fbpx
Wikipedia

Balan Wonderworld

March 04, 2023

Balan Wonderworld[a] is a 2021 platform game principally developed by Arzest and published by Square Enix. Assuming the role of two children guided by a magical being called Balan, the player explores twelve worlds themed after the hearts of troubled individuals. They explore levels, collecting items to progress to further areas and using a variety of powers unlocked using themed costumes.

Balan Wonderworld
Cover art, featuring central character Balan
Developer(s)Arzest
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Director(s)Yuji Naka
Producer(s)
Designer(s)Tomohide Hayashi
Programmer(s)Yuki Hatakeyama
Artist(s)
  • Naoto Ohshima
  • Yuki Endo
  • Masamichi Harada
Writer(s)
  • Soushi Kawasaki
  • Yuji Naka
Composer(s)
  • Ryo Yamazaki
  • Hironori Anazawa
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release26 March 2021
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)

Balan Wonderworld is the debut project of Balan Company, a subsidiary brand of Square Enix led by Yuji Naka, the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams. Development began in 2018; it was Naka's first collaboration with artist Naoto Ohshima since Sonic Adventure (1998). The aesthetic was based on musical theater, and Naka studied the hero's journey when creating the story draft. The scenario was written by novelist Soushi Kawasaki. The music, composed by Ryo Yamazaki and Hironori Anazawa, emulates musical scores and includes vocals from West End performers such as Laura Pitt-Pulford. The cutscenes were created by Visual Works. There were subsequent claims from Naka and other employees regarding internal conflict around the game's quality and marketing.

Balan Wonderworld was released worldwide for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 26 March. Square Enix also published a novelization by Kawasaki. The game received generally negative reviews and underperformed commercially. Critics panned its gameplay and design, although some praised its graphics and music.

Gameplay

 
Gameplay from Balan Wonderworld; the player character (centre) uses a costume ability to traverse the environment.

Balan Wonderworld is a platform game where players take on the role of either Leo Craig or Emma Cole, two children drawn into the magical realm of Wonderworld by a being called Balan.[1][2][3] The game plays out across twelve multi-level areas called Chapters. In the beginning, only the first chapter is available, collecting items called Balan Statues in each area will unlock Chapters.[3][4] Within each chapter, Leo or Emma must navigate through a sandbox environment, searching areas for collectables and solving puzzles to progress to the end of the level.[2] Collectables include Balan Statues and crystalline objects called Drops.[2][4] A simple control scheme is used, with two buttons used to change between costumes, and other actions aside from character and camera movement mapped to all other buttons.[5] During exploration, enemies called Negati will appear and attack the player character. Each chapter ends with a boss battle themed after the Chapter's environment and narrative.[6] The game uses adaptive difficulty, adjusting the number and types of enemies based on player performance both on the initial playthrough and return playthroughs of stages.[7]

While exploring, Leo or Emma find costumes from the cast of each chapter; these are unlocked using collectable keys. Costumes grant abilities such as hovering, navigating particular hazards and paths, or fighting enemies.[3][8][9] When not wearing a costume, Leo and Emma's only available actions are jumping and basic movement.[5] 80 costumes are spread through the stages, some of them in secret locations.[4] Only three costumes can be held at a time; when players acquire a fourth, the costume it replaces is sent into a costume bank which can be accessed at checkpoints.[4][6] Receiving damage, or falling off the edge of the environment, causes the equipped costume to disappear.[2] If the character is hit without a costume, they are ejected from the Chapter.[5]

Minigames can be unlocked and played within each chapter using special costumes, such as a football-themed challenge.[2][4] A recurring minigame activated by finding a top hat in levels is Balan's Bout. Taking on the role of Balan, players engage in a series of quick time events, matching Balan's poses with button presses. Performance is ranked, with the best performance rewarding a Balan Statue upon first completion, and multiplying the current Drop total.[2][3] Chapters can also be played in two-player local co-op multiplayer. Taking on the roles of Leo and Emma respectively, the players can combine costume abilities to simplify puzzles and open potential new pathways through levels.[4][6]

Chapters are accessed through the hub world, the Isle of Tims—a floating island inhabited by the titular creatures.[5] In the hub, players can feed Tims with Drops collected in levels, changing their color and consequently their abilities; for example, red Tims aid in fights, while pink Tims recover hidden items. Tim eggs can be found in Chapters, growing the number of Tims in the hub.[4][6] By picking up a Tim, the player can take it onto a stage.[7] A special construction is the Tower of Tims, which is grown using mechanisms powered by the Tims.[5] After completing the game, a new third stage is unlocked for each chapter, featuring more difficult environments and new costumes.[7]

Synopsis

Balan Wonderworld mostly takes place in the Balan Theater, a magical realm overseen by a mysterious being called Balan. The Balan Theater appears when one's heart loses its balance, and connects to Wonderworld, a realm merging reality and fantasy created from memories and hearts. The protagonists are two troubled children called Leo and Emma. Leo isolates himself from social contact due to an argument with a friend years before, while Emma suffers from anxiety about what others might be saying behind her back. Both are drawn into the Balan Theater, and travel through twelve worlds born from the hearts of troubled adults and children alike. Leo and Emma are opposed by Lance, a counterpart to Balan who commands the Negati, monsters born from the darkness of Wonderworld's visitors.

After completing all twelve worlds and freeing their inhabitants of their burdens, Balan opens a portal for the chosen character to fight Lance. Upon his defeat, Lance is briefly shown in his true less menacing form before the Negati drag him into their realm. Balan then bids farewell to all of Wonderworld's visitors, though Leo and Emma's farewell is touching enough that he sheds a tear and shows them his real form; a human-like being similar to Lance in appearance. Leo and Emma are returned to the real world and face their problems; Leo connects with a dancing group he had previously shunned, while Emma learns of a birthday party thrown for her that her servants were keeping secret. The ending credits show stills of Wonderworld's visitors reuniting in the real world watched over by Balan.

Development

 
 
Balan Wonderworld was the first collaboration between director Yuji Naka and artist Naoto Ohshima since Sonic Adventure (1998).

Balan Wonderworld is the debut project from Balan Company, a Square Enix subsidiary brand founded in 2018 by Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams creator Yuji Naka to bring together internal and external production staff. Naka described Balan Company as a collective of designers and artists focusing on genres outside the norms of Square Enix.[1][10][11] It was developed by Arzest, a company which had previously co-developed multiple projects for Nintendo and Mistwalker.[12] A key staff member at Arzest was Naoto Ohshima, known for his work as a Sega artist who created the designs for Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman.[1][13] When Naka joined Square Enix in January 2018, he considered making social mobile games but was encouraged by Shinji Hashimoto to make action games for the new market, which was seeing a resurgence in classic action and platform games. Naka approached Ohshima and Arzest about a collaboration.[13] It was the first collaboration between Naka and Ohshima since Sonic Adventure in 1998.[3]

Naka was given the go-ahead for the project by Square Enix due to his experience with platforming and action games but was told it was his "one chance" at the genre with them.[10] The game was described as a fusion of multiple popular styles of platform games aimed at as wide an audience as possible. Describing their approach to production, Ohshima compared it to an earlier less structured style, where features and adjustments continued past the halfway point of production.[14] Development began in July 2018.[13] The game was co-produced by Ohshima and Square Enix's Noriyoshi Fujimoto.[15] Late in development, the team shifted to working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16][17]

Naka said that he was removed as director six months before the game's release after complaining over its state, and that Arzest had submitted it with unaddressed bugs. He said the decision to remove him was made by the producer and other senior product staff. Naka felt Balan Wonderworld was released in an unfinished state.[18] In a report following Naka's 2022 arrest for insider trading, an anonymous employee said Naka made unreasonable work demands, wanted Arzest to work an additional two months for free to address his problems, and treated staff abusively during the conflicts prior to his removal.[19]

