Fun fact, (and also spoiler for the book) He got so consumed by his loss, he couldn’t how sick his wife was getting until it was too late, though I doubt that was ever supposed to be in the game
@@fareez8248 Oh, I thought you meant that the game was somehow based on a book or something, and I was really hoping the game ust therefore be the loosest of adaptations. Regardless, what you said definitely makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification!
"Wonderworld" works better because you're traveling in the worlds of each person you're helping. That being said, Psychonaunts' name played on the concept far better. Also, no one cared to actually play Balan to even figure out that its a play on the concept of traveling across worlds.
Here's a fun fact: Yuji Naka originally didn't want this game to have ANY cutscenes AT ALL. So if you think the plot is confusing now, ohoho boy! Imagine how much worse it would've been if there wasn't a single scrap of a hint on what the fuck was going on!
Somehow, it wouldve been LESS confusing. I mean. We would just run into fantastic world beating bosses. Weird things wouldnt need much explanations. Thus said, it was a terrible idea for his mindset of "telling a story without words". No wonder it's so poorly executed when the director think he can do so without any cutscene of any sort.
2 things 1. At the end of the game you get to see what Balan looks like 2. If you do all the Tem (Tim, idk) stuff you get a Balan costume which lets you pretty much fly over every level
@@flamedramon68I mean it’s not a unique concept to give an op thing for beating a secret boss or after you finish the game itself. It’s just when everything else is garbage enough to deny basic freaking platform design that it’s a problem. If in an alternate universe this game got a remaster or 2nd title, let it learn its lesson and just have every costume have the standard platform actions and the abilities are just ‘augments’ to those basic functions instead of taking away what is NORMAL to a platformer. Even captain toad’s treasure tracker was basically a better platformer in all honesty by showing how to do a platformer where you can’t jump.
@@BladeSerph No, of course not, but when the other transformations aren't notable nor used often, then you have an issue Buuut you're assuming too much from a game that tried to out Mario what Mario does the best
@@flamedramon68 Hence my prod of `everything else so garbage it has to take away natural platformer features, to make the so-called OP thing look op.` Never the less, we can be glad Mario still is Mario on its games and even when Mario is NOT in a platformer game, he still be doing what Mario does. Now if only more certain iconic bits like a certain Blue Bomber can get more titles for it since all this rambling is reminding me how that character had a couple of titles that got canceled. Could just be the megaman Zero/ZX collection and megaman battlenetwork legacy collection though in that regard.
He didn't create sonic. That was mostly the doing of Naoto Ohshima, Naka mostly helped develop it as a franchise, then spearheaded every single bad descision leading up to Sonic '06! He's a moron.
Wait, what kind of start to the game was that? "Hey guys! Check out my super sweet breakdancing moves! *pose* ...Life is pain, no one understands me, not even my so called friends every will"
This game feels like every idea was a first draft. Like they would come up with something to add to the game and instead of refining that initial idea and working out all the kinks or evn stopping to consider if it would fit the general vision of the game, they'd just go "Sounds good!" and throw it in there. Not only is it an "everything but the kitchen sink" kinda game, but everything is half-baked.
@TheEthizle depends on the side for me. I'll take medium or medium rare. If there's a good kitchen mirror sauce, then I like the sink to fully melt in the mouth.
It's even more absurd when you realize the book this game is based on is way better than the game, and explains what is going with the world and its characters better too.
@@dragoniamagia2637 Yes, the entire story of this game is contained in a book, because the devs wanted to make a game that could tell a story without words or some bs like that, they basically ruined the whole game by putting the story in another medium and wanting to add as many costumes as possible without much planning lol and tbh, the story is not super impressive but is actually a good read, such a shame
You know. The GAME should explain its own story. Not a random extra BOOK. Again, Sonic Forces. If you need a comic to learn the villain's backstory YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.
This game was just successful enough to be a bargain bin game. Meaning that there may eventually be a sense of nostalgia for this. Can't wait for the 2hr video essays on how the game was secretly genius, and under-appreciated during its time.
That’s already a given since it wasn’t some live service, lootbox mechanic with monetization or full priced game That was incomplete thst forced extra content as paid dlc that should of been in the base game. Even a dumpster fire that shipped as a complete game on launch and didn’t have a road map of additional content over the next year is already considered a ‘service able title’ In this day and age.
the thing is. the game had something. just the gameplay is oof. i own the switch version. love the vibe. love the fever dream story and things. the gameplay... clunky. it's manageable. sure is fun to abuse the two player function tho. me and a friend did quite a few sequence breaks.
Bruh, coming from someone who gets nostalgia and liking the combat of dmc reboot. This game wouldn't be a nostalgia trip to anyone. Atleast it's not a live service game and is single player mainly so I guess some people might...
Leo Craig :edgy mc-orphan pants Also so Leo Craig: let me just do a silly octopus dance while dressed in an octopus onesie bloop bloop Truly this game has mastered tonal consistency perfectly
Group therapy session: I lost my whole livelihood to a freak storm The dolphin I played with almost killed me My childhood pet got hit by car My whole family died I'm afraid to ask a girl out I lost a game of chess once People stopped looking at my paintings for some reason I DON'T THINK PEOPLE LIKE MY BREAK DANCING EVEN THOUGH THEY DO!
A-Actually, can we talk about how Leo and Emma are suffering from heartbreaks like everyone else, but Balan is making them do all the dirty work of fixing everyone else's broken hearts? Goddamned cocktease in a top hat...! He can't even bother to do _the very thing he exists to do!_
Opening up the controls list in the options menu in the demo and seeing every single trigger, bumper and face button mapped to _the same damn thing_ produced a truly one-of-a-kind flavor of dread that I don't think any game will ever manage to inflict onto me again. Truly, *the* game of all time.
I feel like the dance number thing could work... Not for Dark Souls, but maybe an RPG or a better platformer than Balan. It needs to be at a certain point, though, not at the end of every stage, and the song actually has to have substance behind it.
I remember when I was excited for this game...😅 I remember saying "This looks cool!", "I can get into platforming again!" "How can this go wrong!!!" ...trying the demo before purchasing was quite possibly the best choice I will have made in this life...
I don’t think I’ve ever been mandela-ed so hard before. I thought it was wonderland this whole time. This isn’t even the first video I’ve seen on this game. I’m in shambles
Balan Wonderworld is a great example of what can happen when a brilliant creator is given the full reins of a project, and take away any of the people that can stop them and say, "Hey, that idea was a bad one. We're not putting it in."
To understand the full unhinged crazy that this game was, Rerez did a 100% completion and review of this game. Guess what one of the unlocks are.......? Playing the game in English!
I can practically feel that Kev's friends are glad that this wasn't multiplayer (outside of local co-op if I recall) and do a 'Forced my friends to play' with this.
If there's one thing I've learned from youtube comments it's that no matter how shit something is, someone out there thinks it's a masterpiece, and it's their favorite thing ever.
3:08 Sonic's original character designer, Naoto Ohshima and the programer of Sonic the Hedgehog '91, Yuji Naka, were Balan Wonderworld's character designer and director respectively.
fun fact, when you screw up on the terrible, agonizingly slow QTE minigame even the tiniest bit, you don't get the statue. Also, you're not allowed to retry it until you beat the chapter boss. Every time. Imagine being short on statues, you try to get one from that minigame and screw up, so now you need to exit the level, go back to the boss level and beat it, go back to the original level and get back to where the minigame is, and hope you don't screw up again and have to redo all of that.
Hold on back up. Nights into the Dreams. Wow I just got a wave of nostalgia there. Didn’t play it but I know about that weird purple jester thing because of Sonic Adventure(you know the whole casino level). Also Kevduit you should try out “Samurai Jack Battle Through Time”. It’s a fantastic hidden gem. It came out in 2020 but it feels like a classic action 2002 PS2 game. 😎👍🏼
This game looks and feels like what would happen if you fed all the good old platformers (mario, crash, spyro, etc.) to an AI and this was the output. It's like whoever made this game genuinely doesn't understand games at all.
1:13 I had the same thought untill 2 seconds wheni realized it might be Wonderworld because they may not have wamted Alice in Wonderland legal trouble. Then, after i realized alice is probably public domain i circled back to,"WHY DO YOU SEEK TO FUCK UP SIMPLE WORDPLAY?!?!?!?"
What's crazy is that the game looks good, visually. I like the visuals. It's pretty, it's colorful, it's fun. The animation is pretty good. It's so characteristic and awesome looking. Sucks that the actual game is shit ig
I heard them ask what balan looks like when he takes his hat off and I thought “oh they’re really going to enjoy the end” then they just left before learning that balan was designed to look attractive for some reason.
If you do play this again, you can get the best costume in the game very early on. The Balan costume is gotten by unlocking the Ultima Tim and it basically gives you moon jump and flight. It makes the game waaaay more enjoyable
if you beat the game you get to see what Balan looks like without his hat. he really doesn't look like what you'd expect. but at the same time quite normal.
8:20 what the f-ck they're saying. You know they're supposed to be HUMANS. Splatoon has NON-HUMAN characters singing in a non-human language. And even so, we KNOW who's singing we know them already. But this is THE VOICE OF THE VOID SPEAKING IN TOUNGES.
I've had doctors, therapists, and psychiatrists ask me "How are you still alive?" since I was 10. I'd sooner relive my hallucinations of being tortured in hell than play this game.
I'll give them credit from having two options for Spanish. As a latino it's always appreciated when I can play in my language without being subjected to Spain's slang.
1. They have officially stopped making physical copies and may take the game off digital platforms soon. 2. If Final Fantasy 14 didn't exist, Square Enix would have gone bankrupt years ago. 3. Yuji Naka is addicted to getting arrested for insider trading.
Can I get a lore video now on the psychology of the farmer, and how his ideal world was his crops in a freakin' fortress, and the terrifying tornado that destroyed his crops in reality in his ideal world is reduced to a harmless critter? And how you, the hero, are DESTROYING their ideal worlds, and forcing them to face their trauma, when LANCE is the one who trying to protect them and keep them in their happy place?
Feels like the developer just got really drunk one night and had a massive nostalgia trip while booting up his old N64. Like: "Oh man...those were the...days...like...why can't we just...hab...have Banjoey Kazoo and like...Murrio 64 just...like...kabloosh...smashed together...and like...make a baby with Sonique...oh wait...hold on...I...I am a game maker man! I CAN MAKE THAT GAME!" Then presumably wrote the entire plot in a blurred drunken haze, pitched the idea to someone at like 4am while they were too tired to really pay attention, and badda-bing badda-boom guy finds himself with emails in his inbox the next day saying that he's locked into a contract and has a deadline to produce...whatever this game is.
What a beautiful game, I think we have finally reached the peek of gaming!! Can't wait to see speed runs of this game and also just am totally excited for the remaster in five years, it's going to be wonderful!!! Also, just noticed in the end screen that Jeremiah 29:11 is referenced, love that verse! But I also like verse 12 and 13! love ya and your work Kev!
This is either a testament to Yuki Naka's descent into insanity, a money laundering scheme, or both. Considering that he was claiming to hear Sonic's voice and was busted repeatedly for insider trading...
Yuji Naka provided the art and creative direction for this game, and was so depressed by its failure that he got caught doing insider trading and arrested. Ok Balan Wonderworld may not be why he was doing stock related crimes, but what if yknow?
I don't remember where I heard this but the reason Leo is an sad dude at the start of the game is that he was too good at dancing so no one would dance with him.
I ironically love this game, I find it to be just hilarious and I do enjoy the gameplay later on in the game, plus the story is really good, if you’ve read the book and understand what the hell is happening
you keep telling yourself this game was just a fever dream until you see some other unfortunate soul trying to play it, then the nightmares begin all over again.
I’m glad you got to experience peak gaming. You can really feel the stakes between a tornado destroying your house and source of income and other people not liking bugs.
Kevduit PS5 dashboard: *"Star Wars: Bounty Hunter; Shadow of The Colossus; Death Stranding; God Of War; Infamous 1 and 2; Final Fantasy VII Remake; Spider-Man; Morales"* Also Kevduit: *"let's test my sanity by playing this abomination instead"*
Even if the SMO captures had less moves than regular Mario... They still could JUMP at least. You know, in a PLATFORMER. And the controls were more than just*_EVERYTHING IS JUMP, F-CK YOU._*
As someone who follow the game before it’s released… I do admit that I was a fan of it. Honestly, this game truly had a lot of promise to it and it took me a very long time for me to accept that. It was not a good game at all. But for those who are new to it and don’t understand its content and story…I’ll explain what is going on. Balan Wonderworld (Balan is pronounced as Ba-A (capital A)-lan) was a passion project made by Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima- if those names sound familiar to someone that is because that they are the creators of sonic the hedgehog and their last cooperation before this project was sonic adventure (1998). During that time, The two of them came together again for this project under the license of square Enix. Going back to the game, Wonderworld (or land for most folks) is basically a world that reflects the mental and emotional state of human hearts, mixing fantasy and reality. Now in the intro the whole setting takes place in Balan Theater which can only be revealed to individuals who felt deeply troubled by their current mental state via: Depression, loneliness etc. etc. the children Leo and Emma both simultaneously found the Theater and meets its Maestro, Balan. He is your guide to Wonderworld and his duty is to help you find “Balance” with yourself aka finding acceptance with your situation and moving on. However in this story…the two characters are tasked with rescuing the 12 “Inhabitants” that are ‘trapped’ in Wonderworld thanks to the Big Bad named Lance who wanted to keep them trapped so that he could collect their negative emotions and keep them ‘safe’ from reality. Continuing on, The little creatures that you first meet are called Tims (Their original names were Positi but was changed) and their mission was to help you seek out items, show you the way and even fight your enemies. They are also the the guardians of Happiness Times and have the ability to maneuver between reality, and Wonderworld (so basically like The white rabbit in Alison Wonderland.) Moving onto your enemies, I already mentioned about Lance, who is the polar opposite of Balan: One individual guides you while the other makes you lose your way. Lance is the living embodiment of negative emotions, and the creatures that he controls are called negatis, creatures that are powered by negative emotions that they collect. Originally, their are different enemy types ranging from little basic ones to powerful ones. The powerful ones are basically the mini bosses. - now moving onto how the world of Wonderworld works: since the whole theme is basically a theater…my personal theory is that Wonderworld is a living biomechanical, magic realm that brings trouble souls into its world. Going back to the main subject, Wonderworld allow inhabitants to create their own world aka stages and the costumes characters are representations of the inhabitants personality. The reason why you see these inhabitants inside the stages is because they were created by Balan to guide the main characters to the center of their ‘heart’ and the reason behind their ‘downfall’. Each inhabitants has a Backstory and the reasoning for falling into despair. I won’t go into all 12 inhabitants so we’ll just do the four that was already presented. The Farmer: he worked so hard on the farm to build up money for his sons college, but a mighty tornado happened and it destroyed all his hard work. Without the crops that he could sell, The farmer was unable to get any money for his son or the farm Which put him in a deep pickle. The Diver: she loves the ocean very much and Dolphins are her favorite Sea animals. Yeah, one day while she was swimming with them one of them actually knocks her air tank off Which caused her to nearly drown. The experience traumatized her so badly to the point where she even afraid to go back into the water. The Insect Lover: A young elementary school student who loves bugs but it’s socially, awkward and very shy; her classmates are afraid of bugs, and even grossed out by them to the point where they basically let her take care the bugs they collected for class. Since nobody understood her passion and she is so shy, she felt incredibly lonely and isolated. The Flyer: A young inventor who dreams of flying into the skies. He was very passion about it yet one failure after another and repeatedly causes him to get more and more frustrated with himself to the point where he becomes unstable. The Birdwatcher: she was a nature lover who loves birds and enjoys watching them in nature but then construction came by and tore down everything, Including the homes for birds. This causes the birdwatcher to scream and despair as she watches all of this happen, and she could do nothing about. Each of these inhabitants were so consumed by their despairs and faults, that they became corrupted and transformed into a twisted darker version of their dreams and passion. So the main characters had to fight them in order to free their hearts from The corruption and return them back to their normal forms. Honestly, there is more to it than what I have told you, but if you really want to know about what goes on within Balan Wonderworld…. I suggest you read the novel instead of playing the game because the only thing the game is is visually pleasing and has a good music. The book itself will explain a whole lot more about what is going on and is also pretty darker, too. You can find it on the Kindle website or Barnes & Noble and it’s free on digital too. Whew… this is a lot, but I hope this gives you all a better understanding.
oK BUT THE THING KEV SAID ABOUT THE ENEMIES BEING THE THINGS THEY LOVE AND WE HAVE TO FIGHT IT ACTUALLY BOTHERED ME SO MUCH OMG finally someone pointed it out
Didn't read the book so I might be wrong, but I suppose we're destroying an idea, an imaginary thing brought to life by the antagonist, to force them to stop living in the past and move forward Take the birds for exemple. We don't kill the birds. They're already destroyed. It's a mind world. A mind creature she build to protect herself from the pain of losing what she loves. But refusing to face reality isn't healthy. So we break it to help them make the first step to heal from their trauma in accepting that it happened, even though it hurt.
