They just got lazy and didn't bother to polish the game up. Such a shame. And now I can vision you doing a Balan Wonderworld nightmare fuel parody now.
Not exactly last minute, they were used in the initial reveal trailer in July 2020 after all, but apparently the plan was to use real-time cutscenes, just like the dance sequences, for the entire game. Square-Enix Visual Works actually campaigned to be able to work on the game. They really wanted to work with those designs. So when we talk about the passion and the work that went into the cutscenes, yeah, that's absolutely right. But that particular passion doesn't seem to have come from the Balan Company side of things.
@@BrySkye Okay that 1000% makes sense! I saw that first cutscene and was like "holy hell, not only is this chunk beautiful, its incredibly animated with so much incredible character acting." Those guys went all out on them. Its the main reason im still thinking about the game
I Feel like Balan Wonderworld would have been better off as a animated series. Like having Balan solving everyone's problems while the two main kids acts as helpers
Apparently smug chess guy had his wife die while he was busy being upset about chess, but it seems that detail wasn't important enough to his story to actually get mentioned in the game
@Nobody Just don't take off the hat. Him taking off that hat wasn't a good idea since his face shape doesn't even match with what's underneath. I would be a big fangirl of him but damn that face reveal was bad.
Funny because the CG cutscenes were originally not part of the game at all. Square’s in house CG studio apparently just made them independently from the rest of the development once characters were finalised, which explains their weird placements in the levels I suppose.
true, the cgi animation has alot of charm and love to it, now it makes me want a balan wonderworld anime because the chad himself already looks amazing
What makes this even sadder is that square enix didn’t Just lose money from the game, but also from making the balan studio, the amount of equipment, office space, and legal paperwork wasted on this is actually horrifying if you think about it
Safe to assume it won't be coming back. Shame. But it is what it is (it could've recieved the F15 treatment but so much was lost. I don't think they will risk it)
They made a game that can be played with an Atari Joystick or a smartphone touchscreen, for modern generation game systems, at a $60 pricepoint. The L is being express shipped.
That's why Sonic was such a perfect fit on mobile. Simple controls and cartoony sprites make the game feel like it was almost made for mobile. This game might not work as well.
Yuji Naka said in interview, that he think that it's would be difficult to children to use more than one button. I don't kidding he think that children is to stupid to use more than one button
I wish that Balan should be the main protagonist of the game instead of the kids. His whimsical style, charm, and energy kind of reminds of _Cat in the Hat_ which it's why he's such an interesting character.
Balan reminds me a lot of a character from Nights Into Dreams, He would definitely fit that videogame universe more with all the energy those games have.
I read this in another video and I think it's pretty accurate: "Don't fear the man who ties every action to one button, fear the man who ties every button to one action."
It makes me wanna cry because I absolutely *adore* Balan's design, but he would've been so much better off as someone's OC instead of the face of one of the worst games in modern history.
@@graphitetailgrace3870 Yeah, that fits better. It's really just... bland. Not funny-bad like Sonic 06 or Cyberpunk where you can laugh at it. Doomed to be forgotten.
Damn I like the idea of being able to use three costume abilities at once. Since they only have one button ability each it wouldn't have even been that hard.
@@billcipher8645 What if they make it an intentional design choice and adapt the level design to make up for it? Like make certain collectables only accesible by using three jump costumes or something, and maybe even make you time those jumps precisely.
Honestly, I'd give anything for them to salvage this series because so many people want to see it not go to waste. People really wanted it to succeed, so I beg Square Enix doesn't entirely scrap it. Just change the director or fix the issues and make Balan the main character, and people would love it.
oh they won't, the game is already doomed to being cancelled, square enix itself said that 3d platformers aren't their strength, and the creator must be so traumatized by the criticism, he won't touch the series never again
Finished the game.... But am not going back any time soon.... There's a lot of really good ideas in there.it feels like a solid alpha / proof of concept in game play, has finished game visuals and sparkle.... And is waiting for the plot to be added. Psychonughts, Infinity Train and Kid Chameleon blended together (to varying degrees) Do a mirror's edge, and casually stick this to one side and do it again, but better.
Having a main protagonist would have made sense if the problems they helped to solve tied into their own story in some way. Like if the dolphin story was about not assuming the worst in people (the dolphin didn't hurt her intentionally) and the chess story was about holding yourself to a high standard to please others (he lost the game, but his friends still love him), then it would make sense that she has tovisit these specific worlds. The way it is now, is just... random
Well actually the chess story’s tragedy was that he was so consumed by his hobby that he wasn’t there when his wife died. It was in the novel but they never even bothered putting it in the game
In the novel it was said that she actually was still scared of the ocean at the end and was just slowly getting back into it. But like why didn't they just put in the game? It would make it a lot more natural
From what I've read she realized it was an accident and so she forgive the dolphin...I needed to search that because the game doesn't tell that. Heck! The wiki pages about this games characters are really short, sometimes barely having anything there yet the game tells me absolutely nothing
@@chestbumphero Yes, there's a novel that explains the entire story and adds post-game stuff about the people you saved. You think they would want to put a game's plot into the game but nope It got to the point where the BOOK explains why the levels have random dancing illusions in them lmao
UmbreonTwinkle And worse this is Yugi Nika finale game he made because he said if the game fail than he stop making games (I think it true I got it from someone)
Why didn’t they just make the costumes in this game like Kirby’s copy abilities?? Like there’s a ton of abilities Kirby has, and they can still have all their drawbacks and benefits but without the added pain of not being able to do basic things
I’d argue making abilities like Kirby’s copy abilities is an hard feet for an new game. With that I mean that’s my of Kirby’s copy abilities have developed over the years. And that they are an hill of finished power ups before they even plan games. Does that make sense?
@@CaliCosmicGal yeah tho I mean more in the regard of having abilities that basically do the same thing just being combined with each other and having ones that are worse versions of it omitted altogether. Like they clearly have the understanding of the concept down, they just need to refine it
The thing that comes to mind with Wonder World is that painfully generic title screen song from Sonic Lost World that somehow made it into Smash instead of anything else from that game...
Somebody ripped his model and you can play as him on VRChat. There's a PC and Quest vr version. And with a little help from mods, you can fly with Balan, too. :Y
Definitely, and the story REALLY demands Balan to have a much major role both in the story and the game itself, it’s just a facepalm how disconnected the gameplay and the story actually are, especially when we talk about Balan himself, the story putting him as the one doing all the heavy lifting, but in reality, he’s really not present anywhere other than those dumb mini-games, mini-games that don’t add anything to the story or level progression other than giving you one of many statues you find everywhere 7-7
@Nobody but he doesn’t really help, like LS Mark said he shows up and acts like ‘my work here is done’ when all he really did was bring the two bland protagonists (I agree with you on that) in to do all the work
Yknow what would have made a lot more sense? If you went into the characters’ minds slowly learning more and more about their trauma and then fight a boss that represents their trauma. Instead of going to some random location where they show you everything at the end
This game should've just been you playing as Balan, helping people overcome their problems, and each costume should've had 4 different powers with one tied to each face button so that they could've dropped 60 of the costumes.
The way the cutscenes play out and the final battle also suggest Balan should’ve been the main character, and being able to play using the Balan Costume’s abilities from the very start would’ve actually been pretty cool
It's not like kids don't understand more than one button has a purpose. Kids play games like Fortnite, which has super in-depth mechanics. What's a platformer gonna do, complicate things even further? I mean this game is confusing, but for much worse reasons
@@nerobiblios4086 There's really nothing wrong with non-complex controls. As a lover of puzzle games, many of those have very easy and basic control systems, because the mechanics of operating your avatar isn't where the complexity/challenge lies in those games. The problem is that it's got numerous mechanics jammed onto the same control, as a misguided attempt to streamline things. And worse, because those mechanics are context sensitive, this actually has the result of making the game *less intuitive to play* .
I just realized that both the player characters could and should have had their respective final levels be about themselves just to make things go full circle.
Maybe we should keep an eye on Yuji Naka's mental health? He is pretty well up on his years, and Japanese society puts a lot of focus on work and honour. I don't want him hurting himself or being depressed over this disaster of a game. He still has so much to live for.
@@digstrememcdingus1463 yeah, I honestly hope we could get a sequel for this (with more than one button) and it could potentially be like Yooka Laylee, redeeming itself with a sequel.
weird fuckin comment dude, you literally don't know this guy at all and have zero idea how he's doing, like why tf would you speculate that he might commit self harm or something?
I kinda feel even a bit sad for Yuji Naka... Like come on, that quote feels sad as heck. "I was never good with stories" Yeah Yuji, we realize that, but at least you could make the game actually good
@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc first of all: I don't want to offend you in any way because I love both adventure games and shadow the hedgehog can be pretty fun. Now, tell me that the story of Sonic Adventure 1 or 2 is actually really complex and can be compared to 80+ hours RPGs, or that shadow the hedgehog even makes sense at all. And as you say, he didn't had nothing to do with the stories of those games, so why bring that point at all if it doesn't has nothing to do with this?
@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc the thing is, the only new thing on sonic adventure 1 was the existence of Chaos and the Gamma struggle (the echidna ruins appeared on Sonic R so they probably thought about that a lot of time before), and here Yuji Naka had to be the diector of a completely new game, and other thing, he's old. Sonic adventure has 22 years, sonic adventure 2 has 20. Even if he was good, time doesn't forgive anyone
I'm crying over the wasted potential of all these character designs as an aspiring concept artist, I'm in awe over all these designs, they're so fun and charming, but they basically got wasted, especially Balan I almost want to start a petition to turn this game into an animated series, it has so much potential for a wonderful magical world
Balan feels so much like Howl from Howl's Moving Castle I prayed that at the end of the game after solving the kid's problem, we get to solve *his* problem but nooooooope.
Balan's design was so good and then at the end of the game he takes off the hat and...looks totally different in such an awful way. He just looks like someone's anime boy OC, especially with that new hair. How did it even go from what looks almost like dreads to that??
Seriously it's funny in many ways how it came out but it's sad knowing this is most likely to be the last thing Naka ever does unless he has a get of jail free card when it's clearly had a lot of effort and time put into it.
Okay about the protagonist idea, get this, what if you played as Balan and you're helping all these people. And as you're helping these people you slowly start to think about the trauma you went through, losing your sibling/twin to the darkness. And after helping so many people, you realize you can finally help yourself and your sibling and help both of you fight through whatever trauma caused the darkness in the first place. Your sibling is restored and you both get to be happy again. Storytelling achieved.
Unfortunately, the actual story is far, _far_ stupider (it's explained in the novel). Thousands of years ago, the bad guy (Lance) was the original Balan, but because he spent so long dealing with the darkness in humans' hearts, that darkness eventually overcame him. But because he loves humanity, he still wanted them to have a guardian (I guess) so he created the "Balan" we see in the game, but warns him that the same thing is going to happen to him eventually and he needs to accept that (to which Balan basically goes "Nuh uh, I'll never be like you" and kicks Lance's ass and that's framed as a... good thing?). Which is like... a good story in and of itself- have Balan be a representation of toxic positivity who just wants everyone to be happy all the time while Lance (who used to think like that) is there to tell him it's okay to be sad, it's okay to angry, and no matter how hard you try, one day, something might happen that it's impossible to smile through. _And that's okay._ ...this game should've just been "Inside Out".
@@Silburific putting it that way, Lance may’ve been completely misunderstood, because of Balan’s obsession of making everything overly positive, Lance is forced to worsen people’s negativity, all so when Balan arrives, everything ends up balancing out properly, but unfortunately Balan and everyone are left thinking Lance is a bad guy that must be defeated, not realizing his actions are so Balan’s actions can’t do worse
God the CG looks so good and I’m in love with the aesthetic. Rather than a shitty platformer or a novel, this could’ve been a beautiful cartoon short. We already have a million short stories.
I feel like they could've handled the costumes like characters in LEGO games. They have different abilities that you need to progress through the levels, but you only have certain characters with you in story mode, meaning you can go back in freeplay with any character you want to access things that require abilities you didn't have before.
The main thing I remember about this game is when someone talked on the official Nintendo RUclips channel about when they were playing they accidentally got softlocked because they fell into a pit, stuck with only 1 costume that can't jump back out.
i am genuinely begging people to ask square enix to rescue this through a show or a game that is ACTUALLY focused on Balan himself. it genuinely hurts me so much to see the potential of this being wasted so badly and i honestly hate the idea that Balan will just fall into obscurity after one bad game because the company won't give him another chance, there is so much good that can be brought back and have a moment to shine
Yeah, I really feel for the makers of this game. As a cartoonist, I know how it can hurt when you put your time and talent towards something which misses the mark.
@@phantasy675 But the last palace explains the character's motivations and backstory, and there's build up for said character through the entire game. Balan is more like going into someone's palace without knowing the character, or anything about the character.
@@voidoflight2420 true, i guess i was only referring to the first visit to the palace, but that was intentional and made sense from a story perspective
The thing that makes me the saddest/angriest about this game is that Balan's god-tier design is probably never ever gonna get used again because his game (which he hardly appeared in) sucked so bad.
I hate how the phrase, ‘The Girl Who’s Gaga for Bugs, ‘ only reminds me of Lisa goes Gaga. Thanks guys, just the thing I want to be reminded of in the middle of mental breakdown: the game.
@@Tree_-wp5zn I haven't played any LEGO games since the Star Wars ones, and those had fewer than 10 different abilities all told, IIRC. The countless different appearances only worked because you got to play as your favorite character that you already were attached to from external media.
tbh if like... 90% of those were purely aesthetic to customiza the character this would've been so much better already. or maybe making them smaller parts like helmet/hat, gloves, boots etc to use multiple powers at the same time and combining the powers you like
NOT EVEN KIRBY. those games use normally 20-30 costumes, with the one exception being planet robobot who uses 40 (26 regular kirby, 14 your mecha). They also are multifunctional and in that game the mechas have dedicated levels and even gamemodes for that, and same with Kirby, the usual is that each level shows you a new hability and tons of scenarios where that hability is useful. That's why Kirby works and Balan doesn't.
Yuji didn't design Sonic nor Balan Both were convinced by Naoto Oshima All Yuji Naka ever did was making the physics engine of the classic Sonic games Yuji Naka is just a coder
I remember how the programmers of the kirby games don't want to put any more than 20 or so copy abilities into one game because it took up too much time / resources and was redundant.
And when they expanded the movesets with more inputs, some copy abilities got merged into others, like Burning becoming part of Fire, and Freeze of Ice, and some other abilities got to share moves and mechanics, like Needle getting Wheel’s dash attack, and Spark getting Plasma’s static electricity charges Balan is too focused in filling that 80 costumes mark, with a lot of fat and repeats that could’ve been simplified into a decent many, very fleshed out costumes
It just kind of breaks my heart to see this game end up being the way that is , cause it looked like it could've had so much potential to be a great platformer.
What gets me the most was that they bragged about how they made an AI to adjust the difficulty of enemy and item placements depending on player performance. They not only went through the effort to create a bot to make a platformer for them, but seeing as how you can breeze through each chapter while always encountering a few piss easy enemies and still find keys within a few feet from the costume crystals, it's hard to even tell if the damn AI is working as intended.
Okay, so I *think* what's happening with the main girl is that she thinks everyone in her... Mansion(?) is gossiping about her behind her back. But the end reveals that what they were ACTUALLY doing was planning a surprise party for her, and avoiding her to avoid spilling the secret. Which... Honestly is kind of fun in a hokey way. But sort of begs the question how Balan, a seemingly super powerful dream deity(?) didn't just, like, *know that* such that he could tell her. Rather than outsource his job as defender of dreams to her as a roundabout way to "find her heart" or whatever.
And now yuji naka is in jail while sonic frontiers got glowing reviews (for sonic standards) by both critics and fans. You could NOT have fallen off that badly.
"Why doesn't this game just take place on a train?" A train you say... with different worlds.... for therapy. If only something like that existe--*gets hit with the Infinity Train music sting*
"Different worlds... for therapy." Oh, you mean Alice: Madeness Returns? That had a train too, but the train represented the damage the trauma Alice's repressed memories were causing her psyche. Even that would work well with the plot of Wonderworld- have Balan's train start out as this annoying, intrusive, scary thing that's seen throughout all the worlds in the bachground (since that's often how people dealing with depression see attempts at helping them) and as you help more people with their trauma, it transforms into something beautiful, symbolizing that they can now see that getting help is a good thing.
@@Silburific Ooh that actually sounds really cool! I wasn't talking about that, but I'll look into it. I was actually talking about the animated anthology cartoon series Infinity Train. It's about this giant train that takes people who are going through issues and helps them go through their problems by putting them on the train where each car is a different pocket universe. It tackles mature topics really well and has amazing characters. I highly recommend it!
@@MidnightNautil1 I think it was because season 4 was gonna be way too brutal to be aired and the infinity train team wouldn’t change it to not compromise on the story. However I’ve read somewhere it’s being continued due to the backlash the cancellation caused.
Mm, just image this game with like DMC, Doom, maybe a bit of Isaac. Boom, playable. Take notes, Square, plagiarize THESE songs instead of Ghostbusters music.
The idea of the scenario falling apart in act 2 is actually pretty clever. It could be adapted to each world. The farmer world could broke apart because strong winds. The dolphin world could drown. The chess world could be taken over by unbeatable chess figures. The death cat one could have cars chasing you. The death parents one could froze. Edit: By the way, if you like these psychic stuff check out Psychonauts, it might not be for everyone but it absolutely nails every thing in regard to mental worlds.
It would've made more sense if Balan was the protagonist and the final boss was like Balan's trauma given a physical form. And if the rest of the game was actually good
I though that’s what the final boss was, especially because Lance ends up turning into a Balan lookalike after the battle, much in the same fashion as everyone else after their fights are over, and likewise, Balan becomes the center of attention in the dancing number that happens right after, and the actual reason why Balan cried back at the kids when they hugged him seems to be because they helped him with HIS problem, all the while Leo/Emma never truly had to face their own inner demons something something because they supposedly prevented them from getting the best of them thanks to their adventure in Wonderworld. But what Balan says right before the final battle makes it a bit confusing, like he’s saying it as if Leo/Emma are going to face their own problems...but everything really points that this is Balan’s problem Leo/Emma are dealing with, not theirs, it would make sense if at some point in the fight Lance would bring Leo’s/Emma’s very own demons, making them begin to fall in darkness, but then Balan and everyone come to their rescue, letting Leo/Emma resume the fight (while also addressing what Balan said to them earlier), but no, Leo/Emma are literally unaffected by the negativity at all they’re still very eager to keep fighting by themselves despite Lance wrecking their costumes, everyone’s arrival is very much extra help they just gladly accepted to beat Lance faster
@@dustymcwari4468 So i watched a different review of Balan and they mentioned the book. Turns out we know next to nothing because Lance created Balan or something and Leo was originally one of the residents of Wonderworld but his problem was already solved so he never became an evil monster like the others. Meanwhile Emma was called specifically by Balan himself for help on dealing with Lance and Leo joined along because he wanted to rescue the friends he made during his time in Wonderworld. There's 300 pages worth of other stuff not at all mentioned in the game that would've been amazing to see in the actual gamr
@@GIRru11I may be wrong, but from the little I heard about the book, it may just be like the Sonic comics, not canon, so it’s completely separated from the game itself, rather than being an expansion to the game’s story
@@dustymcwari4468 Nah, the book contains the full story of the game. It explains every thing going on in the game while adding more information on other things
I REALLT love the theater idea with the kid watching ahHhHhh- maybe as you beat each world different props could appear from each world too- and it could slowly get more and more chaotic and trippy (giant traffic lights and chess pieces and random tails of dolphins whisking around corners, to add to the paranoia) and besting the final boss could fix it? Make it just… a theater again…
What if... Hear me out. They made the costumes attached to a button 😮 If they want to keep the low buttons then they can just attached the costumes to a button instead
14:42 His "my work here is done" scenes are so odd. It honestly made me expect a twist ending where Balan was pulling all the strings, making people fall into despair so he could watch you fix everything for his own amusement. And when he winks at the camera, it's his way of saying "Good show... But we'll see how you handle my next challenge!" But no, he's a good guy and those scenes are just oddly disjointed.
Now I can't help thinking thats the only reason either of them is named that, like Yuji Naka was going to bed and had that thought and immediately thought "I can make a game out of this!" with no extra ideas
Mark, buddy, that's a mansion, the MAIDS should be a dead giveaway...Have you never seen any cartoon with maids or butlers before? Also she was thrown a surprise birthday party. The gifts, balloons, the guests her age. I'm worried, was your childhood ok mark? Other than that, great review.
Players: "Many I wish theres story in my video games" Bungie: "Your feedback is noted therefore we shall put half the story on your weapons and achievements instead of gameplay"
Imagine if they took a Risk of Rain 2 approach to the costumes, were the power ups are visually represented on the player by a small object, and all of them give small benefits that stack over time leading to a super powerful character by the end
For some reason i thought the kids story was that they had a couple breakup, and the boy was sad because he misses her, and the girl saw her maids talking like asking what happen between them and/or making fun of that, and they were just strolling and found balan and he shows that there are other problems in the world. I mean the last frame is them dancing together.
That would even make the ending and their stories make sense, like Leo being a loner because of the pain of the breakup, and Emma being very anxious because she’s being haunted by gossips about her breakup
@@shlokwaghela9560 yea celeste is such a good game it taught me to appreciate music more especially in video games also while don't have anxiety or depression it still taught to accept that part of yourself
Are you gonna spend $60 on Balan Wonderworld 🤔
(Don't)
No
No
No
Dont worry pirating exists
@Thot Patrol USA chad
This was a really long way of saying, “Just play Psychonauts instead.”
nice
Ship
hello Jesus
@@agent_w. niiice
Thoughts on the Obi Wan Disney + series?
This is one of the only widely hated games I've seen recently where the dev team truly had good intentions and still managed to mess up
First furry
i genuenly feel bad for games and devs like this
They just got lazy and didn't bother to polish the game up. Such a shame.
And now I can vision you doing a Balan Wonderworld nightmare fuel parody now.
