Balan Wonderworld

 PlayStation 5
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 253 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 121 out of 253
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 253
  3. Negative: 122 out of 253
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  1. dhoppy203
    Apr 4, 2021
    5
    TL;DR: Balan Wonderworld has great characters, story, visuals, and audio, but is heavily held back by the most important aspect: gameplay.

    I wanted to love this game so bad. NiGHTS into Dreams on the Saturn is one of my all-time favorites, so I was super excited to see Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima work on a new game. I skipped the demo so I could start the game without much prior knowledge,    TL;DR: Balan Wonderworld has great characters, story, visuals, and audio, but is heavily held back by the most important aspect: gameplay.

    I wanted to love this game so bad. NiGHTS into Dreams on the Saturn is one of my all-time favorites, so I was super excited to see Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima work on a new game. I skipped the demo so I could start the game without much prior knowledge, and pre-ordered it so it would be in my hands on day 1.

    Starting with the positives, the music and visuals are gorgeous. You definitely get that same feeling of fantasy and magic that Naka and Oshima have implemented in past works. In addition, the characters are definitely influenced by NiGHTS which is pretty neat, as Balan and Lance echo Nights and Reala, while Leo and Emma are comparable to Elliot and Claris. The story is a positive too, with Leo and Emma saving the souls of people from Lance, kinda like pseudo-Phantom Thieves.

    Unfortunately, the game falters on gameplay. Naka and Oshima’s platformers often rely on a unique gimmick to differentiate their games from others, For the Sonic series, it was all about going fast while for NiGHTS, the ability to fly was key. Balan Wonderworld’s trick is that the player can collect and switch between costumes that perform different actions. However, all of these costumes only use one button for their actions, and some like the pig actually hinder gameplay unintentionally which can be tedious. In fact, the game only has three distinct button controls, L1 and R1 for switching between costumes and all four face buttons as well as the triggers for gameplay or costume usage (though I appreciate that the triggers utilize the DualSense adaptive technology that changes depending on the costume). In fact, you could probably play this game with a three-button Sega Genesis controller and perform every action you need to.

    Overall, failing on the most important aspect of a video game (the gameplay) really prevents Balan Wonderworld from achieving true greatness. However, despite its issues, I really hope Balan Wonderworld isn’t the last we will see from Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima. We’ve seen that they are capable of making some of the best works in the gaming industry, and they definitely have the chance of bouncing back from Balan Wonderworld’s missteps.    … Expand
  2. EAPyoutube
    Mar 29, 2021
    5
    Did Square Enix pay people to shill in the user reviews? Lol anyway, I was really looking forward to this game but the demo made me very fearful. The game that released confirmed those fears as well. I really wanted to like this game but it's very difficult to when it's just so painfully mediocre.

    Also lol @ the guy saying this is better than Jak 2
  3. xxonixx
    Mar 30, 2021
    5
    I'm really disappointed in this game.

    This being made by yuji naka, if you're not aware, the person that created sonic the hedgehog. Let me start by saying that a lot of the hate is honestly a bit too overblown but some are justified. But do I think the game is like a 2 out of 5? Mmm kinda...yeah. Lets start with the costumes. This game game did NOT need 80 costumes, a lot of    I'm really disappointed in this game.

    This being made by yuji naka, if you're not aware, the person that created sonic the hedgehog.

    Let me start by saying that a lot of the hate is honestly a bit too overblown but some are justified.
    But do I think the game is like a 2 out of 5? Mmm kinda...yeah.

    Lets start with the costumes.

    This game game did NOT need 80 costumes, a lot of them do the [same thing] or are pretty pointless.
    One easily notable one is the jellyfish and the dolphin costume.

    Only difference is the jellyfish has lightning around its body but the enemies are so laughable easy, who even cares about having that resistance to the monster that has the short thunder shield around them?

    But the two costumes do the same thing.

    A lot of the "attacking" costumes are pretty useless as well honestly and one big thing about the attacking costumes is that they take away your ability to jump. Which is asinine, probably one of the biggest deal breaker for a lot of people.

    Most common thing you'll see is "No jumping? in a platformer?" Which they are totally right to say.
    The costumes probably sound cool on paper but poorly done as it limited the base player WAY too much...which leads into another thing, the one button scheme.

    Yes; this game one uses one button for every last thing, sure you're probably already aware of this.
    This severely limited what the player can do, basically making you swap costumes. This WOULD have been fine if the costume switch was faster and every costume had a universal jump.

    Level design.

    In my honest opinion. The demo showcased probably the worst levels, this game actually has some "decent" [putting that loosely] levels.

    Stage 9 ACT 2 being my favorite. Its just a shame they didn't put that much effort into most the other levels.
    A lot of the levels are very simple, nothing too challenging; It being so barebones at times, you will often get bored as everything is too easy and nothing to engage you, such as other platforming games like: Mario, Sonic and Crash. It wasn't until level 11? I think it was when things ACTUALLY tried to hurt me, its this fireman stage where it had this flame holes shooting out fire that I actually got hit by.
    FINALLY something to actually pay attention to, you'll probably feel the same, something actually making you pay attention to the game.

