I Beat Balan Wonderworld 100% and Read the Novel so you don't have to

[@austineruption]

Big ups to my buddy Balrog for the amazing back and forth theorycrafting over the last month. It helped a lot.

[@ivanvalentin7713]

The hottest take!

[@Helicopter7]

bruh

[@Skimmy404]

The boss designs are pretty cool

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Wait did that last part imply you're going to do a complete overview of like the senren kagura games?! Do it! DO IT!!!

[@eb-the-gamer6287]

I genuinely think that its unfinished, but i enjoyed it for what it was. Im glad that this wasnt just out and out hatred like some people have spouted as if the game murdered somebody.

[@DolusVulpes]

It's weird that the creator's keep saying that they wanted to convey the story without words and yet also wrote a novel made entirely of words for the sole purpose of conveying the story. Its almost like the game wasn't intended to be wordless.

[@kellyscorner1319]

SE sabotaged so that was all Yuji Naka could do to tell his story

[@DSan-kl2yc]

@@kellyscorner1319 what makes you say that?

[@louise4152]

@@kellyscorner1319 I wouldn't say it's concrete though? Since this is all speculation from what I've seen. Pretty much every game has cut content, it doesn't have to be budget cuts. And I don't think it makes sense that SE would sabotage a game they're publishing and putting money into, since they'd be kinda shooting themselves in the foot, no?

[@kellyscorner1319]

@@louise4152 There is clear evidence there was sabotage, like the time taken to develop the game, it was rushed, the marketing, the game had little and the novel 0 marketing, the release day, no one could stand a chance against sn existent gigant like Monster Hunter and more.

[@thefreeburningspirit]

@@kellyscorner1319 Why would Square hire someone just to sabotage him for his first project under their wing though?

[@Ikcatcher]

Like a true 90’s game, all of the important lore is stuck to a novelisation no one has heard of

[@JesusLopezPrado9601]

Really? Ouch.

[@Chadius]

But unlike the 90s, the story isn't in the game manual and you have to buy it separately.

[@JesusLopezPrado9601]

@@Chadius Double ouch. That is just inconvenient. Maybe it might be worth it if those types of stories have a series of novels.

[@Virjunior01]

Word. People need to read the Metroid manga... not to make sense of the games (except Other M, to a small degree), but as a cool chance to see Samus's life with the Chozo. The "cutscenes" in Zero Mission have so much more weight when you actually know how much the Chozo Armor means to her.

[@AshkarBehek0]

@@Virjunior01 Damn right

[@shawnheatherly]

It's really sad when even the most positive video I've seen on Balan Wonderworld still says it's not worth buying.

[@malevores]

Well... Time to pick up bubsy paws on fire. That's right I said it.

[@SonicGurl82]

Well, even if you don’t want to buy the game the novel is still a choice. Not a lot of folks even talk about it so I honestly would love first I want to have a video that talks about it

[@someblackguy7371]

I STILL have the demo in my PS4, SADLY however, EVEN as a free game.... it's still not worth buying. Sorry to tell you that, I still keep the demo just to remind myself NOT to buy this game and to remember how boring it was that I actually done my chores that day then to force myself to play the demo.

[@SuperTrainStationH]

Pete Dorr has a less negative take on it.

[@rompevuevitos222]

I mean, the game is just really bad, there's no spotlight you can shine on it to change that fact

[@Grace-ir8er]

So what I'm getting is that Balan Wonderworld was supposed to be an Infinity Train-esque story about moving on from trauma...and we got _Box Fox_ instead???

[@kellyscorner1319]

WonderLAND? Jesus, no! WonderWORLD

[@Grace-ir8er]

@@kellyscorner1319 ah jeez, I'm an idiot. Thank you for reminding me! For some reason, I always say wonderland instead of wonderworld. It's been fixed now!

[@kellyscorner1319]

@@Grace-ir8er For Wonderland, Alice.

[@joeboi3146]

Worth it!

[@kylebear8101]

Seems legit to me

[@rept7]

This was definitely the most in-depth video I've seen about this game. Shame it went from a "What a weird game" to a "We're actually missing out on cool ideas?!" game now.

[@OscarSanchez-vo9dx]

I went from excited for the game to disappointed to now just sad because man this could've been so cool and not even mods can fully save it fully because some of its best pieces do exist just not in the actual game

[@tjg121389]

Yeah, it's pretty sad. I think the game itself looks gorgeous, the worlds look pretty cool, and the music I've heard has been pretty good. All the stuff Austin talks about that I hadn't heard before, like the hard platforming acts and the Balan costume, seem like really solid ideas. And the actual story is interesting as well. They just didn't bring it all together to make a game that's actually fun, and its really disappointing. There's a good game in there.

[@hiiambarney4489]

@Alex McDonald There is nothing wrong with a simpler game that does more of stuff you already like. It's just not good enough for the general populous and (sadly more importantly) the shareholders. You will see the game industry will eventually follow the music industry. Cut more and more on production cost, while trying to market to as many people as possible, sometimes even actively forcing marketability by pushing hard on marketing and getting people to listen to the samey music as long and much as possible until they eventually like it.

[@crowmaster9652]

it still sucks

[@captainmega6310]

@@hiiambarney4489 that's a stretch

[@yalikejazz7604]

At this point, the game is an accessory to the book.

[@Magitek1112]

I notice this happensa lot in Japanese games.."if you want important plot details, buy this book!" And most of the time said book won't be availible outside Japan.

[@nicholasrowley947]

@@Magitek1112 Or in the case of some series, like Nier Automata, you also need to watch an entire musical.

[@goldstarsupreme]

@@nicholasrowley947 I mean yes and no. The DrakeNier games tell mostly self-contained stories, if you want to understand the larger universe then you need to delve into the supplementary stories.

[@Shatterstar]

@@Magitek1112 Or buy the drama CD...

[@nonamepasserbya6658]

@@Magitek1112 This exact kind of shit is why everyone give Square so much flack for FFXV. If other Japanese companies are forced to apologize like Square did, this practice might die off

[@wilmayes5554]

Wow, I knew this game had some wasted potential, BUT holy crap this game WASTED any chance it had to really become something. The fact Austin had to dig this deep to find all this is WILD.

[@kirin1230]

I agree. I've honestly gained an appreciation for the story. The game itself is still hot garbage, but I see now what it could have been. What Naka likely wanted it to be.

[@canavero4288]

if they just put this stuff in the game it would have been 200x better. actually if you remove the costumes and just make them more like Balan's costume, or heck just play as balan's costume or something, itll be much better. i played the demo and i HATE that you cant jump in most costumes, its extremely limiting.

[@Noname-jr9bh]

I went from thinking this game was just a complete production mess, that should have been a movie like game, to a game that could have literally been the next Mario odyssey, holy shit did this game hit and miss hard

[@ShadwSonic]

It's like the game's spirit decided it wanted to be one of the best games ever, but fate decreed "NO, thou must sucketh!", and lo, there was much disappointment.

[@Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus17]

I wish they put this into the game, real interesting concepts

[@mothmansboyfriend]

I cannot wrap my head around why they didn’t include the lore in the game. I feel like a lot more people would give it the time of day if anything in the gameplay itself made a lick of sense.

