Balan Wonderworld Is Good Actually and Here's Why!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มิ.ย. 2024
- We are taking a journey to the mysterious Wonderworld where we will tackle the discourse of 2021's most unfairly maligned game - Balan Wonderworld. Follow along as we discuss what truly constitutes a platformer and jump into the simple narrative of woes and triumph that so many deemed to be unworthy. It's showtime!
00:00 - Introduction
05:41 - Chapter 1: The Hedgehog Boys
16:16 - Chapter 2: The Jumping Game
29:54 - Chapter 3: The Obtuse Story
51:59 - Conclusion: Every Second Was an Adventure
PATREON: / transparens
TWITTER: / transparencyboo
#BalanWonderworld #YujiNaka #SonicTeam
Bonus meme:
Have you ever thought about that Nights and Sonic the Hedgehog too are single button games made by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima? Like, I don't think it was that out of left field that they would once again come back to that idea and explore it further. Once again I am left a bit baffled about what people genuinely expected this game to be when these two have a very distinct catalogue of games that speak for themselves. One of Yuji Naka's more recent games is Ivy the Kiwi? for gods sake. It should have been pretty clear from the start that these guys wouldn't make something conventional for all the gamers out there. Anyway, I think we are probably talking way too much about if games are good or bad instead of talking about their ideas and what is actually interesting about them. It's a bit of a shame that value statements of quality has taken such a huge role in how we communicate about video games because it kind of sucks tbh, lol.
Theory, explained, analysis, video essay and other buzz words for the search engine or something. - เกม
![[FULL EP.69] #เอิร์นจิรวรรณ เปิดบ้านหมื่นล้านทุกมุม ครั้งแรก! l เคหสถานบานปลาย l One Playground](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_J4_nw8c64o/mqdefault.jpg)
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As someone who suffers from anxiety and found this game to be a life saver after dealing with the death of a loved one.
I got attacked for it which upset me greatly. This harassment lasted for months. It affected my mental health for months until the pain was gone.
I love the game so much! I laughed, I cried. It really did save me!
Balan Wonderworld made me into who I am. A very caring, thoughtful, and energetic person.
It has helped me make friends and helped me keep my emotions in tact despite the final battle literally putting me tears and heartbreak.
It saddens me that we will never get something like this ever again.
Balan will always watch me! I know he will!
I will defend balan wonderworld no matter what they say because i has go through a bad time in my life where i was a kid
You could also see a doctor. But like, that works too.
Balan is wonderfully animated it’s hard not to love him. Even if I never played the game his Himbo energy is exuded early on lol
Naoto Ohshima really went all out on this game, there are so many fun designs. My personal favorite among the many costume characters is the Itsy-bitsy elf. Look it up. Super cute.
The thing I’ve started asking myself with a lot of media is “did they make what they set out to make?” and Balan, for the flaws it has, absolutely fits that criteria.
(btw so hyped for the DK video, DKC was my jam as a kid. Still replay 3 with the Christmas code on pretty regularly)
It might look like Balan is an unintentional mess, but we whole heartedly believe that this was the exact game they wanted to make. Also, nice about DKC3, it's the one we will focus on to I guess further ourselves being contrarians.
@@Transparencyboo (it’s the BEST one and I include the Returns games in that 😤)
@@melomenon This is what we're talking about!!
This video did not disappoint! Insightful and funny as always. It’s a shame The Discourse is what it is, but hopefully this helps sheds some light on what makes Balan Wonderworld worthy of critical reevaluation.
I picked up the game fully expecting a so-bad-it’s-good experience based on low reviews from fans and critics alike. Instead I found a work with a lot of heart, brimming with charm.
Balan Wonderworld reminds me of a time when games were just that. I loved slowly exploring its goofy, imaginative worlds, and figuring out its rules, platform challenges, and puzzles.
It’s not like secretly a masterpiece or anything, but the game packs inspired art design, fantastic cutscenes, and more innovative mechanics than featured in most big-budget games published since the industry stopped catering to an enthusiast audience. It’s fun, ok?
Thank you, glad you liked the video and the game for that matter. It really is a heartfelt production from Naka and Ohshima, and I am just a bit sad that people imagine that they and their entire team didn't give it their all, or even cared at all. Because truly, this is like you say such an enthusiast thing, what others see as problems I and flaws I see as features and what makes it special. I wish there was a place for these goofballs to make games, because it doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
“what others see as problems I and flaws I see as features and what makes it special.”
This, so much!
@@cookiestar3069 heck yeah!
literally as soon as i learned stiff about balan wonderland i though, "i bet transparency's gonna have a spicy rake about this"
I am glad our audience understand us so well.
Totally agree with the main premise of this video. Balan Wonderworld is for sure, not a terrible game, not even a bad one. I played the demo, didn't enjoy it, and so I didn't purchase the game, but that doesn't mean that other people wouldn't like it.
Having said that, I do think you gave the game a little more credit than it deserves in some regards (and I understand that you really didn't want to let any of the bad faith critiques of the game any credence), but there are some things in the game that really do make it a little hard to justify.
I'd say that, for me, the biggest issue with the game is that, for as easy as it is in most instances, there are some spikes in difficulty that would be absolutely infuriating for younger children or newer games, who this game seems to be mostly marketed towards. The balan quick time mini games, the sports games, and the box fox are all things that a kid would get into without a second thought, then suddenly find it really hard to deal with.
In addition, there is the obtuseness of everything surrounding the Tims. All the benefits the Tims give you, the ability to get the Balan Costume after doing the right things, the fact that Tims are needed to end each level and they can be eaten/killed by certain enemies and the abilities that each tim has based on their color. These are some things that really should have been spelled out for the target audience.
Even with these gripes, I think the game got way more flack than it deserved. This reminds me of the hate and vitriol that accompanied the release of The Last of Us Part II. In the very same way, I saw an enormous amount of bad faith arguments that didn't even make sense when you've actually played the game and it led to lots of anger and disruption for the people who actually played and enjoyed the game, and for the creators of the game. It's a really sad situation and gives a lot of credence to the thoughts of people that "gamers are all man children that can't handle something coming out that they don't like". Unfortunately, Balan Wonderworld just doesn't have the appeal that TLoUP2 had to let enough people play it so the world could discover it wasn't actually a bad game.
Keep up the good work with your provocative work, few would dare to put themselves in the firing sights like you have, and you should be applauded for it, even if people don't agree with everything you've said.
Honestly lovely to see someone giving this game the love it deserves. Thank you for this video, the Balan fandom seriously appreciates it!
We're glad the fandom does appreciate it. Not sure what the overall long term success of the video will be, but so far the dedicated fans seem to be the ones carrying this one, haha.
I still haven't played it yet. I was very interested to start, but rarely buy games when they first come out. I was kinda taken aback by how everyone seemed to hate it. It felt like something that was designed to have a cult following. Hopefully, your essay brings about a new era of Balan love.
It kind of already has a cult following, haha. Seems like there is a really dedicated fan base out there who have taken to this game a lot. A lot of people talked about it being too expensive when it came out, but today you can probably find it really cheap. If you're lucky even for like 10 bucks or something.
Can I just say when I got to the final boss and then everyone started cheering me on and gave my black Leo their costumes, I audibly said "SOUL."
