Every level is filled with DeviantArt-Reminiscent characters doing awkwardly-animated dances.

No, no, it’s more like when a Chinese company makes a cheap knock-off version of a popular mobile game, but I somehow ended up playing it. It didn’t feel like I was playing a AAA Square-Enix-published next-gen title. Pressing to leave the pause menu doesn’t work… Advertisements For some reason, all four face buttons are Jump/Accept. Moving around is sluggish and somewhat choppy. The camera feels like it’s constantly fighting me for control, and then as soon as I give it what it wants, it changes its mind. Balan Wonderworld Platinum Review Keeping my Dinner Down What on earth have I purchased?Īfter recovering from the concussion I received from these events, I feverishly pushed the thumbsticks on my DualSense and played the game for about an hour. Hell, I’ve played games on my phone with graphics better than this. The game looks nothing like those cutscenes. With an introductory cutscene that grand, how could the game possibly be bad? Advertisementsīefore I could even finish that thought, I was hit in the face with a horrendous realization. It was so good, in-fact, that I was able to overlook the hauntingly grotesque hands these poor children have been cursed with. I mean, the effort that went into this thing… It was Pixar-level. Getting past that, I was treated to an actually rather remarkable cutscene. They have huge alien-like eyes and gargantuan hands fully-realized with knuckles and fingernails… No wonder the sonic characters all wear gloves I would too, if this is what I was working with! I was first hit with a character selection screen the art style is the same they’ve always used for Sonic the Hedgehog, but… There’s something so viscerally disgusting about this art style being applied to human characters. At least then, I could wrap my head around the intricacies of the game and make a head-start on the Trophy Guide.

When I first came to properly experience Balan Wonderworld, I’d gone on my PS5 to boot it up on launch day only to find the 2-hour timer I’d seen on it in the morning was now a 7-hour timer, so I thought I’d get the demo and play that for a little while instead. I should have played the demo before purchasing it, or at least looked at some gameplay videos, but… No… I threw the game in my cart alongside a few other pre-orders and then awaited its release. What little I saw online as well as a small, well-intentioned review in this month’s Official PlayStation Magazine, was enough to get me curious. Advertisements Balan Wonderworld is a new IP from the minds behind the Sonic the Hedgehog 3D platformers (such as the much-loved Sonic Adventure 2) and Nights into Dreams.

Balan wonderworld reviews