Planet of Lana Reviews
A beautifully crafted side-scroller with a restless puzzle imagination.
A disappointing attempt to ape the magic of Inside and Limbo, which despite some of the best visuals of the year suffers from unimaginative puzzle design and storytelling.
"There's an undercurrent of mystery to the planet that I find myself wanting to bring to the surface"
While I would have liked gameplay to have more bite and variety, Planet of Lana is still an enjoyable and beautiful romp. The art direction and main jingle are likely the only things that will stick with me in the long run, but Lana and Mui’s journey is a competent rescue mission that doesn’t always soar as high as the machines pursuing them.
Planet of Lana's vibrant hand-painted art style draws you into a story about working together to overcome insurmountable odds.
Planet of Lana looks and sounds as wonderful as its original reveal promised. While it doesn't redefine the adventure platformer, the adorable partnership between Lana and Mui, the gorgeous art direction and sweeping soundtrack make this well worth experiencing.
Despite a few superfluous sections and a very simplified platforming component, Planet of Lana offers engrossing and complex puzzles and a truly noteworthy mix of atmosphere and art direction.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Planet of Lana is a wonderful puzzler with visuals that will leave you in awe, along with a stunning soundtrack and plenty of challenges.
Planet Of Lana is an action-packed, story-rich adventure across a wonderful sci-fi landscape filled with dangerous machines, but a mediocre middle act just stops it short of achieving true greatness.
Planet of Lana is a rare game. It's a clean, tight experience, that manages to tell a charming, if simple, story in its short runtime. The hand-drawn illustrations are truly works of great talent, bringing a gorgeous, nearly surreal ambiance to the design. Its puzzles and platforming may not be a lot to write home about, but there are a few diamonds in the rough that make the gameplay worthwhile. If anyone has even a passing interest in the puzzle-platform genre or simply wants to appreciate some art, they should play this game. Plus, since Planet of Lana is available on Game Pass, there's little reason not to check it out.
It might not end up matching the influence of Limbo or the perfectly-judged arc of Inside, but Planet of Lana is a welcome addition to the side-scroller genre on PlayStation regardless. It looks amazing, sounds great, and tells a nice succinct story.
Experienced platformer and puzzle game players will have seen Planet of Lana’s mechanics before, maybe executed with more style or depth. What they won’t have seen is art quite as affecting or heard music that’s so in sync with the visuals. Planet of Lana is only around six hours long. More than that, and the lack of combat or missing originality in the puzzles might be an issue. Planet of Lana is an artistic, beautiful game with just enough satisfying gameplay to keep the player moving from one lovely scene to the next.
Planet of Lana is a beautiful game with simple mechanics and great characters, including bobcat. But repetitive gameplay, easy puzzles and bad controls in sections with drones and electric labyrinths destroyed our hopes of getting a true gem.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Planet of Lana is a moving and intense videogame, capable of telling a story through images and delicates situations. Strengthened by a fluid and well-amalgamated gameplay, it offers always different and well-balanced puzzles. Must have absolutely.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Planet of Lana intelligently combines elements of classic cinematic platformers to make something distinctive and characterful. For a tight five hours or so, it keeps up the pace, with very few taxing puzzles or tricky action segments to slow progress. Leaning into easier gameplay in favour of visual and auditory spectacle, it looks the part and runs consistently well. It's a treat for the long-suffering cinematic platforming fan – perhaps even destined to join that short list of classics.
While those puzzles may not have been immensely challenging and quick time events will always make me sigh, there’s so much that Wishfully Studios gets right with Planet of Lana that it’s an easy game to recommend. The amount of artistry that was poured into the game’s stellar animation, hand-painted environments, detailed sound design, and sweeping music is worth the price of admission alone. It’s all made even more impressive by the fact that this is the studio’s debut release, and it means that their next title is definitely one that I’ll be eagerly anticipating.
Planet of Lana today is a title that you have to play in this 2023, short, it may be, but an experience that will amaze you from beginning to end and leave you with a smile. In addition, it is part of Xbox Game Pass. Do not miss the opportunity.
Review in Spanish | Read full review