Design

Balan Wonderworld was produced for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.[16] Fujimoto said the team was "carried away" by the power of next-generation consoles, wanting to add more features as production advanced.[20] It was made available on a wide range of platforms, allowing for the largest possible audience.[21] It also notably targeted a wide audience including children when other producers for next-generation hardware were mostly aimed at an adult audience.[20] The design proposal included the 80 costume count as a hook, and Naka was sure he would need to halve the number as production went on. In the end and to his surprise, he was able to create all 80.[10] During the concept stages, Ohshima created 120 concept costumes, narrowing it down to 80. He later commented that as the 80 costumes were a core pillar of the game, reducing the number would have shifted its design.[15] The team tied a single action to each costume to give them relevance, with only one button command so the younger players the team was targeting as part of their audience would not get confused. Later in development, the team incorporated the DualSense controller's haptic feedback.[20]

The process of creating the different costume's single actions was difficult for the team, especially as they wanted to leave players the freedom of challenging themselves to complete levels with a particular costume or set of costumes. The character models of each level's "cast" vanished when approached so players would not mistake them for enemies, while also playing into the themes of each world. The penalty for taking damage was made minimal so players would not be discouraged from experimentation.[15] Balancing the different costumes and fitting them into each stage to preserve challenge was one of the hardest aspects of development. In the middle of development, the co-op mode was suggested as an entertaining addition, further complicating production. The difficulty scaling, which adjusted both combat difficulty and item placement based on player actions, was handled by a meta AI designed by Yoichiro Miyake, a Square Enix employee specialising in game AI.[14] Bug testing caused trouble as it was unclear whether the game code, the engine development kit, or the platform-specific version was the one in need of attention.[16] Ohshima attributed their successes with finding bugs to Square Enix's resources.[15]

The game was built using Unreal Engine 4, chosen due to its wide multiplatform support, with a dedicated version of the game being created for each platform. The game's technical director Koichi Watanabe made adjustments to the engine, replacing most of its original Blueprint Visual Scripting with C++ to speed up processing, though this caused problems getting the reworked engine working across its platforms. They also needed to cope with updates to the engine software, with Watanabe collaborating with Epic Games to incorporate his customization alongside the updates. The Steam version caused its own issues due to needing a keyboard option, and the wider variety of graphical options compared to home consoles. After transitioning to remote working during 2020, the team cooperated with Epic Games to have access to the Unreal development environment, having separate environments for the Windows and next-generation console versions.[16]

The cinematics were created by Square Enix's CGI subsidiary Visual Works, directed by Kazuyuki Ikumori.[21] Ohshima revealed the original plan did not include CGI scenes, but Visual Works wanted to be part of the project, and Ohshima created rough storyboards from which the studio designed the cinematics.[14] When creating the cinematics, they combined the "cool" style of Final Fantasy with more cartoonish Dragon Quest aesthetics. This allowed for both emotional depth in expressions and an aesthetic that would appeal to younger audiences. Due to its musical elements, special attention was paid to synchronizing the movements and lighting with the musical score.[21] Due to the ability to choose the ethnicity of Leo and Emma, which were reflected in all cutscenes, Square Enix partnered with CRI Middleware to provide graphical software. CRI Middleware customized one of their software tools to adjust each character's hair and skin tones based on choice within both real-time and CGI scenes without taking up space with tailored cutscenes for each choice.[22]

Scenario and art design

Naka had never considered narrative important, but story held an important place in Square Enix's brand identity. To help create the scenario, he read up on the hero's journey and created a narrative told without dialogue.[10] The script was written by Soushi Kawasaki, a novelist known in Japan for his work on the Long Arm detective series. Brought in by Ohshima, he was asked to create between thirty and forty different scenarios, from which Ohshima picked twelve, commenting that many of the rejected ones had darker tones.[14] Once the twelve were decided, Kawasaki elaborated on each scenario, then Ohshima worked to portray them visually through the game's environmental design and cutscenes.[15] While considering the setting and scenario, Naka decided on a similar design approach to Nights into Dreams, though otherwise Balan Wonderworld was an original work.[13] The world of Balan Wonderworld used a constructed language based on English; dialogue and song lyrics were first written in English, then the sounds and syllables were changed and pronunciation adjusted to make it sound odd.[17] The voice cast was Japanese; Balan was voiced by Kenichi Suzumura, Leo by Shimba Tsuchiya, Emma by Lynn, and Lance by Takahiro Sakurai.[5][23][24]

The world design was themed after musical theatre.[21] This theme was chosen to better fit the game within Square Enix's catalogue.[25] The style drew heavy inspiration from the Cirque du Soleil.[17] For Balan's design, Ohshima began with the concepts of theatrical troupe leader and a grin showing under a large hat, emphasising his theatrical and mysterious elements.[26][27] The use of a theater as the main location followed the game's musical theater theme.[26] A recurring visual and narrative element was the balance between positive and negative emotions in the mind.[9] The costumes were created by Ohshima and other artists at Arzest.[13] One of those artists was Yono Endo, who created stylized poster artwork used for promotion.[14] Under Ohshima's oversight, Endo created the designs for Leo, Emma, most of the Tims, and Lance.[27] Ohshima wanted Endo on board as she would give an additional Japanese aesthetic to the game, as his own art had received feedback for lacking a distinct regional style.[15] The art director was Masamichi Harada.[23] When creating his designs, Ohshima decided to deliberately evoke his earlier work with Naka, with their design intended to look pleasing both on the cast and when worn by the protagonists.[25] Each chapter's main character and story were designed first, followed by the character's cast, which represents their positive emotions.[28]

Music

The music was primarily composed by Ryo Yamazaki, whose previous work includes the Front Mission and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series.[21][29][30] Naka came to Yamazaki with the key theme of a "mysterious and fantastical musical."[13][21] Unsure of Naka's meaning, Yamazaki went through a trial-and-error period to finalize the musical style.[21] Early demos were heavily influenced by the music of Cirque du Soleil, in addition to musical-inspired soundtracks including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Greatest Showman.[17] Following the early positive reception by staff, he was allowed creative freedom with the score.[26] His goal with the score was to make it easy to understand and catchy, while also including the game's theme of understanding and balancing emotions.[21] His recurring design perspective was of the audience of a musical show enjoying the spectacle on stage. The mysterious elements were inspired by reading stories by the Brothers Grimm, and each stage theme was directly inspired by the concept art and playing early builds.[17]

The musical numbers concluding levels were written first, going through the most trial and error due to their context and the need to synchronize the motion capture performances to them.[17] The stage themes proved challenging to create, using themes and motifs drawn from production artwork for them. Yamazaki's favorite track was "The Lady Too Scared to Love". Due to its ice motif and sad narrative theme, the original concept was for dark music. After seeing the level, which reminded him of winter sports, the music was rewritten from scratch to be upbeat.[26] In keeping with the game's visuals and themes, the music included vocal contributions from West End singers.[21] On the recommendation of composer Youki Yamamoto, singer Laura Pitt-Pulford was brought on board along with many associated singers. Yamazaki described Pitt-Pulford as "the perfect match" due to her style and previous experience recording vocals for the anime adaptation of Dr. Stone.[17] Lead vocals were performed by Pitt-Pulford and George Blagden.[23] The vocals used the game's made-up language to maintain the mysterious atmosphere.[17] English versions were recorded and included as a bonus for players who collected all Balan Statues in a level.[15] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yamazaki had to work remotely during the entire recording process.[17]

A soundtrack album was released on 31 March 2021.[31] Covering 93 tracks across three CDs of music, the album was released physically and digitally in Japan, and digitally worldwide.[32] While uncredited in-game, the album credits Hironori Anazawa on multiple cutscene-specific tracks.[23][30] A digital mini-album, featuring the opening tracks and additional collaboration tracks with online musician Marasy, was released for free on 15 March.[33]

