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Balan Wonderworld - Review Thread
- Thread starter Lant_War
- Start date
We don't get enough 3D platformers in the AAA space these days so I was really pulling for this, especially with the Dreamcast vibe.
The demo was absolutely tragic though. Maybe if it doesn't end up ravaged in reviews it will be a bargain bin purchase or Gamepass game, but I don't expect favorable opinions of this.
The demo was absolutely tragic though. Maybe if it doesn't end up ravaged in reviews it will be a bargain bin purchase or Gamepass game, but I don't expect favorable opinions of this.
yeah, agreed. The "trash ass" part was the difference, haha. All I meant to say is that Balan is garbage and saying it's like a PS2 platformer is unfair to PS2 platformers.
I've never been much of a collector so I'd more than likely sell it on as soon as I've finished playing it, so the price isn't *that* much of an issue, but, oh I don't know, I just don't know!
The devs worked years day in day out on this game. Its not nice to use the term 'worthless'. You can be negative if you dislike the game but atleast choose better words.
For the record this is what Anihawk was probably talking about:
As you can see above, it kinda is true that Rubin and the gang thought that platformers like Mario were kiddy shit and old hat and that's why they made Jak 2 darker and edgier.
(yeah i know this is kinda off topic but yeah)
As you can see above, it kinda is true that Rubin and the gang thought that platformers like Mario were kiddy shit and old hat and that's why they made Jak 2 darker and edgier.
(yeah i know this is kinda off topic but yeah)
For the record this is what Anihawk was probably talking about:
That kind of thinking has aged like milk, huh?
Plenty of people worked on the Snyder Cut and it's 4 hours of worthless trash imo. It is what it is sometimes.
Imagine going this hard because someone said something mean about a game company you like on the internet.
For the record this is what Anihawk was probably talking about:
This reads like a GameFAQs comment, lol.
I can't believe a dev actually said this, maybe this wasn't ridicule worthy back then or something lolFor the record this is what Anihawk was probably talking about:
As you can see above, it kinda is true that Rubin and the gang thought that platformers like Mario were kiddy shit and old hat and that's why they made Jak 2 darker and edgier.
(yeah i know this is kinda off topic but yeah)
By your definition Balan Wonderworld must also be a modern platformer. The review being criticised seems to have a very different definition of modern.
For the record this is what Anihawk was probably talking about:
As you can see above, it kinda is true that Rubin and the gang thought that platformers like Mario were kiddy shit and old hat and that's why they made Jak 2 darker and edgier.
(yeah i know this is kinda off topic but yeah)
i've never seen this. there was another interview he did on gamespot tv or something from around that era though where he specifically disparages the 'motivation' in super mario 64 as the player getting a cake at the end of the game. i've never been able to find it since, but it was from around 2003-2005. this certainly gives further insight to his shitty attitude about the genre though.
edit: oh, i've seen this quote from this article before too. it's still a separate video he's referring to, but there's this gem from rubin:
i'd definitely take some kind of whimsical crummy platformer that widely misses the mark over something made with a clear disdain for the genre in the first place.
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I mean they made one good game since, and it was the racing spinoff.
I hate Jak II but comparing Balan Wonderworld to that Game is an insult to Jak II lol. In that Game jumping at least didn't feel like shit
I'm gonna end up mildly disappointed if this game ends up as merely mediocre instead of a no-holds-barred dumpster fire. Dumpster fires are more entertaining for me than mediocre games I'll never play.
That being said, it is probably better for the people who will actually play the game if it isn't an affront to video games, so I suppose it's a win overall
That being said, it is probably better for the people who will actually play the game if it isn't an affront to video games, so I suppose it's a win overall
They remind me of what I often heard from men in that age group around that era. I was 15-16 in 2003, but through my mother's boyfriend I heard a lot of 30-something opinions of how video games had suddenly changed and stuff like Mario was being left in the dust possibly forever.
lol.
There was a lot of hate for "kiddie" games back then.
Wind Waker ("Celda") and its art style got shat on prior to release, there were cries for Mario games to be fully voice acted with cutscenes, Gamecube was the purple lunchbox to OG Xbox's hardcore behemoth, etc.
I played the demo on ps4 and it looked really rough. And those hat bonus levels were pretty bad.
I was in elementary-middle school and sometimes kids would talk about that shit too. On forums there were also pretty widespread debates about whether or not certain games were "kids stuff" around then as well. There definitely felt like a divide between Nintendo/Nintendo-esque games that followed design ideologies not too different from what games 10 years prior followed and everything else, in a way that would seem extremely quaint less than a decade later. It's part of why I think that a Nintendo console that was more of a direct competitor to the XSX/PS5 would do better now than the Gamecube did against the PS2, though I still think continuing with the Switch ecosystem is ultimately the right move for them.
Early 00s was absolutely the day and age of "Games aren't for kids anymore" as an actual movement. The PS1 had that to some degree but it was Gen 6 where fans and even games themselves pushed forward that they are a very serious and adult medium filled with profanity and tits.
Then the Dead Space 2 commercial came out and just immediately neutered that belief for all eternity, and now you can play Kirby games in your 30s.
Then the Dead Space 2 commercial came out and just immediately neutered that belief for all eternity, and now you can play Kirby games in your 30s.
I'm genuinely still compelled to play this. Really looking forward to seeing more review. I'm just such an old-school Sega/ Yuji Naka fan, that I enjoyed the whimsical parts of the demo enough that I enjoyed in, in spite of the often awkward design.
You weren't lying
Read User Reviews and Submit your own for Balan Wonderworld on Xbox Series X - Metacritic
The Series X version is currently at a 9.5 score for the user reviews!
You weren't lying
Read User Reviews and Submit your own for Balan Wonderworld on Xbox Series X - Metacritic
The Series X version is currently at a 9.5 score for the user reviews!
Yeah! Well said. I'm glad we're (mostly) past all that now. Of course, I'm sure that being 33 years old myself as of 2021, I'm out-of-touch with tons of similar chatter from present-day kids, but the industry at-large is a wider and more diverse playground of acceptable approaches to game design. And I reckon that won't change anytime soon!
I can't stop laughing at the bot reviews on Metacritic. They're all slightly fucked up to hilariously wrong
I was about to say. I grew up on PS2 performers like Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, Ape Escape 2, and so much more that play a lot better than Balan.
Thankfully they put out a demo that killed that for me lol
(I'll probably end up picking this up for super cheap down the line)
Not sure what you mean considering their past platformers were enjoyable.
I like how every positive user review so far across every platform was blatantly written by a bot
And now the Jak series is dead and Mario is still trucking onFor the record this is what Anihawk was probably talking about:
As you can see above, it kinda is true that Rubin and the gang thought that platformers like Mario were kiddy shit and old hat and that's why they made Jak 2 darker and edgier.
(yeah i know this is kinda off topic but yeah)
Bless Square Enix, a few years ago they gifted us The Quiet Mand and now this, we are not worthy
OP
OP
Don't forget Left Alive! They're on a roll when it comes to these side games.