[@NoahDaArk]

For the first time in forever a game isn't bad due to executive meddling... but because the game's director failed at every conceivable turn

[@defaulted9485]

The entire internet lives to theorize about something... but Balan doesn't include the theory material in the damn game... which is the main source people gets their start to theorize. An aimless undiegetic/unnatural theory is not as fun as something we got hints about.

[@G-Mastah-Fash]

@@NoahDaArk Sonic devs don't need meddling to constantly and reliably fuck up. It's in their blood.

[@pyro5159]

Have you played FF15? How much lore isn’t even in the game? In order to get everything you have to watch a movie which is actually good Nyx is a really good character, an anime that nobody watched, a hidden weapon in Nier Automata which you have to farm up materials to fully upgrade it, and DLC that they never finished man that’s way to much locked in other media

[@idkjordash]

It’s alarming that my first reaction to the novel wasn’t “There’s a novel?” but instead was “Why is there a novel”

[@kellyscorner1319]

But hey it is actually great

[@sayliota6708]

@@kellyscorner1319 the game could have been great if they put more effort into it

[@kellyscorner1319]

@@sayliota6708 No, they did all they could,it is SE's fault the gameplay flaws and it should have doneby Nintendo ans blah blah and the global pandemic situation. The story is well told in the game. Show, don't tell, now you'll say that games like Gris what kind of story is this. The non-verbal lenguage already tells you what's happening, but in the novel, the lore goes deeper. In fact, it is recommendable read the novel after the game, because there are big spoilers. Since day 1 of development and production, the novel was being written and ready along the game the release day. You had really gigant expectations for a game who's main target are younger audiences.

[@sayliota6708]

@@kellyscorner1319 just because it’s for kids doesn’t mean it has to be bad

[@kellyscorner1319]

@@sayliota6708 I wasn't saying it wasn't bad for that, lol. I wasn't speaking in first person

[@BrazillianCara]

And I thought this whole thing wouldn't get more tragic. This project deserved better, especially the full plot.

[@QuintaFeira12]

Jesus fuck, I'm thinking the exact same. This entire thing actually exudes PROMISE and AMBITION. Like, hearing more details makes me giddy in a way not even pokemon has done in 10 years. But then, welp, Arzest, Naka and AI-driven level design happened. I just can't understand some of the cryptic, sadistic design decisions in this... And it all feels so disrespectful for the other parts of the project. The game being this bad, having this bad an intro, having this many bad input and unlock choices, is just an insult to the setting and visual design.

[@gandalfczarny2289]

No it isn't. This is what happens when you get devs that inhales their own farts and give them too much control. I mean why the hell Square after watching this didn't say "Are you fuckin' nuts?" This game deserve to be hate

[@henriquezioto8760]

​@@gandalfczarny2289 And so we have an asshole here, vilifying the game so you can have a reason the hate it, without providing any argument to why and ignoring others key points that would prove you wrong. The game is mediocre, but also inoffensive, you have many reasons not to like it, but no reason to hate it. A game like this needs to be criticize, but in no way it deserve any form of hate, cause, you like it or not, this game was made by people with passion. Unless a game is offensive and harmful, no game deserve hate. Stop trying to justify a reason for your blind hatred, you little brat.

[@BRAINFOXINFINITE]

#ReleaseTheNakaCut

[@NeoZ45]

So sonic 06 2

[@Ketirz]

It's a shame Yuji Naka thinks he'd be mad at making RPGs, because based on the art direction and the story details laid out in the book Balan probably would've made for a pretty distinct and rad one.

[@retroray6836]

Gotta remember, when he was at Sonic team, they did Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast.

[@DSan-kl2yc]

That's a good point. I take it he means that he likes coming up with simple gameplay concepts and thinks RPGs involve complex ones or not immediate ones. But an rpg of any type would have been an easy place to explore that story. It also allows a slow start.

[@AnimatedTerror]

@@DSan-kl2yc it’s also if you personally don’t think you’d be good at something then maybe (especially when there’s money and time on the line) you probably could stick to what you know. But given this wasn’t him being given a blank check, there were expectations. I understand why he decided to do something he may have been more familiar or at least more confident with.

[@DSan-kl2yc]

@@AnimatedTerror I imagine it was square themselves that had that mentality. Naka wanted to try something new. But they wanted a platformer. Not unusual for a corp.

[@nidohime6233]

@@AnimatedTerror I would say he might have worked better with someone codirecting too, one who can alleviate Yuji Naka´s weaknesses.

[@eternal8song]

if this game had come out ten years ago, Balan and Lance would absolutely be crushing it as Tumblr Sexymen

[@soulofflame9999]

Forget crushing it, they'd be the bosses of Tumblr Sexymen!

[@dankerbell]

💀 absolutely true

[@Zombie_Chow]

He's not now?! Blasphemy.

[@danmanuel4719]

WOULD 100% vote for him

[@Solavation]

Everybody gangsta till Balan gets in smash and his ultimate is the balan bout

[@rompevuevitos222]

"I know i said all smashes should be fast and to the point, but Balan's main gimick is having such an annoyingly long smash your opponents disconnect in frustration"

[@buckyoufaltimore]

No matter which button you push all you can do is jump

[@humbleabode9708]

Literal 5 minute final smash

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

He'll get in as soon as Bubsy does

[@JamesP7]

Lol, it would ironically fit in with all of the other “cutscene” final smashes

[@Scrofar]

feels like I just learned the tragic backstory of the kid I bullied in 5th grade and now I feel bad

[@ahmetkarakaya6103]

Couldn't have said it better myself lmao

[@sufferintoilet6231]

I was bullied by a small looking dude all the way from primary to middle school. Now I'm and old ass 25 years old but I swear that when I see him again I'm gonna make him pay for what he had done to me for 9 years. I know it is personal grudge but I can't stop thinking about making his face look like a pizza

[@hwebsite4720]

@@sufferintoilet6231 i know how You feel i also got bullied a lot since kindergarten and now i have c ptsd because of that

[@Egorold]

I get that the game is bad and asking 60 dollars for it is way too much, but it just seems people love to collectively bully anyone or anything that is made fun of on the internet, just for the sake of it.

[@ahmetkarakaya6103]

@@Egorold That's internet for you. There is a lot of disappointment with this game but most people who shit on it weren't even gonna play it in the first place. They're just angry and this game is the current punching bag.

[@tonyperez6206]

"I was kinda thinking it was purgatory, especially when that dolphin killed that one chick." is the single best line I have heard in 2021.

[@NepetasShippingWall1642]

@Tony Perez uuuuhhhhh.....ya might want to check your replies...or not

[@NepetasShippingWall1642]

@Kenn Honson X what the fuck is wrong with you, you lonely, miserable horndog

[@tvs26]

@Kenn Honson X what the hell

[@orvillepareja9393]

@Kenn Honson X Creep

[@ijustlikebees]

....so what happened here?

[@olive4200]

the concept & character design is genuinely so fascinating to me?? like if done right, this actually could’ve been one of my favorite games since i love creative character designs & themes involving mental health/trauma

[@Vooblebooble]

Saaaame

[@repurposed_rainwater]

exactly the aesthetics of this game are just so good, i love the imaginative fantastical wonderland-looking settings and the creatures are so well designed

[@monosophy691]

If only there was a highly acclaimed collectathon series with a distinct visual style and a focus on psychology

[@helloill672]

Perhaps try Psychonaughts 2? Haven't played it myself but have heard good things about it, plus it fits your description to a T

[@monosophy691]

@@helloill672 Shit I should have actually said thats what I was talking about instead of being unhelpful and sarcastic. You are a far better person

[@ArcaneEther]

That "Balan" + "Lance" = "Balance" bit really is a "Why isn't that IN the game?!".