True
@@PastaCheesy but YIIK took the path of thinking it was the best game ever made and anyone who disagrees (which is everyone) is an idiot
Getting the Balan costume is as Intuitive as those “Unlocking Luigi in Mario 64” videos
At least Balan was real.
@@BlueEngland luigi existed in the files, just not unlockable
@@FilmBucket we finally proved that L is real
@@Froggerz but what is 2401 ?
@@owyemen9367 Nothing, just a rumor, A GAME RUMOR
Ed you know that the cgi cutscenes, the one of the best things of the game wasn’t actually planned for the game. It was a last minute thing actually.
Not exactly last minute, they were used in the initial reveal trailer in July 2020 after all, but apparently the plan was to use real-time cutscenes, just like the dance sequences, for the entire game.
Square-Enix Visual Works actually campaigned to be able to work on the game. They really wanted to work with those designs.
So when we talk about the passion and the work that went into the cutscenes, yeah, that's absolutely right.
But that particular passion doesn't seem to have come from the Balan Company side of things.
@@BrySkye Okay that 1000% makes sense! I saw that first cutscene and was like "holy hell, not only is this chunk beautiful, its incredibly animated with so much incredible character acting." Those guys went all out on them. Its the main reason im still thinking about the game
The cutscenes are the polish for the turd that is the game.
The cutscenes have more high quality than the gameplay itself. It feels like it could've been a potential for an animated film.
I Feel like Balan Wonderworld would have been better off as a animated series. Like having Balan solving everyone's problems while the two main kids acts as helpers
and let the dancing to be a outro
As long as it's nothing like 4:39. So Many moving parts and so many flashy colors (while cool in it's presentation) hurt my eyes.
escentially just infinity train but worse
I would watch that lool. I absolutely love Balan's design and the way they animated him.
@@AttractorsAltAccount lmao true. Absolutely love that show
“guys i think i found a glitch in the game. i found a power-up that actually does something”
-VideoGameDunkey
The most ironic part of this comment is that LS Mark doesn’t even like Dunkey yet Dunkey used a clip of LS Mark in one of his videos
0/10 they dont have a dunkey costume
@@spooderman6312 the powers of the Dunkey costume would be getting the world record speedrun on Bowsers Big Bean Burrito
@@IcyDiamond and there can be a costume for gex, and in co-op, the dunkey costume will angrily run at gex as an idle animation
@@IcyDiamond Have I seen you?
Balan should have been the main character since he’s the one that supposed to be helping all the people not pawning the job off on you
In the book it makes more sense too because like lance makes everyone hate balan or somthing so why can’t we play as him
@@NameName-yj7lp not only that, but the book is also genius- Balan’s role is leading people to find the strength to address their issues head on.
gamingawesomeness222 Then why it didn’t told us in the game instead in the book that just waste of money.
@@NameName-yj7lp dang wish the game could show you that instead of relying on an extra that doesn't even come with the game
I agree, honestly I don't care about the kids (Ethan and Emma). 😒👦🏼👧🏼
Apparently smug chess guy had his wife die while he was busy being upset about chess, but it seems that detail wasn't important enough to his story to actually get mentioned in the game
I mean, that would make a huge difference if it was actually mentioned.
he was so bad at chess his wife died
@@GippyHappy llollll
they didn’t even bother making the story understandable 💀
I feel like they were trying to make a CG film, but realized last minute they accidentally programmed a video game.
Yeah since the Cgi is gorgeous and I kinda wished that it was a film instead.
@Nobody Just don't take off the hat. Him taking off that hat wasn't a good idea since his face shape doesn't even match with what's underneath. I would be a big fangirl of him but damn that face reveal was bad.
@@ms.chomper5024 It's an illusion.
Funny because the CG cutscenes were originally not part of the game at all. Square’s in house CG studio apparently just made them independently from the rest of the development once characters were finalised, which explains their weird placements in the levels I suppose.
true, the cgi animation has alot of charm and love to it, now it makes me want a balan wonderworld anime because the chad himself already looks amazing
What makes this even sadder is that square enix didn’t Just lose money from the game, but also from making the balan studio, the amount of equipment, office space, and legal paperwork wasted on this is actually horrifying if you think about it
Safe to assume it won't be coming back. Shame. But it is what it is (it could've recieved the F15 treatment but so much was lost. I don't think they will risk it)
I wish there could be a Yooka Laylee situation where the second game redeems the franchise
and all the mocap...
mocap is expensive
They made a game that can be played with an Atari Joystick or a smartphone touchscreen, for modern generation game systems, at a $60 pricepoint.
The L is being express shipped.
@@theminecraft2516 it would need to be a masterpiece
The fact that the game only uses 1 button makes it feel like it was meant to be a mobile game at first
even moblie games have more than one button thats just sad...
A mobile game on a literal fridge would have more buttons than Balan Wonderworld
That's why Sonic was such a perfect fit on mobile. Simple controls and cartoony sprites make the game feel like it was almost made for mobile.
This game might not work as well.
Honestly if it released on mobile,it would be way better
Yuji Naka said in interview, that he think that it's would be difficult to children to use more than one button. I don't kidding he think that children is to stupid to use more than one button
fun fact:
the book explains everything.
_they didnt advertise the book._
Balan: **After the stage is over** Seems like my job here is done.
Kids: But you didn't do anything...
Balan: **Moonwalks out of the scene**
"EE-HEE"
-Balan
"Didn't I?"
(Tips hat, flips off)
Like the monorail episode of the Simpsons
At least your comment isn't that offensive.
Made me laugh. XD
I wish that Balan should be the main protagonist of the game instead of the kids. His whimsical style, charm, and energy kind of reminds of _Cat in the Hat_ which it's why he's such an interesting character.
The Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat right? Not the Mike Myers version?
Balan reminds me a lot of a character from Nights Into Dreams, He would definitely fit that videogame universe more with all the energy those games have.
yeah, it seems like they couldve done tons more with the character other than anime willy wonka
Balan's design is so much more fun to look at then the protagonist's too they're so boring looking
Until he takes his hat off
I read this in another video and I think it's pretty accurate:
"Don't fear the man who ties every action to one button, fear the man who ties every button to one action."
That's yuji naka in both ways
@@NoNamex1412 FEAR YUJI NAKA
The thought of Balan going to McDonald's makes me laugh more than it needs to
Same not gonna lie😂
It makes me wanna cry because I absolutely *adore* Balan's design, but he would've been so much better off as someone's OC instead of the face of one of the worst games in modern history.
Its a forgettable game. Its bad, but hardly the absolute worst.
@@lotus_flower2001 It's like the new ET. ET was bad, but Pac-Man 2600 was far, FAR worse. Balan is a... mediocre game, but there's far worse.
Well, "worst" in terms of "literally nobody likes it". I would edit to say this but I would lose my heart from Mark-senpai.
@@graphitetailgrace3870 Yeah, that fits better. It's really just... bland. Not funny-bad like Sonic 06 or Cyberpunk where you can laugh at it. Doomed to be forgotten.
I knowwww the designs of everyone are so strong and interesting
Damn I like the idea of being able to use three costume abilities at once. Since they only have one button ability each it wouldn't have even been that hard.
This game must make you fucking traumatized.
Hi Cybershell
Cybershell my beloved
The problem is if you combine like 2 jump costumes you can skip almost all of the puzzles
@@billcipher8645 What if they make it an intentional design choice and adapt the level design to make up for it? Like make certain collectables only accesible by using three jump costumes or something, and maybe even make you time those jumps precisely.
