Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf Hands-On (PC)
For those unfamiliar with the first game, Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf starts with a summary of Planet of Lana, where we see Lana team up with a robot cat called Mui to save her kidnapped sister and overthrow the Machine Invaders. However, those of you who are familiar with the first game might remember how ambiguous the Machine Invaders’ intentions are, because by the end of her journey, Lana realises the Invaders aren’t killing humans, but are kidnapping them to nurture them like pets (or livestock).
After the events of Planet of Lana, where Mui takes control of the Machines, the tribes that inhabit Planet Novo have domesticated the robots. Humans and robots work in harmony, so what could possibly go wrong? Turns out, one particular tribe are using their new mechanical friends to over-mine Novo, leading to catastrophic deforestation and the loss of innocent lives. One day, one of Lana’s friends is incapacitated by a poisonous rock that gets dumped in their village. In a bid to save her friend’s life, Lana and Mui go on a fetch quest to find a cure, while inadvertently getting dragged into the centre of the conflict between the peaceful tribes and the rival tribe’s destructive mining operations.
If you want to know my thoughts on Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf, please read my review of Planet of Lana, because everything that impressed me about the second game is covered in my review of the first. In a nutshell, though, both games are beautifully animated sidescrolling puzzle platformers set on an Earth-like planet, with a fantastic score that reminds me of the Star Wars soundtrack. The gameplay will be familiar to fans of puzzle platformers, where dragging boxes, activating switches, and finding ways to climb walls are the main challenges. Both games are also expert examples of how 3D and parallax can be used to add depth and scale to a sidescroller – a genre that is often considered flat. Spend just a second with Planet of Lana 2, and you’ll realise sidescrollers never have to look flat ever again, and the developers Wishfully Studios have genuinely set a new bar for what’s possible.
There is one difference I would like to go over, though. Changes are expected of a sequel, but rather than see it push past the limitations of its predecessor, both games feel roughly the same in quality. The only difference is that Planet of Lana 2 prioritises story over gameplay. The stealth mechanic, which was vital for avoiding Machine Invaders in the first game, has been replaced by Mui’s psychic ability to control certain animals on Novo. Besides this minor shift in gameplay, Planet of Lana 2 mostly serves as a vehicle to add additional context to the first game, and also dedicates a lot of its time exploring Mui’s origins and how Planet Novo was inhabited by humans in the first place. That’s why, for the best experience, I would recommend playing Planet of Lana and Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf back-to-back. If you’re expecting a radically different experience with varying levels of difficulty, you won’t find it in the sequel, as it is mostly indistinguishable from Planet of Lana, and I mean that with the utmost love and respect, because I think both games are incredible – I implore everyone to give them a go!
Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf ends on a cliffhanger, and based on the ending, I’m intrigued to see what Wistfully Studios will do with Part 3. Without giving too much away, I suspect we will experience Planet Novo in someone else’s shoes, or not explore Planet Novo at all.
