Square Enix updates fans on the free Balan Wonderworld demo, revealing that it will release across all platforms on the same day, January 28, 2021. Balan Wonderworld is a project from Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka, and it's set to release on both past and current-gen consoles and PC on March 26, 2021. The action-platformer previously garnered attention for its colorful design, with Balan Wonderworld's graphics a major selling point for the game thus far.
Fans don't have a lot of footage from Balan Wonderworld to go off of just yet, but what they've seen points towards the same kind of family friendly, vibrant adventure that the Sonic franchise has been known for over the years. The game sees players instructed to balance their own internal thoughts of good and evil, with those feelings and concepts manifesting as monsters or boss encounters that will help pepper the gameplay with variety in both aesthetic and mechanics.
Those looking for a more concrete grasp of what's coming won't need to wait much longer, as Square Enix announced via press release today that the Balan Wonderworld free demo will be available on all its platforms later this month. The free Balan Wonderworld demo will launch on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam, with a simultaneous release date of January 28, 2021. Curiously, the Steam version of Balan Wonderworld will launch later than the rest, as it's the only version that isn't coming out at midnight, instead arriving in the late afternoon at 5pm.
Square also outlined what players can expect from the Balan Wonderworld demo, which features three of the game's 12 total worlds. The demo will showcase World 1 in what appears to be its entirety, with Act 1, Act 2 and the subsequent boss battle being advertised as playable. The Balan Wonderworld demo will also include World 4 and World 6, which will both only feature Act 1. World 6 in particular sounds fun because of its cute kitten, magical world, and moving gears setup, which sounds ripped straight out of the kind of whimsical fantasy that can really grab players' attention.
It's felt like Balan Wonderworld has perhaps slid under the radar for some people despite the one-two punch of its creator and publisher, a combination that suggests a certain level of quality that should at least be exciting even if the game is largely an unknown factor still. With a free Balan Wonderworld demo on the way, however, now's the best chance to see what the new IP is really about - and whether it can live up to the standards of its world-renowned pedigree.