Honestly, I'd give anything for them to salvage this series because so many people want to see it not go to waste. People really wanted it to succeed, so I beg Square Enix doesn't entirely scrap it. Just change the director or fix the issues and make Balan the main character, and people would love it.
oh they won't, the game is already doomed to being cancelled, square enix itself said that 3d platformers aren't their strength, and the creator must be so traumatized by the criticism, he won't touch the series never again
Finished the game.... But am not going back any time soon.... There's a lot of really good ideas in there.it feels like a solid alpha / proof of concept in game play, has finished game visuals and sparkle.... And is waiting for the plot to be added.
Psychonughts, Infinity Train and Kid Chameleon blended together (to varying degrees)
Do a mirror's edge, and casually stick this to one side and do it again, but better.
Having a main protagonist would have made sense if the problems they helped to solve tied into their own story in some way. Like if the dolphin story was about not assuming the worst in people (the dolphin didn't hurt her intentionally) and the chess story was about holding yourself to a high standard to please others (he lost the game, but his friends still love him), then it would make sense that she has tovisit these specific worlds.
The way it is now, is just... random
Well actually the chess story’s tragedy was that he was so consumed by his hobby that he wasn’t there when his wife died. It was in the novel but they never even bothered putting it in the game
i cant believe that girl got maimed by a dolphin and she instantly forgave him
In the novel it was said that she actually was still scared of the ocean at the end and was just slowly getting back into it. But like why didn't they just put in the game? It would make it a lot more natural
@@tigera5941 wait, there’s a book?
@@chestbumphero Worse than that, the *entire* story is in the book
From what I've read she realized it was an accident and so she forgive the dolphin...I needed to search that because the game doesn't tell that. Heck! The wiki pages about this games characters are really short, sometimes barely having anything there yet the game tells me absolutely nothing
@@chestbumphero Yes, there's a novel that explains the entire story and adds post-game stuff about the people you saved. You think they would want to put a game's plot into the game but nope
It got to the point where the BOOK explains why the levels have random dancing illusions in them lmao
Balan has such a clean design and I love how fluidly he moves. But DAMN the rest of the game doesnt deserve him.
I hope in some way shape or form Balan gets a second chance I'm a sucker for the train and settings and art and ESPECIALLY Balan!
Knowing how bad the game did. We probably won't see balan anymore :(. And I wanted a nightsxbalan crossover game
UmbreonTwinkle And worse this is Yugi Nika finale game he made because he said if the game fail than he stop making games (I think it true I got it from someone)
True
It would be funny if someone made a ripoff of balan wonderworld which turned out to be better than the original
Why didn’t they just make the costumes in this game like Kirby’s copy abilities?? Like there’s a ton of abilities Kirby has, and they can still have all their drawbacks and benefits but without the added pain of not being able to do basic things
I’d argue making abilities like Kirby’s copy abilities is an hard feet for an new game.
With that I mean that’s my of Kirby’s copy abilities have developed over the years. And that they are an hill of finished power ups before they even plan games.
Does that make sense?
@@CaliCosmicGal yeah tho I mean more in the regard of having abilities that basically do the same thing just being combined with each other and having ones that are worse versions of it omitted altogether. Like they clearly have the understanding of the concept down, they just need to refine it
This could've been 3D Kirby before 3D Kirby
Square enix: we have a story!
Players: Cool, so the game is going to tell us this story?
Square enix: We have to tell you the story?
I keep thinking this game is called Balan Wonderland because 'Wonderland' flows better with Balan than Wonderworld does..
I know right? Everytime I say the name my brain automatically says Wonderland instead of Wonderworld.
It does, but I think licensing issues are why it is called Wonderworld. Don't forget that Wonderland (from Alice in Wonderland) already exists.
Balan Wonderwall
The thing that comes to mind with Wonder World is that painfully generic title screen song from Sonic Lost World that somehow made it into Smash instead of anything else from that game...
@@chadschmaltz9790 ...That’s in the public domain.
Anyone else just want to play as Balan, be him helping people?
the character designs look more interesting than the actual player character and that makes me sad
Somebody ripped his model and you can play as him on VRChat. There's a PC and Quest vr version. And with a little help from mods, you can fly with Balan, too. :Y
Definitely, and the story REALLY demands Balan to have a much major role both in the story and the game itself, it’s just a facepalm how disconnected the gameplay and the story actually are, especially when we talk about Balan himself, the story putting him as the one doing all the heavy lifting, but in reality, he’s really not present anywhere other than those dumb mini-games, mini-games that don’t add anything to the story or level progression other than giving you one of many statues you find everywhere 7-7
I think they should have gone with that idea instead 😓
@Nobody but he doesn’t really help, like LS Mark said he shows up and acts like ‘my work here is done’ when all he really did was bring the two bland protagonists (I agree with you on that) in to do all the work
Yknow what would have made a lot more sense? If you went into the characters’ minds slowly learning more and more about their trauma and then fight a boss that represents their trauma. Instead of going to some random location where they show you everything at the end
That game already exists. It's called psychonauts. You might look into it if you want. The game and it's sequel got very high ratings.
This game should've just been you playing as Balan, helping people overcome their problems, and each costume should've had 4 different powers with one tied to each face button so that they could've dropped 60 of the costumes.
The way the cutscenes play out and the final battle also suggest Balan should’ve been the main character, and being able to play using the Balan Costume’s abilities from the very start would’ve actually been pretty cool
I also have no idea why you could use multiple buttons just to jump 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Yuji Naka's design philosophy of having every button do the same thing is really showing it's age.
At least in the older Sonic games it was every move mapped on two buttons, in Balan it’s only jump on EVERY button
It's not like kids don't understand more than one button has a purpose. Kids play games like Fortnite, which has super in-depth mechanics. What's a platformer gonna do, complicate things even further? I mean this game is confusing, but for much worse reasons
@@HarvestHollows kids play Fortnite, and as cancerous as it is, it's still complex in terms of gameplay.
@@nerobiblios4086 le fork knife bad xD
@@nerobiblios4086 There's really nothing wrong with non-complex controls. As a lover of puzzle games, many of those have very easy and basic control systems, because the mechanics of operating your avatar isn't where the complexity/challenge lies in those games.
The problem is that it's got numerous mechanics jammed onto the same control, as a misguided attempt to streamline things. And worse, because those mechanics are context sensitive, this actually has the result of making the game *less intuitive to play* .
Mark must really love torturing himself by putting 16+ hours into Balan Wonderworld
I mean he did watch every Simpsons episode for one video!
@@IcyDiamond you have a point there
@@ppleakage2785 indeed
at this point I just think he has all the free time in the world XD
His name is LS mark and I'm very aware that that is his name I've always known he was LS mark but for some reason seeing you call him mark confused me
I just realized that both the player characters could and should have had their respective final levels be about themselves just to make things go full circle.
Maybe we should keep an eye on Yuji Naka's mental health? He is pretty well up on his years, and Japanese society puts a lot of focus on work and honour. I don't want him hurting himself or being depressed over this disaster of a game. He still has so much to live for.
I hope he's alright. He made many good games and he simply made some mistakes with this one.
Yeah, hopefully he’s doing alright.
Judging from the interview quotes, he accepted he failed while developing it, hope it didn't make him depressed
@@digstrememcdingus1463 yeah, I honestly hope we could get a sequel for this (with more than one button) and it could potentially be like Yooka Laylee, redeeming itself with a sequel.
weird fuckin comment dude, you literally don't know this guy at all and have zero idea how he's doing, like why tf would you speculate that he might commit self harm or something?
