On paper, Lana’s state of affairs is not nice. She’s a younger lady, misplaced in an alien wilderness, desperately making an attempt to reunite together with her household within the midst of an invasion of evil robots. However as quickly as you see Planet of Lana (opens in new tab) in movement, the entire state of affairs all of the sudden appears very chill. The beautiful, painted backdrops have the delicate color palette of a Studio Ghibli film, and there is a disarming tranquillity to the plush, vibrant land round right here. With its baby protagonist and weighty, 2D puzzle-platforming, it is strongly harking back to Limbo, however with utterly the other tone—the place that sport was bleak and brutal, Planet of Lana leaves you feeling that every part’s in all probability going to be alright in the long run.
It helps that Lana is not really alone—she’s joined by an lovely alien cat good friend. Regardless of being basically a little bit black blob with eyes, Mui is undeniably feline—she even hates water—and serves as Lana’s trustworthy companion all through the sport. She will be able to squeeze in small areas, soar onto buttons or climb up and throw down ropes to assist Lana progress. Oh, and he or she’s a hypnotist.
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Throughout a hands-off demo, I get to see her utilizing her frankly fairly intimidating psychic powers to bend the planet’s different fauna to her will. With just some flashes of Mui’s eyes, any creature, from a humble tentacle vine to an enormous swamp octopus, falls beneath her spell.
It isn’t such as you get to construct a military of alien beasts, although—it serves as an alternative as a puzzle-solving instrument. Give that octopus the ol’ spiral eyes and it will use its floppy tentacles to empty or fill ponds, serving to you attain inaccessible areas. Wait, can octopuses try this? Hmnm. Perhaps it is some type of multi-trunked elephant? Sorry, I am no xenobiologist.
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Regardless, these animal encounters play into a lovely rhythm of puzzles and traversal within the part I am proven. There’s nothing actually groundbreaking right here—even with its pet-focused twist, it looks like a mixture of well-worn indie sport tropes—however the items match collectively neatly, and the result’s endearing and polished sufficient to face out.
Hints of larger peril come in direction of the top of the demo, because the residing wilds give technique to chilly, metallic buildings with grey-panelled partitions, twisting pipes and crackling, electrified platforms. Pre-release footage reveals that Lana’s robotic foes will hunt her, their glowing, cruel eyes presumably invulnerable to an alien cat’s charms—maybe hanging out from amenities like these. However even in these shadowy environs, greenery may be seen rising via cracks and gaps, and Lana quickly stumbles throughout a verdantly overgrown lobby illuminated by an surprising ray of sunshine.
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It is as if the builders can not help themselves eager to stability each drop of hazard with a bucket of magnificence, and how are you going to fault that? This pretty slice of escapism is due in the summertime this yr—simply in time for a soothing alien vacation.