I think dunkey summed it up best when he said "it started out as an actual video game, then they realized they wouldn't have enough time to actually make it good, so the devs started trolling each other and putting in these shitty power-ups, and then it just became contest of who can make the shittiest power-up imaginable."
You know what's the worst part of this game? Yuji Naka specifically made the game a 1-button control scheme "because kids would get confused with multiple buttons". That's how little Balan thinks of its player.
Even when I was part of that demographic, I didn't get confused with multiple buttons. This is thanks to games having tutorials, so kids *will* understand using multiple buttons. Edit: Thank you guys for giving this comment more than 200 likes, which is very suprising for what I usually comment. You guys can check me out if you'd like.
@@andrewcosmicanimations8709 not really. Modern sonic is more complex than adventure sonic. Adventure sonic has run, jump, spin dash, roll, and homing attack. Excluding power ups. Modern sonic has boost, homing attack, air dash, quickstep, slide, kick, duck, stomp, light dash, and drift.
Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to create a power up where you can just randomly lose control of your character and fall off a cliff and die?
Oh if you thought that was all, said not moving state also ENDS at complete random. This means if you're unlucky, you fall to your doom and you can't do anything about it because the game won't let the powerup's bullshit end!
TO BE FAIR, you still have 3 costumes accessible to you at any time, so the idea is to only put on the costume when you really need it. Its not like you're stuck with it unless you equip 3 of them for some reason. Game still sucks though, and the powerup is still dumb.
@@hugoslugehugo405 ALL of the powerups in this game feel like there was a competition to make the worst power ups in a video game imaginable. "Okay, the player can shoot fireballs, but only like 2 feet in front of them". "That's good. How about this, the player can go through walls, but only very thin ones, thin to the point that parts of the specially designed walls the player can go through with it are still too thick" "Got you one better. The player can extend a jump, but doing so adjusts momentum in such a way that the jump grants literally zero extra vertical or horizontal clearance, it just takes longer" "Well how about this. The player randomly loses control of the character, and slides in the direction they were moving, for a random length of time." "Genius"
@@guthetanuki256 If powerup actions were separate from the jump button, I could see more people saying the game is okay. But honestly there are bigger issues then what might be feasible in a year. They would have been better off with 10-15 fully realized multi-purpose powerups than 80 half-baked ones.
Not even that. It’s not even underdeveloped the entire foundation of it bad. If anything It would need to be scrapped and redeveloped from the ground up
@@aughhaughhaughh Idk Chief, I wouldnt consider Portal to be the lowest form of video game, neither would i consider Fez, Trine, Oddworld, VVVVV or Celeste to be as low.
I think the box fox was, like, one of the first “powerups” they made, maybe to test how the character with a costume could turn into something else; In 3D games we usually use cubes to test things like movement, collision, etc, without using actual assets, I think while in testing some higher-up saw the character turning into a box, found it funny and it turned into a inside joke, and because they were unprofessional the joke got into the game. As for the reason for the strange combination of fox and box I think it’s literally because the names rhyme and nothing else, Just a lame pun, if there’s a stereotype of Japanese developers that I know is that they like puns a little too much :p
Also Mighty No.9...did people not learn that good games take a whole team to make and that one industry legend will not make a good game on their own lol
That's true, but also the time release is a factor here. The devs of Cyberpunk knew it was really rushed but the bosses kept pushing them to release it soon, and became a mess of a game because of the lack of time to polish. Don't know if this game would have been better or not, but at least there would have been time to reconsider things or listen feedback from the demo.
My kid brother was smart, he played the demo and hated it. Said the graphics were terrible, the player character moved too slow and that he hated how every button was jump. Glad he learned to dodged a $60 bullet.
@@sylodui They claimed they were smart. I was saying that we were also smart. They were claiming being smart makes you dislike this game. I said art is subjective which pushes the idea of tolerating the opinion of others. You are literally bitching at the wrong person here. Bitch at the OP for being close-minded.
A hat in time did everything right what balan did wrong. Well designed levels Amazing controls for all skill levels All power ups have good uses And only cost not even half the price of balans wonderworld
To be fair, Mighty No. 9 was mostly a tale of a small indie studio being too ambitious and getting in so far over its head it found itself using deep-sea anglerfish as makeshift flashlights. Had it had a bigger dev team and more time, Mighty No. 9 had the potential to be a lot better than what it ended up becoming. This game, on the other hand, is hot steaming garbage even at a conceptual level. _Nobody_ should have green-lit this mess, least of all freaking _Square-Enix._
Sooo Sonic 2006 doesn’t have a demo, only an Xbox Live one that got DELISTED. I don’t know how much this game costs yet digitally because I haven’t checked the 360 and the marketplace is being useless. And at least THAT game costed less later on (like 40 or 20 dollar) the game’s lifetime for digital. I don’t know if it makes Sonic 2006 better, but Balan looks boring anyway.
This makes you realize how good decision it was for Metroid developers to restart the entire Metroid Prime 4 project from scratch because they feel like it wasn't up to their standards
The character designs and the boss cutscenes are what got me interested in the game to begin with. I’m not gonna play it, which is a shame. I wish the devs took a lead out of NSR’s book and delayed the game until it was really ready to play. As someone else put it in a different comment: “this game is all style, no substance.”
At least they where honest with the Demo, didn't pull the usual "Don't show the bad parts during the demo" Altho i doubt they even had time to pull that off
it feels like the entire game’s budget went to the art/cutscene/modeling teams and the gameplay/programming side of the game was given $5 and one week to make a full game
That fox box wizard is hilarious and a good sign that the devs thought this would end up becoming a bad game halfway through and so they started meming.
Because of the way how it looks and it's controls, I strongly believe it was meant to be a mobile game but they decided they could totally just make it into a full release.
why didnt they keep it as mobile game? I mean this type of one click no brainer stuff definitely would attract mobile gamers, and it probably would pass for 4.3 star on the store
Fun fact: The team that helped make this game is also responsible for Yoshi's New Island. Suddenly, it makes more sense that this game is an absolute train wreck.
The Yoshi games sticking to are: Yoshi's Island (SNES & GBA) Yoshi Story Yoshi's Island DS I did not like Yoshi's Wooly World and I'm not planning on buying Yoshi's Crafted World.
@@Kim-py3iv That's a shame you didn't like Wooly World, I would rank it 2nd with it not being too far behind the original. Crafted World is a lesser version of Wooly World but still enjoyable. I wanted to like Yoshi's Island DS but upon playing it recently during another play through it reminded me how bad the level design really is in that game let alone trying to 100% it is a nightmare. The first two or three worlds aren't bad and standard stuff but later on everything is cranked up to a level that makes it unenjoyable, from tediously switching the babies, collectables, etc. I could only see someone enjoying Yoshi Story for the sake of nostalgia, but is otherwise okay. Yoshi's New Island is just uninspiring with it being an okay experience at best if you never played a game in the series. Touch n Go and Topsy Turvy being experimental will make your millage vary depending on your impressions.
Haven't played it, never would of. I'd assume it would be a game for kids based on how it looks. Based on the video, the disappearing characters when you get close to them looks so annoying to me.
It makes the levels feel so empty and souless. How mario odysseys worlds actually felt like the npcs lived in them this just has these npcs doing a copy and pasted dance over and over again until you go up to them and they disappear. Wtf kind of design choice is that?
The looks of the game were conceptually pretty nice. I liked it. Reminds me nights and sonic and a bit of rayman. But like he said. Performance and such. Ass
I'm assuming that (within the context of the game) it's because it's in a dream world and they're figments of imagination or whatever. However, in real life outside of the game, it's probably because the devs couldn't actually be bothered to give those characters collision models or figure out how to stop the player madly clipping into them. So they just made the characters vanish instead..... what a mess.
Yeah, i remember the time I got into a fight with my friendly wildlife Koala and it resulted in turning into a horrific abomination that some kids had to fight. A relatable tale...
How that lady gets over her fear is hilarious. She deduces that _her reliance on an Air Tank was the cause of her problems, _*_and trains herself to swim without it!_*
@@blackheartzerotheundergrou3225 If i had to guess, that gets explained in the novel. Which then begs the question; *Why even put emphasis on the dolphin if it had nothing to do with the solution?*
@@ikarainijirai You know it's badly done if my friends rather buy Mass Effect Andromeda then this. I mean I know the company made dumb choices with that game too but at least Andromeda is playable.... I mean I'd honestly play any other bad made game and they would be a thousand times better and actually have more hard work in them compared to this
the cinematics looks so fucking good, though the plot of these animations are uhh well here is a boy, he does a cool breakdance, some kids see this and praise him but he just walks off The overall plot of the game is something about losing heart and depression and that stuff but- I have no clue how it's true to that premise he just leaves after being told "hey nice dance dude" as if he was fucking bullied there by these kids
It is so sad that this game is so trashy, because Balan looks really great as a character and the idea behind this game is also cute. I would totally play it, if it would be better...this game could have been really fantastic.
@@FizzieWebb At least the sleeping part of the sleep ability didn't kick in and kick out randomly, *and* you could you get out of it whenever you wanted when Kirby falls asleep. Hell, in Kirby Squeak Squad, it could heal you, and in Kirby Battle Royale, you could preform *actual attacks* with it.
"Naka was given the go-ahead for the project by Square Enix due to his experience with platforming and action titles, but was told it was his *"one chance" with the genre with them"* Guys I think he fucked up big time.
