread of the current gaming audience to think this type of limitation would draw in more players.

There are around 9 costumes in the demo most of them are completely binary and context sensitive. Unlike Sonic curling into a ball, none of it is just fun to use for it's own sake. It's all used to unlock doors, open pathways or activate simple mechanics. Having some that cut off your jump might turn out to be an interesting limitation in some areas but here it feels like it's just added tedium. The limitation that comes from switching means that there's no way to really combine them in interesting ways either unless something changes in the final game. 

This combines with slow movement speed to exploration pretty boring overall. A lot of the game's depth seems to come from bringing back suits from later levels to the right places but since movement is so slow and the levels don't change that much overall when you have a new toy it comes off as tedious. A few shortcuts that open up when you play a level with a later suit would have done wonders but instead it feels like you go through the motions until you spot the part you're supposed to interact with and get treated with a minor offshoot.

Every action feels so goddamn sluggish. It's like Yuji Naka came full circle and made the antithesis of his earlier titles. Aimless, slow, plodding and filled to the brim with clunk and bloat that doesn't need.

Some later game levels open up after the initial trial run. The complexity seems to go up as the game goes on, but not by much if world 6 is any indication. It might pull out some genuinely interesting tricks later but I'm not sure how interested I am in finding out now. 

[Kuzu]

This game looks so underwhelming...

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

On 1/28/2021 at 10:23 AM, Kuzu said:

This game looks so underwhelming...

You think it looks that way? Try playing it. It's even worse. 

Incredibly missed opportunity to make the more interesting jester-like character the playable one, honestly this game feels like if you made the human gameplay from NiGHTS (which was supposed to be moreso a punishment in the original game or mini games at best in the sequel) into it's own game. 

Not good. 

[Natie]

What a dissapointment, I'd expect they'd at least get the movement right in a 3D platformer. Wonder what went on behind the scenes.

[Piko]

36 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

This game looks so underwhelming...

That’s because it is underwhelming.

7 hours ago, Son-icka said:

A shame that the hat master guy is also seemingly relegated to QTE’s in his sections - for whatever reason I thought he was gunna be the main playable character rather than the kids. 

Balan looks really cool. I wish he was playable, or at least had a bigger role. The game is named after him after all.

6 hours ago, azoo said:

Anyways yeah I wouldn't recommend spending $60 on this. $30-35? Maaaybe; either way the game as-is just doesn't feel like it justifies the price tag it'll have on release.

Square Enix has balls of steel selling it at $60. It feels like Wii shovelware with a AAA price tag. Definitely gonna sit this one out until a huge sale or price drop.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I love me a good 3D platformer, but playing the game on PS5 felt so...bad tbh. The movement speed and jump arc on the character is horrendous, and even small ledges that look like your simple tutorial like stage design gives you issues. It feels like you spent a good amount of time attempting to jump on platforms that look like a simple jump and a ledge grab only to fail and have to go out of your way to find an alternate route to get there.

Balan being simply a background and exposition character who has random QTE mini games is super lame as hell, and I feel like gameplay is a special blend of too simple and yet also too complex. It’s like it’s complex in the wrong areas. Where the gameplay is simple and boring with the one button nature, but doing bare basic tasks like getting up ledges and platforms that look like they should be easily climbable instead requires tools and looking for a different route altogether. 

It feels like Naka heard about how people wanted a new Nights game, and somehow instead thought people wanted a game designed around the crappy movement of the human characters instead of Nights himself. I don’t think I’ve played a platformer before where the simple act of movement and jumping feels so bleh.

[PC the Hedgehog]

What is up with the character movement? They jerk around and move in 8 directions instead of a full 360. This is unacceptable in a 2021 game. That's not even factoring in how dang slow the characters move, as others have said. Then there's the annoying, repetitive sounds they make every time they jump.

The level design is boring as heck. So basic, even by 90s platformer standards. If you know what you're doing, you can breeze through the whole first act in five minutes.

And can we take a moment to talk about the boss? I appreciate having so many different ways to damage it, but it really needed more than three hits to take out. I had it beat in less than 45 seconds. What a joke.

