Balan wonderworld demo review7/14/2023 The demo drops players right into gameplay without any kind of formal tutorial, the implication being that everything is obvious enough to figure out without directorial input. Regardless of the power-ups’ cumulative practical value, though, it’s clear Wonderworld has a firm sense of how to integrate its mechanics to maximize the player’s enjoyment.Īlas, Balan Wonderworld’s charm and clear creativity can’t make up for the demo’s habit of being obtuse about various aspects of play. Of course, some power-ups seem to exist to facilitate an amusing sight gag the random transformations of the Box Fox come to mind. Most of the time, these transformations are as visually interesting as they are useful for play. Among the demo’s highlights were the vertical stretching of the Elastiplant and the Tornado Wolf’s signature vortex spin. These touches convey a sense of a delightful world unmoored from the rules of our reality, with the greatest aid to this endeavour coming in the form of Wonderworld’s power-ups.Īnother design choice borrowed with apparent affection from other platformers, the power-ups both grant the player character a specialized ability and change their appearance in drastic ways. More impressive is the map design, in particular how its component blocks seem to rise from below and curve away from the player’s view. Friendly characters and enemies alike vary in their level of detail and color scheme, but all fit within the game’s broad fantasy aesthetic. Lucky for us, other aspects of the game’s visual design just about match the levels in terms of range and intriguing qualities. The sheer imagination on display where Balan Wonderworld’s levels are concerned almost threatens to overshadow the rest of the game’s art direction. The third hub, meanwhile, skews even further from naturalistic geography in favor of oversized clockwork parts that double as platforms or obstacles. The second of the themed hubs shifts away from the farmland iconography of the first zone, instead focusing on windy peaks and winding grass-covered pathways. That said, the demo came to stand out with more fascinating aesthetic choices as it progresses. While this approach does mean the game is highly adherent to formula, it makes understanding area geography and determining paths through levels quite clear. In another nod to those earlier classics, Wonderworld features collectable teardrop-shaped gems strewn about its levels. Balan Wonderworld has its adorable cartoon protagonist run around intricate levels that belong to distinct hub areas, not unlike the segmentation of worlds in Super Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. Much to our surprise, Balan Wonderworld relies on obvious genre conventions and nods to the design of past 3D platformers to help ease the player into its setting. While there’s much that seems compelling about Balan Wonderworld, it’s just as true that there are areas where better communication of ideas and further polish are needed. So it came to pass that Square tested the waters by releasing a somewhat substantial demo of the game prior to its launch, allowing players to get a taste of what’s to come.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |