Planet of Lana 2 Review

While it might seem simple from the outside, there’s always the risk of ‘second album syndrome’ striking a studio’s second game. After pouring so much time and effort into a first effort, finding that same spark for a successor, whether a direct sequel or new project, can be daunting. Planet of Lana 2 makes it look easy.

Before I began to delve into the world of Planet of Lana 2, I had a few niggling concerns about the storyline. I was drawn by the art-style and puzzling elements of this game but had somehow allowed the first instalment in the series to pass me by. Would I be jumping aboard the Lana-train too late to understand the narrative? Would the lack of real-language or subtitles restrict my enjoyment of the game? In short, no. And no. Within a few minutes of the opening scenes, the storyline begins to blossom, and I was hooked to these characters.

In Planet of Lana 2, we join Lana and her trusty companion, Mui, sometime after they saved their planet from the invading machines. The lovable pair take you on an emotional journey uncovering secrets about their planet’s past. This sequel adds depth to the world that fans of the original have come to love whilst also being accessible for a new audience, making it enjoyable for all – a feat that most Hollywood movie scriptwriters would be envious of!

And what of the alien language used throughout the game? Well, it turns out when storytelling is done well, you can fill the dialogue with nonsense words and still achieve complete audience investment – who knew? Pingu, I suppose. The voice-over work is performed with such expression and emotion that there’s never any doubt on what the characters are communicating to each other. Add to this the gorgeous orchestral score that supports the narrative and you have a match made in heaven.

And the cinematic vibes don’t end at the music; Planet of Lana 2 is filled with stunning landscapes in a beautiful hand-painted style. Although your player characters are only ever walking from left to right, the landscapes they’re traversing are bursting with depth and colour. There are moments where Lana and Mui do nothing but cross the scenery. Here, the developers are saying “Look! Look at this beautiful environment we’ve crafted!” And frankly, I don’t blame them. I challenge anyone not to stop and admire this spectacular alien world where nature collides with technology.

The storyline is properly punctuated by the puzzling elements of the game. Rather than focus solely on logic and reasoning, the puzzles require observation, experimentation and cooperation from your player characters. When puzzles are crafted this perfectly, it’s easy to forget how much hard work must have gone into designing them. Here, many small details come together to form a series of well-considered challenges that were clearly designed with the player in mind. For example, the camera view will always pan and zoom to show the player the fullest extent of the locations and resources required to solve the puzzle. When there’s peril – you’re often needing to avoid getting shot with lasers or avoid freakishly fast spider-bots – the autosaves and respawn points are frequent and convenient enough that you feel free to experiment.

Gameplay rules are introduced gradually, built upon satisfactorily and stay consistent throughout the game. Those coming from the first game will find that Lana and Mui have grown and learnt some new tricks. Lana is more agile, while Mui can now hijack robots and hypnotise some creatures in the world.

The puzzle difficulty is flawlessly pitched, with just enough challenge to tickle your little grey cells without resorting to a rage-quit scenario. The developers manage to keep the player invested – even with the trickier puzzles – by drip feeding progress. On each attempt, the next part of the challenge becomes obvious and you’ll find yourself getting that little bit further.

But a word of warning to all players whose puzzling failures, like mine, result in Lana getting killed every five seconds; steel your nerves for Mui’s cries to his recently departed human companion. I suppose this is the price you pay for emotionally investing too much into an adorable collection of pixels!