Release

Balan Wonderworld was revealed in July 2020.[11] It was released worldwide on 26 March 2021.[34] The PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch versions saw physical and digital releases, while the PC version was a digital exclusive through Steam; the Xbox version was only available digitally in Japan.[35] Bug testing was a high priority and troubling, as when a bug was found it had to be individually corrected for each platform version.[14] The game was accompanied by a novelization by Kawasaki,[10] Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theater of Wonder, released digitally on 26 March through Square Enix's publishing imprints.[36] The novelization adds context to some events and characters. Lance was the former master of Wonderworld before being overwhelmed by negative human emotion, creating Balan as a replacement. Visitors to Wonderworld are drawn from various time periods and locations around the world, and normally lose their memories upon leaving. The novel ends with Balan allowing the visitors to retain their memories, vowing not to become like Lance.[37]

A demo, including the entire first chapter and the first levels of Chapters 4 and 6, was released on 27 January.[8] Naka's later comments revealed the demo was delayed at Fujimoto's request, though Naka was critical of this as he claimed Fujimoto initially decided the "tight" development schedule initially.[18] While progress did not carry over into the main game, save data from the demo unlocked a special costume themed after each platform.[5] The demo was taken down on 14 April for consoles, and the following day on Steam.[38] Reception of the demo was generally mixed; while many praised the art style and music, several faulted the control and camera.[3][8][39] While the game was too close to release for major adjustments, Square Enix created a day-one patch to address camera and character movement problems, and alter the difficulty to make later bosses more challenging.[9][26] The patch also fixed a bug involving flashes of light in the final boss which raised concerns about epileptic seizures, causing Square Enix to warn players to install the patch before playing.[40] According to IGN reviewer Tom Marks, Square Enix did not provide advance copies to reviewers.[41]

Shortly after the game's release, Naka resigned from Square Enix and contemplated retirement; he later announced that his next game would be an independent mobile project under Prope.[42][43] In late April 2022, he said that the Balan Wonderworld producer had removed him from the project six months before its release, due to the state of development and the use of a fan cover of Balan music without due credit to the composer during marketing. He had sued Square Enix after his firing and accused Square Enix and Arzest of not caring about consumers.[18] In July, Naka posted a photo of the Nights development team with Ohshima erased, and aired further grievances about his treatment on Balan Wonderworld.[44] It was later alleged that the lawsuit was dismissed following information regarding Naka's behavior.[19]

Reception

Balan Wonderworld received "generally unfavorable" reviews for most platforms, according to review aggregator Metacritic;[46][45][47][49] the PlayStation 5 version received "mixed or average" reviews.[48] Attention was drawn to suspicious positive review bombing on the Metacritic user pages.[61]

The Japanese magazine Famitsu praised the aesthetics and music, but found the gameplay mechanics tedious.[52] Eurogamer's Martin Robinson felt it was too faithful to older platformers from the period of Nights into Dreams, carrying over problems unacceptable to modern gamers.[62] CJ Andriessen of Destructoid said Balan Wonderworld had nostalgic appeal for fans of early experimental 3D platformers, but its gameplay and minigames lowered its quality for a modern audience.[50] Bradley Ellis of Easy Allies described it as "bizarre and disappointing" despite some heart and the high-profile team members behind the game.[51] GameSpot's David Wildgoose echoed other reviewers by saying the game seemed out of its time, faulting its archaic design despite providing some platforming challenges.[53]

Tom Marks of IGN cited Balan Wonderworld as an example of an underwhelming spiritual successor, calling it boring rather than actually broken.[55] Both Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life and John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report were highly negative; Vogel called it "a waste of [player's] time", while Rairdin was extremely disappointed with its poor use of genre mechanics.[56][57] Chris Scullion of Video Games Chronicle were also mixed on the usefulness of the costumes, likening it to a PlayStation 2 platformer.[60]

The one-button gameplay was generally seen as a disappointment,[53][55][56][60] though Bradley and Marks praised the boss battles.[51][55] Andriessen and Wildgoose noted later levels were of a higher quality.[50][53] The costume system met with extensive criticism due to the number of repeated abilities and the restriction of jumping to particular costumes given the genre,[50][55][56][60] though Wildgoose praised their variety.[53] The minigames, particularly Balan's Bout, were universally panned.[50][51][53][55][62] Several writers criticized the lack of a clear narrative or solid gameplay explanations.[51][52][56][62] The Tims were also faulted as a useless addition.[51][53][55] The Switch version was noted for noticeable technical problems.[56][57] By comparison, the graphics were cited as a positive for their design and aesthetics, and the CGI cutscenes and music met with general praise.[51][52][55][56][57][60]

Sales

Balan Wonderworld sold poorly in Japan; it sold fewer than 2,100 physical copies in its opening week, and failed to make multiple sales charts.[63] In the United Kingdom, it failed to break into the top 40 bestselling games for March.[64] It failed to appear among the top-selling games in the United States in March, though another Square Enix-published game, Outriders, had strong sales.[65] It was not mentioned in Square Enix's fiscal report.[66]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: バランワンダーワールド, Hepburn: Baran Wandāwārudo

References

  1. ^ a b c Naka, Yuji (23 July 2020). "Yuji Naka invites you into the wonderous world of Balan Wonderworld". PlayStation Blog. from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f 『バランワンダーワールド』体験版先行体験レビュー。黄金タッグが放つ完全新作は王道かつ正統派のアクションに！. Famitsu (in Japanese). 27 January 2021. from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Robinson, Martin (26 January 2021). "Balan Wonderworld sure feels a lot like a classic Sonic Team game". Eurogamer. from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Heaney, Duncan (28 January 2021). "Tips and Tricks for the Balan Wonderworld demo". Square Enix. from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g 「バランワンダーワールド」体験版プレイレポート。人の悩みが生み出した摩訶不思議な世界で繰り広げられる，懐かしくて新しいアクションを体験しよう. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 25 January 2021. from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Romano, Sal (28 September 2020). "Balan Wonderworld details main characters, Isle of Tims, enemies and bosses, and local co-op mode". Gematsu. from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Fujimoto, Noriyoshi (25 March 2021). "Five tips to find your bearings in Balan Wonderworld". PlayStation Blog. from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b c McWhertor, Michael (27 January 2021). "Balan Wonderworld is a strange game of furry musicality". Polygon. from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b c Fujimoto, Noriyoshi (15 March 2021). バランワンダーワールド、まもなく開演です！. Balan Wonderworld blog (in Japanese). from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e Krabbe, Esra (27 September 2020). "Balan Wonderworld's Next-Gen Features Discussed by Sonic Creator". IGN. from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Balan Wonderworld Is a New Square Enix Platformer From Sonic, Nights Creators". IGN. 23 July 2020. from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  12. ^ アーゼスト - Works. Arzest (in Japanese). from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Krabbe, Esra (5 August 2020). ソニックやナイツの「アクション」とスクエニの「ストーリー」が合わさった『バランワンダーワールド』開発者インタビュー！中裕司の長年の野望（?）であるパンダについても. IGN Japan (in Japanese). from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Krabbe, Esra (26 March 2021). 『バランワンダーワールド』はバランスを重視し、数々の挑戦に取り組んだ最新のプラットフォームゲームだ。開発陣に本作の狙いをインタビューで直撃！. Famitsu (in Japanese). from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g ワンダーワールド誕生までの道のりを開発陣が大いに語る！『バランワンダーワールド』インタビュー. Nintendo Dream (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. May 2021. from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  16. ^ a b c d 『バランワンダーワールド』のマルチプラットフォーム対応でUEはどう活用されたか～UNREAL FEST EXTREME 2021 SUMMER（4）～. CGWorld (in Japanese). 24 June 2021. from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Yamazaki, Ryo (17 March 2021). "Composer Ryo Yamazaki: Creating Musical Happiness for Balan Wonderworld". Xbox. from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  18. ^ a b c Richardson, Jack (28 April 2022). "Yuji Naka Opens Up About Balan Wonderworld Troubles: 'I Think Square Enix Is No Good'". IGN. from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  19. ^ a b . Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). 7 December 2022. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Hood, Vic (26 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld devs got 'carried away' developing for PS5". TechRadar. from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i Square Enix (23 July 2020). Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima present Balan Wonderworld (Web video). YouTube (Video). Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  22. ^ CRI、スクエニが3月26日に発売を予定する『バランワンダーワールド』のムービー演出で技術協力 見た目変更によるムービーへの影響を低容量化. Gamebiz.jp (in Japanese). 1 February 2021. from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d Arzest, Balan Company (26 March 2021). Balan Wonderworld (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S). Square Enix. Scene: Credits.
  24. ^ 『バランワンダーワールド』オープニング映像が公開！. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). 21 October 2020. from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  25. ^ a b バランワンダーワールド クリエイターコメント. Nintendo Dream (in Japanese). No. October 2020. Tokuma Shoten. 21 August 2020. pp. 26–27.
  26. ^ a b c d e Seedhouse, Alex (30 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Interview: Musical Theatre Inspirations, Colourful Costumes And More". Nintendo Insider. from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  27. ^ a b "Nintendo Dream：Balan Wonderworld Mr. Naoto Ohshima interview（Published in March 2021）". Nintendo Dream. Tokuma Shoten. March 2021. from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  28. ^ Ohshima, Naoto (27 January 2021). "Balan Wonderworld and the creation of its positivity-powered costumes". PlayStation Blog. from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  29. ^ Greening, Chris (17 September 2016). "Composers announced for Square Enix's Flame x Blaze". Video Game Music Online. from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  30. ^ a b Yamazaki, Ryo (31 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Original Soundtrack booklet." (in Japanese) Square Enix. SQEX-10828~30. Retrieved on 1 April 2021.
  31. ^ バランワンダーワールド オリジナル・サウンドトラック (in Japanese). Square Enix. from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  32. ^ 「バランワンダーワールド」オリジナルサウンドトラックのパッケージ版が発売. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 31 March 2021. from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  33. ^ 「バランワンダーワールド」のユーザー参加型演奏企画"#バラン演奏してみた"が開催. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 15 March 2021. from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  34. ^ Russell, Graham (17 September 2020). "Balan Wonderworld's March 26, 2021 Release Date, Co-Op Unveiled". Siliconera. from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  35. ^ スクエニ新作「バランワンダーワールド」が本日リリース。舞台ミュージカルをモチーフとした，不思議な心象世界を冒険する3Dアクションゲーム. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 26 March 2021. from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  36. ^ "Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theater of Wonder". Square Enix. from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  37. ^ Kawasaki, Soushi (26 March 2021). Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theater of Wonder. Square Enix. ISBN 9781646095995.
  38. ^ 「バランワンダーワールド」体験版の配信は4月14日23：59（Steam版は15日2：00）をもって終了へ。体験版特典は後日誰でも入手可能に. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 14 April 2021. from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  39. ^ スクエニ新作アクション『バランワンダーワールド』の移動操作性やカメラ追尾は改善予定。体験版の意見を取り入れる. Automaton Media (in Japanese). 16 March 2021. from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  40. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (26 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld's day one patch to remove epileptic triggers". GamesIndustry.biz. from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  41. ^ Marks, Tom [@TomRMarks] (26 March 2021). "Heads up that Balan Wonderworld codes were not sent ahead of launch, so our review won't be ready until next week. Here are my in-progress thoughts after playing roughly two hours: it sucks" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 April 2021 – via Twitter.
  42. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (5 June 2021). "Sonic creator Yuji Naka leaves Square Enix after Balan Wonderworld flop, may retire". Eurogamer. from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  43. ^ Scullion, Chris (17 September 2021). "Yuji Naka has gone indie following Balan Wonderworld disappointment". Video Games Chronicle. from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Yuji Naka erases former co-worker from NiGHTS photo, following Balan Wonderworld controversy". Eurogamer. 6 July 2022. from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  45. ^ a b "Balan Wonderworld for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  46. ^ a b "Balan Wonderworld for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 26 March 2021. from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  47. ^ a b "Balan Wonderworld for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  48. ^ a b "Balan Wonderworld for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 26 March 2021. from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  49. ^ a b "Balan Wonderworld for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 26 March 2021. from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  50. ^ a b c d e Andriessen, CJ (31 March 2021). "Review: Balan Wonderworld - More costume changes than a Lady Gaga concert". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  51. ^ a b c d e f g Ellis, Bradley (14 April 2021). "Review: Balan Wonderworld". Easy Allies. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  52. ^ a b c d Uchizawa, Rōringu; Uwāman; Ashida, Jigoro; Urara, Honma (14 April 2021). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: バランワンダーワールド (Switch)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 1689. Kadokawa Game Linkage. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  53. ^ a b c d e f g Wildgoose, David (6 April 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Review - Costume Drama (PS5)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  54. ^ LeClair, Kyle (31 March 2021). "Review: Balan Wonderworld". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  55. ^ a b c d e f g h Marks, Tom (15 April 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Review". IGN (in French). Ziff Davis. from the original on 29 October 2021.
  56. ^ a b c d e f g Vogel, Mitch (29 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Review (Switch) - A relic of another age". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  57. ^ a b c d Rairdin, John (31 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld (Switch) Review - There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  58. ^ Posner-Ferdman, Brett (4 April 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Review (PS5)". Push Square. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  59. ^ Denzer, TJ (31 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld review: All show, no tell". Shacknews. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  60. ^ a b c d e Scullion, Chris (27 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Review: Sonic's Creators Return With A Defiantly Dated Platformer". Video Games Chronicle. Gamer Network. from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  61. ^ Gray, Kate (30 March 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Is Getting A Suspicious Amount Of 10/10 Metacritic User Reviews". Nintendo Life. from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  62. ^ a b c Robinson, Martin (1 April 2021). "Balan Wonderworld review: an archaic throwback as clumsy as it is enjoyable - Nightmares into dreams". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  63. ^ Smith, Rebecca (5 April 2021). "Balan Wonderworld Flops in Japan, Selling Less Than 2,100 Copies in Its First Week". PlayStation LifeStyle. Mandatory. from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  64. ^ Harris, Kieran (6 April 2021). "UK Charts: Balan Wonderworld struggles to make the top 40". Gamereactor. Gamereactor. from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  65. ^ Grubb, Jeff (16 April 2021). "March 2021 NPD — Monster Hunter: Rise sales soar to No. 2 in the U.S." VentureBeat. from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  66. ^ Bonthuys, Darryn (13 May 2021). "Square Enix Sold Almost 50 Million Games In 2020 Financial Year, Looking At NFTs For Future Growth". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

External links

  • Official website

March 04, 2023
balan, wonderworld, 2021, platform, game, principally, developed, arzest, published, square, enix, assuming, role, children, guided, magical, being, called, balan, player, explores, twelve, worlds, themed, after, hearts, troubled, individuals, they, explore, l. Balan Wonderworld a is a 2021 platform game principally developed by Arzest and published by Square Enix Assuming the role of two children guided by a magical being called Balan the player explores twelve worlds themed after the hearts of troubled individuals They explore levels collecting items to progress to further areas and using a variety of powers unlocked using themed costumes Balan WonderworldCover art featuring central character BalanDeveloper s ArzestPublisher s Square EnixDirector s Yuji NakaProducer s Naoto OhshimaNoriyoshi FujimotoDesigner s Tomohide HayashiProgrammer s Yuki HatakeyamaArtist s Naoto OhshimaYuki EndoMasamichi HaradaWriter s Soushi KawasakiYuji NakaComposer s Ryo YamazakiHironori AnazawaEngineUnreal Engine 4Platform s Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation 5WindowsXbox OneXbox Series X SRelease26 March 2021Genre s PlatformMode s Single playerMultiplayerBalan Wonderworld is the debut project of Balan Company a subsidiary brand of Square Enix led by Yuji Naka the co creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams Development began in 2018 it was Naka s first collaboration with artist Naoto Ohshima since Sonic Adventure 1998 The aesthetic was based on musical theater and Naka studied the hero s journey when creating the story draft The scenario was written by novelist Soushi Kawasaki The music composed by Ryo Yamazaki and Hironori Anazawa emulates musical scores and includes vocals from West End performers such as Laura Pitt Pulford The cutscenes were created by Visual Works There were subsequent claims from Naka and other employees regarding internal conflict around the game s quality and marketing Balan Wonderworld was released worldwide for Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox One and Xbox Series X S on 26 March Square Enix also published a novelization by Kawasaki The game received generally negative reviews and underperformed commercially Critics panned its gameplay and design although some praised its graphics and music Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Synopsis 3 Development 3 1 Design 3 2 Scenario and art design 3 3 Music 4 Release 5 Reception 5 1 Sales 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksGameplay Edit Gameplay from Balan Wonderworld the player character centre uses a costume ability to traverse the environment Balan Wonderworld is a platform game where players take on the role of either Leo Craig or Emma Cole two children drawn into the magical realm of Wonderworld by a being called Balan 1 2 3 The game plays out across twelve multi level areas called Chapters In the beginning only the first chapter is available collecting items called Balan Statues in each area will unlock Chapters 3 4 Within each chapter Leo or Emma must navigate through a sandbox environment searching areas for collectables and solving puzzles to progress to the end of the level 2 Collectables include Balan Statues and crystalline objects called Drops 2 4 A simple control scheme is used with two buttons used to change between costumes and other actions aside from character and camera movement mapped to all other buttons 5 During exploration enemies called Negati will appear and attack the player character Each chapter ends with a boss battle themed after the Chapter s environment and narrative 6 The game uses adaptive difficulty adjusting the number and types of enemies based on player performance both on the initial playthrough and return playthroughs of stages 7 While exploring Leo or Emma find costumes from the cast of each chapter these are unlocked using collectable keys Costumes grant abilities such as hovering navigating particular hazards and paths or fighting enemies 3 8 9 When not wearing a costume Leo and Emma s only available actions are jumping and basic movement 5 80 costumes are spread through the stages some of them in secret locations 4 Only three costumes can be held at a time when players acquire a fourth the costume it replaces is sent into a costume bank which can be accessed at checkpoints 4 6 Receiving damage or falling off the edge of the environment causes the equipped costume to disappear 2 If the character is hit without a costume they are ejected from the Chapter 5 Minigames can be unlocked and played within each chapter using special costumes such as a football themed challenge 2 4 A recurring minigame activated by finding a top hat in levels is Balan s Bout Taking on the role of Balan players engage in a series of quick time events matching Balan s poses with button presses Performance is ranked with the best performance rewarding a Balan Statue upon first completion and multiplying the current Drop total 2 3 Chapters can also be played in two player local co op multiplayer Taking on the roles of Leo and Emma respectively the players can combine costume abilities to simplify puzzles and open potential new pathways through levels 4 6 Chapters are accessed through the hub world the Isle of Tims a floating island inhabited by the titular creatures 5 In the hub players can feed Tims with Drops collected in levels changing their color and consequently their abilities for example red Tims aid in fights while pink Tims recover hidden items Tim eggs can be found in Chapters growing the number of Tims in the hub 4 6 By picking up a Tim the player can take it onto a stage 7 A special construction is the Tower of Tims which is grown using mechanisms powered by the Tims 5 After completing the game a new third stage is unlocked for each chapter featuring more difficult environments and new costumes 7 Synopsis EditBalan Wonderworld mostly takes place in the Balan Theater a magical realm overseen by a mysterious being called Balan The Balan Theater appears when one s heart loses its balance and connects to Wonderworld a realm merging reality and fantasy created from memories and hearts The protagonists are two troubled children called Leo and Emma Leo isolates himself from social contact due to an argument with a friend years before while Emma suffers from anxiety about what others might be saying behind her back Both are drawn into the Balan Theater and travel through twelve worlds born from the hearts of troubled adults and children alike Leo and Emma are opposed by Lance a counterpart to Balan who commands the Negati monsters born from the darkness of Wonderworld s visitors After completing all twelve worlds and freeing their inhabitants of their burdens Balan opens a portal for the chosen character to fight Lance Upon his defeat Lance is briefly shown in his true less menacing form before the Negati drag him into their realm Balan then bids farewell to all of Wonderworld s visitors though Leo and Emma s farewell is touching enough that he sheds a tear and shows them his real form a human like being similar to Lance in appearance Leo and Emma are returned to the real world and face their problems Leo connects with a dancing group he had previously shunned while Emma learns of a birthday party thrown for her that her servants were keeping secret The ending credits show stills of Wonderworld s visitors reuniting in the real world watched over by Balan Development Edit Balan Wonderworld was the first collaboration between director Yuji Naka and artist Naoto Ohshima since Sonic Adventure 1998 Balan Wonderworld is the debut project from Balan Company a Square Enix subsidiary brand founded in 2018 by Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams creator Yuji Naka to bring together internal and external production staff Naka described Balan Company as a collective of designers and artists focusing on genres outside the norms of Square Enix 1 10 11 It was developed by Arzest a company which had previously co developed multiple projects for Nintendo and Mistwalker 12 A key staff member at Arzest was Naoto Ohshima known for his work as a Sega artist who created the designs for Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman 1 13 When Naka joined Square Enix in January 2018 he considered making social mobile games but was encouraged by Shinji Hashimoto to make action games for the new market which was seeing a resurgence in classic action and platform games Naka approached Ohshima and Arzest about a collaboration 13 It was the first collaboration between Naka and Ohshima since Sonic Adventure in 1998 3 Naka was given the go ahead for the project by Square Enix due to his experience with platforming and action games but was told it was his one chance at the genre with them 10 The game was described as a fusion of multiple popular styles of platform games aimed at as wide an audience as possible Describing their approach to production Ohshima compared it to an earlier less structured style where features and adjustments continued past the halfway point of production 14 Development began in July 2018 13 The game was co produced by Ohshima and Square Enix s Noriyoshi Fujimoto 15 Late in development the team shifted to working remotely due to the COVID 19 pandemic 16 17 Naka said that he was removed as director six months before the game s release after complaining over its state and that Arzest had submitted it with unaddressed bugs He said the decision to remove him was made by the producer and other senior product staff Naka