And for the love of goodness, can someone PLEASE dub the game into English. Having an English script with Japanese voiceovers just feels lazy. I mean, I know people often prefer Japanese voice acting, but there are times when the characters say something without subtitles and you have no idea what they're saying.

The newly released trailer for the game makes it look like later levels will be better, but if the demo is indicative of the final game's quality, Square-Enix has a LOT of work to do in the next two months if they want this to be a good game. Unfortunately, I'd say at this point it's too little too late. 

A massive shame, because it looks like Naka and crew put a lot of heart into other aspects of the game, but I have a feeling this is going to be yet another game in an unbroken string of Naka mediocrity that started with Sonic Heroes.

[Diogenes]

Wow this fuckin' sucks.

Literally no action I took felt fun or exciting or interesting in any way. Basic movement is slow and clumsy, costumes offer exactly one super-basic ability each, and progressing through a level is just wandering around hitting switches and grabbing items because video game, until you get to the end and a cutscene happens. Hooray, I saved a farmer by...??????

Feels like they just wanted to make some flashy animations but somehow got roped into making a game and did the absolute bare minimum to qualify.

[Guest]

(There was a post before my previous reply on here... did someone delete it??)

Okay so based on what you guys are saying, I really need to try this demo. Because it sounds like I really should not get this game.

I imagined it'd be more of a Yoshi's Crafted World type of quality, where it plays fine and can be fun, but nothing spectacular.

But nah this sounds way worse. Oh well. Damn that sucks though, I had high hopes for this.

(Also, I knew the kids were the main characters, so that part doesn't disappoint me).

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

5 minutes ago, Angyu said:

Also, I knew the kids were the main characters, so that part doesn't disappoint me

I knew that from the get go too. My point on the missed potential of Balan himself not being playable still stands.

[azoo]

I feel like the worst I've seen people say outside of the fandom is that it's not good (valid) while everyone on Sonic forums are going over the top about it being horrible in every facet. When I.. didn't find that to be the case?

Even walking out of that demo last night not really liking much of anything about it, I'm not sure if I follow. The reaction seems kinda amplified by people's anger with Naka, I guess? At least that's the best explanation I can make of it.

[Johnster4]

Yeah I was disappointed with the demo:

• The opening Cutscene with Emma I can understand she want to be friends with the maids but they gossip behind her back I can get that, Leo's opening cutscene however made no sense to me at all.
• The first level was alright for a starting level I thought it was alright for a opening level I understood the starting abilities on first try I felt the jumping wasn't high enough to where it felt satisfying
• Then I get to Balan's Bout and this is where the first red flag popped up where has nothing but a QTE section, just what we need in video games, a mechanic that needs to die period
• The Tim mechanic I don't know how I feel about that they have this hamster wheel which felt finicky like sometime they would fall off it as if that mechanic isn't polished
• The Fox Box style isn't well thought out and I had no understanding of how that worked, I thought it said something about invincibility but it just turns you into a box and your can't move 
• I can see the lives mechanic being flawed when in a scenario where you lose then for one costume you will have to go back to a specific level just to get a specific costume which will be tedious and frustrating
• PC version seems to be capped at 60fps and no FOV options  which is disappointing considering this is a Unreal Engine 4 game (maybe there is an ini file but I couldn't )

Overall this is a pass for me maybe when this is £15-£20 but I don't see it being justifiable at £50

[Ryannumber1gamer]

15 minutes ago, azoo said:

Even walking out of that demo last night not really liking much of anything about it, I'm not sure if I follow. The reaction seems kinda amplified by people's anger with Naka, I guess? At least that's the best explanation I can make of it.

I don't really care much about Naka, because to be frank - I've only played Sonic (and a small portion of NIGHTS), so I don't have much anger for Naka, because I know next to nothing about him. I don't even really have any deep issues with Balan because I haven't been hyped for it and I haven't been keeping up with the pre-release stuff. I just saw a 3D platformer with a cute style, said neat, and left it, only to try again when the demo dropped. I don't even feel disappointed with it, as much as I feel just kind of empty and bored playing it.