[@GreatFox42]

@@toby2581 I mean yeah, but in fairness that sort of young childish whimsy is exactly what the game is going for. Plus it's a Japanese-developed thing and they feel clever about doing that sort of thing with a language that isn't their first. Plus the Japanese just love wordplay in general.

[@GreatFox42]

@@toby2581 I didn't say it's just for kids. I'm just saying that the childish whimsy of the Balance thing is exactly what it's trying to go for. It's not that it's just for kids, it's just that it's _themed_ in that way. I admit I'm having a hard time trying to explain what I mean clearly.

[@TheUsshue]

I think you explained it pretty clearly. Balan wonderworld is supposed to hold a child like innocence. The other person is just thick.

[@alexroy5854]

@@toby2581 Sheesh, why so hostile mate?

[@dullicecream]

@@toby2581 That’s still hostile is it not? Just provoked hostilely instead of unprovoked.

[@shinji2898]

I honestly am baffled at how so much of the story is...supplementary material. That's basically required to understand it.

[@cyberangel2787]

Since it's Square, a certain Toriyama guy might or might not have been providing writing tips.

[@KingOfElectricNinjas]

Weird thing is a fair few Japanese games do this. (and almost never officially translate the material)

[@KichiMiangra]

I've kinda been comparing it to "Imagine if a game company put out a narrative driven rpg and then didn't put in the story and you just had to happen to check the console's store to find that the story is lock behind $9.99 of DLC"

[@ryanzhu546]

Yeah the only games I know that has as much important infomation regulated to supplementary material is the drakenier games by Yoko Taro (nier: automata and drakengaurd 3 being the most guilty of this practice) and even then it's mostly backgound fluff that isn't important to the main plot of this game (argubily discoutinting the intoner backstories for drakengaurd 3 being DLC.) and actully having a main plot in-game in the first place. And despite Taro's reputation as a toll he probably wouldin't cut the main story his games and put in the book (...probably ). Hm now that I think about it how would you guys react when square enix annouced that Taro going a new game based on the world of Balan Wonderworld? (or at lest an game sized DLC since square enix inclueded a clause with the balan team that further games based on the balan IP will only be greenlit if the game is successful. which judging from the exstance of this vidreo well guess.)

[@gamingawesomeness222]

@videoluver7 You know you're in sqenix now/

[@kon2175]

After hearing about how much Streetbeat only wanted to dance, I kinda wish that instead of the QTEs that exist we could’ve had a rhythm minigame where it’s just him doing all the sick moves the novel says he does. _Let the boy dance goddamit_

[@yunseaweed]

THIS

[@cian.o]

I thought he was a girl.

[@skyxclouds3765]

but all the buttons would play the same note

[@Jolis_Parsec]

Kinda funny how he’s named after those really cheap portable cassette players from back in the day. Speaking of which, I actually still have mine from when I was a kid and aside from the plastic viewing window where the cassette tape goes having fallen out and my younger self having taped it back in place with some Scotch tape I seemingly remember was left lying around the classroom by another student, it still more or less works as intended to this day. 🤣

[@papus615]

Its also super weird since this screams "kids game" the fuck are they doing trying to sell novels.

[@citruslllad]

someone on another video pointed out that a really sick twist ending would've been that after you defeat lance, the wonderworld doesn't go back to being all good and stuff despite seemingly everything being fixed, only to reveal that the last person you need to save is _balan_ . adding my own personal touch to this, maybe the balan bouts are you playing as balan while he fights lance as you're saving everyone else, keeping lance at bay so that he doesn't try to stop you himself. maybe if you combined these two ideas, it'd have balan's whole thing being that he feels responsible for all these people, fighting for them for so long, and feeling like he's let them down, and so he becomes the _true_ final boss of the game, with lance realizing what he's done wrong and helping the player in balan's place

[@wulf768]

That *would've* been sick.

[@Leonagraphy]

This makes me want to cry

[@parallelblack788]

That would've been amazing!

[@Romanticoutlaw]

funnily enough, that would play into the themes of balance way better than balan just defeating lance and calling it a day

[@Leonagraphy]

@@Romanticoutlaw That makes me want to cry even harder

[@_Snowflame]

"We'd like everyone to share the same story, so we won't be using any dialog. But anyway, buy my book."

[@QuintaFeira12]

But they didn't even tell you about the Book. I swear, the book probably only exists because several parts of Balan Company must have been REEEEEE'ing for several weeks in a row that their design and art docs were literally just about to be thrown in a trash, and they needed evidence of there being more to this game out there somewhere. They didn't want to market it, they literally just wanted posterity.

[@LockeGran]

It's very tone deaf and I have no idea what are they even thinking. Do they want the game to have a story or they just want to squeeze more money out of the customers so that they could understand said game when it's already around 60 dollars right now? This screams scam 101, I don't even believe it was unintentional.

[@Xfushion2]

The reason the book even exists is because Square told Naka that the game had to feature a story, because that's one of the company shticks: story driven games. Naka said that he didn't had the experience or desire to develop a narrative into the game, so the solution was the novel. It's kinda like the NES days in which the game story was featured in the manual of the game, problem is we are not in the 80's anymore, and unlike a game manual the novel it's not free. Also the _no dialog means everyone shares the same story_ makes absolutely no sense, since there's no dialog at all people just speculate which leads to everyone interpreting the story their own way. All the design choices for this game (gameplay, narrative, marketing) don't make sense at all.

[@abloodcorpse3318]

Correction: But anyway, good luck finding the story

[@MiyaMam948]

"So anyway, I started writing"

[@ri0tgh0ooul89]

Considering the designs, the hidden story given to us by the novel, and the clear passion involved in the project, I feel like this would've been an amazing comic/manga. Hell, it probably would've been a decent game that just made a few questionable choices, had they hired the right company to work on it. Damn shame.

[@ahmetkarakaya6103]

I bet they could've made a killer RPG maker game with all this material. Would've costed significantly less, took much less time to make and be actually fun.

[@felipecosta-kv2fx]

@@ahmetkarakaya6103 and more famous, ever seen things like one shot?

[@ri0tgh0ooul89]

@@ahmetkarakaya6103 Exactly! Like, I see what they were trying to do -- they wanted to head the art, storyline, and direction, focus their strengths to produce the best of what they could, without adding extra to the plate. It's like they made a burger and a pretty damn juicy one, at that. Then they hired someone to dress the plate and add some sides. But the person they hired decided to run tap water over said dish for an hour and gave it a side of cardboard, painted and cut like crinkle fries. TL;DR, could've been great but the people who were hired to work on the gameplay fuckin made it bland and mushy, (the dance scenes and the atmosphere feels gross, somehow) as hell.

[@lizardotaku3350]

@@ahmetkarakaya6103 If you want an RPG maker game that touches on the mental health beats a million times better than balan, I'd recommend omori. 20 bucks on steam with a bare minimum of 20 hours of gameplay that will fuck you up in the best ways

[@ahmetkarakaya6103]

@@lizardotaku3350 I will check it out!

[@anoninunen]

It's like they gave Barney the Dinosaur the plot of Kingdom Hearts, then translated everything into simlish and published only the tutorial.