Nah, guys, you don’t understand, this game was ahead of it's time, it was made for the biggest gaming demographic, game "journalists", that's why every button does the same thing, no more "journalists" who couldn't figure out how to lock on to an enemy, no more "confusing" jumping tutorial that require two buttons, it's perfect.
I swear, its controls is like that of an NES controller lmao; 1 button for jumping and attacking for some reason, 1 button for switching costumes, and a joystick for movement
![Balan Wonderworld - A Fourth Look: Throw The Book At Them [Bumbles McFumbles]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MZuq4K1rIHg/mqdefault.jpg)
Ah. The game where
"Your Family and everyone you love has died"
Is an equal moral blow to
"Loses at chess once"
Fun fact, (and also spoiler for the book)
He got so consumed by his loss, he couldn’t how sick his wife was getting until it was too late, though I doubt that was ever supposed to be in the game
@@cureidolsmile9820 Book?
@@CaptainJ62 yes... there a BOOK about Wonder World that explain the lore of the character
@@fareez8248 Oh, I thought you meant that the game was somehow based on a book or something, and I was really hoping the game ust therefore be the loosest of adaptations. Regardless, what you said definitely makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification!
@@CaptainJ62 You didn't have to go that deep into being that wholesome
I appreciate that everyone who sees this game always asks, “Why is it not “Wonderland?!””
Now that you point it out I thought it was wonderland shows me for not reading the whole title
@@Joyful_Traitor it would flow better. That's probably why most people automatically go to wonderland without realizing it.
"Wonderworld" works better because you're traveling in the worlds of each person you're helping.
That being said, Psychonaunts' name played on the concept far better. Also, no one cared to actually play Balan to even figure out that its a play on the concept of traveling across worlds.
This comment was the first time I've ever realised the real name
Maybe they knew the game was bad so they thought it didn’t deserve that title. 😂
I love how every Balan Wonderworld video features people going into hysterics over the dance scenes
Here's a fun fact: Yuji Naka originally didn't want this game to have ANY cutscenes AT ALL. So if you think the plot is confusing now, ohoho boy! Imagine how much worse it would've been if there wasn't a single scrap of a hint on what the fuck was going on!
Somehow, it wouldve been LESS confusing. I mean. We would just run into fantastic world beating bosses. Weird things wouldnt need much explanations. Thus said, it was a terrible idea for his mindset of "telling a story without words". No wonder it's so poorly executed when the director think he can do so without any cutscene of any sort.
Obviously Yuji Naka wanted to funnel the cutscenes budget into a personal account
2 things
1. At the end of the game you get to see what Balan looks like
2. If you do all the Tem (Tim, idk) stuff you get a Balan costume which lets you pretty much fly over every level
"Yeah remember all those transformation you got for like a minute, yeah if you beat the game you'll get the best one and make all the others moot"
@@flamedramon68I mean it’s not a unique concept to give an op thing for beating a secret boss or after you finish the game itself.
It’s just when everything else is garbage enough to deny basic freaking platform design that it’s a problem.
If in an alternate universe this game got a remaster or 2nd title, let it learn its lesson and just have every costume have the standard platform actions and the abilities are just ‘augments’ to those basic functions instead of taking away what is NORMAL to a platformer.
Even captain toad’s treasure tracker was basically a better platformer in all honesty by showing how to do a platformer where you can’t jump.
@@BladeSerph No, of course not, but when the other transformations aren't notable nor used often, then you have an issue
Buuut you're assuming too much from a game that tried to out Mario what Mario does the best
@@flamedramon68 Hence my prod of `everything else so garbage it has to take away natural platformer features, to make the so-called OP thing look op.`
Never the less, we can be glad Mario still is Mario on its games and even when Mario is NOT in a platformer game, he still be doing what Mario does.
Now if only more certain iconic bits like a certain Blue Bomber can get more titles for it since all this rambling is reminding me how that character had a couple of titles that got canceled.
Could just be the megaman Zero/ZX collection and megaman battlenetwork legacy collection though in that regard.
Why would you know these
Original co-creator of Sonic Yuji Naka actually worked on this game, then he was arrested for insider trading, interesting times
He didn't create sonic. That was mostly the doing of Naoto Ohshima, Naka mostly helped develop it as a franchise, then spearheaded every single bad descision leading up to Sonic '06! He's a moron.
There's also a chance to get charged for threatening people added to him it's wild
twice
hes not a creator hes just the programmer for the og sonic team he just took credit
Kev knew that. It’s why he made the joke
I love how everyone comments about how awkward saying Wonderworld is and just decides this game is now wonderland.
Every time I read the title, I read Wonderland. I'm only now noticing it isn't Wonderland due to your comment.
literally did that with your comment and had to re-read it again
That's how it sounds like in my head, it's like my eyes read one thing but my brain understands another.
It’s because “Balan” and “Wonderland” almost rhyme depending on your pronunciation, so it flows off the tongue easier than fucking “Wonderworld”
Wait, what kind of start to the game was that?
