LTTP Balan Wonderworld is a good game

[Ojoloco]

Pretty surprised with balan wonderworld

The first world (the one in the demo) is very bad, and the second is similar
But the rest of the worlds are pretty good And I would say that the game problems are more technical (unstable fps when there are enough enemies and random framedrops) and certain gameplay things that could be done better (instead of only being able to wear 3 costumes and having to go to a save point to change them, having a menu that allows you to change them at any time, certain abilities of some suits need some rework, and there is a suit that is useless)

Among its benefits, once the first two worlds have passed, the rest have designs that are fun and complex, in addition to the fact that the phases are neither long nor short. Also to say that the story it tells is seeming pretty to me. And it has a good duration, there are about 12 worlds each with a different theme, they tell their own story and it is made up of 2 phases and 1 boss.

My conclusion is that it is a pity that surely for reasons that we already know due to Naka going to the jail, a game with potential was released prematurely, with a demo that did not do it justice and with clear signs of lack of development time.
Clearly, that Square jumped on the vine and tried to charge €60 for this is another separate issue, because it's not worth it, but if you find it cheap, I would give it a chance

In conclusion, It is a cool game and the problems more than anything because of the bugs mentioned
If someone wants to try it, let them do it if they see it cheap

 

[Deleted member 101]

The title must be bait right?

It's nice that you had fun with it but it's definitely not a good game. You've listed already enough things to conclude that it can't be a good game.
Every world following the exact same structure without providing any significant changes, costumes that are simply broken or don't do anything, movement that's both clunky in use and doesn't work with the gameworld.
Nothing in your text reflects the title.

A bad game can be fun but let's not call it good.

 

[Angel Whispers]

If I may say so, I’m rather sympathetic to the premise of the OP, in that I believe once one removes the toxicity and hyperbole around this title, there’s a semblance of a good, fun game to be found in Balan Wonderworld, one that ought to have felt more at home on Nintendo platforms, and one that could be enjoyed in bursts. However, the execution of ideas was very disappointing, and the result was a bad product. I also feel that had this game been under a different publisher, it wouldn’t have released in that state. It’s unfortunate that events played out the way they did, but I hope that team isn’t discouraged by it all, and uses the lessons learned here to deliver better experiences in their future endeavours.

 

[BassForever]

The game was so bad the director must have been doing some kind of white collar crime instead of focusing on making the game the best it could be.

 

[neil]

The game was so bad the director must have been doing some kind of white collar crime instead of focusing on making the game the best it could be.

FRAUD vs GAME DEVELOPMENT

Game development:

• Difficult
• Requires massive time and energy commitment
• May not result in financial gain

Fraud:

• Probably not that difficult
• Assumedly not as time consuming as game development
• May lead to incarceration (free food, clothing and shelter)

Which would you choose?

 

[big lantern ghost]

I agree the game isn’t like absolutely horrendous. I definitely can’t say it was good, personally. I think the main issue outside of its own problems — of which there are quite a few! — is that platformers are so thoroughly represented in indie development, and a lot of those games look and play way better than Balan at a fraction of the price. It’s a tough sell

 

[Ojoloco]

I agree the game isn’t like absolutely horrendous. I definitely can’t say it was good, personally. I think the main issue outside of its own problems — of which there are quite a few! — is that platformers are so thoroughly represented in indie development, and a lot of those games look and play way better than Balan at a fraction of the price. It’s a tough sell

Yes, it was too expensive at launch. Currently, on the other hand, it can be found at more consistent and competitive prices for the type of game it is.

 

[BassForever]

Yes, it was too expensive at launch. Currently, on the other hand, it can be found at more consistent and competitive prices for the type of game it is.

They'd have to pay you to actually be competitive price wise for the type of game it is. A game's price is rarely, if ever, the main issue that keeps it from being considered good/great.

I'm glad you got enjoyment out of the game, but your experience is an extreme outlier to what 95% of people will feel playing the game. BW isn't some misunderstood game with a bad opening, it's just a bad game.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

You do you but I literrally can't play the game because the "wrapping" scenery in some levels makes me sick.