@@coolyeh1017 No. Shun Nakamura was in charge of Sonic 06'. But Yuji Naka did direct the first Sonic Adventure and also some of the Sonic games for the Megadrive/Genesis.
Well, yeah. Why would you buy your kid an old 4 year old game that was made for an old system, when you can get the latest release of 2021? Plus isn’t Zelda from the 80s? Balan is new and fresh.
Apparently they put the story, you know the most important part of most video games in a separate book that people also have to buy. Which is one of the dumbest business decisions that I have seen for a new game.
What makes this funny is how other games have done this but they actually dont make anyone angry like Balan does. Like Nier's full story is hidden across different books, drama CD's and Japanese plays. But no one is complaining because the games already have a big story on their own. Balan has very littlw story so releasing it as a separate thing is terrible and stupid.
Well, I don't know if it is completely random or not, but if it was on a timer like, it switched every 10 seconds, then it'd be fine... no, who am I kidding, it's just plain dumb.
the devs punish you for getting a powerup, wtf is that game design choice?? and apparently the cube is the default cube from unreal engine when you start a project
if you didn't know, the final boss of this game used to cause seizures. it has been patched something after the incident. so, basically before they fixed the issue, whenever the boss did an attack (which was that one attack where it removes part of the floor if i remember correctly) the screen would start flashing pretty quickly for a short time. there is a video out there that was recorded before it was patched, but i would avoid watching it if you suffer from epilepsy.
I feel like the only person who looked at all the promotional materials and the only thing I walked away with afterward was thinking it was called "Balan Wonderland".
"People worked really hard on it." I can guarantee you that those people got paid and don't give a fuck about the product after it's been released. I've worked in the industry. I did my job, got paid, the game was released, then I got moved onto the next project and I forgot all about the previous one.
I can’t speak for the balan sections or the level design, but I have a few ideas on how to fix the costumes: 1. Two buttons- one jump and one attack AT THE LEAST 2. Relegate mobility to hats and attacks to costumes; this would allow the abilities to stay simple but create depth in a mix-and-match system 3. Don’t tie abilities to hp: once you have it, you have it. Or: go the LEGO star wars approach and have a free play mode where, once you beat a stage, you can replay it with whatever costumes you want instead of just what’s in the level proper
Even Kirby moved on from the third point. Used to be that if you got hit, Kirby would drop whatever copy power he had, nowadays he has to take about 1/3 of his health bar or a really big hit to lose a copy ability.
I hate how the annoying fox thing could have a clear visual cue that notified you it's about to act up and be a fun handicap on a level, but instead is just.. "I receive your time and effort, you receive random box powerup".
Oh boy, I remember when people shat all over Yooka-Laylee for having far fewer problems than this. I mean, at least in Yooka-Laylee, you could see the devs were actually trying, whereas in this, it's just... godawful. I played the demo, and while I can definitely see more redeeming qualities than you did, I still agree that it is absolutely a mess. And not the good kind of mess.
The book shows just how much they kinda screwed up here too. Stuff like what parts of the heart you are finding for these people and the set up as to why all of them besides Streetbeat and Fighter turned into monsters would have added slight. And that’s not to mention all the cutscenes after the dancing that show them recovered in the real world doesn’t actually happen till after you beat the game so it comes off like you freed them and then they somehow came back just to help and dance with you when there was no reason to even fight Lance as no one was trapped in there anymore.
Some people just really feel entitled to say a game is shit for not making good on development promises over however long and over fixable.things like bugs and glitches. It feels like the equivalent of saying the game is bad and devs lied on promises when the actual gameplay isn't in 4k UHD like the "Cinematic trailers". Like not all bad games are equal, and all devs don't deserve equal amounts of hate when some.do worse than others. This game is atrocious, from the two vids I've seen of it and even more insulting that they're selling it at the Triple A price of $60, but someone is comparing it to Cyberpunk and 5hats not fair to cyberpunk.
The problem with Yooka-Laylee was that it was made by professionals and it felt like it was made by indie devs that barely started making games. And they hyped it too much.
@@braziliantsar nah it’s cause they didn’t “use the advances for 3D platformers since Banjo Kazooie” as reviewers put it. Game itself has a lot of filler pages to reach that 125 total and allow for 100 needed to finish the game, and has too many quiz segments because of the kick starter itself. But it’s otherwise the same as their old games and because the 3D platformers isn’t actually a genre anymore it was seen as a relic of the past since you are either Crash/Sonic with being a 3D side scroller game or Mario who abandoned the concept to just reward the player for any little thing and no hub worlds. Anything else is ripping them off at this point and compared to them. Hence Yooka Laylee being seen as bad cause it’s not as good as Mario Galaxy. Even Hat in Time was only Mario Sunshine for one level then abandoned that to be a different sort of 3D platformer in each world
@FuckOuttaHere well the game was heavily monitored by sega, they made BRB make drastic changes to the game Midway during its development, and used an engine that clearly could not be handled by the Wii U. so I'd say it's still segas fault
In my opinion Sega has made games better than Nintendo, Jet Set Radio Future is much better than Splatoon 2. Billy Hatcher is better than Mario Sunshine. (NO HATE JUST OPINION) JET SET RADIO 3 PLEASE SEGA Edit: It's opinion
That's a major reason the game is a scam. The only thing that looks good is what they have on the front of the box. If someone didn't research the game but saw it at the store then they'd probably buy it. I almost actually did but decided not to because the store had it locked up so I couldn't look at the back.
Judging by the one-button scheme and the slow as fuck movement, I'm pretty sure Balan Wonderworld was meant for smartphones lol and scope changed halfway through developments
I don’t get parents and grandparents always accidentally buying shitty games, growing up whenever it was birthdays or Christmas and I was going to get a fame as a present, my mum would always make me make a list of all the game’s I liked the look of so they could pick from them
I know my mum didn’t want me to know what she was getting me so if I made a list of games I wanted it would completely ruin the surprise. However, she was smart enough to see that I liked call of duty and one year she got the newest one for me for Christmas. But she rarely bought me games, and that was probably why.
Whoa wait.... So I never considered this before but the whole deal where parents and grandparents are tricked into buying bad games (or movies etc) is probably actually mostly gone away. It was a thing back in the 80s and 90s when video games (and home video really) were a lot newer as a concept and people like me and the people who are making most of the content today were kids. However, the kids who got the crappy games back then are a lot of the parents today and we know better. Like, if my kid wants Assassin's Creed: The Newest One for $60, I know that Killer's Creed: Shovelware Adventures for $9.99 is not an acceptable substitute and is literally just some marketing crap designed to try and trick me.
this game turned out like the presentation I gotta do for homework but I need to finish it during the bus ride to school since I havent even started yet...
I wish the levels had personality. Li kg w the underwater level being claustrophobic with coral hands trying to grab you to show the fear the water girl had. Or that her final boss wasn't a basic evil fish. Either it's the dolphin trying to drown us or her in the hospital bed lashing out.
@@shadeskitsune7830 well, let's see what the mod community can do. The game is alot if missed potential and modders love to mess with missed potential.
@@unfunnyguy1530 Dude rayman origins is just like, the best. Like theres so many interesting ideas in every level, completely unbelievable how good that game is
SQuare is really bipolar with their products. Sure you have games of infinite delays like FFXV, FFVIIR or KHIII and despite their flaws people can at least say they are complete games that are average or semi-above average (I know KHIII Limit Cut redeemed the battle system) and some offer free DLC. You also have FFXIV which was literally nuked by Bahamut and then became one of the most popular MMORPGs (props to Yoshi P. for redeeming a game). They also publish a lot of other games, I think they suffer from a case of being too big and corporate stuff going on.
@@coolyeh1017 That's because FF is their flagship franchise and it's guaranteed to sell, even FFXIII which is the most critically panned series managed to pull decent numbers. Balan's a platformer a genre they are no familiar with at it shows because when they _ok'ed_ the proyect they said the staff that it was their only chance to pull it of. And from what I've seen/read this flop is not on the suits for once, more like the staff plain just didn't knew what they were doing.
Even 3D All-Stars, which I think should be $30 at most *(as with every game on all platforms, even if it's full and new)* is actually much more worth the $60 than this. At least the games in the collection utilize the buttons well and have strategy, along with being more responsive than XLC.
@@BaxsStudios Mario 3D All Stars Collection was "limited time release" _voluntarily_ by Nintendo. They basically did this because they wanted people to buy it as quickly as possible. It's another in a series of anti-consumer moves.
I can't wait for Matt's inevitable "Wha Happun?" video on this. I need to know what happened with this. The whole one button thing and the balan sections make this feel like a bad Chinese knock off mobile game version of whatever the real game is.
@@mavrickindigo and Honkai Impact 3rd. MiHoYo is the only Chinese dev I will ever respect. Most just make obvious clones of other apps (namely Clash of Clans) or terrible MMOs and make terrible, cringy, often sexist ads of them which they post everywhere on the internet. At least MoHoYo makes actual GAMES, even if they're all FTP gachas filled with microtransations anyways.
This should have been an open word game mixed with puzzles all around the town where you would have to help others with their dreams by traveling to different towns and completing quests
Minus the dreams part, there's already a game like that: A Hat in Time. Let me explain. Three of the four main worlds (Mafia Town, Subcon Forest, and _especially_ Alpine Skyline) are open-ended, and even the close-ended levels (Dead Bird Studio and Time's End) are enjoyable. You solve puzzles to both complete quests and obtain collectibles (such as yarn to stitch hats that give you new powers) And don't even get me started on the bosses; whereas Balan Wonderworld's bosses might as well not exist, A Hat in Time has such memorable bosses that it'd be hard to imagine the game without them.
