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[IGN] Yuji Naka states Balan Wonderland is his one chance to make a platformer with Square-Enix

Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

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Oct 25, 2017
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Switch_BalanWonderland_01.jpg


Source: https://sea.ign.com/news/164232/balan-wonderworlds-next-gen-features-discussed-by-sonic-creator

Didn't see a thread, so i'll lock if someone already did.

For Naka, who joined Square Enix in 2018, Balan Wonderworld will be his first full-scale platform game in quite some time. "I think Square Enix has an RPG image," Naka said, "but I don't think I'd be good at making RPGs." Of course, Naka has made RPGs, such as Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star Online. However, the genre he feels he is most skilled at is still platform games. Therefore, he received permission from the company president to make a full-scale platform game with the condition that it was his "one chance".
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More at the link (Goes over other expectations of the studio and the reception of the game with fans currently).
It's nice Naka was given a chance to make something he wants first and foremost and I hope it works out well for him. The game will be on basically all platforms and a lot of people always say how much more they want 3D platformers. So hopefully the quality is there so he can work on an IP he's very passionate about.
 
purseowner

purseowner

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Oct 25, 2017
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Just posting to say I'm buying this, and I hope you are too, Era.

Unique creative visions like this are all too rare these days and I'd love to see a resurgence of the wackier kind of output that Japanese devs put out on the Wii. Also I really like Nights, so.
 
Weiss

Weiss

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Oct 25, 2017
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There's something about this game that just puts me off but I still desperately want it to be Yuji Naka putting all of his good ideas into one game.

For starters I wish I was playing as Balan.
 
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
I will for sure buy it but the game looks really unpolished so far. I hope they can fix it up before release and it comes together nicely.

it doesn't come across as a game that'll set anyone's world on fire but I hope I'm wrong
 
Kinsei

Kinsei

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Oct 25, 2017
20,513
I hope this does well.

*Points at avatar*
I must say it has really bad release timing though.
 

FormatCompatible

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
12,071
purseowner said:
Just posting to say I'm buying this, and I hope you are too, Era.

Unique creative visions like this are all too rare these days and I'd love to see a resurgence of the wackier kind of output that Japanese devs put out on the Wii. Also I really like Nights, so.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's a Yuji Naka 3d platformer, I'm there day one.
 
Jakenbakin

Jakenbakin

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Jun 17, 2018
11,782
There's a lot I'm sceptical about with this game, but depending on impressions and reviews I might be there day one. It doesn't currently appeal to me, but I want it to.
 
Poppy

Poppy

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Oct 25, 2017
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i still don't know if it's wonderworld or wonderland, i'm just gonna call it both regardless of what's printed on the box

also despite suspecting it's a bad choice for me specifically to buy it i am fascinated and must play this game
 
P-Bo

P-Bo

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Jun 17, 2019
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Was always going to buy this, as I've enjoyed everything the man put out--that said, I really hope it does well.
 
Floex

Floex

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Oct 27, 2017
1,751
I really, really, really hope it ends up being something great but that last trailer was terribly uninspired and lifeless.

Fingers crossed it has to time to bring itself to life.
 
fontguy

fontguy

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Oct 8, 2018
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It very obviously has a lot of old-school Sega/Nights DNA, which is why I am both very excited and very worried.
 
LinguisticGoblin

LinguisticGoblin

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Jul 19, 2020
1,129
Super interested to see how this turns out, what's been shown has promise and I'm hoping it delivers. 3D Platformers are on an uptick in recent years after a pretty long dry-spell for quality ones (barring Nintendo) and as a fan of 'em its been great to see even a company like Squeenix put one out - gives me some hope they're here to stay for a while.
 
karmitt

karmitt

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Oct 27, 2017
4,818
Well, I hope for their sake that it does well. Something about it just looks dull to me - doesn't help that the Switch version looks rough
 

Deleted member 11976

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Oct 27, 2017
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I'm definitely into it. Has an energy that many of the recent spiritual successor platformers don't capture, IMO.
 
AquaWateria

AquaWateria

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's gonna get hit hard in Japan since it's releasing on the same day as Monster Hunter Rise lol.

Hopefully Western sales helps because I'm unsure about Japan sales.
 
Speely

Speely

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Oct 25, 2017
7,992
My one guaranteed chance to buy a Yuji Naka game in the near future, so I am IN.
 
TheAggroCraig

TheAggroCraig

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Nov 6, 2017
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While I want it to be great and do well, I definitely need to see more on this/see what others say about it. Granted I haven't seen anything from TGS on it, but from what I saw from the initial reveal it didn't look like something I'd enjoy.
 
Phendrift

Phendrift

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's really funny how throughout the article he hints a few times "I'm not a good fit for Square but I work here anyway" lol
 
MouldyK

MouldyK

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Nov 1, 2017
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With 12 stages and 80 Costumes, I'm hoping each Stage is big to explore.
 
Host Samurai

Host Samurai

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Oct 27, 2017
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Definitely going to get this and I'll always support a new platform game and more games that have a more cartoony world to explore. This genre invites the most creativity imo.
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

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Oct 25, 2017
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It looks good, I just hate the human character designs. They look like mobile avatars or something. Rest of the game looks awesome though. Hope it does well.
 
Kalor

Kalor

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Oct 25, 2017
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I've definitely been curious to play it since the reveal. Hopefully they manage to make something fun and interesting, and get to make more if it is.
 
DeuceGamer

DeuceGamer

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Oct 27, 2017
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I'll be buying this and hopefully it shows there is still mainstream interest in Platformers, outside of Nintendo's platformers.
 
Tibarn

Tibarn

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Oct 31, 2017
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I dunno, the animations look atrocious, and a platformer with bad animations is not something I want to play tbh. I hope it's good of course.
 
Theswweet

Theswweet

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Oct 25, 2017
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Is this coming to Game Pass? I remember it being on the Xbox Stream a while back, but I don't remember if they confirmed that or anything.
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

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Oct 26, 2017
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Looks interesting for sure. Hope they polish it up nicely. The trailer we saw was July for a March release next year? Yep plenty of time.
 
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