Planet of Lana 2 Review
Everything that was great about Planet of Lana is gone, because it’s all been replaced since everything is now bigger. Less than 3 years later, Wishfully Studios have given players the chance to return to the gorgeous Planet Novo and the wonderful universe of Planet of Lana with a sequel that expands on the original in nearly every conceivable way, for better or worse.
The scale is bigger, the world feels more diverse, the gameplay has expanded, the puzzles have more complexity, the environments are somehow more beautiful and even the lovable companion Mui has a much greater role
Wishfully set the bar high with their debut and while the sequel fails to leave the same impact due to inconsistent pacing and supporting characters that didn’t resonate, Planet of Lana 2 is still a fantastic puzzle platformer that outdoes the original in many ways.
8
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PLANET OF LANA 2 REVIEW
Wishfully Studios debut title, Planet of Lana was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2023. An original puzzle platformer that belonged in the conversation with other side scrolling platformers like Limbo, Inside and Little Nightmares. The big difference is that Planet of Lana zigged when the rest of the genre zagged. Instead of darkness, there was a bright world inspired by Studio Ghibli. Instead of horror, there was a new hope. Instead of a story being open to interpretation, it was a story focused, epic cinematic odyssey.
If you played the original, which you don’t need to before playing the sequel, it will feel largely the same with some incremental changes. Lana moves quicker, feels more agile and can now swim, which does open up the platforming and puzzles by incorporating water into many of them in interesting ways. Although the story is connected to the events of the first, it stands on its own, meaning that the original isn’t a prerequisite, plus there’s a quick recap at the start for new players and to remind returning players about what has already transpired.
The adventure begins when Lana’s little sister becomes gravely ill and the village shaman asks her to go to the farthest reaches of the planet in search for three magical items: A flower from the caverns at the top of the snow covered mountain region, a pearl from the depths of the turquoise blue, coral filled oceans, and the antler of a sacred deer found deep in the emerald green forests that are filled with trees bigger than giant sequoias as far as the eye can see.
While searching for the cure serves as a simple device to force the player explore the world, Wishfully attempts to weave in a narrative that feels relevant despite taking place in a futuristic timeline within another universe. The story unexpectedly went in a much darker direction about mankind’s willingness to adopt ai and the consequences of over trusting technology, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
The two areas where the experience felt greatly elevated over the original was the scope increase of the puzzles and the expansion of environments. The combination of these two elements included many new ways that Mui and Lana interact with the world around them. In terms of puzzles, Lana can control technology including magnetic blocks and flying platforms. Mui, on the other hand can control more living beings than ever before.
These living things included tiny fish that can squeeze into small areas the Lana and Mui can’t and also shoots a cloud of ink like an octopus would, which was helpful for obscuring the vision of much larger predators and surveillance systems. There are also adorable, cloud-like creatures that roll on the ground leaving a flammable trail of fluff behind them and a few others that ask the player to solve more complex puzzles in unique ways.
The artistry is improved in nearly all aspects as the painted backdrops were more beautiful. The wider range of environments made the world feel even bigger and offered impressive visual variety that constantly highlighted the breathtaking nature of the world. Once again, the incredible score captured the highs and lows of the odyssey and did a masterful job at immersing the player with a highly distinct arrangement that captured the personality of each biome perfectly.
PLANET OF LANA 2 CRITICISMS
I was enamoured with the original Planet of Lana, which was succinct and left a lasting impact. Planet of Lana 2 tries to tell a bigger story with more characters, which I applaud the studio, but this requires more setup and led to inconsistent pacing. Both the first and final chapter were too long. Planet of Lana 2 is a slightly longer experience than the original with a lot more variety in the puzzles, but when the pacing is inconsistent and the experience feels slightly too long, puzzles and platforming can start to feel repetitive, as they did near the very end.
Planet of Lana 2 attempts many big emotional moments, and while the ones with Mui and Lana are impactful, the ones with supporting characters failed to evoke the same emotions. There are even flashback attempts that were unable to spark nostalgia since these characters weren’t fully established and the events just transpired.
There are several wonderful set pieces that highlight the improved traversal of Planet of Lana 2 as you must narrowly escape capture or death. The problem is that these set pieces require the ultimate precision and if you don’t jump at the exact edge of the platform, you won’t successfully clear the gap. Falling to your death interrupts the flow and greatly reduces the impact these moments should be making on the overall experience.
There are a few chapters when you get to play as Mui, which should be a highlight, but they are arguably the weaker sections of the experience. Controlling Mui as a secondary characer to Lana works great and is usually only done when trying to solve puzzles. These Mui chapters required him to traverse, which felt clunky and unintuitive. Converting these chapters to cutscenes would’ve removed the friction, but also would’ve improved the pacing. Mui also can’t go in water and while the addition of swimming and water greatly improved the experience in other areas, constantly having to get Mui across water became tedious by the end.
PLANET OF LANA 2 FINAL VERDICT AND SCORE
Sequels are a tough challenge, especially ones to a beloved debut, as it can be like trying to capture lightning in a bottle again. Planet of Lana 2 makes large strides over the original in many ways by expanding visuals, improving traversal and adding in more puzzle variety and complexity. It even attempts to tell a much bigger and more relatable story.
In theory, Planet of Lana 2 should be a resounding success, as Planet of Lana 2 offers more of everything and is bigger than the original in nearly every way. But as their debut proves, sometimes less is more as Planet of Lana felt more intimate, personal and impactful. Nonetheless, Wishfully studios have crafted another beautiful, epic sci-fi odyssey with Planet of Lana 2 that is a must for puzzle platformer lovers.