[@aidangordon2713]

Add a $60 price tag, and this essentially Square's modern dev process in a nutshell.

[@ThatGuy-en2nn]

*Cries in incomplete FF 15* Please don't remind me square exists.

[@richardsinclair7661]

@@ThatGuy-en2nn I mean, it sucks that we never got the rest of the DLCs in game form, but they were adapted into Final Fantasy 15: Dawn of the Future, a pretty lengthy novel that goes into (apparently) good detail about Ardyn, Aranea, Noctis and other things. I haven't read it yet (I haven't even done a 100% run of Final Fantasy 15 yet) but according to fans on Amazon, it's a pretty good book that serves its purpose well.

[@myhornislongerthanyourrela5105]

Yep

[@Evnyofdeath]

@@ThatGuy-en2nn Thats not Square's fault tbf. The game's director literally quit the day after they announced the second wave of DLC

[@pokefriend123]

Imagine how interesting it would have been if they bundled the book with the game

[@kellyscorner1319]

I think it is okay this way, and that we need to read more...

[@DSan-kl2yc]

How expensive. 80-100 bucks. They needed to integrate the plot better and tell the story better

[@kellyscorner1319]

@@DSan-kl2yc 60 - 70 actually, bruh. The book is 10 $ and the game got a lower price in Amazon, like 30 $, at least where I live. Hm, that makes 40 $ altogether

[@kellyscorner1319]

@@DSan-kl2yc Still, if you don't want to play is OK, and we -that's right, all of us, the biggest part of the generation- need to read more.

[@colorbar.s]

or just put dialogue and cutscenes in the game

[@c-puff]

I've been obsessed with this game since I learned what a disaster it is and eating up every video about it I could find, and this is the first time I am feeling honest true ANGER at what we COULD have had if things had worked out differently. There is something brilliant IN HERE and we simply did not get it and I feel ROBBED!!!

[@revalution1965]

When i started seeing all the weird tims stuff and how much it reminded me of chaos and the weirdly intricate stuff that went into that I knew there had to be more to the game then i was seeing and theres actually a lot of cool ideas hidden inside that makes this so much sadder ;(

[@DukasFiguliras]

I've never seen a comment so relatable in my life. I developed kinda of a stockholm syndrom for Balan, it's so bad but so interesting, a disaster so unique you can't help but learn everything about it

[@ninjapotatolorf6237]

May I recommend a game called Psychonauts?

[@KichiMiangra]

@@ninjapotatolorf6237 It's funny you mention Psychonauts cuz when this game was first announced and I got to imagine what it would be like I was Imagining NiGHTS meets Psychonauts meets Dual Hearts!

[@matguimond92]

the game would of been trash regardless. I hope Pokemon Snap flops. Doubt it - will become a best seller because people are stupid. Taking pictures of pokemon. I only rented Pokemon Snap from Blockbuster back in 2000. Can't imagine wasting $90CND on that drek.

[@Unclaimed_Username]

This video gives me a bittersweet feeling. The book reveals that everything I had hoped Balan Wonderwolrd to be is there...just not in the game. Knowing this was the guy's only chance to make a 3D platformer means that we won't see a No Man's Sky style rebirth of the game into it's true potential. It's heartbreaking.

[@BigEOT3]

It’s not their[the developers’] fault, the fault is Square Enix.

[@wertyjess]

I had no particular interest in Balan's Wonderworld, but after you explained the story in the novel it frustrates me knowing that this game could have been so much better. That part about the little girl and the princess being the same person sounds very interesting. The player is helping a couple with their traumas at different points in their lives.

[@sarafontanini7051]

hell the game's big bad is just lonely and doesn't want to be forgotten, which is way more personality and motive than in the game where he just...APPEARS

[@dustymcwari4468]

@@sarafontanini7051 that really reminds me of King of Sorrow in Klonoa 2

[@thetruestar6348]

if they would have took their time to make this game and put the story in it and release it during this hard time this could have easily sold really well

[@BohemianScandalous]

The story seems to have some really poignant moments, like the years of waiting for people, and more connection between not only the protagonists and the characters, but the character to each other, and the fact that the tear shaped gems have been from Balan and/or Lance’s actual tears, so you don’t see how this always smiling character is actually trying to be happy for the sake of people’s hearts to heal and return to their own lives. Seeing the trappings of effort and love by the creative team, only to have it wasted on the poor gameplay and structure of the game feels like kind of a tragedy.

[@NesosRomanus]

austin your eyes are so tired in the thumbnail, you did not need to do this

[@NameName-yj7lp]

Yeah my dude go have some wayer

[@Shatterstar]

"He wants you to experience the game without words!" *He proceeds to write a damn book about the game* wut

[@DynoSkrimisher]

Not many people would consider the novel canon, as literature based on media in japan could be seen as an Alternate Universe. It could also be one since the events of the novel are different to the events of the game.

[@bforblitz4847]

I’m actually upset at how this game was treated. The concepts, characters, and art are genuinely interesting, but it was all wasted

[@BwooHuraca]

It's like Silent Hills all over again.

[@Whocares158]

No!

[@xiaolin867]

@@Whocares158 What do you mean "no", that sounds so out of place

[@Terminal_Apotos]

@@xiaolin867 No

[@xiaolin867]

@@Terminal_Apotos Alright fair

[@imdraculaspet9550]

Hearing that entire novelisation is actually INSANELY INTERESTING LIKE WHY IS THIS ACTUALLY NOT HERE

[@markgaterii5395]

Step 6: Have the story let you play both main characters, like the previous two NiGHTS games. With Leo doing all of the odd numbered chapters, and Emma doing all of the even numbered chapters.

[@Nohc]

Either that or yuji naka should just go back to sega and make another NiGHTS game

[@Bowling4986]

Step 7: Get a developer who has made good HD games before and can do a 3d platformer.

[@NeoSaturos123]

@@Bowling4986 So have Sega give Hat In Time's Gears For Breakfast a big budget, for example?

[@shinyneko8136]

@@NeoSaturos123 *YES!*

[@SonicGurl82]

@@Nohc you know that that is not possible since A. They will likely make Yuji Naka return to the Sonic Games and B. They decide whether or not they will do another NiGHTS game. It’s been 15 years since the last NiGHTS game and they still interested making anything else other then NiGHTS.

[@questionablesalad5350]

this is undoubtedly the saddest way this could’ve turned out.

[@monke6912]

Sadest part is when parents buy you one for gift cus they dont know any better

[@morriganrenfield8240]

@@monke6912 speaks of laziness on their part imo. KZbin exists. :)

[@monke6912]

@@morriganrenfield8240 old people and tech dosent go well

[@morriganrenfield8240]

@@monke6912 completely untrue. My father knows a fair bit more in certain things than me like using power points etc and he's approaching 70.

[@_ikako_]

@@morriganrenfield8240 good for him, but just because your father understands it, doesn't mean all other parent do or should do.

[@TheUndersigned]

Yuji Naka blows his own foot off with a shotgun and ruins his career: The Official Game Of The Movie

[@Alarion]

Yuji Naka foots his own blowoff with a gunshot and his career is ruined: The game: The novel - Explained! - The KZbin video

[@benedictdwyer2608]

@@Alarion (reupload) only on bing

[@DoktahDoktah]

I think that happened before Balan was a thought.