    Every level has static enemy placement, sometimes they change but you can just honestly ignore them and keep chugging along.

    Every level is filled with Balan statues, which are like mario stars or banjo jiggies.
    Some are easy to get or hidden, some need certain costumes which adds some replay value.
    Another thing that's in every level which is....**sigh** balan bouts.

    These are SUCH a chore. They are [Quicktime events] and all of them have repeated animations in boring 4 different types of skyboxes.

    These animations are admittedly cool....the first 3 or 4 times. These things are a CHORE to do.
    Well why not skip them...well...you can. HOWEVER, if you wish to 100% this game; you have to get a perfect on these balan bouts to get a statue....

    If there is one thing you can praise about this game is the character design, that's something everybody agrees with and the music.

    Bosses.
    Bosses take 3 hits to defeat and they're pretty simple to defeat. They're not bad honestly.

    Final thoughts.
    This game...its really weird...I just don't know. I really wish it was better. I would have rather them totally rip off mario movements and get rid of the costumes are at least have them enhance the player moves.
    Everybody asking for a delay. I'm sorry but no delay would fix this game, the core issues are to the heart of the game. This game would have needed a total rework. This game was made with one button in mind. This game being made by yuji naka makes this sting even more. This game isn't totally horrible as people are making it out to be but it is not worth $60. NO WAY this game is worth this much. This is a 40 dollar game at best. One more thing to add is; once you beat the game 12 more levels open up in the existing stages...and honestly...they should have been what the game level design should have been at the start. They're actually pretty good. Like really decent and way better than the barebone base levels. Overall, this game is a 5 for me. It has some really good ideas, some costumes are actually fun to use because they sorta break the game. (The kitty costume which makes you float in the air and the double jump which skips some platforming.) I really really REALLY wish this game was great so we can see what yuji naka next game would be under SE or heck maybe even a balan 2. But looks like that won't be happening.    … Expand
  4. illuvatar_1st
    Apr 20, 2021
    5
    I was on the anticipated side of the game.. The demo didn't show much but the trailers made me hope for something better. I personally Had a good time but i'm not gonna be blind to its flaws
    Pros:
    Good graphical Cutscenes Balan's & Launch's Design Music 37 level (13 being boss levels) Cons: Terrible choice of 1 button command IN game and IN Menu. 80+ skins (most of them being the    I was on the anticipated side of the game.. The demo didn't show much but the trailers made me hope for something better. I personally Had a good time but i'm not gonna be blind to its flaws
    Pros:
    Good graphical Cutscenes
    Balan's & Launch's Design
    Music
    37 level (13 being boss levels)

    Cons:
    Terrible choice of 1 button command IN game and IN Menu.
    80+ skins (most of them being the same but slightly better(cat/raindeer,,, Ps5 cannon/robot/chess piece etc)
    NO Balan Gameplay (outside of quick events) and No the Balan skin you get from the ritual is no where near the Balan experience
    Story doesn't really make sense and does not explain much ( expects the player to read the book) -As of this the final cutscene doesn't have subtitles
    No explanation on things,,(isle of Tim, Tims, story)
    Bad Collectibles
    -200+ Balan Statues and i believe 90 colorful statues are a mess to find and the only thing they unlock is a dancing statue cutscene in the theatre...
    -gems Colorful ones are used for the Tim ritual while the yellows for feeding Tims    … Expand
  5. RjfcGanfWupv
    Nov 26, 2022
    7
    I will give this game some Yuji Naka prison bonus points, to make him feel a little bit better.
  6. SpyKicksIn
    May 13, 2023
    5
    Just a boring one-button platformer, which clearly did not have enough time to finalize the game.

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
51

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 29
  3. Negative: 9 out of 29
  1. Cubed3
    Jul 20, 2021
    60
    Balan Wonderworld deserved to be far more than average, as the final game is a marked improvement over the demo. It's beautiful a lot of the time, character designs are mostly wonderful, the unique ideas that appear in each level are great fun… however the overall execution is simply lacking something important. The repetitive bouts, rough edges, and the sometimes awful physics make this a much harder title to recommend. It is full of bubbly unique charm, and is mostly heart-warmingly fun, but many will be put off by the slow, restrictive design, despite this being designed around it. Hopefully, the game will get some traction.
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  2. PLAY
    May 4, 2021
    70
    While not reaching its full potential, Balan Wonderworld is a grand and well designed adventure, which runs superbly on PS5. It’s perfect for family co-op play. [Issue#1, p.76]
  3. PlaySense
    Apr 26, 2021
    55
    Balan Wonderworld offers a great story, accompanied by an absolutely wonderful soundtrack. That's about all it offers, though. In the end, mediocre graphics and rough gameplay make for a rather disappointing package.
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