My Friend Please... Please for the hope of gamers of the future build a strong game. Cause apparently dev teams now days in big wig corps are too afraid to take risks
This is not just a case of quantity over quality, its a case of looks over gameplay. Visually the games art design and aesthetics look appealing, but gameplay wise it just does a piss poor job.
Its like those mobile games where they show you super cool art and cinematics and then they hit you with the awful gameplay. Isn't league of legends like that? Showing super epic battles between this super cool looking characters and then the gameplay is nothing like that?
On Balan Wonderworld, what I think happened here is actually pretty simple. It's what I used to call the Spielberg effect: When Spielberg made a good movie, studios release their controls on him thinking he learned the lesson. Spielberg then makes a bad movie, and Studios tighten controls gain, resulting in a good movie. To bring that back to Balan, the last time Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima collaborated was Sonic Adventure in 1998. So take a moment and look back at the problems that that game had - the clunky controls, camera-boss, the one-trick characters, the poor storytelling (The only computer that's powerful enough to crack this is in the President's Limo!)... yeah. A big part of how Sonic Adventure got so big back then despite all of these flaws was because it was a new thing, those were problems common to the 3D adventure platformer genre back then. But nowadays most devs know better. But these two went back on what they know from the last time they worked together, and went for that same standard. Normally when a game is going as off the rails as this one did, one of two things happens: either the publisher steps in and say "no, this isn't going to fly", or one of the underlings does - The first one didn't happen because of how Square Enix does business when working with "legendary" directors and designers, they basically give them a budget and keys to the animation studio and say "have at" - this usually works out well for them. No underling stepped up because of Japanese business culture - you don't challenge your boss, especially if they are "legendary". I believe Yuji Naka is in the same boat as Spielburg - he has a fantastic vision and a lot of ideas, but can't tell the good ideas from the bad ones and needs a team that can filter for him, and in this case he had too much control, and no producer oversight. We see the same thing elsewhere, when we have people or products where "every other one is good" - see Microsoft and Windows, Woody Allen movies, etc.
That's also what happened with George Lucas. Oh, the Star Wars trilogy was a huge hit! Lets make a prequel, just make sure no one touches the genius at work! Star Wars Episode 1 was George Lucas unleashed. Nobody going to question him.
@@toaster4975 no it isn't stupid it's literally saving alot of people money and time, im glad you enjoyed it but Alot of people who was gonna buy it most likely wasn't. If a majority of the reviews on youtube are saying this game is bad than it most likely is going to be bad to the rest of the consumers that are not youtubers, so these reviews are really helpful And also just because youtubers have a different opinion than you doesn't make it stupid it's just that you might have different tastes than him and that's okay. If you enjoyed balan that's great and I'm sure Alot of people do but a majority of people who wanted to buy this have really high standards for a 3D platformer and this just isn't it so videos like these are just letting them know ahead of time to not get their hopes up.
@@ChiGuyGaming It is an outrage. And yet, I fully expect Square Enix knew this was gonna happen anyway. Part of this was Yuji’s, but most of it falls on Square’s perspective of games that aren’t their babies or driven by Nomura. If it ain’t those, they mostly won’t grant a delay. It didn’t help he was given the C Team that did Hey Pikmin. It all just points on how gaming is viewed to those suits who think that this can get away at 60 dollars. You can tell the devs REALLY wanted this game to be good, I can’t deny that. It’s just...this has been Square’s mindset for over 20 years.
The fox box makes the Spring Mushroom look fun and innovative. It might even be worse than the Star Ball levels with motion controls. Edit: Still better than the bubble though....God I hate that bubble
@@Kingdom850 "wasn't that bad" when you get to to the challenge stages in galaxy and the game requires you to use that ability and platform over bottomless pits with precision that shit will be a nightmare.
@@ultimate8948 i 100% both galaxy one and 2 and i don't remmeber having issues with the spring mushroom, unless i'm misremembering. cause that was a long time ago
I’ve been replaying Galaxy (3D All-Stars), and I didn’t have much issue with the Spring Mushroom. All I had were two or three mistimed jumps, but nothing that made me wanna throw my Joy-Cons.
@@theminecraft2516 I'm eager to figure out what happened Some of these game design choices are so jarring I honestly wanna know what they were going for or why they thought it'd be fun
I feel like no one is talking about the animation in this game. Like, look at 1:19, what the shit is that running animation? And when you get new costumes, It looks like a default Unreal engine dance
Im at a loss for words at the Fox Box power up. This game was not made by some starter indie dev...it was made a veteran,the people who made sonic no less. Why did they thought a power up like that would even be fun!? Even a child could tell that a "power up" that makes you lose control of your character at random was a bad idea.
Okay. I have an explanation for the absence of your jump while wearing costumes. The devs came to the point where they saw that you could easily break the game with the costume powers AND the jump . And instead of fixing the game and changing the world they just said "fuck it" and disabled your jump.
I didn't fall for it even when it was announced. Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima's studios "Prope" and "Arzest" are both Bargain Bin game developers who never made a single truly great game since their establishment. No, not even "Rodea The Sky Solder" on Wii was great, only "good" at best. And neither of them have been relevant for a VERY long time. Nostalgia can only do so much.
"Box Fox: A fox magician that randomly turns himself into box"... I'm actually angry that something like that exists in a game for $60. What the hell were they thinking?
@@justianfox64 Sega didn't make this, Square Enix did so they wouldn't have the rights LUCKILY. Sega should just make Billy Hatcher HD Remake and Jet Set Radio Future HD.
I mean, looking at the 3D sonic games, i see where this game came from A project with a solid amount of work riddled with obviously bad decisions that they clearly didn't even care to test
@@rompevuevitos222 Yeah considering after SA2 where things went, its probably no mystery. Heck the time after his left was probably the devs still gaining experience.
@@DarkArtistKaiser I'm actually including SA 1 and 2 the first one had awful camera, stiff physics and levels which where better off being removed entirely (without mentioning the disgusting animations that weren't low quality, but just actively worse than nothing at all) SA2 fixed a lot, but most levels are unfun and too simple, specially the mech levels, even for the time it didn't accomplish much
Fans after the demo: DELAY THE GAME! DELAY THE GAME! Square: What’s that? Release the game? Well, let’s do it! We gotta release it while the hype is up!
Fox Box sounds like it should have been a joke reward you get for 100%ing the game so you can replay it from the beginning with an extra challenge. What puzzles can that even solve?
Ok so hers my idea for the story of this game, not might be the best, but I like it more: So basically, same idea of you going around, fixing others problems, but you have some of your own. Instead of being a small child you are a teenage girl, and you have to take care of your brother after you parents died or something. You tend to push things too far, doing everything for him and not doing much for yourself, and always feel like you are not enough. So.. this whole "Balans Wonderworld" thing seems like a breath of fresh air. You quickly get back into the scheme of helping out others as Balan orders, but you don't really mind. The world's are pretty, and it's a ok. As the game goes along, the levels get more challenging and warped, as represented by your mental fatigue, and Balan gets more crude and pushy. Still, you do what you are ask. Little cutscenes through the story reveal more and more about your own story, and your clients that you help,, their struggles begin to mirror your own as it goes along,, with each one getting harder to surmount.. Eventually, at the "last" level Balan asks you to do something you just can't, and as you confront him you realize he is your own personal demon you must confront, and he becomes the final battle. Said battle would be multitudes more difficult than the rest if the battles,, but possible to overcome if you used tactics introduced in every other stage that was unique to that stage.. Afterwards you leave, hang out with your brother, and treat yourself a little better. Or something like that isk
I'm tempted to play the demo just to get a taste (and also masochism), but that's where I'd stop. It's a shame... this game looked so promising and I was really excited when I saw the character designs.
It bothers me how they called the wolf that spins the “tornado wolf” when they could’ve called “whirl wolf” or something with alliteration like ALL THE OTHER COSTUMES
@@SGNRyan I swear it's some psychology thing... people seem magnetically attracted to disagreeing with each other. Anywhere that one group is making a statement against something, almost like magic, random other people will appear to defend it. Sometimes I don't think they even care for or know about what they're defending, they just don't like to see something under attack with no representation, I guess?
@@Loctorak --- I hope they start praising it, but *Ironically* like with Town with No Name or Limbo of the Lost (in the "so bad, it's good" rather than "it's actually hidden gem"), and not unironically.
People are retroactively defending Sonic 06 in a similar fashion. "If only it was polished a bit more it had so much potential". You can polish a turd all day long, it'll still be a turd.
I remember people saying this game was going to change gaming. This game should had been $15-20 dollars max for a indle title. This is the biggest scam since Kill La Kill IF when it came out at full price of $60, and that game could had actually been good.
Wasn't kill la kill IF actually good tho? Definitely not 60$ but this trash should be free, or not even exist. Don't even compare kill la kill IF to balan shit world, its a whole other league
@@iansantiago6526 In my opinion I think Kill La Kill If is the best arena fighter since ever. Definitely better than Jump Force, but unfortunately it never caught on and the game died because of it. Feels bad man.
@@ChiGuyGaming ChiGuy, if it makes you feel any better, this is faring more or less the same on other consoles. Some better, some worst, and all commercial flops.
@@ChiGuyGaming how did nintendo do anything? Nintendo didn't create this game this whole video is filled with miss information because of that for starters it was even announced at a xbox event.