I kinda feel even a bit sad for Yuji Naka... Like come on, that quote feels sad as heck. "I was never good with stories" Yeah Yuji, we realize that, but at least you could make the game actually good
Didn't he work on the adventure games and Shadow the hedgehog? 3 story heavy games? I mean he probably didn't write the stories but he worked on them
@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc first of all: I don't want to offend you in any way because I love both adventure games and shadow the hedgehog can be pretty fun. Now, tell me that the story of Sonic Adventure 1 or 2 is actually really complex and can be compared to 80+ hours RPGs, or that shadow the hedgehog even makes sense at all. And as you say, he didn't had nothing to do with the stories of those games, so why bring that point at all if it doesn't has nothing to do with this?
@@raghugba863 i'm not comparing them to rpg's. I'm just saying that he worked on games with deeper stories then he led on.
@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc the thing is, the only new thing on sonic adventure 1 was the existence of Chaos and the Gamma struggle (the echidna ruins appeared on Sonic R so they probably thought about that a lot of time before), and here Yuji Naka had to be the diector of a completely new game, and other thing, he's old. Sonic adventure has 22 years, sonic adventure 2 has 20. Even if he was good, time doesn't forgive anyone
@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc
Yuji Naka didn’t write the stories for those games. Sure he was in the team, but someone else was the writer.
I'm crying over the wasted potential of all these character designs
as an aspiring concept artist, I'm in awe over all these designs, they're so fun and charming, but they basically got wasted, especially Balan
I almost want to start a petition to turn this game into an animated series, it has so much potential for a wonderful magical world
this !!!!
I 100% agree - the characters are so cool and beautiful, and they should have had a better game to exist inside. A really travesty.
Balan feels so much like Howl from Howl's Moving Castle I prayed that at the end of the game after solving the kid's problem, we get to solve *his* problem but nooooooope.
Balan's design was so good and then at the end of the game he takes off the hat and...looks totally different in such an awful way. He just looks like someone's anime boy OC, especially with that new hair. How did it even go from what looks almost like dreads to that??
Seriously it's funny in many ways how it came out but it's sad knowing this is most likely to be the last thing Naka ever does unless he has a get of jail free card when it's clearly had a lot of effort and time put into it.
Girl who shuts everyone out after her parents die and her heart becomes ice... Where have i seen this before?
Holy shit did Giorno Giovanna just make a fucking Frozen reference
i've seen this concept in at least two video games and four movies... like c'mon
I kind of liked the concept. I just like snowy environments
@Mister Metokur Goddamn it
Ghiaccio? No wait, that's a guy.
Esdeath? No wait, she had a team.
Mark: "You're telling me that there's a power up in Balan Wonderworld that lets you do TWO things?"
Random Ad: "This is a big deal!"
You write and edit really fast. You announced you were writing it 5 days ago.
This is the fastest it's taken me to make a video of this length, I couldn't stop writing
He has a editor but his writing skills are great!
@@LSMark bruh
it’s takes me a month to make a 7 min video
@@LSMark so I guess you
*GOTTA GO FAST*
@@milktea6676 Aren't you the guy who Comments "furry" on every single video
Okay about the protagonist idea, get this, what if you played as Balan and you're helping all these people.
And as you're helping these people you slowly start to think about the trauma you went through, losing your sibling/twin to the darkness.
And after helping so many people, you realize you can finally help yourself and your sibling and help both of you fight through whatever trauma caused the darkness in the first place. Your sibling is restored and you both get to be happy again.
Storytelling achieved.
Unfortunately, the actual story is far, _far_ stupider (it's explained in the novel). Thousands of years ago, the bad guy (Lance) was the original Balan, but because he spent so long dealing with the darkness in humans' hearts, that darkness eventually overcame him. But because he loves humanity, he still wanted them to have a guardian (I guess) so he created the "Balan" we see in the game, but warns him that the same thing is going to happen to him eventually and he needs to accept that (to which Balan basically goes "Nuh uh, I'll never be like you" and kicks Lance's ass and that's framed as a... good thing?). Which is like... a good story in and of itself- have Balan be a representation of toxic positivity who just wants everyone to be happy all the time while Lance (who used to think like that) is there to tell him it's okay to be sad, it's okay to angry, and no matter how hard you try, one day, something might happen that it's impossible to smile through. _And that's okay._
...this game should've just been "Inside Out".
The game is Nights Into Dreams with none of the charm
@@Silburific
For fuck's sake, Balan and Lance.
@@Silburific putting it that way, Lance may’ve been completely misunderstood, because of Balan’s obsession of making everything overly positive, Lance is forced to worsen people’s negativity, all so when Balan arrives, everything ends up balancing out properly, but unfortunately Balan and everyone are left thinking Lance is a bad guy that must be defeated, not realizing his actions are so Balan’s actions can’t do worse
@@dustymcwari4468 --- this sounds like Wreck-It-Ralph, also it's kinda ironic how Balan looks more of a villain that Lance.
God the CG looks so good and I’m in love with the aesthetic. Rather than a shitty platformer or a novel, this could’ve been a beautiful cartoon short. We already have a million short stories.
What are you 8?
"Oooooh pretty colors!"
@@Icetea-2000you seem more immature
@@FleuryKaprizovFan_ Why?
So its a crime now to like colors ?@@Icetea-2000
cuz you fail roasting off your moms ipad@@Icetea-2000
As a game developer watching this this really disappoints me because the theme and artwork of this game could have really been something amazing!
What game are you currently working on?
@@haroeneissa790guess we will never know
I feel like they could've handled the costumes like characters in LEGO games. They have different abilities that you need to progress through the levels, but you only have certain characters with you in story mode, meaning you can go back in freeplay with any character you want to access things that require abilities you didn't have before.
The main thing I remember about this game is when someone talked on the official Nintendo RUclips channel about when they were playing they accidentally got softlocked because they fell into a pit, stuck with only 1 costume that can't jump back out.
Lmaooooo
oof
That moment when you need to buy and read a novel to understand the actual story. Even includes why the npcs fade away.
Now I'm curious, why is that? Did they just not program in the ability to include dialogue?
i am genuinely begging people to ask square enix to rescue this through a show or a game that is ACTUALLY focused on Balan himself. it genuinely hurts me so much to see the potential of this being wasted so badly and i honestly hate the idea that Balan will just fall into obscurity after one bad game because the company won't give him another chance, there is so much good that can be brought back and have a moment to shine
"But why not fighting a dolphin which is related to the plot instead of an... octopus lady?"
But... dear LS Mark... *thats a dolphin*
So I'm not the only one that noticed that... good... cause I was confused at how that looked like an octopus.
Thats a dolphin???
Wait, that was supposed to be a dolphin?
@@goodoldgamer9675 I'm not sure how it'a supposed to be octopus either
but it looks more like shark or whale than a Dolphin.
@@Brilliams I thought it was like a porpoise or something
Balan: My work here is done
The player: But you didn't do anything
Balan: Didn't I?
I would just slapped him in the face of reminder
Player: You didn't.
Balan: Didn't I?
Player: I already answ-
Balan: Didn't I?
Player: You know what, f you.
Yeah, I really feel for the makers of this game. As a cartoonist, I know how it can hurt when you put your time and talent towards something which misses the mark.
Whoever that top hat guy is, he's a great character design imo. Next Tumblr sexyman candidate
Imagine going to a palace in Persona 5 without knowing the character you're going into first
That's basically the first palace, but repeated for every palace
That was the case with the last palace in royal as well
@@phantasy675 But the last palace explains the character's motivations and backstory, and there's build up for said character through the entire game. Balan is more like going into someone's palace without knowing the character, or anything about the character.