felt Balan Wonderworld was released in an unfinished state 18 In a report following Naka s 2022 arrest for insider trading an anonymous employee said Naka made unreasonable work demands wanted Arzest to work an additional two months for free to address his problems and treated staff abusively during the conflicts prior to his removal 19 Design Edit Balan Wonderworld was produced for Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox One and Xbox Series X S 16 Fujimoto said the team was carried away by the power of next generation consoles wanting to add more features as production advanced 20 It was made available on a wide range of platforms allowing for the largest possible audience 21 It also notably targeted a wide audience including children when other producers for next generation hardware were mostly aimed at an adult audience 20 The design proposal included the 80 costume count as a hook and Naka was sure he would need to halve the number as production went on In the end and to his surprise he was able to create all 80 10 During the concept stages Ohshima created 120 concept costumes narrowing it down to 80 He later commented that as the 80 costumes were a core pillar of the game reducing the number would have shifted its design 15 The team tied a single action to each costume to give them relevance with only one button command so the younger players the team was targeting as part of their audience would not get confused Later in development the team incorporated the DualSense controller s haptic feedback 20 The process of creating the different costume s single actions was difficult for the team especially as they wanted to leave players the freedom of challenging themselves to complete levels with a particular costume or set of costumes The character models of each level s cast vanished when approached so players would not mistake them for enemies while also playing into the themes of each world The penalty for taking damage was made minimal so players would not be discouraged from experimentation 15 Balancing the different costumes and fitting them into each stage to preserve challenge was one of the hardest aspects of development In the middle of development the co op mode was suggested as an entertaining addition further complicating production The difficulty scaling which adjusted both combat difficulty and item placement based on player actions was handled by a meta AI designed by Yoichiro Miyake a Square Enix employee specialising in game AI 14 Bug testing caused trouble as it was unclear whether the game code the engine development kit or the platform specific version was the one in need of attention 16 Ohshima attributed their successes with finding bugs to Square Enix s resources 15 The game was built using Unreal Engine 4 chosen due to its wide multiplatform support with a dedicated version of the game being created for each platform The game s technical director Koichi Watanabe made adjustments to the engine replacing most of its original Blueprint Visual Scripting with C to speed up processing though this caused problems getting the reworked engine working across its platforms They also needed to cope with updates to the engine software with Watanabe collaborating with Epic Games to incorporate his customization alongside the updates The Steam version caused its own issues due to needing a keyboard option and the wider variety of graphical options compared to home consoles After transitioning to remote working during 2020 the team cooperated with Epic Games to have access to the Unreal development environment having separate environments for the Windows and next generation console versions 16 The cinematics were created by Square Enix s CGI subsidiary Visual Works directed by Kazuyuki Ikumori 21 Ohshima revealed the original plan did not include CGI scenes but Visual Works wanted to be part of the project and Ohshima created rough storyboards from which the studio designed the cinematics 14 When creating the cinematics they combined the cool style of Final Fantasy with more cartoonish Dragon Quest aesthetics This allowed for both emotional depth in expressions and an aesthetic that would appeal to younger audiences Due to its musical elements special attention was paid to synchronizing the movements and lighting with the musical score 21 Due to the ability to choose the ethnicity of Leo and Emma which were reflected in all cutscenes Square Enix partnered with CRI Middleware to provide graphical software CRI Middleware customized one of their software tools to adjust each character s hair and skin tones based on choice within both real time and CGI scenes without taking up space with tailored cutscenes for each choice 22 Scenario and art design Edit Naka had never considered narrative important but story held an important place in Square Enix s brand identity To help create the scenario he read up on the hero s journey and created a narrative told without dialogue 10 The script was written by Soushi Kawasaki a novelist known in Japan for his work on the Long Arm detective series Brought in by Ohshima he was asked to create between thirty and forty different scenarios from which Ohshima picked twelve commenting that many of the rejected ones had darker tones 14 Once the twelve were decided Kawasaki elaborated on each scenario then Ohshima worked to portray them visually through the game s environmental design and cutscenes 15 While considering the setting and scenario Naka decided on a similar design approach to Nights into Dreams though otherwise Balan Wonderworld was an original work 13 The world of Balan Wonderworld used a constructed language based on English dialogue and song lyrics were first written in English then the sounds and syllables were changed and pronunciation adjusted to make it sound odd 17 The voice cast was Japanese Balan was voiced by Kenichi Suzumura Leo by Shimba Tsuchiya Emma by Lynn and Lance by Takahiro Sakurai 5 23 24 The world design was themed after musical theatre 21 This theme was chosen to better fit the game within Square Enix s catalogue 25 The style drew heavy inspiration from the Cirque du Soleil 17 For Balan s design Ohshima began with the concepts of theatrical troupe leader and a grin showing under a large hat emphasising his theatrical and mysterious elements 26 27 The use of a theater as the main location followed the game s musical theater theme 26 A recurring visual and narrative element was the balance between positive and negative emotions in the mind 9 The costumes were created by Ohshima and other artists at Arzest 13 One of those artists was Yono Endo who created stylized poster artwork used for promotion 14 Under Ohshima s oversight Endo created the designs for Leo Emma most of the Tims and Lance 27 Ohshima wanted Endo on board as she would give an additional Japanese aesthetic to the game as his own art had received feedback for lacking a distinct regional style 15 The art director was Masamichi Harada 23 When creating his designs Ohshima decided to deliberately evoke his earlier work with Naka with their design intended to look pleasing both on the cast and when worn by the protagonists 25 Each chapter s main character and story were designed first followed by the character s cast which represents their positive emotions 28 Music Edit The music was primarily composed by Ryo Yamazaki whose previous work includes the Front Mission and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series 21 29 30 Naka came to Yamazaki with the key theme of a mysterious and fantastical musical 13 21 Unsure of Naka s meaning Yamazaki went through a trial and error period to finalize the musical style 21 Early demos were heavily influenced by the music of Cirque du Soleil in addition to musical inspired soundtracks including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Greatest Showman 17 Following the early positive reception by staff he was allowed creative freedom with the score 26 His goal with the score was to make it easy to understand and catchy while also including the game s theme of understanding and balancing emotions 21 His recurring design perspective was of the audience of a musical show enjoying the spectacle on stage The mysterious elements were inspired by reading stories by the Brothers Grimm and each stage theme was directly inspired by the concept art and playing early builds 17 The musical numbers concluding levels were written first going through the most trial and error due to their context and the need to synchronize the motion capture performances to them 17 The stage themes proved challenging to create using themes and motifs drawn from production artwork for them Yamazaki s favorite track was The Lady Too Scared to Love Due to its ice motif and sad narrative theme the original concept was for dark music After seeing the level which reminded him of winter sports the music was rewritten from scratch to be upbeat 26 In keeping with the game s visuals and themes the music included vocal contributions from West End singers 21 On the recommendation of composer Youki Yamamoto singer Laura Pitt Pulford was brought on board along with many associated singers Yamazaki described Pitt Pulford as the perfect match due to her style and previous experience recording vocals for the anime adaptation of Dr Stone 17 Lead vocals were performed by Pitt Pulford and George Blagden 23 The vocals used the game s made up language to maintain the mysterious atmosphere 17 English versions were recorded and included as a bonus for players who collected all Balan Statues in a level 