37 thoughts on “Balan Wonderworld – A Second Look [Bumbles McFumbles]”
I feel like I’d enjoy Balan I’m more of an aesthetics guy over gameplay, and the style that Balan is in really catches my heart. Every video I see of the game just looks amazing.
Also do you know which platformer uses the costume mechanics pretty well? Kid Chameleon. When you get a costume, you have 3 hit points. If you lose them you turn back into a kid. All costumes (masks) can jump and perform a special action. Even without a costume (mask) the Kid is pretty nimble and can even kill bosses. Such an easy concept that could have been used.
I never understood the one button thing. My autistic little sister understands the concept of pressing A B X and Y for different uses so who is the one button thing for really? Hell, I bet she'd be kinda disappointed to find out all buttons do the same thing.
It really stinks seeing what the game was ultimately I like the story ideas here, I like the enemy designs and names (one is called Endlessi or something and I love it) and some of the bosses look cool, world 4s airplane dude was my favorite Shame they got stuck here and probably ain't coming back in any form in the future
It's absolutely your PC dude. I'm running a mid range Nvdia card from like 5 years ago and 8gb of RAM and I was able to run it at almost max settings with no issues at all
That Arzest is made from the major players of Artoon, known for the cult classics Blinx the Time Sweeper and FlingSmash, made it sting even more when the best thing Arzest made since the shutting-down of Artoon was the StreetPass Mii Plaza.
I’d think it’d work better if the costumes could work like gadgets from ape escape (each one can be activated by pressing one of the face buttons but also have one dedicated to jumping.
Something I've learned over time is that even bad games can be fun, intentionally or not. That being said, while I was never very interested in this game, I do wish it had the time and focused development it deserved.
I still feel like qn aspect of Balan that's actually admirable is its constant theme of Reigniting passion. Everyone we see had a passion that they truly enjoyed until something happened. Their own self doubts or a traumatic event pushes them away from the things that makes them happy or the desires they may wish for. I legitimately love it and I find myself rewatching the cinematic to experience that resolution. This game really needed to go through the ringer a little more.
See, here's the problem with Balan Wonderworld: The company, Square Enix, saw the potential and took it as a *bad sign*. They didn't want something to overshadow their games- so they did everything in their power to ruin it. They actively let someone else take over production against the creator's wishes. they actively ruined this game, and the creator is suing them for doing it. So while I agree the game has quite a few issues, the creator's hands were tied, at the behest of the company that he was working under. I get why everyone has problems with the game- its a bit of a mess gameplay-wise. i'm just saying, a lot of people don't have the whole story.
So what I'm hearing is that we need mods and/or a redesign to just have Frost Faerie and the slim amounts of useful costumes, throw out the others, replace the Bouts with something more engaging, and of course, leave in the dancing…
This game reminds me of something that im paraphrasing that a director once said (his name sadly escapes me but I think it was Brad Bird)
Sometimes to make a better final result, you need to make some tough cuts with what you're making
This game had WAY too much thrown into it and ended up having little substance due to this. It looks nice, has some neat ideas but man it flops hard before it even gets to the starting line
They really should have just gone the Kirby Route and made a fun platforming moveset for the character regardless of what costume you're in and then make each costume just a power up with an action associated with the action button. Yeah, it would have been derivative but it also would have just been a better game. It would have also allowed the devs to work more on the level design.
I guess you got certain things wrong there: 1. No there are unintended costumes or unintended places. If the place has hitbox and is fully fleshed, you can get there sooner or later. That is fully intended and it is up to you how skilled you are using costumes. 2. you do not need to play or finish on max any single Balan bounce in order to progress and finish the game. You only need to do that if you want to 100% complete it. In order to unlock the final boss you will need around 50% of Balan statues and beat all 12 bosses. that is all. 3. I do admit, that giving you option to start with stage 2 of the first world made it more confusing, because stage 1 gives you basic instructions. 4. I also understand that instructions for the wardrobe were missing. 5. Costume farming is no different than any rare resource or potions farming in many other games. Yet here, people seems to complain much more. 6. Your 3 costumes are technically 3 lives that you can replenish at certain spots with local costumes. If you loose more practical or needed costume, that is up to your skill. So how about to get good playing an easy kids game. 7. There are very few spots where a specific costume is needed to access certain Balan statue or to progress the game. Most of the time there is no 1 valid solution, so it is up to you which costumes you will bring and how you solve that problem. 8. You do not really need that book to get basic understanding. Funny enough lot of story is left to your own interpretation to see what is happening. Why would that be a bad thing? It is a similar experience you would get when visiting a foreign country where you do not speak their language and nobody speaks yours (so all you get are more or less just visual images). It is actually very refreshing as practically nobody dares to do it this way. 9. You can get Double Jumper in World 2 if you know how, which gives you similar mobility of an air cat. Your first metal breaking costume is funny enough hidden in World 4 (yes the infamous Box Fox), so you do get advanced tools pretty early in the game. You can even get Balan costume after beating first boss and first 2 levels multiple times if you know how. But of course with that costume, whole game will soon become boring.
