They lock away the former memories of those in Wonderworld and encourage them to build a paradise they would never want to leave. In this pre-game state, these areas are interconnected, and the conductor isn’t Balan but the game’s villain, Lance. The creatures like the Tims have a role in this, as they could feed on tears (gems in the game) to produce happiness and improve the balance in a person’s heart.
While it didn’t exist to solve their problems, the Theater promised a Wonderworld they could form that would help them overcome it. The purpose of the theater was to help restore balance in people’s hearts. In these moments of self-loathing, the Theater is there to help. Emma and Leo have titles within the theater just like other characters, these being Fighter and Streetbeat, and the theater is a place people enter following traumatic events and when they are depressed. Over half the novel is set before the events of the game where we learn about the characters and Balan Theater. The context it provides immediately makes the game more enjoyable simply for understanding what is supposed to be happening. For a title without dialogue, the novelization is over 200 pages in length, most of it original content exclusive to this story. The Balan Wonderworld novel gives meaning and explanation to so many events that it begs the question as to why this content never made it into the final game. We’re playing blind, parsing our way through levels confused about our purpose. There’s also this shadowy evil figure, but other than being the main evil character, we aren’t told anything about who they’re supposed to be. Giant character models appear in random places around the levels and disappear if you get close, while strange black enemies burst from the ground to attack unprovoked.
No dialogue or explanation discusses why we’re entering these worlds, and we aren’t even introduced to that world’s character until just before the boss. Following an impressive opening cutscene where we see our main character (Emma or Leo depending on who you choose) enter the Balan Theater, we’re rather unceremoniously dropped onto the Isle of Tims and expected to dive into these levels. The Balan Wonderworld Novel… Exists?īalan Wonderworld explains very little to the player. The mostly-overlooked Balan Wonderworld novel goes someway towards explaining why a world and setting with so much potential ended as a critically-panned sales flop.Īnd it may even provide the answers to what went wrong. There are easy scapegoats, but blaming them would distract from the game’s more deep-rooted problems. When you have talent like Yuji Naka working alongside long-time collaborators, it can be difficult to understand what went wrong from the outside looking in.
The brief moments of joy in the game’s wonderfully-animated cutscenes, bizarre end-of-world musical numbers and the Tims remain small highlights in an otherwise disappointing experience. Until just over a week ago, I was the same.Īs much as I tried to be positive in my impressions on the game’s demo, the finished article of Balan Wonderworld is not a fun game to play. Did you know there was a Balan Wonderworld novel? It’s fine if you didn’t.
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