How hard is it to just use two buttons? This is a platformer. There is no excuse to replace your jump command with a single gimmick when you can just assign the most basic skill of any game in the genre, jumping, to a different, constant button.
1:46 this game is not just your average turd it's a putrid Ransom disgusting turd that sits in a truck stop bathroom for thousands of years till even the flies won't go near it
I think dunkey summed it up best when he said "it started out as an actual video game, then they realized they wouldn't have enough time to actually make it good, so the devs started trolling each other and putting in these shitty power-ups, and then it just became contest of who can make the shittiest power-up imaginable."
The person who made the box power up 100% won
@@MrCheezyBoi tbf at least it makes you invincible. What exactly did the lantern one do tho?
@@RoyGuyManDude uh make the area around you slightly less dark?
@@novalis2688 exactly, practically nothing. It's debatable which one is worse.
I remember that lol
You know what's the worst part of this game? Yuji Naka specifically made the game a 1-button control scheme "because kids would get confused with multiple buttons". That's how little Balan thinks of its player.
Sounds alot like modern sonic, aside from the boost button. Sounds like they simplified an already overly simple concept.
Words can't describe how fucking disappointed I am with Yuji Naka right now
Even when I was part of that demographic, I didn't get confused with multiple buttons. This is thanks to games having tutorials, so kids *will* understand using multiple buttons.
Edit: Thank you guys for giving this comment more than 200 likes, which is very suprising for what I usually comment. You guys can check me out if you'd like.
@@andrewcosmicanimations8709 not really. Modern sonic is more complex than adventure sonic. Adventure sonic has run, jump, spin dash, roll, and homing attack. Excluding power ups. Modern sonic has boost, homing attack, air dash, quickstep, slide, kick, duck, stomp, light dash, and drift.
@@chainsaw8507 Running around at the speed of sound with Sonic is more fun of course
I like how “box fox” is literally just the default cube in unreal engine with a little hat on top
Wait really😭
Yeah 100% it’s the untextured default cube in whatever software they’re using
Bruh!
You're shitting me
bruh ☠️☠️☠️
Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to create a power up where you can just randomly lose control of your character and fall off a cliff and die?
Oh if you thought that was all, said not moving state also ENDS at complete random. This means if you're unlucky, you fall to your doom and you can't do anything about it because the game won't let the powerup's bullshit end!
That’s the complete opposite of a powerup
This entire power up sounds like the game my friend made as a joke.
TO BE FAIR, you still have 3 costumes accessible to you at any time, so the idea is to only put on the costume when you really need it. Its not like you're stuck with it unless you equip 3 of them for some reason.
Game still sucks though, and the powerup is still dumb.
@@hugoslugehugo405
ALL of the powerups in this game feel like there was a competition to make the worst power ups in a video game imaginable.
"Okay, the player can shoot fireballs, but only like 2 feet in front of them".
"That's good. How about this, the player can go through walls, but only very thin ones, thin to the point that parts of the specially designed walls the player can go through with it are still too thick"
"Got you one better. The player can extend a jump, but doing so adjusts momentum in such a way that the jump grants literally zero extra vertical or horizontal clearance, it just takes longer"
"Well how about this. The player randomly loses control of the character, and slides in the direction they were moving, for a random length of time."
"Genius"
you know it's tragic when people BEGGED the higher-ups to delay the game so it could be better
Yeah it's really sad. It had the potential to be something really interesting. It honestly needs like one more year or so of development. Maybe more.
@@guthetanuki256 If powerup actions were separate from the jump button, I could see more people saying the game is okay. But honestly there are bigger issues then what might be feasible in a year. They would have been better off with 10-15 fully realized multi-purpose powerups than 80 half-baked ones.
Not even that.
It’s not even underdeveloped the entire foundation of it bad.
If anything It would need to be scrapped and redeveloped from the ground up
@@guthetanuki256 Imagine how they would have told every story in 2023
@@seacliff217 And the same 13 bosses?
It sucks that AAA devs will say "oh well Balan Wonderland sold poorly I guess puzzle platformers are bad again let's cancel our planned one"
They probably only made the game like this to not do it again because they probably don’t want to
It’s Wonderworld, but remembering that probably isn’t worth the brain cells.
Good, it's the lowest form of video game with hidden object games
@@aughhaughhaughh Idk Chief, I wouldnt consider Portal to be the lowest form of video game, neither would i consider Fez, Trine, Oddworld, VVVVV or Celeste to be as low.
Imagine considering platformers the lowest form of video game when babysitting games exist.
he turned himself into a box, funniest shit I've ever seen.
That is funny. Especially since it’s completely random
Whats even the point if that costume?
@@karenlinares7541 someone hated themselves and decided it was a good idea.
I think the box fox was, like, one of the first “powerups” they made, maybe to test how the character with a costume could turn into something else; In 3D games we usually use cubes to test things like movement, collision, etc, without using actual assets,
I think while in testing some higher-up saw the character turning into a box, found it funny and it turned into a inside joke, and because they were unprofessional the joke got into the game.
As for the reason for the strange combination of fox and box I think it’s literally because the names rhyme and nothing else, Just a lame pun, if there’s a stereotype of Japanese developers that I know is that they like puns a little too much :p
WOOO, YEA BABY
This game and Cyberpunk 2077 are prime reasons why you shouldn't assume a game's quality based solely on who's developing it.
Cyberpunk is great it just shouldn’t be released for original Xbox one I played it one on one x flawlessly and the series x absolutely no problems
Also Mighty No.9...did people not learn that good games take a whole team to make and that one industry legend will not make a good game on their own lol
History always repeats itself, man.
That's true, but also the time release is a factor here. The devs of Cyberpunk knew it was really rushed but the bosses kept pushing them to release it soon, and became a mess of a game because of the lack of time to polish.
Don't know if this game would have been better or not, but at least there would have been time to reconsider things or listen feedback from the demo.
okay but cyberpunk was honestly lowkey good,,,,, like if they fix the glitches and shit it could be really really good
I lost it at “this girl gets into a fight with her dolphin and they break up...you know... because that happens to all of us.”
Imagine spiraling into depression over getting hit in the face with a dolphin, it feels so random and out of place.
@@void9322
It would make more sense if it was a person
It would make sense if the dolphin died or the lady got some disease that stopped her from swimming for some reason.
@@void9322 also the fact the boss looks like a octopus which made no sense about the dolphin
@@13thKingMu it's doesn't even look like a dolphin 💀 it gave off major Ursala vibes while looking like a small shark🤨
My kid brother was smart, he played the demo and hated it.
Said the graphics were terrible, the player character moved too slow and that he hated how every button was jump.
Glad he learned to dodged a $60 bullet.
U brother smart
Give him a medal of honor
My daughter is smart. I'm smart. We both like the game. Art is subjective.
Toaster so what? it’s your opinion your saying what we say doesn’t matter because u claim ur smart smart people would know how to accept an opinion 😓
@@sylodui They claimed they were smart. I was saying that we were also smart. They were claiming being smart makes you dislike this game. I said art is subjective which pushes the idea of tolerating the opinion of others.
You are literally bitching at the wrong person here. Bitch at the OP for being close-minded.
thank god there was a demo for this so I knew not to buy it
Hey there bowblax, didn't know you were into games.
Hi Bowblax I didn’t know you were into games even though your name is a reference from two different games
Bowblax! Hey!
Thanks to the demo I canceled my preorder.
Thanks for the warning Square :p
I bought it anyway.
“Mom, can we get A Hat In Time?”
“No, we have A Hat In Time at home.”
A Hat In Time at home:
A hat in time did everything right what balan did wrong.
Well designed levels
Amazing controls for all skill levels
All power ups have good uses
And only cost not even half the price of balans wonderworld
😭
@@sjoerdderks4731 Tell that to Choctopus. He called it "janky" from what I've heard.
I loved AHIT so much
A hat in time is awesome even though I have never played it.
This game makes Mighty No. 9 look like a worthy successor to MegaMan.
Probably because at least in that game you aren't limited to one action aside from walking.
Geez, leave something left for the coroner
It makes you look like an anime fan of prom night
What about Yooka-Laylee?
To be fair, Mighty No. 9 was mostly a tale of a small indie studio being too ambitious and getting in so far over its head it found itself using deep-sea anglerfish as makeshift flashlights. Had it had a bigger dev team and more time, Mighty No. 9 had the potential to be a lot better than what it ended up becoming.
This game, on the other hand, is hot steaming garbage even at a conceptual level. _Nobody_ should have green-lit this mess, least of all freaking _Square-Enix._
When you buy A Hat In Time on the Deep Web:
even the deep web has standarts
@@An_Entire_Lime True.
A Hat in Time but GfB made it in two says whilst sleep-deprived
A time in hat
A Hat In Time combined with oddesy
To quote Angry Joe:
“Better games have been canned and never released.”
@ArtBuffalo There was a Thousand year door 2?
@ArtBuffalo half life 2 episode 3?
@ArtBuffalo metroid dread is coming out October
@ArtBuffalo We got mario galaxy at least
For anyone who has a Nintendo Switch and wants to play this game in _some_ capacity... _JUST PLAY THE FREE DEMO_
Ironically the demo is probably the worst marketing/financial decision they coulda made 🤣
Its fun my because the demo is probably the most fun you'd have in this game. You can make fun of it before if gets old
Haha no
I wouldn't even bother doing that...waste of time
Sooo Sonic 2006 doesn’t have a demo, only an Xbox Live one that got DELISTED. I don’t know how much this game costs yet digitally because I haven’t checked the 360 and the marketplace is being useless. And at least THAT game costed less later on (like 40 or 20 dollar) the game’s lifetime for digital. I don’t know if it makes Sonic 2006 better, but Balan looks boring anyway.