I have alot to say about this game but man y'all summarized it very well. What I liked that the game preferred to show the story than tell it. It was simply wonderful, and it made me connect with a few of them like the Farmer, Bug girl, the pilot, or the clown. Each one ended on hope and more than anything I think that was also part of Balan's message. You could be haunted by your past transgressions or trauma, but theirs hope to move forward and become stronger, better, and overcome what you're going through.
I might make a Balan video down the line, but this was great to watch and made me yell FINALLY SOMEONE ACTUALLY GOT IT. Great watch Transparency.
The scenarios of Balan Wonderworld are really nice and simple. Some of them are even bringing up things that we rarely see in video games, really human emotions and dilemmas that don't have to be world destroying events to matter. It all just comes together really nicely at the end.
This is definitely one of my new favorite videos of yours. In part because I’m just a sucker for passionate defenses of games with a worse reputation than they probably deserve, but most of all because it was just so well put together. You actually have me thinking about buying this game. Might be a neat little palette cleanser to have at the ready!
You like Blinx, you should be able to get on board with this too, haha.
I want to thank you for this video, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I am an autistic adult who has loved and cherished this game since before its release, and have been bullied and harassed for the same regurgitated "feedback" and criticism. Thank you for this video; I know it won't end any of the harassment, nor take back any of the heartbreak from the overall feedback, but it was genuinely such a relief to hear these points spoken out loud. I wish you all the best
Best of wishes to you too! Take care, and keep enjoying whatever you want
Im happy you enjoyed the game but i dont think thats a positive cause to me that sounds like you need a mental disorder to enjoy the game
@@jknifgijdfui Jeez, and YOU talked about others being assholes?
I don't know what kind of magic this video did on me, but after watching this, then watching videos analyzing and criticizing media, I can't help but beyond strongly agree with what's being said here; in trying to express disappointment and explain why something doesn't work, critics have resorts to levels of bad faith criticism that are cartoony at best, toxic at worst
Since nowadays EVERY piece of art and media is studied and analyzed by anyone that has enough knowledge on script writing and editing content, this opens the door to A LOT of opinions that often are good for discussion, but many just want to add more fuel to the fire by way of extreme hyperbole or just a sense of bias so bad it's ridiculous. Every time I read a title that says "WHY THIS THING IS AN INSULT TO HUMAN SOCIETY!" and is followed by content so full of fake outrage and a near deadly sense of sarcasm and cynicism, I really just cringe and turn it off right away because even if they make great points all of that is missed because the focus was to TRASH the topic rather than enlighten those as to why it was a poor product. Media analysis has become more about a sense of self-fulfillment and feeling like they know better than the creators themselves than contributing to the art that is analysis.
See I LOVE meaningful discussion as to why something works or doesn't work. And yes I know that no discussion is free of bias. But again too much of it is rooted in an entitled sense of "THIS PRODUCT IS KILLING CHILDREN IN THIRD WORLD NATIONS AND I WANNA BE A SAVIOR!" pride that I just lose it. This video, even with it's cheeky humor, does explain my beef with current modern day analysis.
Thank you for speaking out against it and give us the understanding that not ever piece of criticism has to be embedded in fake outrage, anger, and entitled bias.
I think Balan Wonderworld is a game that rewards you on every level for simply giving it a chance: Dug deeper into the silent narrative of the cutscenes and you'll find surprisingly emotional themes and a strong overarching story, bear with the unconventional gameplay mechanics and you'll be rewarded with unique puzzle problems and a wide variety of imaginative ways to solve them. Heck, I nearly completed the game 100% (Once I've got myself some more free time I'm gonna finish this job!) and still have never noticed some of the symbolism you mentioned when you talked about the level design, because I simply wasn't paying enough attention. And even if you're accustomed to playing more difficult games, the costume mechanic always gives you the freedom to restrict yourself (e.g. try beating a new stage with only the costumes you've collected so far) or enhance your abilities for more exciting movement options (e.g. combining the Bubble Blower and the Frost Fairy costumes in Multiplayer allows you to fly endlessly without ever collecting the Balan costume). Watching your video, I've gained even more love and respect for this truly special piece of art. Thank you for giving Balan Wonderworld a chance!
me: noooooooo, I don't want to play Balan Wonderworld
me after the video: nooooooooo, I don't want to play anything else but Balan Wonderworld
Haha, we have a few copies to spare if you need one.
Pick up the fucking basketball!
The idea that "one button game" is bad is honestly rather weird to me, but then the idea that games have to be difficult to control always seemed odd to me.
I did a bit of youtube diving after this video, and your video explained better what Balan did well and what it did not do well than any of the "Balan bad" videos, which is neat. It makes your stuff always worth a watch.
Moomin related doll cute!
It's kind of funny how this even follows the creators previous work perfectly well. The original Sonic games only used one button, and so did Nights. I think they are just kind of quirky like that, and it works well for a game trying to introduce these kinds of 3D worlds to people unfamiliar with them.
The Moomin plush is a vintage Snufkin one based on the original japanese run of the anime, haha. Kiki got it from Japan a while back, and I guess she just wanted to flex a bit.
there are certain parts that could have been improved there. And that is not about 1 action button only. I do understand it as a part of imposed limitation in this puzzle platformer, where it gives player option to use his preferred action button (choose your favorite action button without using some kind of controller setup menu).
What was missing in the menus was the back button, so you kind of had to old style scroll down to the return option.
That part come from a bit too much of simplification in programming, where one button scheme was not switched for other when using the menu options (whatever menu might it be).
Good thing is, that this is more or less minor issue.
I was actually pretty hyped for Balan when it was first announced, being a fairly huge fan of both Yuji Naka's and Naoto Oshima's previous works. A simple yet creative 3D platformer seemed just like what I need. And so it was really sad to see when the game came out and the whole gaming community ripped it to shreads. Despite being hyped for the game I couldn't really afford a new $60 game at the time, and so my only source of information on it was said gaming community which was constantly repeating that Balan is a broken, unredeemable piece of shit... and so my mind had no other option than accept that it was.
Thank you so much for making this video, not only was an extremely entertaining one, but it made me reevaluate my stance on this game that I was genuinely excited for. Maybe it really is what I was looking for... maybe not, but now I want to find it out on my own terms.
I hope you find out in the end and can get into it free from as much outside influence a possible. A hard task for sure, but we've seen a lot of people jump into it after the fact and been pleasantly surprised. It's obviously not the most mind blowing amazing game ever, but I think it's not too hard to see it precisely for what it is.
I don't think treating children as incompetent is necessarily unwarranted, as a kid I usually got about a third of the way through any game I played before giving up
I mean, you're not wrong I suppose. I don't think I ever finished Croc or Crash that's for sure.
That’s what older siblings are for.
@@IfOUGHTpIRANHAz Oh, he couldn't beat those games for shit either.
@@IfOUGHTpIRANHAz The pain of being the oldest sibling (as well as the second oldest of my cousins) 😢
If there was a level select cheat then I was using it lmao
I'm pretty sure "Go back to 33:09 and repeat if you still don't get it" is one of the best jokes I've ever seen in a YT video.