15 Due to the COVID 19 pandemic Yamazaki had to work remotely during the entire recording process 17 A soundtrack album was released on 31 March 2021 31 Covering 93 tracks across three CDs of music the album was released physically and digitally in Japan and digitally worldwide 32 While uncredited in game the album credits Hironori Anazawa on multiple cutscene specific tracks 23 30 A digital mini album featuring the opening tracks and additional collaboration tracks with online musician Marasy was released for free on 15 March 33 Release EditBalan Wonderworld was revealed in July 2020 11 It was released worldwide on 26 March 2021 34 The PlayStation Xbox and Switch versions saw physical and digital releases while the PC version was a digital exclusive through Steam the Xbox version was only available digitally in Japan 35 Bug testing was a high priority and troubling as when a bug was found it had to be individually corrected for each platform version 14 The game was accompanied by a novelization by Kawasaki 10 Balan Wonderworld Maestro of Mystery Theater of Wonder released digitally on 26 March through Square Enix s publishing imprints 36 The novelization adds context to some events and characters Lance was the former master of Wonderworld before being overwhelmed by negative human emotion creating Balan as a replacement Visitors to Wonderworld are drawn from various time periods and locations around the world and normally lose their memories upon leaving The novel ends with Balan allowing the visitors to retain their memories vowing not to become like Lance 37 A demo including the entire first chapter and the first levels of Chapters 4 and 6 was released on 27 January 8 Naka s later comments revealed the demo was delayed at Fujimoto s request though Naka was critical of this as he claimed Fujimoto initially decided the tight development schedule initially 18 While progress did not carry over into the main game save data from the demo unlocked a special costume themed after each platform 5 The demo was taken down on 14 April for consoles and the following day on Steam 38 Reception of the demo was generally mixed while many praised the art style and music several faulted the control and camera 3 8 39 While the game was too close to release for major adjustments Square Enix created a day one patch to address camera and character movement problems and alter the difficulty to make later bosses more challenging 9 26 The patch also fixed a bug involving flashes of light in the final boss which raised concerns about epileptic seizures causing Square Enix to warn players to install the patch before playing 40 According to IGN reviewer Tom Marks Square Enix did not provide advance copies to reviewers 41 Shortly after the game s release Naka resigned from Square Enix and contemplated retirement he later announced that his next game would be an independent mobile project under Prope 42 43 In late April 2022 he said that the Balan Wonderworld producer had removed him from the project six months before its release due to the state of development and the use of a fan cover of Balan music without due credit to the composer during marketing He had sued Square Enix after his firing and accused Square Enix and Arzest of not caring about consumers 18 In July Naka posted a photo of the Nights development team with Ohshima erased and aired further grievances about his treatment on Balan Wonderworld 44 It was later alleged that the lawsuit was dismissed following information regarding Naka s behavior 19 Reception EditReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacriticNS 36 100 45 PC 38 100 46 PS4 44 100 47 PS5 51 100 48 XSXS 47 100 49 Review scoresPublicationScoreDestructoid5 5 10 50 Easy Allies4 5 10 51 Famitsu30 40 52 GameSpot5 10 53 Hardcore Gamer2 5 54 IGN4 10 55 Nintendo Life 56 Nintendo World Report3 10 57 Push Square 58 Shacknews6 10 59 Video Games Chronicle 60 Balan Wonderworld received generally unfavorable reviews for most platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic 46 45 47 49 the PlayStation 5 version received mixed or average reviews 48 Attention was drawn to suspicious positive review bombing on the Metacritic user pages 61 The Japanese magazine Famitsu praised the aesthetics and music but found the gameplay mechanics tedious 52 Eurogamer s Martin Robinson felt it was too faithful to older platformers from the period of Nights into Dreams carrying over problems unacceptable to modern gamers 62 CJ Andriessen of Destructoid said Balan Wonderworld had nostalgic appeal for fans of early experimental 3D platformers but its gameplay and minigames lowered its quality for a modern audience 50 Bradley Ellis of Easy Allies described it as bizarre and disappointing despite some heart and the high profile team members behind the game 51 GameSpot s David Wildgoose echoed other reviewers by saying the game seemed out of its time faulting its archaic design despite providing some platforming challenges 53 Tom Marks of IGN cited Balan Wonderworld as an example of an underwhelming spiritual successor calling it boring rather than actually broken 55 Both Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life and John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report were highly negative Vogel called it a waste of player s time while Rairdin was extremely disappointed with its poor use of genre mechanics 56 57 Chris Scullion of Video Games Chronicle were also mixed on the usefulness of the costumes likening it to a PlayStation 2 platformer 60 The one button gameplay was generally seen as a disappointment 53 55 56 60 though Bradley and Marks praised the boss battles 51 55 Andriessen and Wildgoose noted later levels were of a higher quality 50 53 The costume system met with extensive criticism due to the number of repeated abilities and the restriction of jumping to particular costumes given the genre 50 55 56 60 though Wildgoose praised their variety 53 The minigames particularly Balan s Bout were universally panned 50 51 53 55 62 Several writers criticized the lack of a clear narrative or solid gameplay explanations 51 52 56 62 The Tims were also faulted as a useless addition 51 53 55 The Switch version was noted for noticeable technical problems 56 57 By comparison the graphics were cited as a positive for their design and aesthetics and the CGI cutscenes and music met with general praise 51 52 55 56 57 60 Sales Edit Balan Wonderworld sold poorly in Japan it sold fewer than 2 100 physical copies in its opening week and failed to make multiple sales charts 63 In the United Kingdom it failed to break into the top 40 bestselling games for March 64 It failed to appear among the top selling games in the United States in March though another Square Enix published game Outriders had strong sales 65 It was not mentioned in Square Enix s fiscal report 66 Notes Edit Japanese バランワンダーワールド Hepburn Baran WandawarudoReferences Edit a b c Naka Yuji 23 July 2020 Yuji Naka invites you into the wonderous world of Balan Wonderworld PlayStation Blog Archived from the original on 24 July 2020 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e f バランワンダーワールド 体験版先行体験レビュー 黄金タッグが放つ完全新作は王道かつ正統派のアクションに Famitsu in Japanese 27 January 2021 Archived from the original on 27 January 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e f Robinson Martin 26 January 2021 Balan Wonderworld sure feels a lot like a classic Sonic Team game Eurogamer Archived from the original on 26 January 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e f g Heaney Duncan 28 January 2021 Tips and Tricks for the Balan Wonderworld demo Square Enix Archived from the original on 5 February 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e f g バランワンダーワールド 体験版プレイレポート 人の悩みが生み出した摩訶不思議な世界で繰り広げられる 懐かしくて新しいアクションを体験しよう 4Gamer net in Japanese 25 January 2021 Archived from the original on 27 January 2021 Retrieved 18 March 2021 a b c d Romano Sal 28 September 2020 Balan Wonderworld details main characters Isle of Tims enemies and bosses and local co op mode Gematsu Archived from the original on 28 October 2020 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c Fujimoto Noriyoshi 25 March 2021 Five tips to find your bearings in Balan Wonderworld PlayStation Blog Archived from the original on 26 March 2021 Retrieved 26 March 2021 a b c McWhertor Michael 27 January 2021 Balan Wonderworld is a strange game of furry musicality Polygon Archived from the original on 18 February 2021 Retrieved 29 January 2021 a b c Fujimoto Noriyoshi 15 March 2021 バランワンダーワールド まもなく開演です Balan Wonderworld blog in Japanese Archived from the original on 15 March 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e Krabbe Esra 27 September 2020 Balan Wonderworld s Next Gen Features Discussed by Sonic Creator IGN Archived from the original on 18 January 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b Balan Wonderworld Is a New Square Enix Platformer From Sonic Nights Creators IGN 23 July 2020 Archived from the original on 23 July 2020 Retrieved 23 July 2020 アーゼスト Works Arzest in Japanese Archived from the original on 17 March 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e f Krabbe Esra 5 August 2020 ソニックやナイツの アクション とスクエニの ストーリー が合わさった バランワンダーワールド 開発者インタビュー 中裕司の長年の野望 であるパンダについても IGN Japan in Japanese Archived from the original on 17 September 2020 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d e f Krabbe Esra 26 March 2021 バランワンダーワールド はバランスを重視し 数々の挑戦に取り組んだ最新のプラットフォームゲームだ 開発陣に本作の狙いをインタビューで直撃 Famitsu in Japanese Archived from the original on 26 March 2021 Retrieved 31 March 2021 a b c d e