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Balan Wonderworld

Balan Wonderworld

Released: 3/26/2021

Welcome to a wonderous all-action show, the likes of which has never been seen before! BALAN WONDERWORLD is a wondrous action platformer game themed around the Balan Theatre. Led by the enigmatic maestro named Balan, the stars of the show Emma and Leo will use special abilities from a multitude of characterful costumes as they adventure in the bizarre and imaginary land of Wonderworld. Here memories and vistas from the real world mix with the things that people hold dear. Twelve different tales await our stars in the Wonderworld, each with their own unique quirks. They will explore all corners of these labyrinthine stages, filled with a myriad of tricks and traps, to get to the heart of each story. WONDERWORLD EXISTS IN PEOPLE'S HEARTS AND IMAGINATION The setting for this tale is the fantastic, bizarre land of Wonderworld; a place where people's happy and positive memories mix with their restless worries and negativity. Leo and Emma are led into Wonderworld by the mysterious clown Balan and set off on a journey to find what is important to them. Before they can return to the real world, they must first restore the lost balance in their hearts... OVER 80 DIFFERENT COSTUMES OPEN UP ALL THE ACTION YOU COULD WANT! The stars of the show can use powers from the inhabitants of Wonderworld by wearing their colourful costumes, with over 80 different ones to try on! Bash your enemies, walk in the air, freeze time or manipulate all kinds of objects... the possibilities are endless when you pick up a new costume. TWO LEGENDARY CREATORS REUNITE! Come one, come all and enjoy the pinnacle of Square Enix storytelling in an all-action world of wonder created by the legendary Naka Yuji. For the first time in 20 years Naka Yuji and Oshima Naoto join forces forming the BALAN COMPANY team; founded around, bringing together action game development, video and music production professionals from both inside and outside of the company.

Welcome to a wonderous all-action show, the likes of which has never been seen before! BALAN WONDERWORLD is a wondrous action platformer game themed around the Balan Theatre. Led by the enigmatic maestro named Balan, the stars of the show Emma and Leo will use special abilities from a multitude of characterful costumes as they adventure in the bizarre and imaginary land of Wonderworld. Here memories and vistas from the real world mix with the things that people hold dear. Twelve different tales await our stars in the Wonderworld, each with their own unique quirks. They will explore all corners of these labyrinthine stages, filled with a myriad of tricks and traps, to get to the heart of each story. WONDERWORLD EXISTS IN PEOPLE'S HEARTS AND IMAGINATION The setting for this tale is the fantastic, bizarre land of Wonderworld; a place where people's happy and positive memories mix with their restless worries and negativity. Leo and Emma are led into Wonderworld by the mysterious clown Balan and set off on a journey to find what is important to them. Before they can return to the real world, they must first restore the lost balance in their hearts... OVER 80 DIFFERENT COSTUMES OPEN UP ALL THE ACTION YOU COULD WANT! The stars of the show can use powers from the inhabitants of Wonderworld by wearing their colourful costumes, with over 80 different ones to try on! Bash your enemies, walk in the air, freeze time or manipulate all kinds of objects... the possibilities are endless when you pick up a new costume. TWO LEGENDARY CREATORS REUNITE! Come one, come all and enjoy the pinnacle of Square Enix storytelling in an all-action world of wonder created by the legendary Naka Yuji. For the first time in 20 years Naka Yuji and Oshima Naoto join forces forming the BALAN COMPANY team; founded around, bringing together action game development, video and music production professionals from both inside and outside of the company.

Welcome to a wonderous all-action show, the likes of which has never been seen before! BALAN WONDERWORLD is a wondrous action platformer game themed around the Balan Theatre. Led by the enigmatic maestro named Balan, the stars of the show Emma and Leo will use special abilities from a multitude of characterful costumes as they adventure in the bizarre and imaginary land of Wonderworld. Here memories and vistas from the real world mix with the things that people hold dear. Twelve different tales await our stars in the Wonderworld, each with their own unique quirks. They will explore all corners of these labyrinthine stages, filled with a myriad of tricks and traps, to get to the heart of each story. WONDERWORLD EXISTS IN PEOPLE'S HEARTS AND IMAGINATION The setting for this tale is the fantastic, bizarre land of Wonderworld; a place where people's happy and positive memories mix with their restless worries and negativity. Leo and Emma are led into Wonderworld by the mysterious clown Balan and set off on a journey to find what is important to them. Before they can return to the real world, they must first restore the lost balance in their hearts... OVER 80 DIFFERENT COSTUMES OPEN UP ALL THE ACTION YOU COULD WANT! The stars of the show can use powers from the inhabitants of Wonderworld by wearing their colourful costumes, with over 80 different ones to try on! Bash your enemies, walk in the air, freeze time or manipulate all kinds of objects... the possibilities are endless when you pick up a new costume. TWO LEGENDARY CREATORS REUNITE! Come one, come all and enjoy the pinnacle of Square Enix storytelling in an all-action world of wonder created by the legendary Naka Yuji. For the first time in 20 years Naka Yuji and Oshima Naoto join forces forming the BALAN COMPANY team; founded around, bringing together action game development, video and music production professionals from both inside and outside of the company.

Critics
50
Steam
54
Metacritic
51

Score Breakdown

50.5

Critic Average

65 reviews

54

Steam User Score

608 reviews

51

Metacritic User Score

298 reviews

Disparity Breakdown

Steam Disparity
-3.6
Metacritic Disparity
-0.5
Combined Disparity
-2.1

Average of both sources

Review Timing

64 launch window (98%)1 late (2%)

Review summary

Updated May 8, 2026

Based on 65 scored critic reviews, critics give this game an average score of 50.5/100. Critics score this game 3.6 points lower than Steam users and 0.5 points lower than Metacritic users.

How these comparisons are calculated
Sources behind this summary(5 recent of 65)+
  1. Sandy Kirchner-WilsonviaCubed3
    Jul 19, 2021·Late review
    60/100View review
    Steam 54.1/100 · +5.9 ptsMetacritic 51/100 · +9.0 pts
  2. Barbora ŠalandováviaINDIANTVCZ
    May 10, 2021·Launch window
    40/100View review
    Steam 54.1/100 · -14.1 ptsMetacritic 51/100 · -11.0 pts
  3. Jason KenyonviaRapid Reviews UK
    Apr 22, 2021·Launch window
    70/100View review
    Steam 54.1/100 · +15.9 ptsMetacritic 51/100 · +19.0 pts
  4. BaziCenter StaffviaBaziCenter
    Apr 21, 2021·Launch window
    35/100View review
    Steam 54.1/100 · -19.1 ptsMetacritic 51/100 · -16.0 pts
  5. Michal KorecviaSECTOR.sk
    Apr 19, 2021·Launch window
    65/100View review
    Steam 54.1/100 · +10.9 ptsMetacritic 51/100 · +14.0 pts