Thanks, it's so simple yet so biting!
hard r gamers getting mad at balan reminds me of in like nintendo directs when dc super hero girls shows up and the chat explodes with gamers telling them to skip like shut up it’s not for you
Oh my god, we have been talking about this for a really long time. The idea of "who asked for this?" is such a bad question because it usually only means that it wasn't for you, and like we said in this video - gamers kind of hate that, haha. Might be a gamer identity video in itself at some point.
i have never been more ready to watch this because balan wonderworld was one of the most fascinating games to me last year and im ready to hear your takes
HELL YEAH! Fascinating unconventional games crowd!
Balan reminds me of the time I didn't understand English. So I had to observe, to understand what was happening in the story. Most memorable for me was Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Little me thought that Kain was jealous to Raziel, because Raziel had wings. And little me was right, when older me watched the opening cutscene :D
Silent narratives are probably great to put in front of kids to make them have an easier time following along and learning how to puzzle together what is going on and interpreting stories.
As a non-English speaker, there are many movies & games from my childhood that have left me with "phonic memories", where I often remember what some dialogue *sounded like* rather than any of its meaning. They were just sounds at the time.
I mean...me and my brother managed to trial-and-error our way through most narrative games (like 'FF 10' & 'MGS 2') just as we were starting learning English, so they were basically just visual experiences for us.
I do not have words to express how thankful I am for this video. There is so much to say but I don't know where to start. As a fan of Balan, thank you. A million times over, thank you. Your content truly is the candle in the dark that this game deserves. It truly feels like you actually UNDERSTAND the design choices of this game and the narrative presented in it that, although quite simple, has been so often wildly misconstrued to genuinely baffling degrees. It's refreshing to see a video on this game that just. Gets it. The entire gist of what this game was trying to do. I mean this from the bottom of my heart: thank you. It was a pleasure to view. This is the first video I have seen from this channel and, let me tell you, it certainly gave me an excellent impression of your content. Fantastic work!
Thank you too, that means a lot to hear. It's a bit daunting to jump into the lion's den and talk about a game like this. The Balan fandom and the people who enjoyed the game in general have been very supporting, nice and appreciative though, which we are really happy about. Glad you liked the video so much, hope you'll find the time to watch some of our other videos and that you enjoy them too
I still consider it a bad game because i find the one button control scheme and costume management to be genuinely detrimental to the play experience. But like, at least its an HONESTLY bad game. Its bad cause the developers had a vision that didnt work rather than they built it to suck so youd buy exp boosters or whatever.
Im waiting on more people to realize that Rodea the Sky Soldier was actually fun to play (wii version only)
Rodea the Sky Soldier is rad, yes!
Transparency I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this video. All my love with the game, the frustration with reviewers, and even some eye openers are all put in a video that puts my and the fandoms words into a complete 58 minute video. Bless your heart for finding balance and being a Balan defender. Also also cal is best inhabitant
Our pleasure!
There's a charm and goofiness to this game that reminds of Mischief Makers. I genuinely wonder if anyone else remembers that weird little game.
Mischief Makers is really cool!
@@Transparencyboo if I'll never remember anything else about it, to this day anytime I have to shake something up (such as a protein shake or something when I go work out), I still hear that voice in my head going "Shake shake!"
I mean *I* think the 'Fuck It Up, Farmer Ted' scene should win an Emmy, but what do I know?...
"And yeah, platform games without PLATFORMS CERTAINLY exist!..." *Bubsy from Bubsy 3D breathing heavily and shaking*
Agreed, lol
I cannot emphasize this enough but THANK YOU!!!! This was incredibly well informed in beautifully put together, as well as incredibly funny and charming throughout (Balan really is a Himbo, we stan). I feel a lot of the "criticisms" were "oh this is the sonic AND the Yoshi's New Island people, they got have something bad and cringe, they aren't like the untouchable king of super mario (who we will go nuclear on if you have the slightest crumb of critique on the franchise)".
I think what breaks my heart is that in the announcement trailer's little interview with Naka and Ohshima, you could really tell them and their fellow developers cared and put in a lot of heart and soul, even the theater booklet that came with special editions oozes with not only a lot of charm but also a big amount of "these developers cared". It really was a genuine passion project through and through, and in today's irony funnyman society, that's often scoffed at.
Give it time, I believe Balan Wonderworld will end up like Earthbound or the Dreamcast: unappreciated at the time, but gets a loving cult following with time. Much like how soil ravaged by flames can be more fertile and can grow wonderful things from it.
This honestly brought tears to my eyes. As someone who has defended this game since the demo, it's such a special feeling to finally see someone think the exact same way about the game. The shifted narratives perpetuated by this game's haterbase and figures like videogamedunkey and Alex Olney (and their communities) cemented this game in the public sphere as everything but what it truly is, and what it is is a non-conforming, unorthodox platformer that encourages divergent thinking to a degree I've honestly never seen in this type of game to date. I've convinced a few dozen people (from my IRL best friend to random Internet acquaintances) to give this game a chance, and from all but maybe one or two, I got the same exact response: pure shock at how such a game could have gotten bad reviews in the first place. This just goes to show how much power word of mouth and game "journalism" hold over the fate of games and the narratives of their creation in this day and age.
From me and everyone else who has ever stopped to defend this game and present it to others for what it truly is, thank you for making this video and bringing that pipe dream of this game getting a second chance in the public sphere however many inches closer to reality. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
We've been really happy to see the people who like this game come out and be more vocal a year after the release. We played it for review back when it came out and had basically no contact with the discourse at that point, we really enjoyed it. We were then really surprised to see the amount of hate it was getting, felt really strange. So this video was basically in our minds ever since then. It had to be done, haha.
never played it, but it's kinda sad how such an interesting little game got such horrendous reception just because it's unconventional. I think I'll pick it up, this video really intrigued me
Luckily it's possible to find it reeeeaally cheap now. Not that there were many physical copies to go around, but we managed to find copies for 10 bucks.
Really, because the notion I got was that it was disliked not because it was unconventional, but that it was badly designed in a way that made it unconventional.
@@poncut5074 I don't necessarily think this is a meaningful distinction. You can spell it out in whatever way you like, but in the end I believe it to have been considered badly designed (to the overblown degree that it was) largely because it was unconventional from the very beginning. It's all about perspective I suppose.
@@poncut5074 i think its fair to say that the developers were clearly attempting to make a game that defied convention. i mean how many one-button 3D platformers do you generally hear about?
@@poncut5074 bingo
51:12 "This is a concept in human psychology that we call... interest" 😂
Radical concept, haha.
Apologies in advance for the wall-o-text lol
I like Balan quite a bit myself as well. Someone actually linked me your video since I had made my own, though I really only touched on the reviewer reactions briefly before really focusing on what I liked about the gameplay lol. I commend you on the depth and quality of your piece on that.
If you're singling out people being kind of dumb when it comes to the story telling, I will say I am that person. Don't worry, I'm not offended lol. Though I will be the sympathetic for that side of the argument. I do think it's pretty obvious what the core story elements of each chapter are. I think where it becomes harder is connecting those tales in a way that feels connected to the two MCs actually improving themselves. Though I think it's very easily arguable that part of the story is the gameplay itself lol. Though I personally feel gameplaywise there's a disconnect. And maybe that's something where having prologue at the start, setting a clear goal of what you the player are trying to do, would have helped. Though I'm not personally married to that flow.
There is the imagery aspect there too, though I will say I'm pretty dense to those type of ques. I didn't pick up on almost any of the ones yo mentioned. Not for a second I thought anything of jewels being heart shaped, but I don't blame myself too much given it's a very common video game item shape in general lol.