A mobile game that somehow passed as a console game, without changing the mobile imposed control schemes.
And somehow didn't stick to mobile games pricing
I seen mobile games with better controls than this
Fucking Roblox on mobile, provides more fun and better gameplay than this
Oh, didn't thought about that, it seems rly plausible
@@cookieblobber I’m wondering if this implies that mobile roblox is bad or if i’m missing something
@@cookieblobber This game is probably more inline with one of those one-touch control scheme mobile games lol
This makes you realize how good decision it was for Metroid developers to restart the entire Metroid Prime 4 project from scratch because they feel like it wasn't up to their standards
“This one girl like gets ina fight with her dolphin and they break up????” LMAO WHAT
I know that dolphin. Guys such a player.
Dolphins are creatures from hell
It's more like the dolphin attempts to murder her and they make up after you beat the boss
... Echo?
@@averagebars8867 and make out
It disappointed me because I really like some of the character designs.
Ok your comment gets a like because TRUE!! And Oshawott is best pokèmon.
agreed so hard
@@adamenio5397 yes
The character designs and the boss cutscenes are what got me interested in the game to begin with. I’m not gonna play it, which is a shame. I wish the devs took a lead out of NSR’s book and delayed the game until it was really ready to play. As someone else put it in a different comment: “this game is all style, no substance.”
Remember kids: good art != automatically good game. It's a component, but without the rest of the parts, it ain't shit.
i'm pretty sure the $60 is for them to pay the animators that worked for the trailer
The trailer itself had twice the budget of the entire game
Reminds me of mobile games ads
Putting out a demo was both the best and worst possible thing for this game.
Edit: Now the demos being pulled for some mysterious reason.
No it was the best. The demo helped make sure you dont get scamed
At least they where honest with the Demo, didn't pull the usual "Don't show the bad parts during the demo"
Altho i doubt they even had time to pull that off
Developers out here thinking they can increase sales by not giving anyone a chance to see it in game before buying
You know a game is bad when the demo is being pulled. Lol, wow.
it feels like the entire game’s budget went to the art/cutscene/modeling teams and the gameplay/programming side of the game was given $5 and one week to make a full game
woah fancy seeing you here
That fox box wizard is hilarious and a good sign that the devs thought this would end up becoming a bad game halfway through and so they started meming.
Its a bad game but a great shitpost
Because of the way how it looks and it's controls, I strongly believe it was meant to be a mobile game but they decided they could totally just make it into a full release.
With some polish it be a good mobile game
@@juliohinojosa6923 yeah, for the original iPhone
why didnt they keep it as mobile game? I mean this type of one click no brainer stuff definitely would attract mobile gamers, and it probably would pass for 4.3 star on the store
That's 100% true. This was originally a mobile gsmd6
Fun fact: The team that helped make this game is also responsible for Yoshi's New Island.
Suddenly, it makes more sense that this game is an absolute train wreck.
i liked yoshi's new island but judging from the gameplay here this is fucking awful
The Yoshi games sticking to are:
Yoshi's Island (SNES & GBA)
Yoshi Story
Yoshi's Island DS
I did not like Yoshi's Wooly World and I'm not planning on buying Yoshi's Crafted World.
@@Kim-py3iv That's a shame you didn't like Wooly World, I would rank it 2nd with it not being too far behind the original. Crafted World is a lesser version of Wooly World but still enjoyable. I wanted to like Yoshi's Island DS but upon playing it recently during another play through it reminded me how bad the level design really is in that game let alone trying to 100% it is a nightmare. The first two or three worlds aren't bad and standard stuff but later on everything is cranked up to a level that makes it unenjoyable, from tediously switching the babies, collectables, etc. I could only see someone enjoying Yoshi Story for the sake of nostalgia, but is otherwise okay. Yoshi's New Island is just uninspiring with it being an okay experience at best if you never played a game in the series. Touch n Go and Topsy Turvy being experimental will make your millage vary depending on your impressions.
Also from the Same guy who was Behind Sonic 06 and Shadow the Hegehog
@@Kim-py3iv Wooly world is better than crafted world
Haven't played it, never would of. I'd assume it would be a game for kids based on how it looks.
Based on the video, the disappearing characters when you get close to them looks so annoying to me.
It makes the levels feel so empty and souless. How mario odysseys worlds actually felt like the npcs lived in them this just has these npcs doing a copy and pasted dance over and over again until you go up to them and they disappear. Wtf kind of design choice is that?
The looks of the game were conceptually pretty nice. I liked it. Reminds me nights and sonic and a bit of rayman. But like he said. Performance and such. Ass
Suitable for kids doesn't mean just for kids. There's plenty of games with cute graphics that are punishing as hell.
TvTropes described it as "possibly the first example of reverse draw distance" (paraphrased) and they're right.
I'm assuming that (within the context of the game) it's because it's in a dream world and they're figments of imagination or whatever.
However, in real life outside of the game, it's probably because the devs couldn't actually be bothered to give those characters collision models or figure out how to stop the player madly clipping into them. So they just made the characters vanish instead..... what a mess.
"This other girl... gets in a fight with her... dolphin? And they break up... which, y'know happens to the best of us."
Yeah, i remember the time I got into a fight with my friendly wildlife Koala and it resulted in turning into a horrific abomination that some kids had to fight. A relatable tale...
How that lady gets over her fear is hilarious. She deduces that _her reliance on an Air Tank was the cause of her problems, _*_and trains herself to swim without it!_*
@@blackheartzerotheundergrou3225 If i had to guess, that gets explained in the novel. Which then begs the question; *Why even put emphasis on the dolphin if it had nothing to do with the solution?*
Hah, I do that.
jotaro moment
This is one of those rare games I wouldn’t mind calling bad without even playing it.
I love zombies
@@rain1676 same, zombies are quite cool
And this game is why i live by the phrase "Your hard work is apreciated but if it's shit it's shit"
As if you can even call this game a product of hard work...
@@ikarainijirai You know it's badly done if my friends rather buy Mass Effect Andromeda then this. I mean I know the company made dumb choices with that game too but at least Andromeda is playable.... I mean I'd honestly play any other bad made game and they would be a thousand times better and actually have more hard work in them compared to this
Why, WHY, WHY DOES THIS LOOK LIKE AN ALPHA?! The cinematics, the trailers, the previews looked so damn promising. Wth?!
That's because those things are designed that way in order to fool you into buying a shitty product
Why not just make it a show instead at that point, if the cinematics is the one thing they're actually putting effort into
@ --- what I heared the cinematics we're made by different studio.
me thinks the same things too...
the cinematics looks so fucking good, though the plot of these animations are
uhh
well here is a boy, he does a cool breakdance, some kids see this and praise him but he just walks off
The overall plot of the game is something about losing heart and depression and that stuff but- I have no clue how it's true to that premise
he just leaves after being told "hey nice dance dude" as if he was fucking bullied there by these kids
It is so sad that this game is so trashy, because Balan looks really great as a character and the idea behind this game is also cute. I would totally play it, if it would be better...this game could have been really fantastic.
Omg the difference between the cute scene and the actual gameplay. OH MY GOD.
It kinda makes me sick like it’s eye candy and once you get the awful textures it’s so ugh
They would probably make more by making animated movies than a game
Okay, but the suddenly turning into an uncontrollable box is hilarious. Like a final fy from the devs.
It's like they saw the sleep ability in Kirby and thought "how can we make this more obnoxious?"
@@FizzieWebb At least the sleeping part of the sleep ability didn't kick in and kick out randomly, *and* you could you get out of it whenever you wanted when Kirby falls asleep.
Hell, in Kirby Squeak Squad, it could heal you, and in Kirby Battle Royale, you could preform *actual attacks* with it.
"Naka was given the go-ahead for the project by Square Enix due to his experience with platforming and action titles, but was told it was his *"one chance" with the genre with them"*
Guys I think he fucked up big time.
As a Sonic fan and a fan of his previous work, I wouldn't be surprised if Square Enix fires him.
Wasn't he was in charge of Sonic '06 and a few Sonic games in the early 2000s?
@@coolyeh1017 No. Shun Nakamura was in charge of Sonic 06'. But Yuji Naka did direct the first Sonic Adventure and also some of the Sonic games for the Megadrive/Genesis.
Oh, ya *_think?!_*
Some kid got this game over breath of the wild for his/her bday. R.i.p
Well, yeah. Why would you buy your kid an old 4 year old game that was made for an old system, when you can get the latest release of 2021? Plus isn’t Zelda from the 80s? Balan is new and fresh.
@@lh9591 because it is fun lol
TheKingK I’m being sarcastic
@@lh9591 to be sarcastic in text you need to use “” because people cannot hear your voice in text and because this is the internet.
Over Celeste and hallow knight
Apparently they put the story, you know the most important part of most video games in a separate book that people also have to buy. Which is one of the dumbest business decisions that I have seen for a new game.
I thought this was a joke, but the story is physical dlc.
What makes this funny is how other games have done this but they actually dont make anyone angry like Balan does. Like Nier's full story is hidden across different books, drama CD's and Japanese plays. But no one is complaining because the games already have a big story on their own. Balan has very littlw story so releasing it as a separate thing is terrible and stupid.
a book? as in a literal book? did i hear that right?