[@madmAn-ky8pd]

@@DoktahDoktah Meh, dunno about that. He doesn’t work on sonic games anymore btw.

[@wildfire9280]

@@benedictdwyer2608 well now no one will watch it

[@Akutabai5]

This attitude of "This game is bad but also fun and interesting" is as close to a game based Stockholm Syndrome as I've ever seen

[@thelittleredhairedgirlfrom6527]

Not really. Plenty of people just enjoy bad, janky media for the fun of it.

[@stonerbinch]

it's the potential lol

[@Starrrycandy]

they should have made it a cartoon Edit: better idea GRAPHIC NOVEL.

[@clyax113]

I think they could have made the game they wanted; they just chose the wrong company to do it.

[@youtubedeletedmyaccountlma2263]

Visual novel is a thing though

[@Zulf85]

This would have made an incredibly endearing kids movie I think

[@poprocks6576]

I’ll do you one better a visual novel

[@CrabTastingMan]

This is a big problem in of itself. WHY CAN'T THE GAME BE FUN NOW, WHY DO I NEED TO BUY OTHER STUFF? Presentation is a crucial aspect of a game. If you need to make the audience jump through that many hoops to enjoy the story, then that is a bad decision for storytelling.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

It's incredible how they stripped out everything interesting about the story and characters from the game itself

[@JasonGodwin69]

Ir's almost as if Square Enix wanted this game to fail.

[@Trashboat4444]

@Alex McDonald why would they want to lose money?

[@Senthain]

@@Trashboat4444 Shit, I can't help but be convinced they did, since they decided to release this game on the same fucking day as Monster Hunter Rise.

[@elianwyn]

I know it's extremely unlikely, but god I wish they wouldn't give up on this series here. Balan and the entire Balan universe is genuinely really wonderful and I wish I could see more of it. I'd love to see Balan given another chance with an actual decent game developer.

[@2012Jemh]

They need to pull a Hello Games and Playtonic combined to res Balan reputation.

[@_ikako_]

i'd like to see a "definitive edition" where they make the game actually good by getting rid of sonic 06 guy

[@baraness24]

@Alex McDonald I'm blanking, what shoot em up is that-

[@A.Froster]

@Alex McDonald Hol up , which game ?

[@thomasbriscoe7439]

@@2012Jemh mighty number 9 was a scam

[@SockBot]

This is the best KZbin version of “exhausted friend explaining the bs they just played thru as they begrudgingly find positives to qualify their time”...so very relatable.

[@valletas]

My experience playing megaman x6 lol

[@PetitTasdeBoue]

You're actually the first review I see who even talk about hard mode and mini bosses. Most of the reviews just say "oh no there's a third act after doing everything" + You're the only one who actually read the book, and did some research on the official website, mad respect

[@DoctorMario606]

Thank you for beating Balan Wonderworld 100% and reading the novel so I dont have to.

[@StarMechV]

Hearing about the novel legit makes me wanna cry cause...I'll be honest...google translate-esque dialogue aside, that's a LEGIT GOOD SETTING AND CHARACTERIZATIONS. It's a legit touching story and one that could also explain lot of the weird stuff in the game and Naka just decided to...not add it in? It hurts.

[@pinksylvie7696]

For real! After I read the novel I was so sad the game didn’t include more interactions with the masters of the stages. Some book interactions were just adorable, and the epilogue was so heartwarming. I really loved reading the novel.

[@inkling457]

Even big developers make mistakes. And I think he's realized that by now.

[@powerdj4590]

It really sucks that this was supposedly the "one chance" for Naka to make the game. I would absolutely love to see them take all the wonderful design work surrounding the game and hand it off to a developer that can really make it shine, not a studio that makes sub-par handheld games.

[@joshhallam4555]

all those Balan bout oops is the game in a nutshell.

[@tedjomuljono3052]

Because he's a pretentious delusional guy who thinks this is a genius idea? It sounds much like SE's other steaming turd, The Quiet Man, in terms of wanting to not tell a story normally To be fair tho, if Hideo Kojima made this, there would be much more people defending the decision, bigger metacritic score, and maybe a few nomination and wins on Game Awards 2021

[@rogercheetoofficial]

I'm honestly confused about what people were expecting from Yuji Naka given making games that rely on a single button is basically his entire identity as a game designer outside of "hey I made sonic remember that time I made sonic"

[@MattMcMuscles]

Oof, my condolences.

[@SEiMEi_EXiSTS]

Howdy Matt!

[@austineruption]

Its ok. see you soon tho

[@dyingEnet]

soy.

[@Helicopter7]

MATT

[@Helicopter7]

.

[@seelcudoom1]

the dances should have started with the other person being clumsy and awkward about it and slowly getting into it as they go, a nice visual metaphor for danceboy helping bring them out of there shell and see thigns more positively

[@notmocka]

But that would have taken effort

[@peropero2208]

@@FlowersOfAmity cause delayed,actually good games always fail at selling

[@JesusLopezPrado9601]

@@peropero2208 That is probably due to poor or lack of advertisement to get the word out for some games.

[@drumrollplease631]

I misread "thigns" as thighs lmao

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@FlowersOfAmity Who doesn't like thighs?

[@murphmariotwopointoh7714]

I feel bad for Balan Wonderworld. It REALLY deserves a second chance, improve what's already there and refine it.

[@KingM1023]

Rather, put everything back in the game instead of a book and focus on the interesting stuff

[@_qwerty_3545]

Yea imo it still has so much room to improve and if they know what they’re doing then they may be able to salvage some of it

[@sonicandres2]

LOL no man it does not deserve a second chance, the fact that Yuji Naka Ok'd this garbage is really telling. A former head of sonic team in the adventure times, falling from grace in an attempt to make it big with a cheap NiGHTS looking game

[@cobaltordinaire5219]

definitely agree. the only thing worse than a legitimately bad game is one with wasted potential

[@gnewhall4116]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3q6eamGhZWIbJY

[@acloudofcurls5336]

Balan Wonderworld is like a game based on something that is NOT a game, and you're already supposed to know before playing.

[@Ronbotnik]

I love how even when he showed us the "balance" thing at 26:36 he wrote wonderland instead of wonderworld, its so much more natural literally everyone is calling it the wrong name on accident lol

[@madgadgetss]

oh god i thought i was having a mandella moment there, i thought it was wonderland the entire time as well

[@mikaila6655]

i could have SWORN that the game was called balan wonderland tho, like i was so sure thats what it was called that i was convinced that they changed the name from the demo to the final release to make it seem more grand lol

[@electrix_panadal00]

@@mikaila6655 dude same! I swear that I heard it in a trailer or a showcase that it was called Wonderland

[@cookieblobber]

I have to do a double take constantly every time I’m about to say the title of the game because I’m gonna end up saying Wonderland instead of Wonderworld

[@kit76149]

I wonder if “ワンダーワールド” is more natural to Japanese speakers than “ワンダーランド” and that’s why, even though to English speakers, “wonderland” sounds better 🤔

[@otaking3582]

*Balan Wonderworld:* "Make the platforming and enemies brain-numbingly simplistic, have even the menus controlled with a single button, and throw in a bunch of costumes that do one thing each, all in an effort to appeal to children!" *Also Balan Wonderworld:* "Remove the tutorials, have extra content be extremely cryptic to obtain, force the dumb QTE minigames to be played perfectly every time, and have the entire game's narrative be shoved into a separate novel because..... money, I guess?"

