Planet of Lana II: A return to Novo's world with puzzles, exploration, and accessibility.

‘’Screenshot Planet of Lana II © Wishfully Studios’’

In this article we analyze Planet of Lana II , the long-awaited sequel to what was a little gem released in May 2023 as an Xbox timed exclusive, and then also published for PlayStation the following year.

Before delving into the detailed review, it's useful to provide a brief introduction. I'll be focusing on accessibility, a central theme for ForAllWe's editorial policy. I'll leave the overall evaluation of the game to a minority of reviewers, who won't be able to provide a numerical assessment.

Let's get to the heart of the analysis.

The return to the world of Novo

After almost three years, we are here again, in the company of Lana and Mui , in the world of Novo, created by the team at Wishfully Studios and led by creative director Adam Stjärnljus.

Like any self-respecting sequel, Planet Lana II builds on the features that made the first one a success, improving and expanding upon them. The distinctive elements of Novo 's world that made players love it—the extensive natural landscapes, combined with those typical elements that smack dab in Star Wars —are elements that return here. Compared to the previous game, we have a larger and more detailed world, with actual urban conglomerates, islands, and seascapes where you can explore the ocean depths. A real leap in quality, both in the development of the story and the game world.

To demonstrate the care the developers have put into it, I'll tell you in advance that the game opens with a summary of the highlights of Planet of Lana , giving everyone the opportunity to learn about the story, setting, and characters.

Definitely an original and distinctive trait, the desire to recap what happened in the previous episode: it's something that doesn't appear often in video games, at least not on a visual level and with in-game graphics (editor's note: as a player I only remember The Walking Dead series ).

After the introduction, we are catapulted into the world of Novo , guided by Lana . There is no tutorial on the basics of movement here; everything happens while you go through the first phase of the game. In addition to Lana and Mui , you will meet a little girl, Anua , who will accompany you during the initial stages of your adventure, remaining mostly in the background.

Your job as you explore will be to keep her from getting into trouble, and later in the story you'll be tasked with saving her life from a disease for which you'll be called upon to explore Novo to find the components to create the cure before it's too late.

Gameplay and mechanics

I'll stop here with the plot; I think I've already told you enough. Now I want to move on to the gameplay.

I believe this title was designed not for new players who have never played the first game, but primarily for those who enjoyed the first one and expect to find more.

After a brief introduction , where you'll familiarize yourself with the new features, veteran players will quickly realize that the puzzles become challenging from the very beginning. In the early stages of the game, it will be quite difficult to understand the mechanics.

Some sections took me over 20 minutes to get through. Understanding the interactions between Lana and Mui isn't that immediate; it takes a while to get used to the controls.

Not infrequently, the same puzzle requires the character to move across multiple stages. To overcome adversity, you will also have at your disposal the new powers of Mui , who now, in addition to interacting with the environment, can take control of the fauna of Novo .

Your companion will be able to, from time to time, depending on the setting, take control of the fish, helping you during the underwater phases; or become a little animal capable of climbing into inaccessible areas, clearing your way of obstacles; or even take control of robots or flying spaceships .

To prevent the player from experiencing the frustration typical of puzzle games, where coordination with the environment is crucial, as in the previous title, a checkpoint system has been implemented at the beginning of each puzzle and at intermediate stages. This means you won't have to sweat blood trying to complete the same puzzle in a single session.

For those who prefer the exploratory phase, as in the previous game, there is only one type of collectible, the Secret Hologram , which displays graffiti relating to the history of the planet Novo . In total, there will be 10 holograms scattered throughout secret areas.

The audio is also very well done, both in the effects and the music, so much so that at times it reminded me of those epic soundtracks typical of films. This feature was already a distinctive element of the first title and has remained so here. A true masterpiece.

ACCESSIBILITY OF PLANET OF LANA 2

Although the game mechanics are particularly simple, being a side-scrolling game with puzzles to solve, attention to accessibility is not overlooked.

In the settings menu, we find a dedicated item containing two options related to the game interface: Interface Scale and Game Interface . On the one hand, by adjusting the Interface Scale parameter , you can enlarge or reduce the button prompts that appear on the screen, as well as the speech bubbles that indicate the positions of the characters when they leave the game view.

On the other hand, by acting on the Game Interface option , you can decide whether you want to see only the indication of the commands on the screen (when there is the possibility of performing an interaction with the character or the surrounding environment), or no suggestions at all.

At first glance, it might seem like accessibility options are limited to the interface, but this isn't actually the case. In the Settings menu, you can modify some of the command settings.

For example, it is possible to remove the vibration or act on the intensity by adjusting the haptic feedback .

Very useful for those people who have neurological disabilities in the spine that make them particularly sensitive to vibrations (Editor's note: I myself suffer from such disorders and for every game, the first thing I do is make sure to reduce or disable the vibration to a minimum ).

Looking at the audio menu, we notice that there is no option to disable the subtitles that are present by default in the game.

This choice was largely dictated by reasons inherent to the game's setting. To emphasize the fairytale aspect, the developers invented an incomprehensible language. While Lana and Mui interact with gestures, the interaction between the human characters occurs using this new verbal form, which does not require subtitles.

Subtitles, when present, are mostly reserved for the parts where the narrator's voice intervenes or when on-screen instructions appear with descriptions of the game controls.

After describing your game by referring to its accessibility options, you need to ask yourself whether they meet accessibility guidelines.

As far as visual accessibility is concerned , I think a decent job has been done.

In particular, the levers and objects you can interact with have a certain detachment from the color of the background elements, while the readability of the interface is ensured by the scaling options I mentioned.

As for Hearing Accessibility , it is possible to independently adjust music, sound effects, character voices and overall volume.

Motor Accessibility , as far as controls are concerned, is perhaps the aspect that the developers have least thought about; in fact, although the keys are mapped, they are not mappable. Furthermore, the game features timed mechanisms that push the player to move quickly, which are not counterbalanced by slowdown mitigation mechanisms (so-called Coyote Time ).

The development team's work on accessibility across all aspects has been outstanding. Considering the length of the title, I would never have expected such attention to detail, at least in ensuring inclusion. The visual accessibility of the gameplay and on-screen interface deserves special mention.

ACCESSIBILITY 4/5

The effort to dedicate significant space to accessibility is commendable.

Motor Accessibility 3/5

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming is the lack of button mapping, as was the case with the first game. The game also features puzzles that require rapid button presses, with no mitigation mechanisms for those who struggle.

Visual Accessibility 4/5

The developers have taken this aspect into consideration, demonstrating their desire to reduce the obstacles that can compromise gaming sessions for the visually impaired and those with eye diseases in general.

Hearing Accessibility 4/5

While there is no visual feedback for each sound, accessibility is ensured in this case by offering the user the ability to separately adjust the music, sound effects, speech and overall volume.

OVERALL RATING OF Planet of Lana II

The game proves to be a solid sequel, which I recommend both to fans who loved the first game and to those who adore puzzle platformers . It is particularly aimed at users who prefer games that don't cause anxiety, those adventures that can be enjoyed in complete tranquility, stopping to admire the attention to detail. If you love beautifully rendered landscapes and nature in general, in a style reminiscent of the works of Studio Ghibli , this game is absolutely for you. It's not for you; if you're looking for action-packed puzzle platformers , forget it. Ultimately, every aspect that made the previous game successful has been revisited and improved. Fans of the first game will not be disappointed. For everyone else: " If you had any doubts about the first game, you have no more excuses ."

''Screenshot Planet of Lana II © Wishfully Studios ''

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