Though I'm not saying this makes Balan Wonderworld wrong in its execution per se. I'm very aware of my own inability to parse those types of things well, if at all sometimes. And it's a problem in a lot more games for me than just Balan Wonderworld. Something like NieR: Automata's story telling is pure suffering for me lol.
Anyways, thought I'd just share that perspective as a fellow Balan enjoyer.
As a very casual gamer, what little discourse about this game actually managed to come my way always struck me as strange, mostly because I looked at Balan's design and immediately assumed the game was good :y
Like we said it's very unconventional and doesn't fit the mold. Sadly it doesn't have a place in todays video game industry because of the fact that what it intentionally does will be treated like mistakes and so on.
Video games have come of age; now like underrated moments of cinema, theatre, literature and music, they too can be shredded by critics and shunned by audiences, only to be recognised for their worth some time after the fact.
One day people will look back at Balan Wonderworld as a hidden gem, one of the hardest physical copies to get your hands on, haha.
Balan Wonderworld is a very great and mysterious game that I love so much also it shares a lot of details from another game I love so much and that's Citizens Unite Earth x Space so I'm gonna be short on this and say is that both games have Interesting stories, wonderful characters, and great gameplay in my opinion anyway this was a great video essay and I would recommend Balan Wonderworld for people who want to have a good time.
An amazing and super underrated channel? Instant subscribe. A wonderful production about a game I haven't even heard of!
That was an awesome and fun video, thank you gals! My partner loved it and was like "YES SHE GETS IT" also she wants the plush really bad now. Thank you again! And thanks for adding captions so quickly, we jumped on it basically as soon as she woke up, haha
I think my favorite thing is all the very human stories and connections... and also I really adore that kind of ending where they all make meaningful friendships with each other, after having helped each other out of a dark spot. So good!!
Haha, tell your partner we appreciate it! Also, if she wants the plush it is still being sold on the Square Enix store, not sure for how long though because I doubt they will make more after stock runs out. Very high quality and perfect in every way.
43:39 At the same time, this is a pretty fun addition. Cetacean Island from Chapter 4 got a lot of attention in the book too and i think there's something special about being able to read an official story about an in-game location you can visit.
Oh for sure, I am not entirely knocking the book of course. Like I said I think these two formats complement each other perfectly! :)
You can see the same problem of people disregarding a game as bad simply because that's what they've heard, and thus just not putting any effort into actually analysing it themselves, in a lot of Sonic games. I've seen so many plot points that are perfectly clear in context and have numerous ways to justifiably interpet them be disregard as mere plotholes, simply because that's the low-hanging fruit so many critics reached for and thus it became the default thought process for anyone who either doesn't like the games or is just disinterested.
Similarly, Balan's story is shown and not told. It's interpretive and offers context clues as you play through the level. If the game was received favourably, a new player would take their time exploring the world and consider what all of the strange structures mean in relation to that Stage's owner. The wolf costume that creates a tornado, for example. Wolves are typically seen as enemies by farmers because their crops/livestock, so the tornado being associated with the wolf is a hint to the terrible thing that happened to the Farmer, which then helps explain the huge stone walls.
Buuuut because the game is fun to hate on, nobody spares even a second thought to any of the worlds or the cutscenes, and just default to "lul bad game, makes no sense, use werds". They want - almost NEED - the story spoonfed because they're suddenly incpabale of thinking. And anyone who tries to argue this is brushed off with "lul Balan so deep, only high IQ people understand". That's not what the "you're not paying attention to anything" argument means, but they just brush it off as that, which then makes people who haven't played Balan Wonderworld think that the fandom is snobby and delusional.
I really do hope that as time passes and people start laying off this game, there'll be more people like you who look at the game objectively and don't just hate on it because everyone else does, and don't just echo what the "funny TH-cam critics" say without actually playing it. Sadly though, the damage is done. The potential for more Balan in the future is very much dead, and I feel so bad for Yuji Naka and the rest of the team who clearly loved working on this project that it got the response that it did. I hope he realises there ARE fans of Balan Wonderworld who genuinly love the game and the novel.
Speaking as someone who played the game first and read the novel later, I can confirm the novel is NOT required reading, but it absolutely will be a treat for anyone who enjoyed the game. I admit I missed the Clocktower Kid = Princess detail playing the game, and it was a pleasent surprise when I read through the novel. It was also nice seeing how the characters interacted with each other. I'm curious to hear the thoughts of someone who read the novel first then played the game.
EDIT: Oh, and I never got the "some costumes take away the jump!" complaint. Like, okay? Just... change costume then. Like imagine that complaint in an FPS: "They give you a crowbar and a gravity gun, but switching to those takes away your ability to shoot. Imagine not being able to shoot in a first-person SHOOTER! Absurd!"
Loving the video so far. From this day onward I small refer to Balan as a "Dream-like gender phantom"
Thanks, we appreciate it!
I saw a lot of video essays about video game design and this essay has one of the most compelling, original perspectives I have ever seen. (It's so precious to see this kind of view as we are [also I am] easy to simply follow other's negative opinions in digital world, without actually playing it or give a chance to the game) Give a lot of thoughts about accessible, simple-but charming video game design.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! :)
I love how sarcastically delicate you were with the type of people the major critics have to be. I straight up call them out on how ridiculously stupid their criticisms are, especially when they never played the thing and were too blinded by whatever youtuber they obsess over to have any critical thinking ability at all.
I didn't love the game personally as there are **real** criticisms to be made about the game, such as the over-abundance of "look! it's the sonic people!" and "watch out SEGA!" attitudes in all the marketing and discussion (horribly detracting from this game being its own thing), most bosses being "wait wait wait, hit the vulnerable spot" formula, Balan being basically QuickTime events, and a game with all those abilities most puzzles having ONLY one solution (outside of the ones you could bring other later game powers into to do sequence breaks--WHICH SHOULD NOT BE A COMPLAINT, ITS A GOOD THING) and several others. But these are *personal* gripes for *my* personal taste. Which honestly, if people only discussed their personal gripes, without intent to attack anyone that enjoyed the game, it wouldn't be a problem and we could probably end up with a much more expansive sequel.
BUT NO. ALL THESE FUCKWIT TH-camRS AND GAME "JOURNALISTS" COMPLAIN ABOUT IS THE FUCKING JUMP BUTTON AND STORY LESS COMPLICATED THAN AN EPISODE OF LITTLE EINSTEINS. AND NOW THIS *LITERAL* WONDER WORLD WILL BE LOST FOREVER BC YALL ARE TOO BUSY TRYING TO SUCK THE TOES OF YOUR FAVORITE TH-camRS TO THINK FOR YOURSELVES.
Thank you for shining another light on a very underappreciated game. It's nowhere close to my favorite title, but the criticisms and widespread panning are all sensationalistic and incredibly exaggerated bullshit. Editing and humour were top notch, and I can't wait to see more.
The biggest crime is that we will never have alternate Tim plushes. The one you can buy right now (god knows for how long) is such high quality and lovely beyond belief. Could just imagine having it come in different colours and with different ears and patterns. Like god damn it.
@@Transparencyboo THERES SO MUCH MORE THAN CAN BE DONE.
