Taking your first steps into the world of Balan Wonderworld is something ecstatic, mesmerizing, mesmerizing. And yet… something doesn't seem to come back. Proceeding step by step, Yuji Naka's latest effort would seem to be a dream come true, for him and for his fans around the globe, the possible consolidation of an already legendary career, built around the figure of the one who, in the 90s, represented for SEGA what Super Mario symbolizes for Nintendo, that Sonic The Hedgehog now nestled in the Milky Way of platform games.
Unlike the adventures of the supersonic hedgehog, however, the playful plot of BALAN WONDERWORLD tries to base its charm on reasoned action, on the calm rhythm, on dynamics much closer to the playful canvases inked over the years by Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo R & D2, rather than building on Naka-san's certainly most important work.
In the PlayStation 5 demo we were able to test, downloadable by everyone starting next Thursday 28 January, you can explore four distinct levels of play, each punctuated by its own challenges and peculiarities. A lot of emphasis is placed on the vast cornucopia of unlockable costumes over the course of the playthrough, which, as per tradition, will not only limit themselves to aesthetically modifying their own, transforming themselves into shining keys capable of unlocking every binary crevice of the creation made by BALAN COMPANY.
The costumes unlocked in a level can - indeed must - be used in other stages, together with a minimum dose of gray matter, in order to collect all the collectibles present. The introduction of the costumes is clearly of Mariesque inspiration: like what happens in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Odyssey, in fact, each look will provide the hero with a different ability. Unlike what happens in the adventures of the mustachioed Italian plumber, the costumes are however freely switchable in-game. It should be emphasized that the work produced by Square Enix can also be tackled in pairs, using the local multiplayer for two players: tackling the adventure as a duo will help unlock alternative paths, theoretically stimulating the replayability of the game.
Also AI helps keep our hero company, through pucciosissimi creatures called Tim, which can be fed in the hub that connects the various levels, providing them with some precious drops that can be collected along the various levels. Distant followers of the much loved Chao of Sonic Adventure, the Tim will support the gamer throughout the game, helping him in the attack phases rather than sniffing the items scattered around the map. During the demo it was also possible to try some simple mini-games that while providing a modest contribution to production, serve to break the mechanics of the platform phases. One of these, specifically Balan's Bout, is made up of quick time events in which homo ludens is called upon to react to the various cutscenes that stand in the way. Great sensations come from the sound sector of Balan Wonderworld, graced by some really catchy melodies.
All that glitters gold? It would seem not, as we mentioned in the opening preview. Apart from a apparently very low level of challenge, Balan Wonderworld seems to fall into the most classic defect traceable in Super Mario wannabe, manifesting a certain repetition in the gameplay. Although graced by the presence of a very large number of costumes, the level design appears - at least for the moment - to be uninspired and interesting.
And if it is true that graphically, net of some sporadic pop-ups, the new title by Yuji Naka returns to the video a dreamy atmosphere that, in some ways, recalls that of the mythological NiGHTS Into Dreams, is equally detectable a certain heaviness in the game action, which sometimes borders on the soporific andante, impression to which it contributes the extreme slowness concerning the movements of the protagonist. Some uncertainty in the management of the virtual camera also penalizes the flow of the action. Will the full version of the game be able to confirm the goodness of the title's art direction, while providing better pad impressions in hand? We really hope so.
Appointment to the complete review of Balan Wonderworld to find out, a review that will arrive on the virtual pages of Epic Videogames Guide around the release date of the game, set for next March 26th. Stay tuned.
► Balan Wonderworld is a Platform-type game developed and published by Square Enix for PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the video game will be released on 26/03/2021 (in 36 days)
