The unique “Planet of Lana” proposed an enchanting sci-fi fantasy on two ranges. One, you get to discover the amazingly lush exterior world, and two, you’ve gotten a cat that really listens to you. Planet of Lana 2 is just about the identical in each respects, however it provides sufficient kineticism and depth to its platforming and inscrutability to make it really feel like a worthy sequel.
However that does not imply it is resistant to a barely odd begin. Regardless of all the luxurious forests, snow-carpeted mountains, and tropical ocean flooring that Lana and her feline alien sidekick Mui ultimately come throughout, Sport 2 begins with a sequence of grey corridors. Right here, Lana reveals that she has been practising platforming for the previous few years and is now capable of dash, slide and wall soar from the beginning. They’re all easy methods, however they’re methods that give the bodily problem a extra fluid and dynamic high quality than the occasional sluggish climbing movement of the unique.
Mui can be a extra useful blob companion. Cursor route continues to be required, however you are now not restricted to waypoints that stretch simply past Lana’s personal arm, permitting you to fly round puzzles, chew on cables, and drop ropes on the edges of the display. Their hypnotic energy over the planet’s fauna extends past easy motion to finish participant management, including colonies of ink-spewing fish and sticky, spinning cloud creatures to your fixing toolbox.
The puzzles themselves have additionally been expanded to accommodate the empowered duo. Actually, Planet of Lana had every problem firmly contained on one display, however made attainable by Mui’s untethered scope and freely controllable wildlife, most of the sequel’s most memorable puzzles really feel gargantuan by comparability. Flying and swimming creatures, particularly, lend themselves properly to the expansive, multi-step conundrums that preserve you targeted between Lana, Mui, and the captive slaves, very similar to the character choose display for an indecisive Avenue Fighter participant.
This isn’t a grievance. The back-and-forth dance between Lana and Mui was central to the primary sport’s impact in lowering box-pushing fatigue. This fatigue will be lethal for these at decrease ranges of puzzle platformers. Larger, extra complicated puzzles may need elevated the chance of getting caught or burnt out, however the considerate, usually tactilely pleasurable suite of expanded forces and actions turns these scaled-up challenges into a few of 2’s most satisfying highlights. You might have already performed certainly one of these within the demo. An elaborate infiltration of an underwater cave community, a wonderful mixture of underwater stealth (the corals are patrolled by crackling electrical sharks) and well-timed swimming (each Lana and the enchanting fish), and administration of the water-averse Mui.
Like Lana’s squeaky finest good friend, these serving to creatures are all the time cute and straightforward to suck, so it is virtually assured that somebody will likely be promoting stickers of them on Etsy by the tip of the week. Nevertheless it will get bizarre if you begin marching them to a grotesque demise. Certainly, if a slave is led in a harmful route, he’ll straight-up perish. This doesn’t reload the checkpoint, however it offers an infinite provide of replenishments, so carelessness is unlikely to stop you from doing so, for instance in the event you drop Lana Ragor off a cliff. In truth, typically you may want to resolve puzzles, equivalent to throwing a rolling mass of clouds into a fireplace pit and igniting the flammable path left behind. Or use fish as bait for sharks. Or they may lock an enormous bug in a cage and starve to demise, maybe off-screen. In my playthrough, Lana and Mui slaughtered their pals in varied methods. They often is the most prolific serial killer duo since West, however the sport paradoxically would not function any of their bloody actions.
To be honest, it is all for a superb trigger. Lana, who beforehand saved her sister from robots, now has to save lots of her niece from environmental air pollution. An harmless younger lady has been poisoned by a mysterious rock tossed out by passing cultists who seem like radioactive Twix wrappers. Which means a lot of Planet of Lana 2 is structured round an epic quest to search out components for a treatment, which in all probability would not sound like probably the most thrilling construction. I keep in mind my shoulders slumped the primary time the purchasing checklist appeared on the display.
However no, one way or the other it really works. Primarily, the Salve Hunt serves as an excuse to go to a extra in depth and fantastically realized sci-fi biome and amenities. All of that is gorgeously rendered in Planet of Lana’s hand-drawn model, expertly carved with pensive keys, rolling strings, and a tense synth soundtrack. The sequel can be extra bold in the way it makes use of these backdrops for dramatic set items, equivalent to a panicked run by a fiery jungle and a quiet, suspenseful preliminary descent in a stolen submarine, however finally favors the unique’s adventurous, hopeful ambiance over the thrills of motion. Each time I sprint away from Killerbot, not less than as soon as I will take a quiet stroll by the sundown timber or move yet one more eye-popping vista.
The extra segmented strategy additionally opens up the chance to inject some candy and candy Mui lore with some flashback interludes, displaying backstories and relationships that ultimately start to flesh out the little idiot past lovable sidekick standing. That is additionally a sensible transfer. Lana and Mui’s friendship is the emotional middle of each video games, and somewhat than merely recreating their authentic bond or intervening in an unlikely battle between a lady and a cat alien, these flashbacks subtly tint it with tragedy. Though Mui has increased intelligence than beforehand thought, it’s a painful previous and conflicting loyalty that he’s unable to convey to Lana till it’s too late. It isn’t simply because each side are talking in gibberish.
Sadly, whereas Planet of Lana 2 is proficient at fine-tuning feelings on a private stage, I want it had delved deeper into exploring broader themes. For instance, a hostile cult initially seems to be thoughtlessly transmitting some type of environmental message. They plunder the earth for sources, dump poisonous waste, and slaughter animals, not even for constructive causes like fixing physics puzzles. This initially seems to be making a Hayao Miyazaki-esque controversy over the destruction of our planet (applicable given the Spirited Away aesthetic, however much less in order that Sport would not give a shit about his son’s filmmaking talents). As an alternative, these depictions are largely simply shorthand for bastards, and their affect is measured virtually completely by how they trigger hassle for Lana’s speedy household.
This is not the one cheeky concept. The glowing metropolis glimpsed in key artwork and teased a number of occasions all through the sport itself? Correct exploration lasted about three minutes, with most of our time spent navigating the sewage system and underground warehouses beneath. Your go to happens at some extent within the story when there is not a lot time for sightseeing, however it’s only a disgrace to go away so quickly, because it’s one thing utterly completely different from the pristine nature you are normally exploring, whereas sustaining the sequence’ eye-catching presentation requirements.
So it isn’t precisely the perfect materials. However Planet of Lana 2 succeeds much more usually than it dawdles. Its core puzzle platform advantages from some significantly intelligent mechanical enhancements, attaining the unlikely feat of turning into extra complicated. with out it My head stumbles and I stumble over teeth-grinding difficulties. And when you get out of those chilly hallways, you may have much more audio-visual enjoyable than the unique. Fortunately, you’ve gotten a cat who listens to you.