I am going to be talking about this game differently than I do most reviews I have done. Firstly as with any time I don't finish a game, I will let you know I finished six of the twelve worlds the game has to offer. I am going to brush aside all minor complaints because in the case of this game I think they are almost pointless to talk about. Things like the game occasionally lagging, few annoying camera moments and other things that normally would pile-up could be fixed entirely and it wouldn't matter.
Balan Wonderworld has absolutely everything it needs to be a fantastic game. A charming and fun visual design, a story told without words, and plenty of interesting ideas for the mechanics of the game were all implemented very well. There is a big variety of areas, a lot of different abilities, the number of positive things in this game far outweigh the number of negative things. Everything about this game looks like it was set up for success, but there is one major flaw it couldn't seem to overcome.
You aren't doing much at all in this game. Yes, everything functions well and as it should, but rather than feel like you are having to think that hard all you are doing is going through the motions since the beginning of the game. It's an issue that's hard to accurately describe in words, everything about the game just feels like they created the base for something fantastic and then just stopped there. It's like they had an amazing idea and just didn't know how to build on it, so they just gave up and released what they had. The game is more of a proof of concept than an actual finished game.
I've heard a lot of complaints about the game being full price, which adds insult to injury, but even as a cheaper game it doesn't avoid feeling like it just doesn't have any meat to it. Balan underworld is an entirely hollow experience from a gameplay perspective despite that outer shell being wonderfully crafted. The game just doesn't offer anything worth experiencing.