[@miguelneves2110]

It couldnt be money. Because if it were they would have actually advertised the novel.

[@otaking3582]

@@miguelneves2110 They also would've advertised the game itself, and yet here we are

[@abloodcorpse3318]

It's not money, it's artistic intent. This doesn't mean it's good tho.

[@otaking3582]

@@abloodcorpse3318 While "artistic intent" is certainly a possibility, the fact that the game itself costs $60 has me leaning more towards the cynical answer

[@abloodcorpse3318]

@@otaking3582 well it's artistic intent with a few sacrifices. Both of the video game and of the consumer.

[@fallenmidori]

you know, i appreciate the fact that you deep dove into this game and gave a clear and concise synopsis of what it set out to do and what it could've done better. it's not just dumping on something because it's 'en vogue', and that's why i like you. stay humble.

[@vohloo9797]

Really appreciate that approach, since most of the time when a popular content creator does a video on a divisive or disliked product their M.O. is to immediately go and bash it removing objectivity and simply doing what gets views. I really hate that style of reviews since it removes any positive qualities it has and prevents it from garnering an audience.

[@projectvalkyrie4536]

"A smile like a shared secret" is a beautiful line.

[@hirobeez]

I can't help but think "the story is outside of the game" is just the easiest way to avoid the expenses of voice acting.

[@_ikako_]

or animating cutscenes

[@ricedanan]

They could have gone with text boxes though.

[@Noperare]

If they wanted to be really lazy, they could just dump the novel on the main menu and make in unlockable once you finish the game so now you have the context for WTF you just played. It is still bad storytelling but at least it in on the goddamn game.

[@Nathan-kk6lb]

Except Nintendo’s been doing fine with just text boxes for decades. BotW is the only outlier, and even then the voice acting really only exists as a nice bonus; the game could have stayed all text boxes and still worked great. And Undertale is probably the best single-player story RPG of the past decade, and did it all using only the content in-game and without any voice acting at all (the few brief voice clips used in-game were actually trimmed bits from an old McDonald’s commercial of all things, everything else was just abstract sounds and music). They had a good thing going here, it just seems like someone took “show don’t tell” *way* too literally and decided to just rip the whole story out of the game itself and treat it like abstract art. Which…didn’t really work.

[@hirobeez]

@@Nathan-kk6lb Well, Yakuza is very respected and well liked, and still I've heard people hold it against it when their Substories are usually not voice acted or animated as well as the main events, even though clearly this is a very cost-effective way to execute what is arguably the side content - even if people love them to bits.

[@DukasFiguliras]

Balan is like a meal you made without any seasoning at all. When you experience the extra content, it's like you added salt, but all the other spices are still missing

[@eeveeextreme]

Oh no, it's got the seasoning; it just wasn't in the oven long enough. Two-ish years is not a lot of time for game development

[@DowntownTasty]

This is proof story and dialogue matters. You cant just make something pretty and expect it to work. He should've taken a page from squares book

[@GraveUypo]

you can, you just need to do it right. this was clearly meant to have dialog, and it should have had it.

[@tmwilson87]

They should have taken a page from their own book (like, the one they wrote that includes all the missing info...get it?)

[@ahhhhyes]

Not at all. Binding of isaac, nuclear throne, any mario game, any online fps game, etc... Gameplay is the most important thing in a game lmao

[@savegalkissy]

I honestly think the concept could have been executed without much dialogue, they just needed to set up the fact that the world the character’s are from isn’t the same as the world they’re currently in, aka introduce the theatre and how we got there- Introduce Lance and show him corrupting people into monsters- and then give directions in the form of tutorials. The use of dialogue would have helped the game as it is, yes, but even if it did have that they don’t really explain visually or through gameplay what the world is or why it works like it does. Like from first watch I just assumed it was a kingdom hearts style “many fantasy worlds connected together but over all disparate” type game

[@billcipher8645]

@@ahhhhyes Binding of Isaac has a ton of lore, it's just not noticable at first

[@jasongibson1225]

Having watched this, I feel like it REALLY had a lot of potential, and the creator had an ambitious vision for it. One that dare I say, I wish I could have seen. I genuinely feel sorry for the people who put in real love and care into the creation of the game and the mythos of this to see it dropped so hard. I mean like, damn. Started a whole studio with amazing talent to be so wasted.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

This game gave us the "Man who rages against the storm" meme and I'm happy for it.

[@Helicopter7]

E

[@gregorymirabella1423]

what?

[@InvaderIceStrike]

@@gregorymirabella1423 the Farmer

[@almond3066]

@@InvaderIceStrike you mean FUCK-IT-UP FARMER TED

[@sarafontanini7051]

there's a meme?

[@SirenRunner]

Austin literally did this game justice. The amount of hidden information I now know about this game literally makes me so sad that we never got a better product!

[@Hibernial]

I feel like I can’t rag on this game anymore, knowing that just right underneath the players nose was a whole bunch of wasted potential.

[@TheGamefreak346]

@@Hibernial No, you definitely can. Yes, there was clearly some amount of potential that was wasted here, but the game we got is still objectively horrible, especially considering they're charging full AAA prices for it. There are some things that may have improved with a bit more time or whatever else, but the fundamental design philosophy was flawed (seriously, anyone old enough to play a 3D platformer is old enough to use more than 1 button), and that's something that would likely have never changed.

[@Danton1990]

Holy crap. I’ve seen so many videos dumping in this game and not one has talked about the book. You talking about the book really gave me a new appreciation for this “project.”

[@xXSoulGeoXx]

One thing this convinced me Is that buying the novel will give you more enjoyable content than the game itself Like, even if you have that context for the game, it wont change the weird and akward control limitations the game have I would honestly love this concept to be adapted into an Anime

[@josefabio5809]

At this point Balan Company should give up making games entirely and just pitch the story to TV Tokio or anyone willing to make it a full fleshed anime tbh

[@fawfulmark2]

Also it saves you like 30-50 bucks by comparison so that's a plus.

[@2012Jemh]

@Alex McDonald Playtonic. They saved Yooka Laylee (Banjo-Kazooie spirit succcesor) from a disaster by making The Impossible Lair.

[@Nintendrew]

Fantastic video! I was really curious what the drama was all about, and this analysis was completely thorough. Well done!

[@austineruption]

Thank ya! :)

[@shin_taps]

@A5-AQ_ hello

[@realperson9951]

thorough indeed

[@billyjenkins7733]

@A5-AQ_ oof

[@nohi3619]

Commentating so that the algorithm blesses this video to hopefully make up the 60 hours of life you sacrificed for our cruel amusement

[@ndsmario456]

I bring tidings from the Algorithm. It has blessed this video to my feed. The algorithm smiles upon this video.