@@voidoflight2420 true, i guess i was only referring to the first visit to the palace, but that was intentional and made sense from a story perspective
Not everything has to be compared to Persona 5 Jesus Christ
The thing that makes me the saddest/angriest about this game is that Balan's god-tier design is probably never ever gonna get used again because his game (which he hardly appeared in) sucked so bad.
This
Let's just hope developers catched the drift that folks disliked the gameplay, not the designs.
We can only pray
"So I'm gonna list off everything wrong with Balan Wonderland."
Video length:
*58 minutes*
Imagine if you just played as Balan the whole time, but then in the boss fights you were the person who each world reflects.
I hate how the phrase, ‘The Girl Who’s Gaga for Bugs, ‘ only reminds me of Lisa goes Gaga.
Thanks guys, just the thing I want to be reminded of in the middle of mental breakdown: the game.
Oof.
Same
I have no idea what that is and I feel like I'm going regret looking it up lol
The Girl from that chapter IMO Reminds me of Saki from 177013. Just Saying.
@@hypnospaceoutlaw3376 lmao i see what you mean
When the add said "over 80 costumes," that's when I knew it would be bad.
Because there's *no way* you can make that many.
Lego games...
@@Tree_-wp5zn I haven't played any LEGO games since the Star Wars ones, and those had fewer than 10 different abilities all told, IIRC. The countless different appearances only worked because you got to play as your favorite character that you already were attached to from external media.
@@centurosproductions8827 true
tbh if like... 90% of those were purely aesthetic to customiza the character this would've been so much better already. or maybe making them smaller parts like helmet/hat, gloves, boots etc to use multiple powers at the same time and combining the powers you like
NOT EVEN KIRBY. those games use normally 20-30 costumes, with the one exception being planet robobot who uses 40 (26 regular kirby, 14 your mecha). They also are multifunctional and in that game the mechas have dedicated levels and even gamemodes for that, and same with Kirby, the usual is that each level shows you a new hability and tons of scenarios where that hability is useful. That's why Kirby works and Balan doesn't.
2:29 Bad review: Exists.
Knuckles: Oh no
"He went to far with the BALANcing here"
You made a pun without realizing it.
and multiple times.
The protagonist is balan
The antagonist is lance
Balance
Lol
Like a wise Scott the woz once said, "it's not terrible, it's just......Awful"
?
@@digimonlover1632 I was quoting something a RUclipsr said once
hey all, scott here
Yuji is a character maker. He should have had someone work on the story
Well,that was done,It's just not in the game.
Yuji didn't design Sonic nor Balan
Both were convinced by Naoto Oshima
All Yuji Naka ever did was making the physics engine of the classic Sonic games
Yuji Naka is just a coder
I remember how the programmers of the kirby games don't want to put any more than 20 or so copy abilities into one game because it took up too much time / resources and was redundant.
And when they expanded the movesets with more inputs, some copy abilities got merged into others, like Burning becoming part of Fire, and Freeze of Ice, and some other abilities got to share moves and mechanics, like Needle getting Wheel’s dash attack, and Spark getting Plasma’s static electricity charges
Balan is too focused in filling that 80 costumes mark, with a lot of fat and repeats that could’ve been simplified into a decent many, very fleshed out costumes
It just kind of breaks my heart to see this game end up being the way that is , cause it looked like it could've had so much potential to be a great platformer.
Booo
It's genuinely sad, especially considering this was meant to be yuji naka's last chance to make a platformer game, like this chould have been great.
@@radiokunio3738 think he'll be allowed to make a game ever again
What gets me the most was that they bragged about how they made an AI to adjust the difficulty of enemy and item placements depending on player performance. They not only went through the effort to create a bot to make a platformer for them, but seeing as how you can breeze through each chapter while always encountering a few piss easy enemies and still find keys within a few feet from the costume crystals, it's hard to even tell if the damn AI is working as intended.
Watching this with the foresight of Yuji Naka in 2022 is hilarious.
The dance scenes with that extremely apparent motion capture reminds me of those Finger Family videos or Food Fight
Dear god Food Fight
You know the marketing for Balan Wonderland made it look like more like a survival horror game rather than platformer
Technically it is, as everyone who dared to play it merely was surviving the horrors of the tedium on show.
@@viscountrainbows6452 oof
“wonderland”
@@viscountrainbows6452 ppl had epilepsy so yeah
Wonderworld not Wonderland.
Even the name doesn't feel right...
Okay, so I *think* what's happening with the main girl is that she thinks everyone in her... Mansion(?) is gossiping about her behind her back. But the end reveals that what they were ACTUALLY doing was planning a surprise party for her, and avoiding her to avoid spilling the secret. Which... Honestly is kind of fun in a hokey way. But sort of begs the question how Balan, a seemingly super powerful dream deity(?) didn't just, like, *know that* such that he could tell her. Rather than outsource his job as defender of dreams to her as a roundabout way to "find her heart" or whatever.
And now yuji naka is in jail while sonic frontiers got glowing reviews (for sonic standards) by both critics and fans. You could NOT have fallen off that badly.
Sonic frontier ps is a masterpiece compared to this confusing mess of a game
"I feel like i have ADD when playing this game"
Me who has ADHD while playing every game: I am four parallel universes ahead of you
lollll
"Why doesn't this game just take place on a train?"
A train you say...
with different worlds....
for therapy.
If only something like that existe--*gets hit with the Infinity Train music sting*
"Different worlds... for therapy."
Oh, you mean Alice: Madeness Returns? That had a train too, but the train represented the damage the trauma Alice's repressed memories were causing her psyche. Even that would work well with the plot of Wonderworld- have Balan's train start out as this annoying, intrusive, scary thing that's seen throughout all the worlds in the bachground (since that's often how people dealing with depression see attempts at helping them) and as you help more people with their trauma, it transforms into something beautiful, symbolizing that they can now see that getting help is a good thing.
@@Silburific Ooh that actually sounds really cool! I wasn't talking about that, but I'll look into it. I was actually talking about the animated anthology cartoon series Infinity Train. It's about this giant train that takes people who are going through issues and helps them go through their problems by putting them on the train where each car is a different pocket universe. It tackles mature topics really well and has amazing characters. I highly recommend it!
@@MidnightNautil1 I've heard _of_ the show, but I had no idea what it was about. That sounds awesome! I need to check it out.
@@Silburific Definitely a must-watch. Shame that HBO Max cancelled it. (Don't know why though the show's super popular)
@@MidnightNautil1 I think it was because season 4 was gonna be way too brutal to be aired and the infinity train team wouldn’t change it to not compromise on the story. However I’ve read somewhere it’s being continued due to the backlash the cancellation caused.
Considering the relation to Sonic with the director, I'm a bit shocked that your "friend" didn't beat you to the punch on this one
Splash Dash let him have this one
15:19 Well, that's pretty much Infinity Train. 🚂
10:02 Is that a Devil May Cry reference I hear? Because you can't fool me, I recognize my DMC music lol
@Marquitchū Yo, sup dude. I really LSMark if you can't tell.
That's why swear I heard it before
It's Cerberus theme from dmc 5 right?
I don't like that much ngl
@@junpei6180 Sounds like I'm in a rave party high on crack lol
Mm, just image this game with like DMC, Doom, maybe a bit of Isaac. Boom, playable. Take notes, Square, plagiarize THESE songs instead of Ghostbusters music.
