Planet of Lana was my favorite game at Gamescom 2022. I saw some crackers during my time on the Koelnmesse show floor, granted – not least new in-game footage of The Callisto Protocol, Pieces Interactive's reimagining of Alone in the Dark, an early look at Creative Assembly's Hyenas, and hands-on time with Goat Simulator 3, to name but a few games that caught my eye. But it was Swedish indie outfit Wishfully and Thunderful Publishing's gorgeous and whimsical platformer that captured my heart.
Due in Spring 2023, and billed by the devs as a cinematic puzzle adventure that's "framed by an epic sci-fi saga", Planet of Lana sees us filling the shoes of the titular protagonist, who's tasked with uncovering the secrets of an unfamiliar world overrun with hostile machines. In doing so, Lana is joined and helped along by her loyal and adorable pet, Mui, in a set-up that echoes everything from Inside to Limbo, Little Nightmares, Abe's Odyssey, Another World, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and The Last Guardian. As fate would have it, the latter game's composer, the esteemed Takeshi Furukawa, is now also writing the score for Planet of Lana – and all it took was a glance at an early screenshot, followed by an unsolicited email.
"Takeshi Furukawa actually emailed us out of the blue based on an image of the game," explains Wishfully co-founder and Planet of Lana writer, Klas Martin Eriksson. "He is of course known for The Last Guardian, and other stuff, such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He's a really talented guy, and he got in touch to say he'd really like to work on the game. He basically took one look at Adam's artwork [Adam Stjärnljus, the studio's other co-founder], and liked it so much he wanted to be a part of the project. We couldn't believe it! And he told us afterwards that's the first time he's ever done that before."
Mui and you
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With that, it would appear Furukawa fell in love with Planet of Lana at first sight. And, having played the charming platformer's short demo build at Gamescom, it's easy to see why. Those familiar with any of the sidescrollers noted above will know what to expect here – players are tasked with guiding a helpless and understated character from one side of the screen to the other, hopping across chasms, gripping ledges, and overcoming puzzles of varying intricacy and sophistication as they go. In doing so, you direct your affable companion Mui to support you as required: some set-pieces involve having Mui sit on a pressure plate as a means of activating a remote gate or contraption – in true, quintessential puzzle game fare – while others involve manipulating multiple tools and environmental obstacles in order to progress.
Against a vibrant color palette, it all looks gorgeous. And with Furukawa scoring the action, it all sounds amazing. Eriksson continues: "Games like Abe's Odyssey and Exodus, Another World, even Flashback, they all played a huge influence in Planet of Lana. You know, it's those games we grew up with, those games that remind us of our childhoods. Then, when you combine that with this Ghibli-esque art style, and the companion mechanics, you get to see Lana and Mui's relationship grow really quickly."
"We see the game as multi-layered, and Lana and Mui meeting and building that relationship is the first main part of it, where they become stronger together. Layer two is Lana trying to figure out what's happening, asking herself: who or what are these robots, and what do they want? Layer three is this big sci-fi backstory that the player pieces together as they traverse through all of these landscapes."
"The music actually plays a pretty integral part of the story too – I can't go into too much detail about it, I really wish that I could because I could nerd-out on it for, like, two hours!"
The setting that I steered Lana and Mui through was a pastoral landscape packed with lush greenery and knife-edged gullies, but Eriksson keenly points out this is but one biome among several others we'll visit in Planet Lana. The game in its entirety will boast deserts, swamps, a network of underground tunnels, and the ancient remains of an ill-fated spaceship among other intriguing locales. Even after spending just half-an-hour in the shoes of Lana, I really can't wait to explore more and likewise look forward to developing the hero's relationship with little Mui. Throughout my time working through the demo at Gamescom, Eriksson laughed aloud every time I waited on Mui to catch up after completing a puzzle set-piece. Doing so is optional, he said, but just about every other journalist who'd played the demo did so over the course of the show.
Which, of course, speaks directly to the fact Wishfully is building something special with Planet of Lana. I've barely scratched the surface, and yet I'm already totally hooked. I can't wait to explore more of its world, take on more of its robotic baddies, and work through more of its brain-teasing puzzles – later conundrums of which will, says Ericksson, see us hypnotizing animals. Doing all of this against Takeshi Furukawa's wonderful score is equally exciting, and I now can't wait to learn how the game's music impacts its plot. "As for the music, well, it really is a huge honor to be working with Takeshi Furukawa," adds Ericksson. "The music actually plays a pretty integral part of the story too – I can't go into too much detail about it, I really wish that I could because I could nerd-out on it for, like, two hours!"
What could that mean? I guess we'll have to wait until Spring 2023 to find out.
Planet of Lana is due next year on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One (also via Xbox Game Pass).
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