I feel like this game could be pretty fun the whole way through if someone just modded it to give all costumes a jump. I would probably actually play it if someone did. Though then there's still the issue of the costumes with no attack, but I'm fine with decent games rather than perfect ones. Be to Mario Odyssey what all those old B-grade 3d mascot platformers were to games like rayman and spyro, i imagine.
It’s just a tragedy because I love the GameCube/Dreamcast era. Being the first generation where 3D gaming was solidified, they really tried kinda psychotic ideas that developers don’t do as often in recent years. Monkey ball, billy Hatcher, Amazing island, all games that are psychotic, but charming because the goal was just being fun and if Balan Wonderworld was good, it also would have been like those games because it’s got the psychosis on its side.
I feel like I’d enjoy Balan
I’m more of an aesthetics guy over gameplay, and the style that Balan is in really catches my heart. Every video I see of the game just looks amazing.
Still not gonna buy it, I’m not that enticed.
Also do you know which platformer uses the costume mechanics pretty well? Kid Chameleon. When you get a costume, you have 3 hit points. If you lose them you turn back into a kid. All costumes (masks) can jump and perform a special action. Even without a costume (mask) the Kid is pretty nimble and can even kill bosses. Such an easy concept that could have been used.
I never understood the one button thing. My autistic little sister understands the concept of pressing A B X and Y for different uses so who is the one button thing for really? Hell, I bet she'd be kinda disappointed to find out all buttons do the same thing.
It really stinks seeing what the game was ultimately
I like the story ideas here, I like the enemy designs and names (one is called Endlessi or something and I love it) and some of the bosses look cool, world 4s airplane dude was my favorite
Shame they got stuck here and probably ain't coming back in any form in the future
Haha, little does he know I can skip through the dance scenes
It's absolutely your PC dude. I'm running a mid range Nvdia card from like 5 years ago and 8gb of RAM and I was able to run it at almost max settings with no issues at all
My favorite costume combination by far was bullet kid, frost fairy, and leap frog. They're so fun.
That Arzest is made from the major players of Artoon, known for the cult classics Blinx the Time Sweeper and FlingSmash, made it sting even more when the best thing Arzest made since the shutting-down of Artoon was the StreetPass Mii Plaza.
Not gonna lie, I was expecting you to say “So we first get the choice to play as either Leo or Emma and I CANT DO THIS CUE THE OUTRO CARD!”
The best way to play it is as if it’s an old and shitty kids game your 6 year old self played a bunch.
Born in flames balan has been blessed.
I’d think it’d work better if the costumes could work like gadgets from ape escape (each one can be activated by pressing one of the face buttons but also have one dedicated to jumping.
19:52 Split second of end credits. Is that a glitch in the game or just an editing error?
Somebody has probably already pointed this out but the Elastiplant Costume is literally just that one enemy from the Wooded Kingdom in Mario Odyssey
The game isn't fun, Frost Fairy is fun. They should've just made a whole game with the Frost Fairy mechanics.
Dillions rolling western is a good game just don’t play the third one in the series
Something I've learned over time is that even bad games can be fun, intentionally or not. That being said, while I was never very interested in this game, I do wish it had the time and focused development it deserved.
As a Dylan, I laughed out loud.
For the algorithm
I still feel like qn aspect of Balan that's actually admirable is its constant theme of Reigniting passion. Everyone we see had a passion that they truly enjoyed until something happened. Their own self doubts or a traumatic event pushes them away from the things that makes them happy or the desires they may wish for. I legitimately love it and I find myself rewatching the cinematic to experience that resolution.
This game really needed to go through the ringer a little more.
