Yesterday, during the Xbox Games Showcase presentation, Square Enix announced Balan Wonderworld — a brand-new intellectual property by Sonic the Hedgehog creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshimo — which is expected to launch for home consoles and PC in spring of 2021.
Not much about Balan Wonderworld was shared, but the trailer did reveal some gameplay and the game's beautifully realised world in order to give players a better idea of what to expect from Square Enix's promising upcoming title.
In a recent behind the scenes video released for Balan Wonderworld, Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshimo themselves reveal a bunch of much-needed details about the game. Interestingly enough, they reveal that this is the first project in which they have worked together in over 20 years; the last one being the classic Nights into Dreams for the Sega Saturn.
Square Enix Visual Team Ikumori Kazuyuki reveals that in order to give Balan Wonderworld a unique art style, they have drawn inspiration from the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series; mixing Dragon Quest's kind art style with the "cool-looking" art style seen in the Final Fantasy series.
One of the most interesting aspects of Balan Wonderworld is that the game's setting is based on a musical theatre, so the developers set out to make proper use of lighting and music, while keeping both of these properly synchronised; further enhancing the experience from a visual standpoint.
Take a look:
Twelve different tales await players in the bizarre and imaginary land of Wonderworld. As the star of the show you can use powers from 80 different costumes while exploring labyrinth stages, filled with a myriad of tricks and traps to get to the heart of each story. As you journey through this land between fantasy and reality, you must find a way to bring balance to others and yourself.
Balan Wonderworld is expected to release for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC(Steam) in spring of 2021.
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