“Planet of Lana” mini-game impresses with charming graphics and catchy soundtrack | games

“Planet of Lana” begins hyperbolic, with two children frolicking in a village and a forest while playing. Almost soggy, and it soon becomes clear why. Some bastards from the aliens are coming to kidnap everyone and destroy all this piss and peace. Contradiction is strongly emphasized, and for a moment it seems that you are again wandering in such a dystopian world. But it soon passes, and the beautiful backgrounds are very successful.

You play Lana, a girl who wants to save her kidnapped sister from alien scum. You get help from an animal that looks like some kind of cat. Not only can you pet the animal, but you can also give it some tasks to solve environmental puzzles. It can bite through ropes, crawl through underground passages, activate buttons, and so on. This takes place in a 2D linear world where you normally move from left to right. She often jumps over pits, sometimes climbs a ledge and sometimes hides to get past the robots. Nothing you’ve never seen before.

The designer tries to make a difference with the beautiful backgrounds, excellent soundtracks and very light storytelling style. You can’t hear more than a few screams, and it doesn’t help you empathize. On the plus side, you don’t have to click far from mountains of dialogue either.

Where the game could have been really great was the puzzles. But it is precisely these who lack creativity and, above all, context. You will come across a robot, and in that spot you will find some bushes to hide behind. You’ve reached a large well, and only there can your feline companion press the button that causes the ledge above the well to open. Hey, there’s suddenly a rope in the middle of the woods that your animal can chew on so you can get over an obstacle. It can also be frustrating that the designers had a specific solution in mind. If you want to tackle a puzzle in a different way, it won’t work.

We’re probably being too strict about “Planet of Lana” here, because a lot of other games use the same mechanics. But in this game, these puzzles are just the core of the gameplay, which is why they bother us so much. It also reminds you of those great games where the puzzles form entirely with the story and environment, like the “Luigi’s Mansion” titles.

But hey, the game continues to play well and we had fun with it for four hours. It’s also great for the Steam Deck. It’s really a shame that the puzzles don’t quite measure up to the graphics and soundtrack, because Planet Lana was truly a shining gem.

The game will be released for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, and is also available on Game Pass.

Also watch the launch trailer and other game videos