THEY PUT THE STORY OF THE GAME?? ON A BOOK SEPERATE TO THE GAME??
MAN!! It just keeps getting worse!
@@rompevuevitos222 yep, it's called balan wonderworld: maestro of mystery and its a digital exclusive
‘Mom can we get Mario?’
‘We have Mario at home’
*mario at home*
oof
it's a me, balabortion!
I'd get myself emancipated.
FINALLY THIS MEME WORKS THANK YOUUU
The Kid: This isn't Mario.
That Box Wizard *actually* gives you a reason to blame the game and not yourself because you had ZERO controll over your fate
Actually you should blame yourself
For purchasing Balan Wonderworld
*You will now be turned into a box. Do not resist.*
Well, I don't know if it is completely random or not, but if it was on a timer like, it switched every 10 seconds, then it'd be fine... no, who am I kidding, it's just plain dumb.
the devs punish you for getting a powerup, wtf is that game design choice?? and apparently the cube is the default cube from unreal engine when you start a project
Why would so,some put a manga concept in a video game?? They're two types of art
if you didn't know, the final boss of this game used to cause seizures. it has been patched something after the incident. so, basically before they fixed the issue, whenever the boss did an attack (which was that one attack where it removes part of the floor if i remember correctly) the screen would start flashing pretty quickly for a short time. there is a video out there that was recorded before it was patched, but i would avoid watching it if you suffer from epilepsy.
So they milk your cash and kill you?
Games going all in for the shutlist
@@lionelk.y7233 yep, pretty much...and this is the first time i've ever seen a game that does that.
Wait, but before it was patched did they even put a warning?? Like at the start of the game or something??
@@account-vp8hs nope, not at all. they were unware that the boss would cause that.
@@commanderpeashooter2247 How... how could you possibly be unaware of something having the possibility to harm consumers in any way?
“You’re probably gonna get a few masochist sales” is such a good line
I felt like laughing and insulted. Even a masochist like me likes good games.
That line came up as soon as I read this comment lmao
I’m thinking about getting this game.
I admit I bought sonic boom just to get a good laugh
Same reason I purchased No Mans Sky, and then I totally fell in love with that game. It's addictive man.
I feel like the only person who looked at all the promotional materials and the only thing I walked away with afterward was thinking it was called "Balan Wonderland".
Same I seriously thought I was taking crazy pills because I swear it was called wonderland in it’s reveal trailer
Same, wonderworld like wtf
Same, just noticed it now
"I shit you not,he turns himself into a box. Funniest shit I've ever seen."
Worst part is they removed the T-poses.
Worst part is they actually released this heap of shit
They probably felt it would have made the game radiate too much dominance.
"People worked really hard on it."
I can guarantee you that those people got paid and don't give a fuck about the product after it's been released.
I've worked in the industry. I did my job, got paid, the game was released, then I got moved onto the next project and I forgot all about the previous one.
Your channel name got me thinking if it's exactly what I think it is 🤔
Not defending the game but that doesn’t mean they didn’t work hard on it.
I work hard at my job, doesn’t mean I care about it. Two different things.
I can’t speak for the balan sections or the level design, but I have a few ideas on how to fix the costumes:
1. Two buttons- one jump and one attack AT THE LEAST
2. Relegate mobility to hats and attacks to costumes; this would allow the abilities to stay simple but create depth in a mix-and-match system
3. Don’t tie abilities to hp: once you have it, you have it. Or: go the LEGO star wars approach and have a free play mode where, once you beat a stage, you can replay it with whatever costumes you want instead of just what’s in the level proper
Even Kirby moved on from the third point. Used to be that if you got hit, Kirby would drop whatever copy power he had, nowadays he has to take about 1/3 of his health bar or a really big hit to lose a copy ability.
Judging from the cutscenes and the actual game play, they must’ve spend all the budget on the cutscenes.
I hate how the annoying fox thing could have a clear visual cue that notified you it's about to act up and be a fun handicap on a level, but instead is just.. "I receive your time and effort, you receive random box powerup".
I've never been annoyed by a game by just watching a review.
Have you?
I don't watch many reviews but this isn't even close to my first time.
So sad to see Yuji Naka falling so hard, the dude is pretty creative but something went terribly wrong here
Judging by the graphics he probably had $2 of budget lol
it doesnt take one big name to make a great game. There's a whole ass team of people who fucked up regardless of how great he was.
@@cajunseasoning1846 exactly
@ArtBuffalo that implies only he made this game......
@ArtBuffalo that isn't similar to this on any way
Balan Wonderworld may have been a bad game, but it was at least Yuji Naka's punishment for leaving Sega and Sonic Team back in 2006
Oh boy, I remember when people shat all over Yooka-Laylee for having far fewer problems than this. I mean, at least in Yooka-Laylee, you could see the devs were actually trying, whereas in this, it's just... godawful.
I played the demo, and while I can definitely see more redeeming qualities than you did, I still agree that it is absolutely a mess. And not the good kind of mess.
The book shows just how much they kinda screwed up here too. Stuff like what parts of the heart you are finding for these people and the set up as to why all of them besides Streetbeat and Fighter turned into monsters would have added slight. And that’s not to mention all the cutscenes after the dancing that show them recovered in the real world doesn’t actually happen till after you beat the game so it comes off like you freed them and then they somehow came back just to help and dance with you when there was no reason to even fight Lance as no one was trapped in there anymore.
True, in Yooka Laylee they wanted to make a good game, and in Yooka Laylee The Impossible Lair you can see that they learned and improved.
Some people just really feel entitled to say a game is shit for not making good on development promises over however long and over fixable.things like bugs and glitches. It feels like the equivalent of saying the game is bad and devs lied on promises when the actual gameplay isn't in 4k UHD like the "Cinematic trailers".
Like not all bad games are equal, and all devs don't deserve equal amounts of hate when some.do worse than others.
This game is atrocious, from the two vids I've seen of it and even more insulting that they're selling it at the Triple A price of $60, but someone is comparing it to Cyberpunk and 5hats not fair to cyberpunk.
The problem with Yooka-Laylee was that it was made by professionals and it felt like it was made by indie devs that barely started making games. And they hyped it too much.
@@braziliantsar nah it’s cause they didn’t “use the advances for 3D platformers since Banjo Kazooie” as reviewers put it. Game itself has a lot of filler pages to reach that 125 total and allow for 100 needed to finish the game, and has too many quiz segments because of the kick starter itself. But it’s otherwise the same as their old games and because the 3D platformers isn’t actually a genre anymore it was seen as a relic of the past since you are either Crash/Sonic with being a 3D side scroller game or Mario who abandoned the concept to just reward the player for any little thing and no hub worlds. Anything else is ripping them off at this point and compared to them.
Hence Yooka Laylee being seen as bad cause it’s not as good as Mario Galaxy. Even Hat in Time was only Mario Sunshine for one level then abandoned that to be a different sort of 3D platformer in each world
Yuji Naka hasn’t been the same since he left Sonic Team. It’s unfortunate how the mighty has fallen...
I think Mac McMuscles did a video on "Sonic Boom." That game was apparently rushed, not just being made by a third party.
@@OmarAlikaj SEGA pushed Big Red Button super hard on sonic boom and even forced them to put it on hardware that the game wasn’t being developed for.
@FuckOuttaHere could’ve gotten adventure remakes if rise of lyric didn’t happen
@FuckOuttaHere well the game was heavily monitored by sega, they made BRB make drastic changes to the game Midway during its development, and used an engine that clearly could not be handled by the Wii U. so I'd say it's still segas fault
In my opinion Sega has made games better than Nintendo, Jet Set Radio Future is much better than Splatoon 2. Billy Hatcher is better than Mario Sunshine. (NO HATE JUST OPINION)
JET SET RADIO 3 PLEASE SEGA
Edit: It's opinion
The game may be bad, but the “balan” guy looks really cool.
only good thing besides the cutscenes
spent all the braincells on the design
That's a major reason the game is a scam. The only thing that looks good is what they have on the front of the box. If someone didn't research the game but saw it at the store then they'd probably buy it. I almost actually did but decided not to because the store had it locked up so I couldn't look at the back.
@ArtBuffalo there is a balan outfit you can get, so you can play as him sort of.
No he doesn’t
Judging by the one-button scheme and the slow as fuck movement, I'm pretty sure Balan Wonderworld was meant for smartphones lol and scope changed halfway through developments
Considering smart phones are their platform of choice you could be on to something.
@@chilomine839 Think about it, 80 costumes is more than enough for a mobile game to either stagger the plot or put the useful ones behind paywalls.
I don’t get parents and grandparents always accidentally buying shitty games, growing up whenever it was birthdays or Christmas and I was going to get a fame as a present, my mum would always make me make a list of all the game’s I liked the look of so they could pick from them
I know my mum didn’t want me to know what she was getting me so if I made a list of games I wanted it would completely ruin the surprise. However, she was smart enough to see that I liked call of duty and one year she got the newest one for me for Christmas. But she rarely bought me games, and that was probably why.
Whoa wait.... So I never considered this before but the whole deal where parents and grandparents are tricked into buying bad games (or movies etc) is probably actually mostly gone away. It was a thing back in the 80s and 90s when video games (and home video really) were a lot newer as a concept and people like me and the people who are making most of the content today were kids.