"Hey guys! Check out my super sweet breakdancing moves! *pose* ...Life is pain, no one understands me, not even my so called friends every will"
This game feels like every idea was a first draft. Like they would come up with something to add to the game and instead of refining that initial idea and working out all the kinks or evn stopping to consider if it would fit the general vision of the game, they'd just go "Sounds good!" and throw it in there. Not only is it an "everything but the kitchen sink" kinda game, but everything is half-baked.
I hate my kitchen sinks being undercooked. If I'm gonna eat one, I want the porcelain to be tender. No one likes a chewy sink.
@@munky342 I turned them into a kitchen sink
@@munky342 idk i always eat my sinks medium, it all depends on how you prepare it
@TheEthizle depends on the side for me. I'll take medium or medium rare. If there's a good kitchen mirror sauce, then I like the sink to fully melt in the mouth.
they probably took something and then started coming up with the concept of this game. no other explanation.
10/10, realistic depiction of how evil dolphins are.
Dolphins ARE evil ! That's a fact ! This game told me.
I hate dolphins so much, they get good reputation while sharks get shit on
They're evil because they're smart.
Read facts about dolphins and you will see that they are kind of evil actually, if they could be sent to jail, they would be there
@@wafagdplqs4421 No, they are intelligent.
Can't forget about Balan Wonderworld director: Yuji "I've been clapped by the cops twice since the game came out" Naka
It's even more absurd when you realize the book this game is based on is way better than the game, and explains what is going with the world and its characters better too.
There's a b o o k?
@@dragoniamagia2637 Yes, the entire story of this game is contained in a book, because the devs wanted to make a game that could tell a story without words or some bs like that, they basically ruined the whole game by putting the story in another medium and wanting to add as many costumes as possible without much planning lol and tbh, the story is not super impressive but is actually a good read, such a shame
You know.
The GAME should explain its own story.
Not a random extra BOOK.
Again, Sonic Forces.
If you need a comic to learn the villain's backstory YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.
@@AldenEmroch The director wanted*
The devs had no choice but to follow his terrible ideas
@@Hadeshy a director whose only claim to Fame was PROGRAMMING the first Sonic engine and not DESIGNING any of the games.
This game was just successful enough to be a bargain bin game. Meaning that there may eventually be a sense of nostalgia for this. Can't wait for the 2hr video essays on how the game was secretly genius, and under-appreciated during its time.
That’s already a given since it wasn’t some live service, lootbox mechanic with monetization or full priced game
That was incomplete thst forced extra content as paid dlc that should of been in the base game.
Even a dumpster fire that shipped as a complete game on launch and didn’t have a road map of additional content over the next year is already considered a ‘service able title’ In this day and age.
When that day comes the bar would be REALLY low.
Oh boy, you don’t even know how correct you are. It’s gonna be the new hot take…
the thing is. the game had something. just the gameplay is oof.
i own the switch version. love the vibe. love the fever dream story and things. the gameplay... clunky. it's manageable.
sure is fun to abuse the two player function tho. me and a friend did quite a few sequence breaks.
Bruh, coming from someone who gets nostalgia and liking the combat of dmc reboot.
This game wouldn't be a nostalgia trip to anyone. Atleast it's not a live service game and is single player mainly so I guess some people might...
I love how good the intro with Balan looks then you get into the game and its a glorified wii game
If it was a Wii game with motion controls it might have been better.
Leo Craig :edgy mc-orphan pants
Also so Leo Craig: let me just do a silly octopus dance while dressed in an octopus onesie bloop bloop
Truly this game has mastered tonal consistency perfectly
Group therapy session:
I lost my whole livelihood to a freak storm
The dolphin I played with almost killed me
My childhood pet got hit by car
My whole family died
I'm afraid to ask a girl out
I lost a game of chess once
People stopped looking at my paintings for some reason
I DON'T THINK PEOPLE LIKE MY BREAK DANCING EVEN THOUGH THEY DO!
A-Actually, can we talk about how Leo and Emma are suffering from heartbreaks like everyone else, but Balan is making them do all the dirty work of fixing everyone else's broken hearts?
Goddamned cocktease in a top hat...! He can't even bother to do _the very thing he exists to do!_
Is this what he says in the book? I always thought he was just... Litteraly in depression and couldn't find joy anymore in the very thing he loved.
@@MrAuthor3DS they had trouble with connecting to other people
He made them learn how to do it
Opening up the controls list in the options menu in the demo and seeing every single trigger, bumper and face button mapped to _the same damn thing_ produced a truly one-of-a-kind flavor of dread that I don't think any game will ever manage to inflict onto me again.
Truly, *the* game of all time.
Imagine if the next Dark Souls adds a dance number at the end just so they can compete with this game.
I feel like the dance number thing could work... Not for Dark Souls, but maybe an RPG or a better platformer than Balan. It needs to be at a certain point, though, not at the end of every stage, and the song actually has to have substance behind it.
Somebody have probably made a Dark Souls dance party video already.
I remember when I was excited for this game...😅
I remember saying "This looks cool!", "I can get into platforming again!" "How can this go wrong!!!"
...trying the demo before purchasing was quite possibly the best choice I will have made in this life...
I don’t think I’ve ever been mandela-ed so hard before. I thought it was wonderland this whole time. This isn’t even the first video I’ve seen on this game. I’m in shambles
Same
Everyone does
Wonderworld is just awkward to say, idk why the hell they didn't call it wonderland instead
Fun fact there was a novel released with this game that basically explains everything that's going with in the game
Is that worth a read then yeah? 😂
@@dylanswift2874 no but there's RUclipsrs whoves suffered through it for our entertainment
@@ayajade6683 Yeah, Austin Eruption.