So many stories to be told. And all the absolute LORE-BOMBS in this game expanding the world so much further than just... this one game. It's definitely rough around the edges, but not too rough to deserve more.
@@Hard_Pretzel We should just learn to love those rough edges for what they are.
Hysterically yelling at people over a video game isn't a very convincing argument. It makes you look like a maniac
"THIS WONDERWORLD WILL BE LOST FOREVER BECAUSE YOU FUCKWITS DIDN'T LIKE THE GAME😡😡😡"
I'm not sure why, but after reading your comment I'm kinda glad that this "wonderworld" got lost forever. If this is how you're gonna react
Absolutely stellar video, easily one of the best I've seen on this game. I love Balan Wonderworld a lot really; it has been a godsend for me as an individual with bad anxiety. I find its slow pace and many costumes to experiment with to be very calming and fun. Also shoutout to a fellow Cal Suresh fan! He's probably my favorite inhabitant in the game. I loved learning about him through both the game and the novel. His growth never fails to make me smile. Thank you for this wonderful defense
And thank you for sharing and enjoying the story ♥️
That was really interesting!
I didn't pay much attention to the scandal around the game when it was happening. I knew about the "there's no jump button so game bad" complaints and thought they were kinda dumb, but I had no idea about the rest. It's baffling how bad media literacy seems to be in videogames.
I probably still won't play the game as it's not my kind of thing, but now I have some appreciation for what it actually does. Thank you for making this video :)
Glad you liked it either way. The media literacy is a bit funny too, because we have seen people say they don't understand it and then in the same breath explain what it's about. So I think people are just having a hard time separating the game 'sucking' and the story itself.
@@Transparencyboo which is funny because a good chunk of the story is itself outside the game
I've just finished your video on DKC3 (Great game by the way) and having seen this one for Balan, you guys have done a fantastic job here.
Glad you enjoyed it! We're just revelling in the hot takes and loving the games that go unloved, haha.
I think it's interesting how players enjoy being given all (or at least the central) tools they need to experience a game's world rather than Balan's system. It's not even too different conceptually from other platformers; players are given 3 distinct moves they can use at any given time with just an extra button press to switch costumes, whereas sonic has 3 distinct moves in later entries (jump, attack, charge) at all times. I think what separates these two systems is, ironically, the simplicity and consistency of the latter.
Sonic has a simple moveset that doesn't change much as the games in the series progress. The times when the moveset did change for modern releases, especially when they did so to harbor more exclusively-linear levels, people got angry about it.
So, a game which introduces new movesets throughout while replacing old ones the player is used to can be frustrating for them, especially if players expect the costumes to serve a linear world.
I think Balan would've done much better with the audience Square Enix garnered with its marketing if they reworked the different costumes into upgrades on a few general abilities or had groups of them assigned to different characters. It would've given players the same experience they get from Sonic and most other modern platformers.
And therein lies the problem. The developers set out to avoid repeating genre conventions, and therefore intended to target an audience untainted by them (ie young children). Had it not been for how Square Enix marketed the game, I think more people would've looked back on it more fondly, even if the high price tag of the game itself and a console to play it on made it inaccessible for most kids.
That's also another aspect that most likely resulted in the game failing to sell. It came out in 2021, when the global economy was in freefall due to covid and most kids weren't going to game stores with their parents to pick out $60 games, let alone ones that didn't have recognizable iconography. It's sad.
On the point about the jumping, which went on for quite a while, I think the thing about it that baffled everyone was that the implementation of the jump abilities as a costume's entire ability and refusing even a basic jump for non jumping costumes flew so heavily in the face of established conventions. Being used to other platformers it's difficult not to imagine a version of this game with a basic jump accessible to every costume and saving special jumps for specific costumes. Especially considering the kid without a costume can jump, it's confusing that they lose that ability. They had so many buttons that could have been a dedicated jump button. Not being able to jump in a platformer just doesn't feel good.
It's obviously not a huge deal because the game is designed around this limitation, the problem is that it's not clear that there's anything to gain from having such a limitation. Would the game be worse in any way if you didn't lose the ability to perform a basic jump when putting on a costume?
Plus, it's funny how easy it is to reduce the thought down to, "lol you can't even jump in this game."
I think it makes a lot of sense though, it's simply putting a limitation on the player in certain circumstances. That's pretty common in a lot of games to create different scenarios and challenge I suppose. And that ties into the kid themselves having a jump, they generally do because of the simple fact that once you are the kid you'll have to reach costumes again to be able to continue forward and not get stuck. I don't know, I have never considered this to be a problem or that it doesn't 'feel good' personally. I guess the idea just clicked with me fairly easily to the point where I could see the seams of the game design itself and appreciate its quirks. Of course I respect that people don't find it to be enjoyable, I don't really care much, but I think there is a lot more intentional design here than people give it credit for.
Am trying to introduce my 2 yr old to games, and coincidentally was playing Balan at the time we started. He quite ironically/serendipitously calls it "The Jumping game"
That's absolutely hilarious, I love it. Thank you!
I 100% agree that the backlash on this game is overblown. At its worst, the game is boring, but there are interesting ideas and some creative things sprinkled throughout to where I cant blame anyone if they do enjoy the game. I think most of the game's issues stem from perspective of playing OTHER platformers, and you can enjoy the game if you just lean back and enjoy the environments and overlook minor annoyances like some things with the costumes. I got the game well after the price dropped and was on sale and I went into it with the mindset of 'okay, people tear into this game, but the demo wasnt THAT bad. Lets see what we can find thats good in this game.' I hate it just as much as you when people exaggerate every fault and blame the game's failings on things that arent a problem or they didnt give a chance. But I feel like the video kind of goes too far onto the other side and is even ignoring some legitimate criticisms about the game. Again, you can like it if you want, but I definitely think the game has alot of issues that could've been ironed out, and 'being unconventional' doesnt excuse every issue it has.
I agree that the game not having a dedicated jump button isnt a problem in theory. Plenty of games find interesting ways to move and interact with things. Snake Pass is sometimes considered a platformer without jump, and Splosion Man is a puzzle platformer with just one button on everything too. Saying a jump button automatically improves a platformer is like saying Klonoa would be automatically better if there was an attack button instead of needing to grab enemies. The issue with Balan however is that taking away the jump doesnt actually enhance the game in any way. If you gave Klonoa an attack button, that would break the game design in multiple areas. If you gave the player a jump in Balan, all that would do is make it so you dont have to carry a dedicated 'jump costume' or switch costumes just to get over a simple platform. It wouldnt make the game more complicated to have two buttons; I could even argue it make it easier as now you dont have to switch costumes to jump. Again, I agree that not-having a jump button isnt an issue, like SO many people make it out to be. I hate that argument in fact. But the problem is the game doesnt take advantage of the lack-of-jump either with puzzles, or requiring you to use specific costumes. If there were sections that forced specific costumes on you, or areas would you could only switch a specific number of times, there'd be something, but the game doesnt do that; its just something that makes using costumes that cant jump more cumbersome. Its like how theres nothing enhanced with needing to farm the costumes just to have multiple copies in the wardrobe, or the fact the menus dont have a 'press B to back' option and you have to go to the option to select 'back' every time instead.
I hope I explained properly why adding a jump button would improve Balan. Its not an issue because its 'different'; its an issue because the game doesnt take advantage of the fact every button does the same thing.
