Balan Wonderworld (A Naka-Ohshima Musical Production)

I know I've already made this joke, but this game is really going to look pish coming out the same exact day as MHR. It might have got a look-in if it came out on a quiet month and I was looking for a mediocre 3D platformer but . . .

JayMoyles wrote:: I might squeeze in a few meals and some sleep here or there.

Like, I don't know if I will!

It's sort why till my post why I was getting on Xbox, it would be my new Xbox game for March (sort a April, depending on how pay falls) but now that's changed due to lack of physical version.

Think it will look pish or focus won't really be on it because of how big MonHan is but that is only on Switch, so Push Square etc aren't going to be talking MonHan Rise that it might do okay.

And for me as I now have the day off and plan to get a Switch of some sort, it's sort of a new launch day for me with MonHan Rise as BotW the big game with most of the focus and Balan being whatever else I played on Switch at the time, then of course have a got a bit of backlog building up as well for Switch due to these Japanese games that don't come to Xbox.

#YearoftheSwitch

Wait, has it always been Wonderworld and not Wonderland or have I stepped into an alternate reality?

Yeah I believe so

Have we had another trailer for this? It feels like it got that rather impressive reveal trailer, and then... vanished.

Was some hands on gameplay of the PS5 version back in November

Buskalilly wrote:: Wait, has it always been Wonderworld and not Wonderland or have I stepped into an alternate reality?

What the fuck, I thought it was Wonderland too. What the hell?!

There's a demo for this out on the eShop which I've just finished. I get that demos aren't "fully representative of the final product" and all that, but for a game that's out in two months this is looking really rough.

Two things brought it down for me. Number one was the speed of your characters' movement and jumping - it's just too sluggish. Secondly were the graphics, which look basic, odd and right at home on the PlayStation 2. That's weird, because the cutscenes look fantastic.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch version got delayed. I'd actually welcome that, as there's maybe a semblance of a good game here. It evoked a lot of memories of NiGHTS Into Dreams and Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg while having a strong character of it's own. But this demo... Meh

I've downloaded the demo as well on Switch as that's likely where I would buy the game due to lack of physical Xbox version.

But I've seen gameplay of the demo on Switch and it does look dreadful that I looked at PS5 footage where the game from graphics point of view looks much better, just everything else still looks meh

I wasn't expecting a 10/10, just a fun afternoon, yet from what I'm seeing could be played for bum reviews.

It's not really cricket to enjoy something getting slated - and yet, I couldn't help enjoying Nintendo Life absolutely tear into the demo. The game's entire budget went on cut-scenes didn't it. Neutral

Oh - and full credit to Cappa and Smurf for recognising this early days. I threw away the chips after they got pissed on, but it turns out they were full of writhing maggots.

I was really hoping that someone picked this up in the Fantasy League for that reason as it would have been a sure counterpick.

Not surprised to hear this is shaping up to be a right stinker - it looked guff in those early gameplay snippets!

I'm surprised at just how guff it appears to be though. Costumes that stop you from jumping? In a platformer!? Nintendo Life suggested that it was probably originally a mobile game, given the one-button controls.

This sound basically like any 3D Sonic game post Heroes, no surprises here.

Treesmurf wrote:: This sound basically like any 3D Sonic game post Heroes, no surprises here.

Oh no, it is absolutely worse

Having played the demo I am fascinated by this game to the point I think I will buy it, even though (because?) it is very bad Laughing

This is going to be this year's Left Alive or Shenmue III isn't it?

I still kinda want to play it though but going have to be a sale now which might mean on Xbox instead if it goes cheap digitally at some point.

I hope OR or Mas is up for dropping a review in the Big Pot Full of Bum thread, because this sounds like it's going to warrant it!

Left Alive has a really strong opening, I've basically only played that bit of it and have to take my friend on his word that the game becomes bad after that!

...I'm very confused by that post. Eh?

Because I said Balan could be this years Left Alive or Shenmue III.

It's been a long day.

This launched back on Friday 26th there, where the only chat surround it was with the final boss battle triggering folks' epilepsy. There was bugger all in the way of video reviews on YouTube, and there was bugger all to see when you searched it's name on Twitter. Anyway, Chris Scullion quietly posted it's only review at some point earlier today:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/reviews/balan-wonderworld/

It's true that the demo was rougher than a junkie's carpet, but that review has strangely done the job here. When he says that it's 'like an HD take on a PS2 platformer' and that it 'might be a pleasant experience for fans of retro games'...yeah, I know he's given it 2/5 but I actually want this now!

I've been easily persuaded, but what would it take for you to give Balan Wonderworld another chance?

Wii U Port Posts : 199 Points : 199 Join date : 2021-02-19

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:: what would it take for you to give Balan Wonderworld another chance?

I'd have to give it a first chance, then suffer a spell of amnesia

I bought it after reading his review and having that eBay voucher to get the Xbox version for £27.

I know Switch version was £4 more at £31, but it looked really bad from the demo and I think Scullion brings up Xbox version has some technical issues that I can't see Switch version really being on the par with the others unlike something like Crash 4.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:: I've been easily persuaded, but what would it take for you to give Balan Wonderworld another chance?

I'm guessing this is addressed at people who have that nostalgia for PS2 platformers? Regardless, it's actually pretty simple what I'd need: a jump button. For every suit. It's a ludicrous idea that there are power-ups in a platformer that remove your ability to jump. The game obviously has its other problems, but this is such a hugely massive cock-up that it could only belong in a game where the final boss gives you seizures. (Patched out since, I know, but the fact that this wasn't caught in playtesting says something about the game as a whole I think.)

There are other problems from what I've read, but the big one is that jump button. Terrible awful thing to have in a platformer.