So not only is the game terrible but it has REQUIRED READING
@@katzcribe2992 Yep because the director wanted a game with no dialogue so it can be a story every one can understand
Kevduit's "Hello, Farmer Joe,"
🤝
Snapcube's "Fuck it up, Farmer Ted,"
Balan cinematic parallels.
The farmer going up to maybe kiss the main character with the weirdest music in the background is always the best bit of this game
Balan Wonderworld is a great example of what can happen when a brilliant creator is given the full reins of a project, and take away any of the people that can stop them and say, "Hey, that idea was a bad one. We're not putting it in."
To understand the full unhinged crazy that this game was, Rerez did a 100% completion and review of this game. Guess what one of the unlocks are.......? Playing the game in English!
Nooooo
Who that was a good idea?
I can practically feel that Kev's friends are glad that this wasn't multiplayer (outside of local co-op if I recall) and do a 'Forced my friends to play' with this.
Saw a Rerez video on this game. Yes, there is a co-op mode... They messed that up, too.
Funny thing is, this game was probably somebody's dream to make. And someone out there loves it.
That's me. I loved it.
If there's one thing I've learned from youtube comments it's that no matter how shit something is, someone out there thinks it's a masterpiece, and it's their favorite thing ever.
i like the game, i mean... it has it's flaws... and a rather split community.... but you can find the fun, if you don't mind them....
@@spritsfal5088 different stokes
more like somebody's fever dream
“Get fed nerds”.
Yup, that’s a strong new entry into my favorite quotes, that one’s quite good.
This game is like a fever dream, it's a mix of a costume platformer and musical/dance that just doesn't fit
no, it's like somebody else's fever dream that you're somehow forced to watch
3:08 Sonic's original character designer, Naoto Ohshima and the programer of Sonic the Hedgehog '91, Yuji Naka, were Balan Wonderworld's character designer and director respectively.
omg that "worse, he threw out his back!" at around 7:30 had me snort laughing for 5 minutes
fun fact, when you screw up on the terrible, agonizingly slow QTE minigame even the tiniest bit, you don't get the statue. Also, you're not allowed to retry it until you beat the chapter boss. Every time.
Imagine being short on statues, you try to get one from that minigame and screw up, so now you need to exit the level, go back to the boss level and beat it, go back to the original level and get back to where the minigame is, and hope you don't screw up again and have to redo all of that.
Fun Fact: This game apparently features a goddam time loop.
Funfact: In the behind the scenes video before it realese, they called it Balan Wonderland, then change it to Balan WonderWorld.
Only Kevduit could make this game enjoyable.
I mean he didn't even enjoy it he quit i think about halfway into the game
@@joelvz8639 yeah 😂
Kevduit not going insane after playing so many wild games is impressive, unless he is already insane
BEGONE COMMENT BOT!
@@IamaPERSONit translates to, “Comment bot started.”
@@Sin3134 can you help me deal with the like botter?
It would explain all the psychopath runs...
@@PhilosophicallyAmerican the OP is a bot
Hold on back up. Nights into the Dreams. Wow I just got a wave of nostalgia there. Didn’t play it but I know about that weird purple jester thing because of Sonic Adventure(you know the whole casino level). Also Kevduit you should try out “Samurai Jack Battle Through Time”. It’s a fantastic hidden gem. It came out in 2020 but it feels like a classic action 2002 PS2 game. 😎👍🏼
This game looks and feels like what would happen if you fed all the good old platformers (mario, crash, spyro, etc.) to an AI and this was the output.
It's like whoever made this game genuinely doesn't understand games at all.
Did you know, Balan is the main character, and the bad guy is called Lance.
Together they make Balance.
.......
Seriously the story should've been told in the game
Balanlance
1:13 I had the same thought untill 2 seconds wheni realized it might be Wonderworld because they may not have wamted Alice in Wonderland legal trouble. Then, after i realized alice is probably public domain i circled back to,"WHY DO YOU SEEK TO FUCK UP SIMPLE WORDPLAY?!?!?!?"
What's crazy is that the game looks good, visually. I like the visuals. It's pretty, it's colorful, it's fun. The animation is pretty good. It's so characteristic and awesome looking. Sucks that the actual game is shit ig
Concept 8/10
Art Design 10/10
Execution -19/10
I heard them ask what balan looks like when he takes his hat off and I thought “oh they’re really going to enjoy the end” then they just left before learning that balan was designed to look attractive for some reason.
I had no idea this existed until today, 5 minutes in and i already wish it stayed that way….
If you do play this again, you can get the best costume in the game very early on. The Balan costume is gotten by unlocking the Ultima Tim and it basically gives you moon jump and flight. It makes the game waaaay more enjoyable
19:16
The bird that looked JUST LIKE the bird boss from Super Mario Odyssey.
if you beat the game you get to see what Balan looks like without his hat. he really doesn't look like what you'd expect. but at the same time quite normal.
12:35 "I went in with no expectations, so how can I be disappointed? Yet somehow, I am." really sums up this game.
8:20 what the f-ck they're saying.
You know they're supposed to be HUMANS.
Splatoon has NON-HUMAN characters singing in a non-human language.
And even so, we KNOW who's singing we know them already.
But this is THE VOICE OF THE VOID SPEAKING IN TOUNGES.
16:32 Well... It is too bad that you didn't play the entire game... The reaction would have been hilarious, I bet!
I've had doctors, therapists, and psychiatrists ask me "How are you still alive?" since I was 10. I'd sooner relive my hallucinations of being tortured in hell than play this game.