Similar thing with the story section too. The fact that we both had completely different understandings of what the characters scenes meant kinda shows that the story still could've been told better. For example, I thought Leo had a hearing Aid on, and he was self-conscious about THAT instead of just feeling like he's 'better than the others'. Its another thing thats absolutely overblown, like you said, but I do think the story could've done a better job at explaining itself. I am still interested in finding a copy of the novel if I can but as you can imagine, its pretty hard to find a physical copy of now.
this is a very good video
You're very good!
I just bought it! Looking forward to play it. Great video as always
Hope you'll enjoy it!
This was a great video! I dont run in those circles, so I had hardly heard anything about this game aside from one or two dismissinh remarks. I feel what you said about maligning narratives being built up around a piece of media is very true, as it has happened with other pieces of work I love. Specifically Homestuck. And while it is sad that this continues to happen to unconventional media, its heartwarming to hear of a work in a similar situation not being forgotten by some folks who love it.
Even as someone who liked the game, I didn't notice the fact that the little castle walls in World 1 and Streetlights in World 6 hinted at what happened.
There's a lot of neat details in this game, haha. It's probably hard to catch and acknowledge them all. Someone could probably make an entire other video about just that. Like, we have mentioned this a few times in the comments, but Box Fox being in the fantasy world of a guy who wants to make a flying machine and keeps failing is brilliant as well. The way that costume is placed right on a ledge, almost making sure that you will become a box and just slide off is such a great way of representing the way this kid is feeling about his predicament. Gravity is the worst enemy of both.
Yes, yes, and yes!!! Thank you for shining light on a misunderstood masterpiece!
You're so welcome!
First video of yours I watched (from Aranock's recommendation) and I really enjoyed this. GamerTM's are the wooooooooooooooooorst.
Welcome aboard!
Very well put.
hey so uhh, aren't you racist, squiggly?
Excuses me what the HELL is Billy Hatcher doing in the trash?
It got back to its special spot as top tier game directly afterwards
it got egg on it
@@Solinaru Getting egged does not warrant a spot in the bin!
Only 5 minutes in but I have to note how lovely that Sonic sweater is!
It's very cool! We never got a chance to use it last year when we got it!
As someone who hasn’t played Balan Wonderworld, I’m glad videos like this and Shaymay’s Balan video exist as a reminder to not blindly believe a popular consensus for a game without playing, thanks for making this great video.
Balan’s already entered my long list of games to play eventually, even picked the PS5 copy up for an incredibly cheap price recently. No idea if I’ll like it that much, but hopefully I’ll find some stuff to like about it, the music at the very least seems like it’ll be really good.
Like, it doesn't even matter much if people then play it and don't end up liking it. I think it is important to have some counter narratives going on in the discourse, and I certainly think it has a perception on how people view the game in the end. We've already heard a lot of people who played it after watching the video and most of them at least seem to appreciate it to some degree. The cheap price right now is also just an easy way to give it a try without actually losing much. Neat that you got the PS5 one, it is very solid compared to the Switch one in terms of performance :)
Oh yeah, nothing’s going to be good to everyone even when playing it in good faith, and I definitely think I’ll be looking at things differently when I get around to playing Balan now, than before I’d seen this or the other video. I love when some video essays can affect how you see a game in a positive way like that, just be a bit more open to noticing the positive aspects, so thanks for that, even if it ends up not being my type of game :)
And definitely, was content just thinking of it as that game Shaymay said some good and some crap things about, but then there was a PS5 sale and I kind of wanted to try it so it was a good excuse it being so cheap.
And thanks, yeah I initially really wanted to get it on Switch if anything since I normally get everything I can on there, but it just didn’t sound worth it with the graphical and performance downgrades for Balan when part of what looked cool about it was how colourful and smooth everything looked.
I bought and played Balan wonderworld day 1 and had a completely charming experience
Glad to hear it, friend 🧡
You guys never make a boring video.
Haha, thanks. We do our best to be a bit wild!
Also, it is extremely telling that this video is the first time I’ve seen or even heard of the Balan suit that allows you to fly around. My jaw dropped. It’s insane how much about the game goes unnoticed when all you hear is the general consensus. Even just watching playthroughs of it limits your perspective to that person’s specific experience, which is often dubbed over with their commentary, which can color your own opinion. And that’s to say nothing of if their commentary is ALSO colored by the general consensus, because it very well could be.
Totally unrelated, but the snufkin plush is amazing
A rare vintage of course.
Any chance there's a script, outline, or transcript for this available somewhere? I'd like to submit it to Critical Distance, but they're trying to discourage long videos that don't have a readable outline.
There is actually a transcript function here on youtube. If you click the three dots right below the video beside share and all that, you can get the transcript of the video :)
Fantastic essay, first and foremost! Before this I watched exactly 2 videos about Balan Wonderworld that painted it in a pretty negative light, and while even then I thought the "nonsense story" argument was weak and the art style was pretty cool, I still ended up writing it off due to its seemingly uninteresting game-play and perceived problems. After seeing that those problems were largely blown out-of-proportion or non-issues, and that it actually seem like some good, simple fun with a feel-good story, I'm actively debating buying a copy of the game! Thank you all for this new light on a piece of art that would've otherwise remained in the "skip it" category for me.
We can't guarantee that you will like it of course, but with what the price is right now I don't think trying it is that much of a huge gamble. Going into it with the right mindset and trying to engage with it on its terms helps a lot. Good luck! :)
Good vid, boost!
Appreciate it! You're good too!
Very refreshing take on Balan Wonderworld. Nice to see someone not bash it into the ground and then some.
Thanks, we do our best~
I find it amusing you mention you've played the game twice. I have as well. When I finished 100%, I went and did a let's play right after.
And yeah... my feedback mentioned how it felt like all the costumes should allow jumping. ^^; my opinon of that has changed on that a year after I said it. Balan Wonderworld is such an amazing journey to play, and I would love to see a sequel.
This was a great profile on a game that deserves to be rated on it's own merits, rather than the back catalog of the makers previous work. Really enjoyed this!
The thing is that it even makes more sense in context with their previous works, haha. These boys make quirky weird games and that's why we love them
So what you are telling me is that this is game's story is basically just Psychonauts with only dream sequences and clothing based powers rather than psychic ones?
How did people not understand this?
I think they probably would have if they weren't so busy not caring and paying attention.
Thank you for giving this game a fair chance and making a video about it. I was originally scared off by the now removed demo. But after hearing more about the game (and the reduced price point) I decided to give it another chance. And honestly, I've really been enjoying it! It's not NiGHTS, but it wasn't meant to be imo. They are similar, but different.
It breaks my heart seeing how happy the staff were before the game released (even making a new company for it) just for the largest internet hate mob I've seen thrown at a game in quite some time and poor sales leading to it being dead on arrival. I honestly feel kind of bad for Naka, he might not make games the way people expect them to be, but each time is a unique experience I haven't seen replicated elsewhere. Oshima's designs for this game are also wonderful.
Another thing I found strange is I don't think it's too hard to get the concept of dream worlds. The people vanishing confused me at first, but the theming was pretty blatant.
Honestly this whole situation has made me once again reconsider taking what others say at face value.