However, the kids who got the crappy games back then are a lot of the parents today and we know better. Like, if my kid wants Assassin's Creed: The Newest One for $60, I know that Killer's Creed: Shovelware Adventures for $9.99 is not an acceptable substitute and is literally just some marketing crap designed to try and trick me.
@@CeeJayThe13th "Assasins Creed is a good franchise"
Plenty of parents have so little interest in their kids they can't even be bothered to learn what console they have.
@@candrian7 or how old they are or what they like
this game turned out like the presentation I gotta do for homework but I need to finish it during the bus ride to school since I havent even started yet...
I wish the levels had personality. Li kg w the underwater level being claustrophobic with coral hands trying to grab you to show the fear the water girl had. Or that her final boss wasn't a basic evil fish. Either it's the dolphin trying to drown us or her in the hospital bed lashing out.
I wish I knew how to mod, I would definitely want to make a mod that fixes a lot of problems with this game.
@@shadeskitsune7830 well, let's see what the mod community can do. The game is alot if missed potential and modders love to mess with missed potential.
rayman origins has water levels that are like that. plus they're actually fun to play which is a surprising feature for water levels
@@unfunnyguy1530 Dude rayman origins is just like, the best. Like theres so many interesting ideas in every level, completely unbelievable how good that game is
Silent Wonderworld.
this is what happens when square enix produces a game on a schedule and then meet that deadline
SQuare is really bipolar with their products. Sure you have games of infinite delays like FFXV, FFVIIR or KHIII and despite their flaws people can at least say they are complete games that are average or semi-above average (I know KHIII Limit Cut redeemed the battle system) and some offer free DLC. You also have FFXIV which was literally nuked by Bahamut and then became one of the most popular MMORPGs (props to Yoshi P. for redeeming a game). They also publish a lot of other games, I think they suffer from a case of being too big and corporate stuff going on.
@@coolyeh1017 That's because FF is their flagship franchise and it's guaranteed to sell, even FFXIII which is the most critically panned series managed to pull decent numbers.
Balan's a platformer a genre they are no familiar with at it shows because when they _ok'ed_ the proyect they said the staff that it was their only chance to pull it of.
And from what I've seen/read this flop is not on the suits for once, more like the staff plain just didn't knew what they were doing.
Ngl when he explained how to worlds work I said to myself "So basically Persona series?"
"Some kid is gonna get this game as a gift."
*Because Mario 3D All-Stars was delisted!*
Even 3D All-Stars, which I think should be $30 at most *(as with every game on all platforms, even if it's full and new)* is actually much more worth the $60 than this. At least the games in the collection utilize the buttons well and have strategy, along with being more responsive than XLC.
Why though? Was it buggy?
@@BaxsStudios Mario 3D All Stars Collection was "limited time release" _voluntarily_ by Nintendo. They basically did this because they wanted people to buy it as quickly as possible. It's another in a series of anti-consumer moves.
@@angeldiaz762 oh wow what a scam. Already bad enough it was 60 bucks..... Nintendo really be ducking with their consumers.
@@BaxsStudios 60 for 3 whole ass games is pretty damn good though?
I can't wait for Matt's inevitable "Wha Happun?" video on this. I need to know what happened with this. The whole one button thing and the balan sections make this feel like a bad Chinese knock off mobile game version of whatever the real game is.
Summed it up perfectly
Chinese mobile games have the likes of genshin impact nowadays
@@mavrickindigo and Honkai Impact 3rd. MiHoYo is the only Chinese dev I will ever respect. Most just make obvious clones of other apps (namely Clash of Clans) or terrible MMOs and make terrible, cringy, often sexist ads of them which they post everywhere on the internet. At least MoHoYo makes actual GAMES, even if they're all FTP gachas filled with microtransations anyways.
I think this game was supposed to be mobile actually
The one button thing is an extremely archaic mindset Yuji Naka has had. It only worked in a few Sonic games before falling apart by 3+K.
This should have been an open word game mixed with puzzles all around the town where you would have to help others with their dreams by traveling to different towns and completing quests
Minus the dreams part, there's already a game like that: A Hat in Time.
Let me explain.
Three of the four main worlds (Mafia Town, Subcon Forest, and _especially_ Alpine Skyline) are open-ended, and even the close-ended levels (Dead Bird Studio and Time's End) are enjoyable. You solve puzzles to both complete quests and obtain collectibles (such as yarn to stitch hats that give you new powers)
And don't even get me started on the bosses; whereas Balan Wonderworld's bosses might as well not exist, A Hat in Time has such memorable bosses that it'd be hard to imagine the game without them.
My Friend Please... Please for the hope of gamers of the future build a strong game. Cause apparently dev teams now days in big wig corps are too afraid to take risks
This is not just a case of quantity over quality, its a case of looks over gameplay. Visually the games art design and aesthetics look appealing, but gameplay wise it just does a piss poor job.
It doesn't even look that good. The dancing scenes are hideous, for example.
Its like those mobile games where they show you super cool art and cinematics and then they hit you with the awful gameplay. Isn't league of legends like that? Showing super epic battles between this super cool looking characters and then the gameplay is nothing like that?
I’m just kinda sad that so much potential goes down the drain after the first cutscene
It looks like the “great idea, bad execution” bug bit Yuji Naka
Agree
On Balan Wonderworld, what I think happened here is actually pretty simple. It's what I used to call the Spielberg effect: When Spielberg made a good movie, studios release their controls on him thinking he learned the lesson. Spielberg then makes a bad movie, and Studios tighten controls gain, resulting in a good movie.
To bring that back to Balan, the last time Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima collaborated was Sonic Adventure in 1998. So take a moment and look back at the problems that that game had - the clunky controls, camera-boss, the one-trick characters, the poor storytelling (The only computer that's powerful enough to crack this is in the President's Limo!)... yeah.
A big part of how Sonic Adventure got so big back then despite all of these flaws was because it was a new thing, those were problems common to the 3D adventure platformer genre back then. But nowadays most devs know better. But these two went back on what they know from the last time they worked together, and went for that same standard. Normally when a game is going as off the rails as this one did, one of two things happens: either the publisher steps in and say "no, this isn't going to fly", or one of the underlings does - The first one didn't happen because of how Square Enix does business when working with "legendary" directors and designers, they basically give them a budget and keys to the animation studio and say "have at" - this usually works out well for them. No underling stepped up because of Japanese business culture - you don't challenge your boss, especially if they are "legendary".
I believe Yuji Naka is in the same boat as Spielburg - he has a fantastic vision and a lot of ideas, but can't tell the good ideas from the bad ones and needs a team that can filter for him, and in this case he had too much control, and no producer oversight.
We see the same thing elsewhere, when we have people or products where "every other one is good" - see Microsoft and Windows, Woody Allen movies, etc.
That's also what happened with George Lucas. Oh, the Star Wars trilogy was a huge hit! Lets make a prequel, just make sure no one touches the genius at work! Star Wars Episode 1 was George Lucas unleashed. Nobody going to question him.
Man that’s sad it actually looked promising
As someone who loves the art of Nights into dreams including this game. I can say. Agreed.
I enjoyed it a whole lot. I've come to realize that basing your opinion on what RUclipsrs say is completely stupid.
@@toaster4975. Okay? It's your opinion. You are not special.
@@dragonbornexpress5650 Never claimed I was. I left a comment in an area meant for commenting. Literally just shared my opinion. lol
@@toaster4975 no it isn't stupid it's literally saving alot of people money and time, im glad you enjoyed it but Alot of people who was gonna buy it most likely wasn't. If a majority of the reviews on youtube are saying this game is bad than it most likely is going to be bad to the rest of the consumers that are not youtubers, so these reviews are really helpful And also just because youtubers have a different opinion than you doesn't make it stupid it's just that you might have different tastes than him and that's okay. If you enjoyed balan that's great and I'm sure Alot of people do but a majority of people who wanted to buy this have really high standards for a 3D platformer and this just isn't it so videos like these are just letting them know ahead of time to not get their hopes up.
Give it ten years...
The Angry Video Game Nerd will rip it to shreds when it gets that old.
"You mean I just turn into a box at a random moment? What a shitload of fuck!"
AVGN: what were they thinking?
"The graphics in this game look like my cat's putrid shit-tarts"
@@Xhoven that sounds like exactly like something he would say.
sponsored by NordVPN
5:52 I felt every ounce of the pain he felt here.
The 60 dollar price tag is still ridiculous even if it was decent.
Yeah. If it was decent I wouldn't be as pissed. But releasing a game of this quality at full price, is ridiculous.
@@ChiGuyGaming It is an outrage. And yet, I fully expect Square Enix knew this was gonna happen anyway. Part of this was Yuji’s, but most of it falls on Square’s perspective of games that aren’t their babies or driven by Nomura. If it ain’t those, they mostly won’t grant a delay. It didn’t help he was given the C Team that did Hey Pikmin.
It all just points on how gaming is viewed to those suits who think that this can get away at 60 dollars. You can tell the devs REALLY wanted this game to be good, I can’t deny that. It’s just...this has been Square’s mindset for over 20 years.
The fox box makes the Spring Mushroom look fun and innovative. It might even be worse than the Star Ball levels with motion controls.
Edit: Still better than the bubble though....God I hate that bubble
the spring mushroom wasn't even that bad honestly.
@@Kingdom850 "wasn't that bad" when you get to to the challenge stages in galaxy and the game requires you to use that ability and platform over bottomless pits with precision that shit will be a nightmare.
