18 Facts About Balan Wonderworld

1.

Balan Wonderworld is a 2021 platform game developed by Arzest and Balan Company and published by Square Enix.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,891
2.

Balan Wonderworld is the debut project of Balan Company, a subsidiary brand of Square Enix led by Yuji Naka, the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,892
3.

Balan Wonderworld is a platform game where players take on the role of either Leo Craig or Emma Cole, two children drawn into the magical realm of Wonderworld by a being called Balan.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,893
4.

Balan Wonderworld mostly takes place in the Balan Theater, a magical realm overseen by a mysterious being called Balan.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,894
5.

The Balan Theater appears when one's heart loses its balance, and connects to Wonderworld, a realm merging reality and fantasy created from memories and hearts.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,895
6.

Leo and Emma are opposed by Lance, a counterpart to Balan who commands the Negati, monsters born from the darkness of Wonderworld's visitors.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,896
7.

Balan Wonderworld is the debut project from Balan Company, a Square Enix subsidiary brand founded in 2018 by Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams creator Yuji Naka to bring together internal and external production staff.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,897
8.

Balan Wonderworld said the decision to remove him was made by the producer and other senior product staff.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,898
9.

Balan Wonderworld later commented that as the 80 costumes were a core pillar of the game, reducing the number would have shifted its design.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,899
10.

The world of Balan Wonderworld used a constructed language based on English; dialogue and song lyrics were first written in English, then the sounds and syllables were changed and pronunciation adjusted to make it sound odd.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,900
11.

The voice cast was Japanese; Balan Wonderworld was voiced by Kenichi Suzumura, Leo by Shimba Tsuchiya, Emma by Lynn, and Lance by Takahiro Sakurai.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,901
12.

Balan Wonderworld's recurring design perspective was of the audience of a musical show enjoying the spectacle on stage.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,902
13.

Visitors to Balan Wonderworld are drawn from various time periods and locations around the world, and normally lose their memories upon leaving.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,903
14.

The novel ends with Balan Wonderworld allowing the visitors to retain their memories, vowing not to become like Lance.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,904
15.

In late April 2022, he said that the Balan Wonderworld producer had removed him from the project six months before its release, due to the state of development and the use of a fan cover of Balan music without due credit to the composer during marketing.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,905
16.

Balan Wonderworld had sued Square Enix after his firing and accused Square Enix and Arzest of not caring about consumers.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,906
17.

Balan Wonderworld received "generally unfavorable" reviews for most platforms, according to review aggregator Metacritic; the PlayStation 5 version received "mixed or average" reviews.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,907
18.

CJ Andriessen of Destructoid said Balan Wonderworld had nostalgic appeal for fans of early experimental 3D platformers, but its gameplay and minigames lowered its quality for a modern audience.

FactSnippet No. 1,293,908