You only lose them if you get hit (which can be annoying if you’re not in the level and lose the costume you need), but as your collection of costumes amasses, so does your range of abilities to explore each level to its fullest. It becomes apparent very early on that you need costumes that might be in one level to unlock unique paths and rewards in another level. What’s even more fun about the costume element is that you collect them and can then use them in other levels. Meanwhile, a costume you get later allows you to fly into the sky on fans and reach otherwise unobtainable places. A spinning wolf costume you get at the beginning is great for defeating foes and breaking fragile blocks to open up paths, while a dancing gear costume becomes your key to operating gear blocks and moving objects affected by them around to form paths. Foundationally, they’re not hard to overcome in the first few levels, but the more you explore, the more it becomes clear that you’ll need one ability or another from the costumes you find in the game to see the entirety of what each level offers. I really enjoyed the levels the preview had for me. One of the most featured components of Balan Wonderworld has been its platforming in which you use various costumes with unique abilities to traverse the environments, collect their rewards, and defeat their challenges. What I got to see brought me full on into the lighthearted charm and mystery of this game and I can’t wait to see how it fully unravels when the complete game comes out. Meanwhile, the main enemy is present but not overtly introduced, and the worlds you explore are extremely varied. Balan is a kooky if not off-putting master of mysterious power. There was a lot of implied stuff here as the preview kept a bit of a wrap on exactly what was going on, but what story we could make out in preview seemed obvious enough. In these worlds, the stories of various characters brought to the depths of sadness await, and it’s on the player to defeat the challenges of their world, beat back the dark force infecting them, and bring joy and hope back. Balan promises a magical place which can cure an empty heart and whisks them away to the depths of Wonderworld.Īlong the way, the player will discover a menagerie of worlds in which platforming challenges and various costumes that will give them abilities await, as well as foes guided by a mysterious dark force. They find their way to a rundown theater called Wonderworld in which the mysterious showman Balan awaits. Players take on the role of a child (a lightly customizable boy or girl) who feels lost in their lives and runs away. The premise of Balan Wonderworld is a whimsical one, if not a little unsettling in its whimsy. Balan Wonderwold is Naka’s maiden voyage as director of the new Balan Company studio, and if the early preview demo I played is any indication, the journey ahead looks splendid indeed. And why shouldn’t there be? The theme is theater and imagination, in which anything can happen, and the director is Yuji Naka, who has had a hand in decades of different gaming genres and styles as a producer and programmer. The 3D platforming illicits thoughts of Mario. The ability mechanic reminds me of a Metroidvania. The art is reminiscent of Nights Into Dreams. When you look at a game like Balan Wonderworld, there’s so many things it stirs.
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