@@ultimate8948 i 100% both galaxy one and 2 and i don't remmeber having issues with the spring mushroom, unless i'm misremembering. cause that was a long time ago
I’ve been replaying Galaxy (3D All-Stars), and I didn’t have much issue with the Spring Mushroom. All I had were two or three mistimed jumps, but nothing that made me wanna throw my Joy-Cons.
@@ultimate8948 None of the spring mushrooms are technically required
Between this game and Yooka Laylee, the 3D platformer genre takes another hit.
It's very sad I actually enjoyed Yooka Laylee.
Between this and Yooka Laylee, I'd prefer Yooka Laylee.
Still waiting and praying on psychonauts 2...
Between this and Yooka Laylee I prefer a Hat in Time 2.
The Wha Happun of this game is gonna be fun
It might take some time since we don’t have much information on how the game turned out the way it did yet
@@theminecraft2516 I'm eager to figure out what happened
Some of these game design choices are so jarring I honestly wanna know what they were going for or why they thought it'd be fun
There isn't much to say other than they made a bad game.
@@elin111 oh that’s what you think, but Matt McMuscles has a way of getting the deets of troubled development
@@elin111 Exactly
Liking and commentating for the algorithm so that parents / grandparents can see this video and get their kids a better game.
Ayyyy
That's smart
At a boy
Not all heros wear capes. Some are a blue yoshi
I feel like no one is talking about the animation in this game. Like, look at 1:19, what the shit is that running animation? And when you get new costumes, It looks like a default Unreal engine dance
that box fox had me dying lmao
Literally
Too bad the costume looked cool/cute.
@@Twinklethefox9022 till he became a FUCKING BOX
it's so much FUN
@@snappee Christ, I knew that "LITERALLY" would be the top reply
Im at a loss for words at the Fox Box power up.
This game was not made by some starter indie dev...it was made a veteran,the people who made sonic no less. Why did they thought a power up like that would even be fun!?
Even a child could tell that a "power up" that makes you lose control of your character at random was a bad idea.
If a legend from Japan makes a comeback, whether if it's a person or a group of people, you better hold your excitement a bit.
Okay. I have an explanation for the absence of your jump while wearing costumes. The devs came to the point where they saw that you could easily break the game with the costume powers AND the jump . And instead of fixing the game and changing the world they just said "fuck it" and disabled your jump.
A game who makes Sonic Forces look good. I never though I would see the day.
I didn't fall for it even when it was announced. Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima's studios "Prope" and "Arzest" are both Bargain Bin game developers who never made a single truly great game since their establishment. No, not even "Rodea The Sky Solder" on Wii was great, only "good" at best. And neither of them have been relevant for a VERY long time. Nostalgia can only do so much.
"Box Fox: A fox magician that randomly turns himself into box"...
I'm actually angry that something like that exists in a game for $60. What the hell were they thinking?
imagine someone beating this game using only that power up. id have no words if somebody did that.
Tbf if the game actually good, it could be fun using glawed characters to beat the game or post game challenges.
@@thecosmicrefrigerator2622 i would, _mascochist_
These replies cheered me up lol.
Mario, Sonic, Crash, Sly Cooper, and Spyro the Dragon are looking at this game and laughing. Someone make a meme of this please.
I’ll try and do it
Billy Hatcher laughs so hard at this game
@@segaspice4062 Exactly, we could've gotten a new billy hatcher game and instead we get this. Glad I didn't buy it.
@@justianfox64 Sega didn't make this, Square Enix did so they wouldn't have the rights LUCKILY. Sega should just make Billy Hatcher HD Remake and Jet Set Radio Future HD.
Sonic and Sly cooper?
This game makes pokemon sword and shield look good
Ouch. 😞
this game just worked to slander yuji naka's reputation.
At least it worked for something
I mean, looking at the 3D sonic games, i see where this game came from
A project with a solid amount of work riddled with obviously bad decisions that they clearly didn't even care to test
@@rompevuevitos222 Yeah considering after SA2 where things went, its probably no mystery. Heck the time after his left was probably the devs still gaining experience.
@@DarkArtistKaiser I'm actually including SA 1 and 2
the first one had awful camera, stiff physics and levels which where better off being removed entirely (without mentioning the disgusting animations that weren't low quality, but just actively worse than nothing at all)
SA2 fixed a lot, but most levels are unfun and too simple, specially the mech levels, even for the time it didn't accomplish much
@@rompevuevitos222
I mean many fans feel like it went to crap after Sonic 2.
Even Super Mario for the NES had an action other than jumping on a separate button
Little Timmy: "I played a videogame once. It was terrible."
Fans after the demo: DELAY THE GAME! DELAY THE GAME!
Square: What’s that? Release the game? Well, let’s do it! We gotta release it while the hype is up!
This isn't SEGA though.
@@sayer4148 yeah, it’s SQUARE ENIX🤡 one of the most respected dev teams in gaming
Fox Box sounds like it should have been a joke reward you get for 100%ing the game so you can replay it from the beginning with an extra challenge. What puzzles can that even solve?
Ok so hers my idea for the story of this game, not might be the best, but I like it more: So basically, same idea of you going around, fixing others problems, but you have some of your own. Instead of being a small child you are a teenage girl, and you have to take care of your brother after you parents died or something. You tend to push things too far, doing everything for him and not doing much for yourself, and always feel like you are not enough. So.. this whole "Balans Wonderworld" thing seems like a breath of fresh air. You quickly get back into the scheme of helping out others as Balan orders, but you don't really mind. The world's are pretty, and it's a ok. As the game goes along, the levels get more challenging and warped, as represented by your mental fatigue, and Balan gets more crude and pushy. Still, you do what you are ask. Little cutscenes through the story reveal more and more about your own story, and your clients that you help,, their struggles begin to mirror your own as it goes along,, with each one getting harder to surmount.. Eventually, at the "last" level Balan asks you to do something you just can't, and as you confront him you realize he is your own personal demon you must confront, and he becomes the final battle. Said battle would be multitudes more difficult than the rest if the battles,, but possible to overcome if you used tactics introduced in every other stage that was unique to that stage.. Afterwards you leave, hang out with your brother, and treat yourself a little better. Or something like that isk
I love this made up plot. Better then what we got.
It's not a scam. Its ARZEST. They have literally never made a game that could keep a humans attention for more than 30seconds.
I'm tempted to play the demo just to get a taste (and also masochism), but that's where I'd stop.
It's a shame... this game looked so promising and I was really excited when I saw the character designs.
Honestly, after playing the demo, it's a good way to see what the game really is like.
It bothers me how they called the wolf that spins the “tornado wolf” when they could’ve called “whirl wolf” or something with alliteration like ALL THE OTHER COSTUMES
Inb4 fans start praising this game 10 years from now.
I'm already seeing it, and it baffles me
My guy, it ain’t gonna happen
@@SGNRyan I swear it's some psychology thing... people seem magnetically attracted to disagreeing with each other.
Anywhere that one group is making a statement against something, almost like magic, random other people will appear to defend it. Sometimes I don't think they even care for or know about what they're defending, they just don't like to see something under attack with no representation, I guess?
@@Loctorak --- I hope they start praising it, but *Ironically* like with Town with No Name or Limbo of the Lost (in the "so bad, it's good" rather than "it's actually hidden gem"), and not unironically.
People are retroactively defending Sonic 06 in a similar fashion. "If only it was polished a bit more it had so much potential".
You can polish a turd all day long, it'll still be a turd.
I remember people saying this game was going to change gaming. This game should had been $15-20 dollars max for a indle title. This is the biggest scam since Kill La Kill IF when it came out at full price of $60, and that game could had actually been good.
Wasn't kill la kill IF actually good tho?
Definitely not 60$ but this trash should be free, or not even exist.
Don't even compare kill la kill IF to balan shit world, its a whole other league
@@iansantiago6526 In my opinion I think Kill La Kill If is the best arena fighter since ever. Definitely better than Jump Force, but unfortunately it never caught on and the game died because of it. Feels bad man.
@@iansantiago6526 But yeah Balan should had been free. I feel bad for people that wasted their hard earned money on this garbage.
@@JuwanBuchanan Welp, let's all enjoy that Demon Slayer arena fighter that is coming out hopefully this year
@@AndresLionheart you mean ninja storm reskin the game 🤔
Mom can we get Mario Odyssey?
Mom: No, we have Mario Odyssey at home
Mario Odyssey at home:
Balan: Mario, can I please copy your homework?
Mario: Please make changes so it’s not obvious
Balan:
@@togwam Also Mario: Mama Mia! WHAT HAVE I DONE!!??
**ChiGuy upload notification appears**
WHAT DID THEY DO TO UPSET MY BOY NOW?!
Oh they definitely did it with this one. Thanks for hitting the bell!
@@ChiGuyGaming ChiGuy, if it makes you feel any better, this is faring more or less the same on other consoles. Some better, some worst, and all commercial flops.
@@ChiGuyGaming how did nintendo do anything? Nintendo didn't create this game this whole video is filled with miss information because of that for starters it was even announced at a xbox event.
@@leafstormblaze9449 because nintendo has a shitty console with am even shitter controller and battery life
@@pyroflare7774 na that's the xbox series x
How hard is it to just use two buttons? This is a platformer. There is no excuse to replace your jump command with a single gimmick when you can just assign the most basic skill of any game in the genre, jumping, to a different, constant button.
1:46 this game is not just your average turd it's a putrid Ransom disgusting turd that sits in a truck stop bathroom for thousands of years till even the flies won't go near it
This shouldve been a movie tbh
yeah