See, here's the problem with Balan Wonderworld: The company, Square Enix, saw the potential and took it as a *bad sign*. They didn't want something to overshadow their games- so they did everything in their power to ruin it. They actively let someone else take over production against the creator's wishes. they actively ruined this game, and the creator is suing them for doing it. So while I agree the game has quite a few issues, the creator's hands were tied, at the behest of the company that he was working under. I get why everyone has problems with the game- its a bit of a mess gameplay-wise. i'm just saying, a lot of people don't have the whole story.
So what I'm hearing is that we need mods and/or a redesign to just have Frost Faerie and the slim amounts of useful costumes, throw out the others, replace the Bouts with something more engaging, and of course, leave in the dancing…
In other words. Frost Fairy is one of the only good things about the game.
Also, playing with the costume of the titular character sounds to me like they practically turned the game into NiGHTS 3.
This game reminds me of something that im paraphrasing that a director once said (his name sadly escapes me but I think it was Brad Bird)
Sometimes to make a better final result, you need to make some tough cuts with what you're making
This game had WAY too much thrown into it and ended up having little substance due to this. It looks nice, has some neat ideas but man it flops hard before it even gets to the starting line
Ah yes Balan WonderWar against having actual function
They really should have just gone the Kirby Route and made a fun platforming moveset for the character regardless of what costume you're in and then make each costume just a power up with an action associated with the action button. Yeah, it would have been derivative but it also would have just been a better game. It would have also allowed the devs to work more on the level design.
I guess you got certain things wrong there:
1. No there are unintended costumes or unintended places. If the place has hitbox and is fully fleshed, you can get there sooner or later. That is fully intended and it is up to you how skilled you are using costumes.
2. you do not need to play or finish on max any single Balan bounce in order to progress and finish the game. You only need to do that if you want to 100% complete it. In order to unlock the final boss you will need around 50% of Balan statues and beat all 12 bosses. that is all.
3. I do admit, that giving you option to start with stage 2 of the first world made it more confusing, because stage 1 gives you basic instructions.
4. I also understand that instructions for the wardrobe were missing.
5. Costume farming is no different than any rare resource or potions farming in many other games. Yet here, people seems to complain much more.
6. Your 3 costumes are technically 3 lives that you can replenish at certain spots with local costumes. If you loose more practical or needed costume, that is up to your skill. So how about to get good playing an easy kids game.
7. There are very few spots where a specific costume is needed to access certain Balan statue or to progress the game. Most of the time there is no 1 valid solution, so it is up to you which costumes you will bring and how you solve that problem.
8. You do not really need that book to get basic understanding. Funny enough lot of story is left to your own interpretation to see what is happening. Why would that be a bad thing? It is a similar experience you would get when visiting a foreign country where you do not speak their language and nobody speaks yours (so all you get are more or less just visual images). It is actually very refreshing as practically nobody dares to do it this way.
9. You can get Double Jumper in World 2 if you know how, which gives you similar mobility of an air cat. Your first metal breaking costume is funny enough hidden in World 4 (yes the infamous Box Fox), so you do get advanced tools pretty early in the game. You can even get Balan costume after beating first boss and first 2 levels multiple times if you know how. But of course with that costume, whole game will soon become boring.
Imma keep it a buck
That farmer was the storm that is approaching
I feel like this game could be pretty fun the whole way through if someone just modded it to give all costumes a jump. I would probably actually play it if someone did. Though then there's still the issue of the costumes with no attack, but I'm fine with decent games rather than perfect ones. Be to Mario Odyssey what all those old B-grade 3d mascot platformers were to games like rayman and spyro, i imagine.
More than 2000 people saw this, so suck it Bumbles
that one plant costume from the start of the video is LITERALLY a mechanic ripped from super mario odyssey lmao
Take my advice: instead of playing this game, just play Super Mario Odyssey. At least THAT game is actually fun.
It’s just a tragedy because I love the GameCube/Dreamcast era. Being the first generation where 3D gaming was solidified, they really tried kinda psychotic ideas that developers don’t do as often in recent years. Monkey ball, billy Hatcher, Amazing island, all games that are psychotic, but charming because the goal was just being fun and if Balan Wonderworld was good, it also would have been like those games because it’s got the psychosis on its side.
Yoshi's New Island and Hey Pikmin is both overhated and not as bad people love to make them out to be.
Rewatching this video right in time for Yuji Naka to get arrested for tax evasion.
They probably caught Yuji Naka because they realized "wait a second no one bought Balan Wonderworld where is he getting all this money from"
The whole game was designed to look good in a screenshot and nothing more.