We played Balan all the way back when it was released, enjoyed the demo, enjoyed the full game. It was a bit strange then to see the backlash and sort of just follow it during the year. We kind of feel bad for Naka and the team too, they didn't deserve all that shit for making their quirky little games.
If there one thing I love about Balan is the music, especially the boss music each every one of them is so good, it gives them more personality than one can think of and what I love more is that they don't share a boss music unlike some games where the boss theme is the same until the final boss.
They really went all out there. I suppose they really wanted you to feel each individuals struggles through everything from the art to the music.
I never knew about this game until afterwards, when people were dunking on it as "worst game of 2021". I tried to look up what it did to get a reputation like that, but nothing that I saw looked "bad" (people honestly prefer Battlefield 2042 to this?). I don't own the game, but just your footage shows that it has a really enchanting aesthetic, and it's too bad we don't "trust" kids with more contemplative-paced games. It's a shame it didn't get a chance to succeed.
Having watched the reviews on Balan and now this, I think a problem was that many reviews were heavily focused on the mechanical aspects of the game's platforming and largely ignored story. I recognized myself generally not consider story much at all when thinking about platformers (e.g. Hat in Time makes me think of great platforming though I've no idea what the story was). This video left a feeling to give it a shot later. It sounds interesting even if platforming weren't perfect.
If nothing else Balan Wonderworld is interesting, haha.
This video is lovely. I still absolutely believe that there's no such thing as an objectively "bad" game, unless the word "bad" is given a very specific, contextual redefinition.
Balan Wonderworld isn't really my kind of game, but I still find joy in listening to the music, admiring the visuals, and enjoying listening to other people say what they like about it. (I also appreciate the story explanations, because I am not any good with subtext and symbolism.)
My first exposure to the discourse around the game was actually you saying you were going to make a video around how it was good, actually. So I was a bit predisposed to be more appreciative than most. Yet, hearing the complaints on their own, they seemed persuasive. Only now does it really sink in how much they were strawmen. I actually kinda want to play the game now. Maybe if it's ever released DRM-free, I will. If I ever see a DRM-free Linux version, I'd jump on it faster than you could blink, actually. Very occasionally it's actually a pity large publishers seem to actively hate the idea of me spending money on their games.
When I heard "one-button controls, 80 costume-powers," the first thing I envisioned was something akin to DK64's tag barrels as the only way to change your costume and powers. That wouldn't be simplicity IMHO, just an annoying kind of complexity enforced by a particular, incomplete and inaccurate conception of simplicity. This... isn't that. From the first moments watching you play and looking at the UI, my reaction was "Wait... that's not actually one-button at all. R1 and R2 are buttons. Right?" Like, "interact with the world" buttons have been a thing for freaking ages. In fact, once upon a time, having a button that changed what it did based on context was a huge great innovation. And now, slight further simplification is... somehow unfathomably horrible? What?
To the story -- how can you honestly call a story like that "incomprehensible?" I thought from the descriptions we were talking Kingdom Hearts on acid, not... probably the most basic story to ever exist, but told with pictures. Again, what? Also, when you were talking about not-quite-antagonist Lance, and comparing him to Balan, one of the first things to go through my head was "wait, Balan and Lance... and people think this is _subtle?"_ And then a few moments later you went and said basically the same thing. Lol.
On the children's story nature of it, and the way childishness has been slung at it like an accusation -- there's a quote I've seen posted on various TH-cam videos, and it fits so well here, I just can't _not_ continue that trend. "Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -- C.S. Lewis, _Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories_
An extremely Transparency video in all the best ways! This better change the discourse around the game or I'll be mad. So many people are so dedicated to the idea of games simply being either good or bad that it prevents genuinely valuable yet flawed works from seeing a greater audience.
Also....balan and lance.....balance....idk what to do with that except...lmao
When I told Kiki about the Balance thing she kind of just looked at me like two puzzle pieces had suddenly fallen into place, lol.
Thank you for this! My gf is just getting into video games and this seems perfect for her. She liked Mario Odyssey and she doesn't speak/understand English that much. So the fact that it's so visual will be a real bonus!
We can't of course promise that she will like it, haha. But I think there is plenty of stuff to enjoy in there. Although beware that the Switch version is a bit wonky when it comes to the framerate. If you can play it anywhere else we'd recommend that first and foremost.
Still glad to know very little about this game. It lives in my head as the HD port of a forgotten, but secretly influential, 90's PS1/Dreamcast classic, and every bit I see of it looks the part well enough. Will not spoil that by actually playing it or learning too much about it. Though maybe after watching this video I'll check it out.
Sometimes it's fun to just leave games as a thought as well I think, haha.
@@Transparencyboo From your video it seems fun and creative enough to check out some day. Thanks for looking past the internet's bratty gamebro tantrum on this one.
I gave this video a chance to change my mind, and I don't regret it. I'm still not compelled to buy a copy - based on my experience with similar "entry-level" games like Kirby's Epic Yarn, I don't think I'd find it fulfilling enough to justify the price - but if I were gifted a copy, I would give it a fair shake. Those environmental details you mentioned look like a fun thing to keep an eye out for.
We never expected people to go out and buy it because of this to be quite honest, I think it's fair to not find it compelling enough to buy. We're mostly glad people can get a new perspective and kind of see it in a different light, like with the environmental details and such :) Thank you!
I initially was shocked by a lot of what I heard about this game but noticed that a lot of it seemed to maybe not be in good faith to say the least, nice job tackling that and making a really interesting video essay that also acts as a minor case study for the unfortunate ways a lack of common media literacy can affect the dominant narratives about any specific work of art.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
As someone who enjoyed most of it but considers it just a bit above average in its final state, I still haven’t forgiven whoever let this game release while the final boss had a potentially seizure inducing affect. This was just one game with something that should’ve been fixed before a day one patch so it wasn’t in a public release at all but as someone who’s aunt is prone to seizures this one really makes me upset because people could’ve gotten hurt.
It's amazing this may end up being controversial. I never understood the hate some of the other "easy" games got either. They are wonderful to enjoy with family
Maybe someone will make a video on it at some point, oooooh!
btw. You can use jumping for navigation in Donkey Kong stages 2 and 4, and you are required to in stage 3.
ye
YAY!! A BALAN DEFENDER!!!
LES GOOO!!!
@@Transparencyboo YEAH!!! YEAR OF BALAN FOR THE WIN!!!
All the criticism Balan Wonderworld had for being a baby platformer game, which GamersTM hate, reminds me of the criticism Pokemon post-Gen 5 has been getting for the same reason, forgetting that the series has been a baby's first RPG since the beginning (they just made it easier by adding QOL changes and removing annoying grind fests many other RPGs suffer to grab casual players' attention) followed by some revisionist history between Gen 3 and Gen 5 from its fans. I do believe this whole issue with the game also stems from nostalgia filter from GamersTM who grew up with kid-oriented games that are now multi-million brands and refuse to admit they outgrew them after reaching beyond said brand's target audience because they want their childhood brands to grow up with them in order to be accepted by their GamerTM peers. And they [the GamersTM] are the current target audience for the gaming industry that must be catered to (while at the same time, getting rich from them). This isn't a gaming exclusive problem either, it's also a medium problem too (Ex: adult fans of books, movies, and shows aimed at kids), and it's only making me want to spew things like "comics are for kids, stop shoving what you believe is 'mature' and admit that cultural differences are a thing for what's considered appropriate for kids or adults" in front of them.