 

[Ojoloco]

They'd have to pay you to actually be competitive price wise for the type of game it is. A game's price is rarely, if ever, the main issue that keeps it from being considered good/great.

I'm glad you got enjoyment out of the game, but your experience is an extreme outlier to what 95% of people will feel playing the game. BW isn't some misunderstood game with a bad opening, it's just a bad game.

I am responding to someone who commented on the price between this game and other alternatives to play.

I have not said that the price makes it a good or bad game.

 

[big lantern ghost]

Yes, it was too expensive at launch. Currently, on the other hand, it can be found at more consistent and competitive prices for the type of game it is.

That is true, and a more reasonable price point could only help Balan. But the quality disparity is still there; people are consistently putting out better and more involved games in the genre.

I think I remember there being some talk pre-release about how there would be a lot of leeway in chaining your abilities together to find your own way toward a solution. I could see the one button gameplay making a lot more sense in that framework. I only made it to World 4 or so but to memory, that was definitely not the case and things felt very constrained and straightforward. In a world where the abilities were more fun and the maps were built to get some utility out of them, BW might have been alright!

 

[Pierceyonder]

I've played through the entire game on stream, I will say it has its own nice/clever moments but overall it's just really boring and bland. A simple change to let you jump with all costumes and be able to switch them seamlessly on the fly would probably do a lot for making the core game fun, since you could combo moves from one costume into others.

I think their hellbent intent on making it a 1-button game killed it.

 

[Deleted member 2]

FRAUD vs GAME DEVELOPMENT

Game development:

• Difficult
• Requires massive time and energy commitment
• May not result in financial gain

Fraud:

• Probably not that difficult
• Assumedly not as time consuming as game development
• May lead to incarceration (free food, clothing and shelter)

Which would you choose?

I've been going about my life all wrong

 

[Tailzo]

I got the game for dirt cheap for my daughter.

....but I ended up playing it a lot more than her. Loved the colors and worlds.

 

[Tye]

The title must be bait right?

It's nice that you had fun with it but it's definitely not a good game. You've listed already enough things to conclude that it can't be a good game.
Every world following the exact same structure without providing any significant changes, costumes that are simply broken or don't do anything, movement that's both clunky in use and doesn't work with the gameworld.
Nothing in your text reflects the title.

A bad game can be fun but let's not call it good.

Or what constitutes a “good” game and a “bad” game is subjective and different people will have different definitions of such.

For example, if you think about the “goodness” of a game defined by a number between 1 and 10 (purely for the purpose of this example to make it more easily understood; I don’t agree with the typical practice of assigning games a score because I believe it’s incredibly flawed and reductive), many people will consider, say, anything 7 or above to be “good” while 6 or below is “bad”—and it’s not uncommon for people to think only 8 or above is “good” while 7 and below is “bad”, too. Conversely, some may see it more evenly split, with anything above 5 being “good” and anything 5 and below being “bad”, or potentially an even lower range for “bad” games. But then why does it even have to be a good/bad binary, anyway? Can’t some games simply be somewhere in the middle, not labeled as strictly “good” or “bad”? That’s honestly the most realistic stance, I feel, given that virtually every game has both “good” and “bad” elements. And for some, like myself, as long as a game succeeds at fulfilling its primary purpose—to provide entertainment and, the way I like to put it, make me smile—it’s a “good” game in my book. Doesn’t mean it’s amazing or a masterpiece or anything like that, but it doesn’t have to be viewed as a terrible game either just because it falls short of that, yet sadly I feel like that’s how many gamers view games.

I’m can’t comment much on Balan Wonderworld in particular since I’ve only played the demo, though while there were clear technical issues on Switch (surely in part the result of asking Arzest to juggle the development for multiple consoles at once instead of focusing on Switch, on top of other mismanagement issues), I could see the core of something good in there.

 

[Undeniablybiased]

I mean... Nah. We don’t always need to find the good in everything. Some things can just be bad. “It would have … if it did …”. Yeah, maybe. But it didn’t.