Planet of Lana 2 – Game Review

Planet of Lana 2 is an indie adventure puzzle game, following the success of Wishfully Games' debut game.

However, the puzzle aspect of this launch left players quite disappointed, despite the storyline and the world-building with its grandeur and mystery being quite appealing.

So, can Planet of Lana 2 redeem itself and become a memorable indie game?

Let's find out more through the following review on tipsplay.net .

YOU WILL LIKE

The story is pretty good, and the gameplay is entertaining enough!

The storyline of Planet of Lana 2 takes place immediately after the previous film, and Lana no longer has to worry about her tribe. But questions about her origins and the mysterious world behind them continue to haunt her.

One day, while Lana, Mui, and a little girl were exploring, another force unexpectedly attacked, putting the girl who was with them in critical condition.

And so Lana and Mui, once again, embark on adventures everywhere to find the items needed to craft a potion, in order to save their younger sibling's life.

Just like the first version, Planet of Lana 2 retains the spirit of delivering a beautiful world that is extremely reminiscent of the iconic 'Star Wars' franchise, and even includes a segment that fans of Studio Ghibli's 'Princess Mononoke' will surely enjoy!

Obviously, the game couldn't possibly be that rich and expansive. Although confined to a horizontal screen, the watercolor graphic style combined with eye-catching lighting and shadows, along with the architecture and world-building, is more than enough to create beautiful scenes and a variety of rich settings throughout the journey.

Not to mention the truly excellent soundtrack of Planet of Lana 2 , and the fact that the developers even created their own… language for the game! Environmental sounds and noises in general are meticulously crafted, adding depth to both the audio and visual experience.

Overall, Planet of Lana 2 may not offer any particularly memorable character depth, aside from Lana and Mui, but its well-executed storytelling behind the beautiful landscapes can still provide something for those eager to learn more about the planet, even alongside the game's somewhat simple yet easily understandable main story.

That being said, the game still has a few subtle, rather surprising plot twists.

In terms of gameplay , Planet of Lana 2 frequently features two main characters. Lana now has the ability to run fast, slide, and swim, and a new skill to 'transform' bad robots into good ones. Mui can also 'transform' into a fish, a small creature capable of creating webs or controlling and paralyzing certain robots to help Lana solve puzzles in various situations.

While the puzzle sequences aren't particularly unique and still focus heavily on pushing objects or hiding, it's undeniable that the studio offers more diverse and intense situations, creating tension as players constantly utilize the strengths and weaknesses of both characters to solve the puzzles.

And the writer found that the parts focusing on Mui were often significantly more difficult than those focusing on Lana. This was especially true for the sections where the character transforms into a fish or small creature to create webs for fire. The writer had to try many times before finally getting through them.

Another great thing is that Planet of Lana 2 doesn't offer any directions, even when the player is stuck there. This forces the player to carefully observe the environment and think more to solve the puzzles. Overall, the game has a relatively well-structured storyline and puzzle-solving system that isn't drawn out.

The company offers a wider variety of intense situations, creating tension as players must constantly utilize the strengths and weaknesses of both characters to solve puzzles.

YOU WILL HATE

THE PUZZLES ARE STILL DISCONNECTED AND SHOW NO IMPROVEMENT.

The author, while playing titles like Limbo and Inside , and even other non-2D games like Flowers and Journey, felt that the puzzle-solving and navigation elements integrated seamlessly into the narrative and the world. It felt as if they belonged to that world with a certain level of logical consistency. It wasn't a case of, "Why are there these difficult-to-navigate things here?" or "Do the soldiers living there have to climb and solve puzzles like Lana to move between areas?"

To put it more simply, most of the puzzles in Planet of Lana 2 still look like 'fillers,' patched together and disjointed, added simply to make the game longer. And while it's longer, players can actually complete it in somewhere between 4 and 7 hours of gameplay, which is relatively short.

This disjointed puzzle section was a weakness of the previous installment but has yet to be fully addressed, despite the company's attempts to introduce more challenges to the game.

The game's plot is simple, but its execution is problematic! For example, why would the friend give Lana such detailed instructions to find the ingredients, even though this is the tribe's first encounter with a new disease? It feels like the game is trying to rush the player through these situations rather than creating more depth in the characters' emotions overall.

This disjointed puzzle section was a weakness of the previous installment but has yet to be fully addressed, despite the developer's attempts to add more challenges to the game.