Category: June

The recent news that Yuji Naka has left Square Enix only about a month after the release of Balan Wonderworld has highlighted how poorly the game was received both from critics and consumers. Having previously been cautiously excited for Balan Wonderworld, I thought it might be interesting to share my, admittedly limited, experience with the game, why I was excited in the first place, why I believe that Balan Wonderworld was a fail for both Yuji Naka and Square Enix and why the game was received so disastrously.

I should probably start with when I first heard about the game. Balan Wonderworld was announced in July 2020 as a new game that would reunite Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, the co-creators of the famous Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. As you might expect, this was quite exciting for many people and I was also excited to see the release of another 3D platformer in a market where so few are released these days. Admittedly, the price tag of €60 was a concern for me as 3D platformers are typically priced more competitively but I was still eager to see more of the game.

Video game development and design can be incredibly complicated but easily one of the greatest debates is the battle of gameplay vs narrative. Relatively new, video games represent an unusual area of interactive entertainment, in sharp contrast to other mediums such as film, television, books etc. and it can feel like video game designers are still trying to figure out the balance of gameplay and narrative. In recent years, I’ve heard an increasing number of opinions with regards to this debate and I decided that it was worth looking at this topic and share my own thoughts and opinions.

When it comes to video games vs other entertainment mediums, it is clear that gameplay is the single most defining aspect that distinguishes video games. The ability to interact with the world, characters, gameplay systems etc. isn’t possible in more traditional entertainment mediums, excluding board games, and this aspect is what most people will think of when they think of video games. However, as video games have become more and more technically complicated with greater graphics, audio, voice acting, etc., many video games have become progressively more and more story-driven.