That's badass dude
God, i love this game. It is so amazingly bad, it makes it funny again. Also i love watching others play it, always funny to see that.😂
My favorite part is when the man with the white hat met the main character and he said "it's ballan wonderland!" and he ballaned all over the place.
I'll give them credit from having two options for Spanish. As a latino it's always appreciated when I can play in my language without being subjected to Spain's slang.
This game is a masterpiece ! I've never seen a better handling of traumas and dolphins true evil nature !
1. They have officially stopped making physical copies and may take the game off digital platforms soon.
2. If Final Fantasy 14 didn't exist, Square Enix would have gone bankrupt years ago.
3. Yuji Naka is addicted to getting arrested for insider trading.
Can I get a lore video now on the psychology of the farmer, and how his ideal world was his crops in a freakin' fortress, and the terrifying tornado that destroyed his crops in reality in his ideal world is reduced to a harmless critter? And how you, the hero, are DESTROYING their ideal worlds, and forcing them to face their trauma, when LANCE is the one who trying to protect them and keep them in their happy place?
I call that walk animation the "Sales-Associate Shuffle", since I usually walk like that when I hear the service bell go off
"Stop dancing!"
~ Mr. Plinkett
Feels like the developer just got really drunk one night and had a massive nostalgia trip while booting up his old N64. Like: "Oh man...those were the...days...like...why can't we just...hab...have Banjoey Kazoo and like...Murrio 64 just...like...kabloosh...smashed together...and like...make a baby with Sonique...oh wait...hold on...I...I am a game maker man! I CAN MAKE THAT GAME!"
Then presumably wrote the entire plot in a blurred drunken haze, pitched the idea to someone at like 4am while they were too tired to really pay attention, and badda-bing badda-boom guy finds himself with emails in his inbox the next day saying that he's locked into a contract and has a deadline to produce...whatever this game is.
What a beautiful game, I think we have finally reached the peek of gaming!! Can't wait to see speed runs of this game and also just am totally excited for the remaster in five years, it's going to be wonderful!!! Also, just noticed in the end screen that Jeremiah 29:11 is referenced, love that verse! But I also like verse 12 and 13! love ya and your work Kev!
This was a fever dream of a stream
Kev's channel is a wonderland at this point
Playing this game while high, can be actually a good trip.
If the drugs are good enough, you can have the best night of your life bouncing rocks off the floor in a shed
This is either a testament to Yuki Naka's descent into insanity, a money laundering scheme, or both. Considering that he was claiming to hear Sonic's voice and was busted repeatedly for insider trading...
Yuji Naka provided the art and creative direction for this game, and was so depressed by its failure that he got caught doing insider trading and arrested.
Ok Balan Wonderworld may not be why he was doing stock related crimes, but what if yknow?
This games story is in a real book
Alright... Kev's goin' insane
And steam knows this... They know.
I don't remember where I heard this but the reason Leo is an sad dude at the start of the game is that he was too good at dancing so no one would dance with him.
I like how everyone I've ever seen play this game comes out of it a changed man.
It's like if the people who kept making bad Sonic games tried to make A Hat In Time. While on crystal.
I ironically love this game, I find it to be just hilarious and I do enjoy the gameplay later on in the game, plus the story is really good, if you’ve read the book and understand what the hell is happening
...This really, REALLY should've been a spiritual successor to NiGHTS in the gameplay department man. At least I have a Saturn in arms reach.
All other youtubers today: Jedi survivor is amazing bruh
Kev: So here I am playing Balan Wonderland..
Ah ha…WonderWORLD
you keep telling yourself this game was just a fever dream until you see some other unfortunate soul trying to play it, then the nightmares begin all over again.
11:40 That Dolphin 🐬 / Penguin 🐧 mix. Has an AMAZING START to that Pompador!! 👏
The moment when Kev breaks down on stream reminded me so much of Sonic Boom
18:46 the farmer turned into a variant of what he was afraid of, maybe they just forgot?
With that mind drain over, only one thing left to do... WE DANCE!
I’m glad you got to experience peak gaming. You can really feel the stakes between a tornado destroying your house and source of income and other people not liking bugs.
Shadow thing seriously threw off farmers chakra with one touch to the back lmao
Kevduit PS5 dashboard: *"Star Wars: Bounty Hunter; Shadow of The Colossus; Death Stranding; God Of War; Infamous 1 and 2; Final Fantasy VII Remake; Spider-Man; Morales"*
Also Kevduit: *"let's test my sanity by playing this abomination instead"*
No one should have to shoulder this burden alone. It's time for a little forceful friendship.
This is Sanik. "Gotta go slow"
What could've been an awe-inspiring masterpiece was let to rot.
Useless fact: In the lore, the "edgy Sonic" guy is called "Lance."
I love how unlike most peoples videos who are overviewing why they don’t like it after playing it, you’ve reacted to it while playing it
This is my favorite game. It taught me how to love and enjoy life again, to appreciate the little things. It also taught me how to sing.
2:01 japanese spy moments before being executed in the middle of the street.
Remember how this game gave SEIZURES.
This game like nightmare you need to escape.
Even if the SMO captures had less moves than regular Mario...
They still could JUMP at least.
You know, in a PLATFORMER.
And the controls were more than just*_EVERYTHING IS JUMP, F-CK YOU._*
As someone who follow the game before it’s released… I do admit that I was a fan of it. Honestly, this game truly had a lot of promise to it and it took me a very long time for me to accept that. It was not a good game at all.
But for those who are new to it and don’t understand its content and story…I’ll explain what is going on.