What I do know for certain is that what I played of that demo was not good. Music and visual wise - fantastic, but everything else that makes up the gameplay just isn't any fun. If you screw up and make basic movement not feel particularly fun in a 3D platformer where your entire gameplay loop revolves around the very ideas of running and jumping, then it isn't a very good platformer, and from what I've read from everyone else, and watched on YouTube, there's many people that agree with that. 

I don't think the reactions here have been overblown whatsoever. The worst I've seen is people saying "I don't really care about Naka, but I wanna see the other people involved get a win here". I think the reason why Naka's coming up so often is because this game was very much a make it or break it for the team involved (We knew that from nearly the beginning), and discovering that Naka kinda botched this one chance he had to make a platformer for Square is all the more disappointing to both people who might've hoped he could've recaptured the magic from their favourite franchises (let it be something like Sonic, NIGHTS, or even Rodea) only for it to fall flat on it's face because someone in this team, let it be Naka, or someone else couldn't make basic platforming feel decent, and now it simply seems to be an inevitability that it's gonna fail, and Naka will have squandered that chance. 

[azoo]

I mean, I don't disagree. The platforming is too slow and kinda clunky, the mechanics are too simple and I think Naka's philosophy to keep everything as basic as possible choked the game out of being a way better experience; one that probably isn't helped by Arzest, if they had anything to do with the game design. I just didn't find myself feeling so much of the vitriol others are after putting up with it, lol. 

It's got a lot of stuff in place that I could see being in a better game, and a few things I did enjoy to an extent. The visual and music department is it's greatest asset and ultimately I just wish they pitched an animated film instead of making a game. 

I don't know, I've just felt a lot of heat from people around me over this title and I don't feel as strong of reason to be, haha. Maybe I'm into it less, and thus not enough to feel it? Or maybe I am more than others, in a way where the points don't cut me as deep? Dunno.

[PC the Hedgehog]

51 minutes ago, azoo said:

I feel like the worst I've seen people say outside of the fandom is that it's not good (valid) while everyone on Sonic forums are going over the top about it being horrible in every facet. When I.. didn't find that to be the case?

Even walking out of that demo last night not really liking much of anything about it, I'm not sure if I follow. The reaction seems kinda amplified by people's anger with Naka, I guess? At least that's the best explanation I can make of it.

This is the Sonic fandom. Everything is either "the best game ever" or "a worthless dumpster fire." There is no in between.

I don't recall anyone ever being angry with Naka. I mean, he's made some lousy games in the past, sure, but I don't think he's ever done anything to rile up the fandom or anything.

[Dejimon11]

I'll just repeat what I said on twitter: How the hell do you make Sonic the Hedgehog only to this hilariously mediocre game? And that's being generous. But let me start with the positives: The world, character designs, music yup all on point. Good to know that even tho these guys have departed from SEGA long ago their spirit still lives on. This is literally all they have going for 

The gameplay. This feels like a game made when everybody was still trying to figure out how make 3D games work in the late 90's. A lot of design choices are extremely outdated. Biggest examples is that there is no cancel button in the menus you have to click of "return to game" or "return to previous menu" and Naka has this habit of making everything be playable through 1 button, which work for a 2D game not for a 3D title. And the dumbest idea is that you need to find keys in order to unlock your power ups which is like 5 feet away from the chest. 

The costumes are basically your power ups and if you get hit you'll lose them which is standard stuff but non of them are fun to use. It doesn't help that some of these aren't designed for jumping normally or can't jump at all, so there can you potentially get screwed over in a platforming section, the key word is "Potentially". It's like they played Super Mario Odyssey and other games and only got the basic idea what you can but not HOW you can do it and reach your objective.  And Baland himself.....why the hell is he only segmented into QTEs? There was a lot that they could of done with him, hell I would have preferred a NiGHTS knock off section but nah we had to have this....visually it's fine but nah this is a joke considering that they hyped this character up.

I wasn't expecting this game to make "SEGA shake in their boots" but I though that this was going to be Naka and Oshima's big break since departing from SEGA over a decade ago but nah I wonder what the issue is. Ah well here's hoping for an HD port for the wii version of Rhodea the Sky Solider. 