f g ワンダーワールド誕生までの道のりを開発陣が大いに語る バランワンダーワールド インタビュー Nintendo Dream in Japanese Tokuma Shoten May 2021 Archived from the original on 4 June 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 a b c d バランワンダーワールド のマルチプラットフォーム対応でUEはどう活用されたか UNREAL FEST EXTREME 2021 SUMMER 4 CGWorld in Japanese 24 June 2021 Archived from the original on 24 June 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 a b c d e f g h i Yamazaki Ryo 17 March 2021 Composer Ryo Yamazaki Creating Musical Happiness for Balan Wonderworld Xbox Archived from the original on 17 March 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c Richardson Jack 28 April 2022 Yuji Naka Opens Up About Balan Wonderworld Troubles I Think Square Enix Is No Good IGN Archived from the original on 29 April 2022 Retrieved 1 May 2022 a b なぜあなたたちは私を攻撃するのでしょうか 逮捕された ソニック ザ ヘッジホッグ 開発者の パワハラ訴訟トラブル Yahoo Japan in Japanese 7 December 2022 Archived from the original on 7 December 2022 Retrieved 7 December 2022 a b c Hood Vic 26 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld devs got carried away developing for PS5 TechRadar Archived from the original on 26 March 2021 Retrieved 26 March 2021 a b c d e f g h i Square Enix 23 July 2020 Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima present Balan Wonderworld Web video YouTube Video Retrieved 17 March 2021 CRI スクエニが3月26日に発売を予定する バランワンダーワールド のムービー演出で技術協力 見た目変更によるムービーへの影響を低容量化 Gamebiz jp in Japanese 1 February 2021 Archived from the original on 6 February 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b c d Arzest Balan Company 26 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X S Square Enix Scene Credits バランワンダーワールド オープニング映像が公開 Dengeki Online in Japanese 21 October 2020 Archived from the original on 21 January 2021 Retrieved 18 March 2021 a b バランワンダーワールド クリエイターコメント Nintendo Dream in Japanese No October 2020 Tokuma Shoten 21 August 2020 pp 26 27 a b c d e Seedhouse Alex 30 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Interview Musical Theatre Inspirations Colourful Costumes And More Nintendo Insider Archived from the original on 1 April 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 a b Nintendo Dream Balan Wonderworld Mr Naoto Ohshima interview Published in March 2021 Nintendo Dream Tokuma Shoten March 2021 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 Ohshima Naoto 27 January 2021 Balan Wonderworld and the creation of its positivity powered costumes PlayStation Blog Archived from the original on 27 January 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 Greening Chris 17 September 2016 Composers announced for Square Enix s Flame x Blaze Video Game Music Online Archived from the original on 10 August 2020 Retrieved 17 March 2021 a b Yamazaki Ryo 31 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Original Soundtrack booklet in Japanese Square Enix SQEX 10828 30 Retrieved on 1 April 2021 バランワンダーワールド オリジナル サウンドトラック in Japanese Square Enix Archived from the original on 2 February 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 バランワンダーワールド オリジナルサウンドトラックのパッケージ版が発売 4Gamer net in Japanese 31 March 2021 Archived from the original on 31 March 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 バランワンダーワールド のユーザー参加型演奏企画 バラン演奏してみた が開催 4Gamer net in Japanese 15 March 2021 Archived from the original on 15 March 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 Russell Graham 17 September 2020 Balan Wonderworld s March 26 2021 Release Date Co Op Unveiled Siliconera Archived from the original on 29 November 2020 Retrieved 20 September 2020 スクエニ新作 バランワンダーワールド が本日リリース 舞台ミュージカルをモチーフとした 不思議な心象世界を冒険する3Dアクションゲーム 4Gamer net in Japanese 26 March 2021 Archived from the original on 1 April 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 Balan Wonderworld Maestro of Mystery Theater of Wonder Square Enix Archived from the original on 10 March 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 Kawasaki Soushi 26 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Maestro of Mystery Theater of Wonder Square Enix ISBN 9781646095995 バランワンダーワールド 体験版の配信は4月14日23 59 Steam版は15日2 00 をもって終了へ 体験版特典は後日誰でも入手可能に 4Gamer net in Japanese 14 April 2021 Archived from the original on 14 April 2021 Retrieved 14 April 2021 スクエニ新作アクション バランワンダーワールド の移動操作性やカメラ追尾は改善予定 体験版の意見を取り入れる Automaton Media in Japanese 16 March 2021 Archived from the original on 16 March 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2021 Dealessandri Marie 26 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld s day one patch to remove epileptic triggers GamesIndustry biz Archived from the original on 27 November 2021 Retrieved 26 March 2021 Marks Tom TomRMarks 26 March 2021 Heads up that Balan Wonderworld codes were not sent ahead of launch so our review won t be ready until next week Here are my in progress thoughts after playing roughly two hours it sucks Tweet Retrieved 11 April 2021 via Twitter Yin Poole Wesley 5 June 2021 Sonic creator Yuji Naka leaves Square Enix after Balan Wonderworld flop may retire Eurogamer Archived from the original on 5 June 2021 Retrieved 5 June 2021 Scullion Chris 17 September 2021 Yuji Naka has gone indie following Balan Wonderworld disappointment Video Games Chronicle Archived from the original on 18 September 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 Yuji Naka erases former co worker from NiGHTS photo following Balan Wonderworld controversy Eurogamer 6 July 2022 Archived from the original on 25 November 2022 Retrieved 9 July 2022 a b Balan Wonderworld for Switch Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive 26 March 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 a b Balan Wonderworld for PC Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive 26 March 2021 Archived from the original on 27 November 2021 Retrieved 5 April 2021 a b Balan Wonderworld for PlayStation 4 Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive 26 March 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 a b Balan Wonderworld for PlayStation 5 Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive 26 March 2021 Archived from the original on 15 April 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 a b Balan Wonderworld for Xbox Series X Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive 26 March 2021 Archived from the original on 27 November 2021 Retrieved 9 April 2021 a b c d e Andriessen CJ 31 March 2021 Review Balan Wonderworld More costume changes than a Lady Gaga concert Destructoid Enthusiast Gaming Archived from the original on 31 March 2021 Retrieved 1 April 2021 a b c d e f g Ellis Bradley 14 April 2021 Review Balan Wonderworld Easy Allies Archived from the original on 18 December 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 a b c d Uchizawa Rōringu Uwaman Ashida Jigoro Urara Honma 14 April 2021 NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW バランワンダーワールド Switch Famitsu in Japanese No 1689 Kadokawa Game Linkage Retrieved 27 November 2021 a b c d e f g Wildgoose David 6 April 2021 Balan Wonderworld Review Costume Drama PS5 GameSpot CBS Interactive Archived from the original on 7 April 2021 Retrieved 9 April 2021 LeClair Kyle 31 March 2021 Review Balan Wonderworld Hardcore Gamer Retrieved 28 February 2022 a b c d e f g h Marks Tom 15 April 2021 Balan Wonderworld Review IGN in French Ziff Davis Archived from the original on 29 October 2021 a b c d e f g Vogel Mitch 29 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Review Switch A relic of another age Nintendo Life Nlife Media Archived from the original on 29 March 2021 Retrieved 29 March 2021 a b c d Rairdin John 31 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Switch Review There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don t know how Nintendo World Report NINWR LLC Archived from the original on 31 March 2021 Retrieved 4 April 2021 Posner Ferdman Brett 4 April 2021 Balan Wonderworld Review PS5 Push Square Retrieved 28 February 2022 Denzer TJ 31 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld review All show no tell Shacknews Retrieved 28 February 2022 a b c d e Scullion Chris 27 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Review Sonic s Creators Return With A Defiantly Dated Platformer Video Games Chronicle Gamer Network Archived from the original on 27 March 2021 Retrieved 27 March 2021 Gray Kate 30 March 2021 Balan Wonderworld Is Getting A Suspicious Amount Of 10 10 Metacritic User Reviews Nintendo Life Archived from the original on 30 March 2021 Retrieved 31 March 2021 a b c Robinson Martin 1 April 2021 Balan Wonderworld review an archaic throwback as clumsy as it is enjoyable Nightmares into dreams Eurogamer Gamer Network Retrieved 4 April 2021 Smith Rebecca 5 April 2021 Balan Wonderworld Flops in Japan Selling Less Than 2 100 Copies in Its First Week PlayStation LifeStyle Mandatory Archived from the original on 14 April 2021 Retrieved 15 April 2021 Harris Kieran 6 April 2021 UK Charts Balan Wonderworld struggles to make the top 40 Gamereactor Gamereactor Archived from the original on 16 April 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 Grubb Jeff 16 April 2021 March 2021 NPD Monster Hunter Rise sales soar to No 2 in the U S VentureBeat Archived from the original on 25 September 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 Bonthuys Darryn 13 May 2021 Square Enix Sold Almost 50 Million Games In 2020 Financial Year Looking At NFTs For Future Growth GameSpot CBS Interactive Archived from the original on 24 May 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Balan Wonderworld amp oldid 1142268725, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.