[@spoopyghost3333]

A thing that bugs me with the story is thag people get unbalanced/depressed for a lot of things that actually can make someone depressed. Just the order of the severity of the depression is... weird. First, farmer loses all his crops. Work wasted. Second, dolphin accidently knocks scuba tank out of girl. Betrayal. Third, girl is ostracized and bullied for liking bugs. Loneliness. Fourth, inventions have been failing again and again. The feeling of failure. Fifth, construction does deforestation. Powerlessness. Sixth, the cat got run over. Wishing things could change and if you could've done something different. Seventh, I lost a chess match. Uuuuuh. Eighth, my parents are dead and I am now isolated. Dealing with grief. Ninth, I'm in love and I don't know what to do and I'm scared. Fear of rejection. Tenth, I have artists block. Feeling stuck. Eleventh, im... scared of fires? Even though I got the job as a firefighter? Uuuuh. And lastly, twelfth, everyone keeps littering and its an endless cycle of single work. Feeling like no one appreciates you. Maybe if all of them were rearranged from how severe the trauma is, it wouldn't feel like flipping whiplash from "my parents died" to "people keep littering". Again, everyone's experiences with trauma is different. But we all have to kinda agree. Painter's block is less severe then the death of family 😓 It still sucks, but for me personally, I will rather be stumped with a project than my parents dying.

[@ThePenguinMan]

this game thinks that losing at chess once and your entire family dying are both just as traumatic.

[@kingofshonensandfluffybois]

Losing the chess match was represented by Futility. The feeling that all your progress was not worth it.

[@realpostto]

​@@ThePenguinMan so apparently in the novel, the guy had a wife who was suffering from cancer, and he missed her dying in the hospital to go play "the big game" of his career that he ended up losing anyway ... so yeah, game doesn't do a good job at representing any of it, at all

[@ThePenguinMan]

@@realpostto OH THATS A LOT BETTER THAN LOSING AT CHESS ONCE

[@Joseph-ru8de]

What They Wanted: -Sustainability -Unity -Acceptance -Success -Connection -Forgiveness -Glory -Respect -Love -Popularity -Heroism -Visibility What They Got -A Giant Storm -Thallasophobia -Lonelyness -Failure -Deforestation -Long Term PTSD -A Dead Wife -Dead Parents -Indeciviness -Artist Block -Igniphobia -Disrespect

[@jonnysac77]

They really designed one of the coolest looking platform mascot characters of the decade only to have him on the box art and qtes?

[@Chadius]

Why would you want to play as NIGHTS's cool cousin? Play these two generic kids instead!

[@ThirdyMeowy]

HAT MAN IS SO COOL IDK HIS NAME BUT!!!!!! THE only gOOD THING HAT MAN H

[@skyxclouds3765]

@@ThirdyMeowy Balan

[@ThirdyMeowy]

@@skyxclouds3765 yes bala n

[@chaosfountain9550]

Yo what'd ya do to my boy Guts? 😂

[@ubermaster1]

Ngl...would've love Balan Wonderworld as an anime with a fleshed out story.

[@Gameorama91]

Yeah, the concept and world are really interesting....why did they give the game development to the company they did? Such a shame lol

[@minespatch]

Sounds a bit like Kaiba but you could escape that dystopian dreamland.

[@Silburific]

This would've been amazing as a 6 episode OVA... the squandered potential makes my soul hurt.

[@cisalzlman]

Go watch Infinity Train and thank me later

[@SlimeBlueMS]

Yeah, but zero dialogue so we can all experience it uniquely

[@ju2tunknown]

"Of Hope vs Despair" **Thinks of Danganronpa** "Especially Danganronpa"

[@alexh2413]

The association never leaves your mind,it's always there

[@eaglefan2569]

@@alexh2413 the true despair of Danganronpa, having the terms hope and despair always associated with Danganronpa

[@rustyshackle8000]

I just finished the first game with a friend of mine who's played all the games and now I have PTSD flashbacks whenever i see those words

[@GhoulishCinnamon]

I feel like balan is going to be a lot like sonic 06 in the future. A game that could’ve been something great but a botched development cycle and issues with production led to it becoming a mess

[@kiricappuchin]

Hopefully, like Sonic 06, Balan gets a fan remake that fixes the issues and becomes the definitive way of experiencing it.

[@zero195]

This reminds me so much of Shenmue 3. Both are former Sega devs who are trying to recapture the magic they had from the late 90's, only to make a game that belongs there.

[@nialvessal]

Sakurai managed to tell a story without any words in the Subspace Emissary. But he's Sakurai, so he can do anything he wants flawlessly.

[@boopsdoops]

Hell, every Smash character's a blast to play.

[@NeoNovastar]

It definitely helps that he has the support of both his superiors and his team, and probably enough funding to do what he wants too. It seems like Naka (same with like, Inafune for Megaman) is a great ideas guy, but a bad project manager, prolly also works best with someone else to reel him in a bit. Also the disjointed setup of the game itself being programmed by a separate team sounds like a nightmare.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

@@NeoNovastar In that regard, he's not that different from Izuka.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

Except for putting in a billion FE characters

[@sparkytepig]

@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 A billion FE characters wouldn’t be bad if they weren’t all sword-lords.

[@carlrogge94]

this game is the poster for the phrase: 'I'm not mad just dissapionted.' It could have been so much more, but the baaaad gameplay holds it back so much.

[@KeyleeTamirian]

Gameplay is not bad, it's just disappointing.

[@h0m3st4r]

All that majestic art and design squandered by gameplay that boiled down to "Super Mario Odyssey but borderline unplayable". Just goes to show that gameplay is still-and will always be-the most important part of any game.

[@midtown6974]

I'm so fascinated by the utter failure of this game's development. It obviously had so many people put a lot of effort into it, so why did it turn out so horribly? I love learning about failed IPs like this, especially when you can start to see what they were originally envisioning. And god bless you for grinding through this entire game to find even the smallest shred of evidence as to what happened

[@complexityinc.5167]

5:43 "The Isle of Tims" Where wild timberland boots run free and play until they are chosen by one in the other world to grant them the power of tims

[@matthewhahn1731]

We won’t have to wait long for “Balan Wonderworld: The Yuji Naka cut”.

[@silverreaps6803]

That would only happen if square enix allowed him, which i doubt they would

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

#releasethenakacut

[@evanseifert8858]

*Yuji Naka

[@The_Mister_E]

You and I both know they'd probably name it something theater-y like "Balan Wonderworld: Take 2" or "Balan Wonderworld: Second Draft".

[@johnnysasaki]

for a game with no dialogue,they sure got some major voice-actors to barely do anything(fun fact:the voices of Balan and Lance are Zack and Cloud from Final Fantasy VII!)

[@BowserZeki]

I'm tempted...to %100 Edit: Crack groups didn't even bother cracking this game lmao

[@virtualcomet6808]

Stop, look for help.

[@silverreaps6803]

Do yourself a favour, and don't

[@gabrieljoseozanan6989]

You know, described by Austin like it was... The game seems to ask a lot and give you so very little in return, until the very end. It is just like Seeking the Name in Fallen London, except it was botched and lacked more content to keep it up, now that I think of it.

[@knowone2240]

I am roo

[@ribbit3374]

I believe in you.

[@dustydudle880]

"Go to sleep knowing IGN thinks this game is better than God Hand" ...Never in my life has my soul screeched so hard out of my body.

[@thehevandragon]

My arm, my arm, my arm, my arm, my arm, my arm CAN SUMMON UP THE POWER OF A WORSE REVIEW!!!!

[@9bladesofice]

I stopped relying on IGN after they gave arguably the best game in the series Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky a 4.9/10 after not playing the full game completely and claiming it wasn't good when it's amazing and has a lot of good things going for it so yeah don't rely on IGN lol.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Well IGN thinks Sonic was never good and that Green Hill is from Sonic 2

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 Sonic was rarely good

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@9bladesofice I mean, it's not much different from Explorers of Time and Darkness. The concept of different versions is hella greedy

[@joerichards975]

I've been on a marathon of Balan videos lately but this is by far the best one I've watched A genuine analysis of the potential the game had and what they could do to push it to the next level. Top job!