[Wraith]

1 hour ago, azoo said:

I feel like the worst I've seen people say outside of the fandom is that it's not good (valid) while everyone on Sonic forums are going over the top about it being horrible in every facet. When I.. didn't find that to be the case?

Even walking out of that demo last night not really liking much of anything about it, I'm not sure if I follow. The reaction seems kinda amplified by people's anger with Naka, I guess? At least that's the best explanation I can make of it.

It's not at all surprising that a Sonic fan that's enthusiastic enough to know why Yuji Naka's name is significant to begin with would be hypersensitive to bad movement mechanics.

[azoo]

9 minutes ago, Wraith said:

It's not at all surprising that a Sonic fan that's enthusiastic enough to know why Yuji Naka's name is significant to begin with would be hypersensitive to bad movement mechanics.

But I'm one of those guys and I know good and well where and how this game is lacking in that department, and I'm still kinda perplexed at it.

That said I'm also used to many other platformers of different paces and objectives, so I just have to remember that when people think Naka they think about fast and loose, not lumbering and slow. And I'm not really against slower-paced platformers either, tbh.

[Kuzu]

This game is so aggressively mediocre....I'll give more of my thoughts later. 

[Soniman]

You think former Sonic Team alumni would know how to make a decent game after trying and failing for 20 years but Balan proves yet again they do not and should probably stop getting work expecting people full price for their garbage.

Even under gun of this being their "last chance" Yuji Naka and Pals still couldn't be bothered to try with all that pressure? I'd hate to see what they put out under normal circumstances, did not expect the Demo to play and run that bad, jeez 

[Piko]

29 minutes ago, Soniman said:

You think former Sonic Team alumni would know how to make a decent game after trying and failing for 20 years

You’d think so, wouldn’t you? This game is fucking Ocarina of Time compared to some of Naka’s post-Sonic Team work.

[pppp]

3 hours ago, Johnster4 said:

The opening Cutscene with Emma I can understand she want to be friends with the maids but they gossip behind her back I can get that, Leo's opening cutscene however made no sense to me at all.

I know right? Leo's opening makes no sense, he breakdances a bit, people clap and even invite him to play sports and yet for no reason at all he's still sad.

Did Naka and Oshima only remember how the Nights openings were on a superficial level? Hell even Emma's opening is only underwhelming at best, ok so the maids gossip, are all your friends like this? There's Zero context on everything in this game.

Fuck it, I'll just say it, Iizuka understood this better, Journey of Dreams may not be perfect but it's a hell of a lot better than this:

 

It's short and to the point, but still remembers to create context for why she has negative emotions manifesting as nightmares.

 

I have no idea why I should give a rat's ass about Emma and especially Leo because there is zero context for why these kids need a magical adventure to go on and grow emotionally.

You might ask: Well what makes you think they're going for the Nights story formula? From what little story context we're given that seems to be the case, but hey the game doesn't bother explaining a godamn thing about...anything so I don't even know.

[Stasis]

Very disappointed. While I enjoy the effect of the stage moving, the music and the character designs, everything else is just abysmal. 

All I could see was how horrible the brick work looked, the textures not matching up in sections and something about the edges (no anti aliasing?) looked off, colours of the world appeared over saturated, the frame rate dying (PS4), the complete randomness of what was taking place, it's just a massive shame. 

Something as gone very, very wrong if they think this is a £50 release. It will have fans, but this is going on sale or PS+ instantly.

[Shade Vortex]

Yeah, uh... all the positive things and vibes I got/gave off when I saw this game announced? All gone. I myself don't mind how you jump/walk, but yeah, the powerups are not fun and I myself found the "world unfolding" visual effect to not only be disorienting, I felt like it might actually make me sick seeing it too often. Only being able to carry/switch between 3 powerups at once, being able to recollect old keys, the keys in general being superfluous. I feel like Naka's insistence to make the gameplay as simple as possible has backfired on him way more times than its paid off for him... There's no depth to anything and it can never become more complicated and demanding, when it's so restrictive in how you can use your abilities and how basic the level design and "puzzles" were. I got my preorder on Steam refunded. Sorry Naka, I don't think you've got it in you anymore...