“You have failed me for the last time, -Admiral- Naka.” - Darth Vader
The idea of the scenario falling apart in act 2 is actually pretty clever. It could be adapted to each world. The farmer world could broke apart because strong winds. The dolphin world could drown. The chess world could be taken over by unbeatable chess figures. The death cat one could have cars chasing you. The death parents one could froze.
Edit: By the way, if you like these psychic stuff check out Psychonauts, it might not be for everyone but it absolutely nails every thing in regard to mental worlds.
Craziest thing about the CGI cutscenes is that originally, they weren't gonna be in the game.
It would've made more sense if Balan was the protagonist and the final boss was like Balan's trauma given a physical form.
And if the rest of the game was actually good
I though that’s what the final boss was, especially because Lance ends up turning into a Balan lookalike after the battle, much in the same fashion as everyone else after their fights are over, and likewise, Balan becomes the center of attention in the dancing number that happens right after, and the actual reason why Balan cried back at the kids when they hugged him seems to be because they helped him with HIS problem, all the while Leo/Emma never truly had to face their own inner demons something something because they supposedly prevented them from getting the best of them thanks to their adventure in Wonderworld.
But what Balan says right before the final battle makes it a bit confusing, like he’s saying it as if Leo/Emma are going to face their own problems...but everything really points that this is Balan’s problem Leo/Emma are dealing with, not theirs, it would make sense if at some point in the fight Lance would bring Leo’s/Emma’s very own demons, making them begin to fall in darkness, but then Balan and everyone come to their rescue, letting Leo/Emma resume the fight (while also addressing what Balan said to them earlier), but no, Leo/Emma are literally unaffected by the negativity at all they’re still very eager to keep fighting by themselves despite Lance wrecking their costumes, everyone’s arrival is very much extra help they just gladly accepted to beat Lance faster
@@dustymcwari4468 So i watched a different review of Balan and they mentioned the book. Turns out we know next to nothing because Lance created Balan or something and Leo was originally one of the residents of Wonderworld but his problem was already solved so he never became an evil monster like the others. Meanwhile Emma was called specifically by Balan himself for help on dealing with Lance and Leo joined along because he wanted to rescue the friends he made during his time in Wonderworld. There's 300 pages worth of other stuff not at all mentioned in the game that would've been amazing to see in the actual gamr
@@GIRru11I may be wrong, but from the little I heard about the book, it may just be like the Sonic comics, not canon, so it’s completely separated from the game itself, rather than being an expansion to the game’s story
@@dustymcwari4468 Nah, the book contains the full story of the game. It explains every thing going on in the game while adding more information on other things
@@GIRru11 oh okay
Me: I’ve never even heard of this game why should I care?
LS Mark: it was directed by Yuji Naka
Me: Alright, I’m listening.
7:13 Literally the plot to the let it go movie A.K.A. Frozen
I REALLT love the theater idea with the kid watching ahHhHhh- maybe as you beat each world different props could appear from each world too- and it could slowly get more and more chaotic and trippy (giant traffic lights and chess pieces and random tails of dolphins whisking around corners, to add to the paranoia) and besting the final boss could fix it? Make it just… a theater again…
balan wonderland wouldve been good if the person who made "tails gets trolled" made it but thats just me
Yeah, but that's like saying a movie would be better if Stanley Kubrick made it.
@@firstnamelastname7244 ?
I've seen so many videos in my recommended about this game, haven't watched a single one, till now.
What if... Hear me out. They made the costumes attached to a button 😮
If they want to keep the low buttons then they can just attached the costumes to a button instead
Yeah that would have been better instead of “oh so that button is jump and also ALL THE OTHERS
14:42 His "my work here is done" scenes are so odd. It honestly made me expect a twist ending where Balan was pulling all the strings, making people fall into despair so he could watch you fix everything for his own amusement. And when he winks at the camera, it's his way of saying "Good show... But we'll see how you handle my next challenge!"
But no, he's a good guy and those scenes are just oddly disjointed.
This video made me have a mandela effect moment because I swore the game was called Balan Wonderland, thanks for the mini existential crisis.
SAME
SAME HERE
Can you have a mendella effect expririence with an underrated media like some that aren't well known
And not only on something mainstream and well known🙄😒
@@aim3649 yeah probably
Balan+Lance= Balance
I saw this comment on another video about Balan Wonderandworld and thought it was cool
Now I can't help thinking thats the only reason either of them is named that, like Yuji Naka was going to bed and had that thought and immediately thought "I can make a game out of this!" with no extra ideas
no, Balan+Lance = Balanlance, which just sounds stupid
@@Manobaru No not there full names just a little half of both name
@@Manobaru Balan+ce makes Balance maybe I should have been more pacific
@@puggers8591 pacific
Mark, buddy, that's a mansion, the MAIDS should be a dead giveaway...Have you never seen any cartoon with maids or butlers before? Also she was thrown a surprise birthday party. The gifts, balloons, the guests her age. I'm worried, was your childhood ok mark?
Other than that, great review.
Players: "Many I wish theres story in my video games"
Bungie: "Your feedback is noted therefore we shall put half the story on your weapons and achievements instead of gameplay"
Can’t wait till someone makes a remake of this for free and fixes all of the probelms
the entire game is a problem
@@64bitmodels66 There's people out there who have worked on fixing Sonic 06, so anything's possible.
If there's a PC version, someone's probably gonna do that
How much work is it gonna take tho
@@cradiculous Tbf, a lot of that was technical issues and bugs, while this game just has garbo design
Man this is such a shame, I really like the character designs of Balan and Lance
Imagine if they took a Risk of Rain 2 approach to the costumes, were the power ups are visually represented on the player by a small object, and all of them give small benefits that stack over time leading to a super powerful character by the end
Came back after the silly little thing Yuji Naka did recently
I asked my friend if he’s “seen the new Ls Mark video” 20 seconds after this came out
Well has he?
Come on tell us! Has he.
YEAH DID HE?
guys, the vid just came out and its an hour long
nobody finished watching it
True!!!
For some reason i thought the kids story was that they had a couple breakup, and the boy was sad because he misses her, and the girl saw her maids talking like asking what happen between them and/or making fun of that, and they were just strolling and found balan and he shows that there are other problems in the world. I mean the last frame is them dancing together.
Jesus shit that would have been incredible, and it actually explains why they are both there better than the original!
That would even make the ending and their stories make sense, like Leo being a loner because of the pain of the breakup, and Emma being very anxious because she’s being haunted by gossips about her breakup
At least the developers where honest, can’t exactly say that about gamefreak these days
"You need to watch the entire 2 minutes cutscene if you miss the first QTE"
me with the power of alt f4: no I don't think I will
Why do I feel like mark is going to be extremely rich by selling his plush?
I'd MUCH rather play night in the woods if I wanted a good story and great characters about mental health
Same here
@@subzu2733 I can see from your profile pic that you have played another great game
@@shlokwaghela9560 yea celeste is such a good game it taught me to appreciate music more especially in video games also while don't have anxiety or depression it still taught to accept that part of yourself
@@subzu2733 Ya, that's good, though games like these just make me feel empty after completing them, I still love the journey
Didn't a person a commit suicide over bullshit allegations
I really wish Nights comes back.
The cutscenes for Balan, are really beautiful tho.
Balan wonderland would of been much better as a movie with the way the cgi looks and the good idea for a story
16:11 that episode where the girl got a stomach as a pet traumatised me
Show was my childhood
I found it 2 summers ago and really enjoyed it.
Its a gem