Balan Wonderworld (Balan is pronounced as Ba-A (capital A)-lan) was a passion project made by Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima- if those names sound familiar to someone that is because that they are the creators of sonic the hedgehog and their last cooperation before this project was sonic adventure (1998). During that time, The two of them came together again for this project under the license of square Enix.
Going back to the game, Wonderworld (or land for most folks) is basically a world that reflects the mental and emotional state of human hearts, mixing fantasy and reality. Now in the intro the whole setting takes place in Balan Theater which can only be revealed to individuals who felt deeply troubled by their current mental state via: Depression, loneliness etc. etc. the children Leo and Emma both simultaneously found the Theater and meets its Maestro, Balan. He is your guide to Wonderworld and his duty is to help you find “Balance” with yourself aka finding acceptance with your situation and moving on.
However in this story…the two characters are tasked with rescuing the 12 “Inhabitants” that are ‘trapped’ in Wonderworld thanks to the Big Bad named Lance who wanted to keep them trapped so that he could collect their negative emotions and keep them ‘safe’ from reality.
Continuing on, The little creatures that you first meet are called Tims (Their original names were Positi but was changed) and their mission was to help you seek out items, show you the way and even fight your enemies. They are also the the guardians of Happiness Times and have the ability to maneuver between reality, and Wonderworld (so basically like The white rabbit in Alison Wonderland.)
Moving onto your enemies, I already mentioned about Lance, who is the polar opposite of Balan: One individual guides you while the other makes you lose your way. Lance is the living embodiment of negative emotions, and the creatures that he controls are called negatis, creatures that are powered by negative emotions that they collect. Originally, their are different enemy types ranging from little basic ones to powerful ones. The powerful ones are basically the mini bosses.
- now moving onto how the world of Wonderworld works: since the whole theme is basically a theater…my personal theory is that Wonderworld is a living biomechanical, magic realm that brings trouble souls into its world. Going back to the main subject, Wonderworld allow inhabitants to create their own world aka stages and the costumes characters are representations of the inhabitants personality. The reason why you see these inhabitants inside the stages is because they were created by Balan to guide the main characters to the center of their ‘heart’ and the reason behind their ‘downfall’.
Each inhabitants has a Backstory and the reasoning for falling into despair. I won’t go into all 12 inhabitants so we’ll just do the four that was already presented.
The Farmer: he worked so hard on the farm to build up money for his sons college, but a mighty tornado happened and it destroyed all his hard work. Without the crops that he could sell, The farmer was unable to get any money for his son or the farm Which put him in a deep pickle.
The Diver: she loves the ocean very much and Dolphins are her favorite Sea animals. Yeah, one day while she was swimming with them one of them actually knocks her air tank off Which caused her to nearly drown. The experience traumatized her so badly to the point where she even afraid to go back into the water.
The Insect Lover: A young elementary school student who loves bugs but it’s socially, awkward and very shy; her classmates are afraid of bugs, and even grossed out by them to the point where they basically let her take care the bugs they collected for class. Since nobody understood her passion and she is so shy, she felt incredibly lonely and isolated.
The Flyer: A young inventor who dreams of flying into the skies. He was very passion about it yet one failure after another and repeatedly causes him to get more and more frustrated with himself to the point where he becomes unstable.
The Birdwatcher: she was a nature lover who loves birds and enjoys watching them in nature but then construction came by and tore down everything, Including the homes for birds. This causes the birdwatcher to scream and despair as she watches all of this happen, and she could do nothing about.
Each of these inhabitants were so consumed by their despairs and faults, that they became corrupted and transformed into a twisted darker version of their dreams and passion. So the main characters had to fight them in order to free their hearts from The corruption and return them back to their normal forms.
Honestly, there is more to it than what I have told you, but if you really want to know about what goes on within Balan Wonderworld…. I suggest you read the novel instead of playing the game because the only thing the game is is visually pleasing and has a good music. The book itself will explain a whole lot more about what is going on and is also pretty darker, too.
You can find it on the Kindle website or Barnes & Noble and it’s free on digital too. Whew… this is a lot, but I hope this gives you all a better understanding.
the reason the bosses are the things the people love is because you're fighting the people. which really adds to the comedy of the dance sequences
oK BUT THE THING KEV SAID ABOUT THE ENEMIES BEING THE THINGS THEY LOVE AND WE HAVE TO FIGHT IT ACTUALLY BOTHERED ME SO MUCH OMG finally someone pointed it out
Didn't read the book so I might be wrong, but I suppose we're destroying an idea, an imaginary thing brought to life by the antagonist, to force them to stop living in the past and move forward
Take the birds for exemple. We don't kill the birds. They're already destroyed. It's a mind world. A mind creature she build to protect herself from the pain of losing what she loves. But refusing to face reality isn't healthy. So we break it to help them make the first step to heal from their trauma in accepting that it happened, even though it hurt.
balan plot:
1- person is happy. 😄
2- person went through a bad time. 😣
3- person is no longer happy 😭
-🎩Balan: ah, what a problem... Let's dance!
"Random bullshit, go!"
Thank you for your sacrifice, Kev.
Nah, guys, you don’t understand, this game was ahead of it's time, it was made for the biggest gaming demographic, game "journalists", that's why every button does the same thing, no more "journalists" who couldn't figure out how to lock on to an enemy, no more "confusing" jumping tutorial that require two buttons, it's perfect.
I swear, its controls is like that of an NES controller lmao; 1 button for jumping and attacking for some reason, 1 button for switching costumes, and a joystick for movement
Also.
The music sounded TOO MUCH like Cascade Kingdom from Odyssey.