I should mention the seizure controversy the game had, but I believe it got patched, which is probably why it wasn't mentioned in this video essay.
It was patched in a day one patch, so it was basically something a few people saw because they got their hands on copies before release.
“If you’re one of the people who made snide remarks about Balan Wonderworld, you statistically, probably didn’t play it” love to hear it 😌😌🍵 I have more to say on the game once I finish this video
As someone who made a game that expects players to be flexible and voluntarily change forms to adapt to the situation (MidBoss) I'm not surprised people didn't take to that aspect of Balan Wonderworld. I don't know why, but a lot of people seem to just wanna hang onto whatever they currently have, and not switch to something appropriate to whatever situation they find themselves in.
We've seen a lot of people say that they should've made all the powers just stack and become part of your move set like in say Banjo and other similar platformers. But I think they fail to see that then it would be a completely different game from the ground up, and that's just a really weird way of putting your criticism. Like yeah, gosh, I wish the game was another game entirely because that would be great for me. I don't know, just seems like people didn't take the time to actually find the fun in using the freedom and creativity this game provides to just break it apart and enjoy doing it.
@@Transparencyboo I think asking people to give up something to adapt to a situation is too far from how video games normally do things and so "well it should just all unlock and stack!" is an attempt to force the game back into a more familiar and comfortable mode of play.
Love this essay! Balan does have a charm for sure. One of my favourite recent games was World's End Club. Similarly reviewed poorly. Can't say gameplay is revolutionary by any stretch, but for me, just really loved playing and seeing the story. I love the idea that every game out there might be somebody's favourite game
Oh yeah, World's End Club looked neat and interesting. I think it's good in general to approach most games with the consideration that someone might like it, not to mention that tackling a game yourself with the expressed goal to have a good time and finding the positives of it can be a really great experience. Much to learn from games that are a bit unconventional, archaic and whatnot.
but ye no I honestly think balan's biggest flaw is *just* that they never provided any exposition or explanation or context. just a little bit. just a bit of talking. no speaking, just dialogue with balan, or even just balan explaining things to you. like "oh hey, these crystals are tears" and "we're going to go around and help people with their problems!" something! most people when they first play it are just thrusted into this and it's not until they finish the first level that they realize "oh ok so we're like, helping these random people.. ..why?" that's the only issue.. outside of just general quality, and feel of the movement, and for the love of heck just make it run a bit better so we don't get so many frame drops on switch! I literally play games on 15-30 frames a second all the time, and i can tell the this game is pretty bad on that front.
outside of that, eh. it's alright. pretty bad, like the other game they've made, but it's on the same level as nights. it's alright.
I personally don't think this game would have benefited much from more exposition and explanations. Like I said it's simple enough to not really need it. I don't feel like it's necessary for the collectible drops to be explicitly detailed because it honestly doesn't matter much to what is going on. It makes me think of the Nights game on Wii and how that one just went on and on to explain the orbs you pick up, and I sure didn't think it brought much to the table there either. I don't think we need to have it explained to us why we help these people, because that is kind of missing the point. Emma and Leo have these troubles and as you progress they resolve through helping these characters. That's why, and I think it's inferred enough in this silent narrative. I don't know, I just don't believe it to matter much either way, haha.
The game looks good lol. Those cutscenes are gorgeous.
I agree with pretty much everything in this video
Upon the bad reception of the demo for the walking speed and seizure, *which got patched day 1 mind you*, those were the problems that got fixed
It only took a few weeks after the game released for the discussion around it to go “haha bad game bad.” Very clearly reminded me that the gaming community does this on the regular and that it only takes one popular person to say so and everyone else parrots.
While I didn’t buy the game on release, I was definitely eager to play the game once I had noticed this. Keep in mind, it had gotten so bad that there was a #WonderworldPositivity tag going around on Twitter and tumblr
I played the game, and I was very fascinated by the visuals and level design. That alone knocks the flaws of the game to the curb. Balan’s Bout is the only part of the game I dislike, but I think it wasn’t intended to be there in the first place
Thank you for making this video, I hope more people will give this game a shot. ThorHighHeels also did a video assessing this game with a fair perspective
Funny you mention Box Fox. Kyronne did a boss challenge with Box Fox, that I'd recommend watching.
As a Balan speed runner, I adore the game. My only issues are Switch performance (which never got fixed due to all this hate, no doubt) and the dreadful Balan Bouts.
Aside from that, I genuinely adore the game and consider it among my favourites
i actually bought the game on launch on Switch
and i still love the game (sure it isn't perfect, but i would still give it a 8/10)
so a massive thank you for making this video
as the game gets to much hate & it is easily my biggest guilty pleasure
O', Algorithm, heed my recommendations: Transparency is, like, consistently excellent and this video is no exception!
Thanks! We've been a bit worried about this one because of how spicy it is (even though it is very nice about it). At least hopefully people can engage with this one as thought provoking exploration if nothing else. Just wait until we talk positively about Bubsy, lol.
If I had the money to spend on a PS5 or a Switch, I'd def give Balan Wonderworld a go. It's cute, colorful, and looks fun, even if its mechanics look simple. Simplicity isn't inherently bad. Also the story seems genuinely engaging and it seems like there's actual effort put into using the characteristics of the medium to convey the narrative. Something many games just... don't do.
The Switch version is a bit choppy to be honest. The others are probably better. But yeah, some people say it should have had dialogue and stuff like that, but gosh, I think people would hate it even more then.
#DefendBalan! We all must stand together to defend this wonderful game and make the franchise better than before!
Great vid! Tho why didn't he pick up the Basketball >:|
Thabk you for the work, great content. Im getting the game on ebay now 😀
Hope you enjoy it! We can't promise you will, but hey, if nothing else it will probably be an interesting experience!
It's still unnecessarily clunky to have to change costumes to jump, whatever the reasoning. It's not good design
Nah, you're right - it's great design.
@@Transparencyboo I’m not trying to be rude by saying this, but replying to something that is an issue for a significant portion of people who’ve played the game, even those who’ve enjoyed some or most of it, with “No actually it isn’t a problem it’s a good thing” as if that’s an objective fact instead of something subjective, isn’t a great defense of the game. I wouldn’t call myself a big Balan fan, I thought it was a little underwhelming, but I did quite like most of my time with it and I can admit when something is potentially a flaw or just isn’t for everyone. (Before you say that people who’ve played the game don’t have a problem with costume switching and losing the jump, I’m on the official Balan WonderWorld fan Discord and it’s just a thing that most people agree upon there that that is one of the game’s weaker aspects compared to everything else.) It’s okay for people to not like Balan WonderWorld or consider it a great game, and acting like that’s not the case just makes yourself look bad.
@@supercamborg4218 Our reply was obviously a cheeky little joke towards a statement presented as objective, but let's entertain this idea I guess. We think it should be quite evident that we think it's okay to dislike Balan as we make that clear several times during the videos run time. Honestly, our approach to video games and talking about them have always been rooted in the subjective and we never pretend as if what we say is objective when it's not. In fact, I would say that we're opposing the idea of people being objective in their opinions quite often. Like right here - with a joke. Like, of course it's not a great defence of the game, it's a joke at the expense of the idea that the opposite would somehow be more true and objective.