Review: Planet of Lana

[andrewducker]

I grabbed Planet of Lana out of my backlog because I fancied something with a bit of a challenge, a bit of a plot, that looked gorgeous. And I got exactly that!

The art is painted, and looks it. It's set on a luscious moon where everything looks beautiful, and everything is just fine:


Well, maybe not *fine*:


Shortly after The Bad Thing happens you set off with your trusty friendly cat to Save Everything.

And then it's a lot of side-scrolling adventure as you head relentlessly rightward, climbing over things,distracting robots, avoiding being eaten by wild animals, until you find the source of The Bad Thing and Save The Day. If you've played Limbo or Inside then you know exactly the kind of thing you're in for. Only more Ghibli.

There's almost no dialogue, and what there is is in an alien language. But it's enough to pull you in. The plot is told through the things you encounter along the way. And it's explained as much as it needs to be, which isn't much.

The different environments work very nicely, whether you're trying to keep your cat dry:


or you're exploring underground caverns:


Or trying to prevent hordes of robot spiders from giving you an unfortunate hug:


The game lasts about 5 hours, but as it's on sale for over 50% off right now (£7.65 in the UK) I can happily say it's well worth picking up.

The challenge is fairly light - there were two puzzles I had to check walkthroughs for, but generally I could work my way through them, and it required very little in the way of reflexes.

Oh, and the music/sound design is gorgeous. You can listen to it over here.

Overall, highly recommended.

Comments

[movingfinger]

Looks beautiful! and it's on Switch! Yay!

[andrewducker]

Excellent! I hope you enjoy it!

[mellowtigger]

The images remind me somehow of FAR: Lone Sails, which somebody here recommended to me a few years ago. I enjoyed that one too, as kind of a low-key sort of game. I bought Planet Of Lana on sale to give it a try. :)

[andrewducker]

I think that's 5 copies I've sold so far. I hope you enjoy it!

[mountainkiss]

If this cat is anything like my black cat then it will make the situation worse and not better.

[andrewducker]

Thankfully all that is needed is that it attack the occasional thing hanging from above, curl up on top of warm things, and terrorise the local wildlife.

[mountainkiss]

Tbf he would be good at all those things. But he would be unlikely to leave the other stuff in your hands.

[mtbc]

Thank you, good to know, and the screenshots are appreciated!

[altamira16]

This is beautiful!

[melchar]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check out the game. The black kitty reminds me of the one from the movie 'Flow' - a movie I recommend if you haven't seen it yet.

[andrewducker]

Not yet, but I do fancy it.