[@morningmonsoon]

When he started describing what wonderworld actually *is*, I realized that it's just a more cheery version of infinity train

[@matthewcoyle4131]

This is absolutely fascinating. It's like they really had something but they wanted to hide it under as much non-enjoyable or non-game content as humanly possible.

[@LimeGreenFlix]

I had a dream the other night that Balan owned an indoor water park. It included a roller coaster in a pool.

[@RafilaWan]

Yeah that sounds about on brand for him

[@user-lf5xq4gu1g]

*dude that's your stage*

[@e2rqey]

I am constantly amazed by how some huge game projects can go so catastrophically wrong. I wish we could know what actually went on behind the scenes.

[@BlackOrderAlchemist]

Can't lie, the concept art and 2d character drawings are pretty dope I'd flip through a Balan artbook if there was one

[@jacobbrown9894]

I actually really like a lot of the ideas and stuff laid out by the book and that almost managed to piss me off since it’s all trapped in the book. Who woulda fuckin guessed that telling a story requires telling the story and not just vague symbolism

[@scoshrimp1671]

Me: reads "And read the novel" Also me: T H E W H A T

[@Whocares158]

Yeah. Really odd how this novel wasn't in the game itself.

[@odinsplaygrounds]

The "Balan" + "Lance" reveal (Balance) had me howling of laughter. That was so cheesy. Love how in depth you went with review, clearly the game have some interesting elements. Regardless if it's not really a good game.

[@kirin1230]

I facepalmed myself so hard at that part. So ingeniously stupid. I love it.

[@kobi7955]

It's such a Kojima-esque thing to do imo

[@Keokithederp]

It literally was gonna be an amazing game but then the dev team was like, lets just not have any plot details in the actual main story and only in supplementary content.

[@blackheartzerotheundergrou3225]

The original vision was to have all the "story" in the game be conveyed with in-game cutscenes. If it weren't for SE's Visual Works department strongarming Balan Company into letting them in on the project, _those weird mocapped dances were all we were getting!_

[@NoahDaArk]

@@blackheartzerotheundergrou3225 And I think that's the important thing to remember: even though it's easy for us to pin the blame on Square Enix... THIS WAS NOT THEIR FAULT! Yuji Naka is solely to blame for this dumpster fire of a game, which is broken on a fundamental game design level!

[@mechashadow]

I think Yuji Naka was the one who chose ARZEST considering their time a decade ago working on Wii play Motion and Streetpass when he was under PROPE. That makes more sense than Square picking them arbitrarily just for this release, Oh yeah they did mention the adjustable AI difficulty as a feature as well.

[@gamingawesomeness222]

When it comes to gameplay, that’s a kiss of death.

[@Poever]

ARZEST has plenty of experience making games for “children”, as evidenced by Yoshi’s New Island and Hey! Pikmin. Yuji wanted Balan to be played by children, so this plus his work history with ARZEST makes too much sense. Too bad Arzest is no one’s favorite developer. I get a crazed feeling they won’t be around much longer

[@mechashadow]

Poever I’d actually argue that ARZEST being Yuji Naka’s fave/chosen developer was *the mistake*

[@gamingawesomeness222]

@@Poever I've been saying this is actually arzest's best game if you ask me.... btu with Yoshis new Island and hey pikmin that isn't exactly a high bar to clear. At all.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

@@Poever Both of which don't receive high praise

[@M_Alexander]

This game fascinates me more than any other game that I don't want to play. It's like half of a big production got polished before releasing too soon

[@Wolfkaosaun]

This is honestly THE BEST review I've seen of this game. While I was optimistic at first with it's announcement, it's sad to see that when the optimism went away it was for good reason. Great video

[@blackheartzerotheundergrou3225]

From my experience, the drops do have an effect on Tims aside from the requirements to breed a Tim of Legends. The small statues near the red, pink, and blue flower patches aren't just for show; they show you what abilities your Tim could inherit if you feed them those color drops. *Yellow:* No statue, No special powers. just filler feed. *Red:* the Tim fed enough of these drops will be trained to fight Negati. *Blue:* feed them enough of these, and your Tim will be able to break those jagged spike ball crystal things that serve as obstacles in some stages. *Pink:* a Tim fed enough of these will become a scavenger- finding items in the world to pick up and bring to you. Anything from Drops, to Keys, to Tim eggs. Especially useful if you ever find one of those small doors that only stay open when you stand on a nearby switch. Your Pink Tim can waddle in while you hold the door open and bring its contents right to you. You can also manually choose at least one Tim to accompany you into a stage with the rest of your randomly selected Tim squad by picking the Tim you want up and taking them into the stage with you.

[@notasandwich2080]

rip

[@ElementalAer]

Wtf, and none of this was really explained clearly, which could help so much

[@TheHikariOne]

"He wants you to experience the game without words" _Intense The Quiet Man PTSD Flashbacks_

[@ccateni28]

Oh no... its the same company...

[@sophiebubbles07]

RUN

[@wolfetteplays8894]

This is gonna be a cult classic and considered underrated in about 10 years. I’m calling it right now

[@legreedysqueegee]

The only pros are + It has a farmer that dances to revive his farm

[@madmAn-ky8pd]

@@legreedysqueegee Con: his soul has left his body while he dances

[@Gamsterjeff600]

There are far better underrated games that actually are worth ur time

[@St.Aether]

Contrarian

[@Paulo27]

No one will remember this exist except for that one guy somewhere. There's always that one guy.

[@samfivedot]

Naoto Oshima is vice president of Arzest. I think this is an important piece of the puzzle that most people are missing

[@kingplatypus3rd]

yeah idk how people don't know this lol

[@Dumb_Woof]

No one ever mentions this when talking about this game and it drives me insane. Arzest in itself is a (sad) spiritual "successor" to Artoon who made the Blinx games.

[@gamingawesomeness222]

Lol people are already trying to reverse engineer Oshima's artstyle if that isn't the most productive way to say "F*** YOU!" XD XD

[@Kain652]

Who?

[@PrettyGuardian]

I'll give them credit on this: The music and the art style are excellent.

[@AamitMorthos]

When you gotta pull a matpat and read the books to understand the game more

[@jordanianstudios]

ay we paying for this guy's therapy

[@ryanb6503]

Special thanks to skill share and their entire library of self care content.

[@Mysticgamer]

I wish Nights: Journey of Dreams had a novel. I loved the game and it's story but I wish there was more. There'd be a moment when Nights would be talking about the loneliness, doubt, or families issues that the kid is experiencing only for it to get interrupted by a fun mini game and never mentioned again.

[@NO.10162]

I think there is a narrative reason for the balan bouts which is thus: balan is breaking the "tumbleweeds of negativity" in the residents consciousness, to help the heroes not get overwhelmed and generally weakening the boss. Why? I noticed that the rocks that balan punches in the balan bouts are all objects related to resident's stages and the end goal looks exactly like the one you see holding the resident's heart. Perhaps that's how lance would've handled things normally with the resident's negativity but lance threw a wrench in the works, so now balan has to clear out the weeds so you can get through the stages safely.