Aerial_Knight's Never Yield
Aerial_Knight's Never Yield
Game
Game2021
BALAN WONDERWORLD
Developer Square Enix, ARZEST Corp.
Balan Wonderworld is a 2021 platform game developed by Arzest and Balan Company and published by Square Enix. Assuming the role of two children guided by a magical being called Balan, the player explores twelve worlds themed after the hearts of troubled individuals. They explore levels, collecting items to progress to further areas, and using a variety of powers unlocked using themed costumes. Balan Wonderworld is… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
341 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
46
Mixed
89 positive · 105 negative
95% range 39–53%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 89 | 105 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 32 | 26 | 62 |
| Mastodon * | 5 | 0 | 13 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 4 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
259 of 488 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
46% recommend · 88 yes, 104 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 192 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (339 of 631 positive).
Some players genuinely enjoy Balan Wonderworld despite its flaws. [1][2][3] Many reviewers criticize its poor controls, simplistic gameplay, and frustrating mechanics. [4][5][6] A few posters find the game surreal or amusing in a negative way. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [1]
I love this game. I really do. I'm not going to tell you that this game is "THE WORST THING KNOWN TO MAN" or be ironic and tell you how this game is "A SUBVERSIVE MASTERPIECE" and how it changed my life, cured cancer and had my child. I'm telling you my honest to goodness thoughts on this game. I don't love this game ironically. I love it genuinely. Which sounds weird, because the first thing I'll tell you about …
- [2]
The TL;DR of this: It's a NiGHTs game whether it's labelled that way or not, and I like it very much for that. A fun and charming platformer, albeit a basic one. I'm not sure what happened to push this game for six year olds into the spheres of adult gamers who somehow have never played a bad game before (I envy those for whom this is the worst game they ever played. I wish this was the worst game I ever played), …
- [4]
Legitimately one of the worst games I've ever played. Controls poorly, story is bad, the designs for the outfits are questionable, just a really poorly made game.
- [5]
This is the WORST GAME I have ever played in my life, and if not that it is at the very least the WORST 3D platformer I have ever played. First the controls, AWFUL . Nearly every single button is jump, A B Y X and even the TRIGGER BUTTONS! You don't have any unique moves you'd expect from a 3D platformer such as sliding, ducking, wall jumps or ground pounds, the only moves you normally have are moving and regular …
- [10]
Balan Wonderworld is exactly what I expected. I didn’t think it would be good –rarely do you hear such unanimous criticism– but I was curious to see whether it was exceptionally bad or just a normal, though underwhelming, experience. And unsurprisingly, it turned out to be the former, just as so many people have already warned. Balan is in a weird position, suffering from the exact opposite problem of most other …
Summarised from 34 of the 305 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
BALAN WONDERWORLD sits at 46% positive across 194 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Balan Wonderworld received "generally unfavorable" reviews for most platforms, according to review aggregator Metacritic; the PlayStation 5 version received "mixed or average" reviews. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received weak approval, being recommended by 9% of critics. Attention was drawn to suspicious positive review bombing on the Metacritic pages. The Japanese magazine Famitsu praised the aesthetics and music, but found the gameplay mechanics tedious. Eurogamer's Martin Robinson felt it was too faithful to older platformers from the period of Nights into Dreams, carrying over problems unacceptable to modern gamers. CJ Andriessen of Destructoid said Balan…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 341 · most liked firstThe only truly evil video game is Balan Wonderworld
negative · AI labelView post →Someone on Reddit got scammed with a returned copy of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake where the game card was actually Balan Wonderworld with a fake DQ3 sticker on it 👎 (Reddit thread: www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSw...)
neutral · AI labelView post →8-day countdown illustration by Oreki Genya, illustrator for Final Fantasy VII Remake series, Final Fantasy XIV, FF Brave Exvius, Dissidia Duellum FF, Gunslinger Stratos, Balan Wonderworld, Just Cause, DENSHA de GO, Valkyrie Elysium and the FF Trading Card Game.
neutral · AI labelView post →It’s not a masterpiece, but Balan Wonderworld is actually a pretty good game. Much of the criticism stems from a misunderstanding of what kind of game it is. Of course you can’t always jump, because the game is centered around solving little puzzles, and that would break some puzzles!
positive · AI labelView post →@ramaea.bsky.social gifted me this game without context and said to play it so anyways here's Balan Wonderworld (10 am pst start on twitch and youtube) twitch.tv/girl_dm_
neutral · AI labelView post →I love this game. I really do. I'm not going to tell you that this game is "THE WORST THING KNOWN TO MAN" or be ironic and tell you how this game is "A SUBVERSIVE MASTERPIECE" and how it changed my life, cured cancer and had my child. I'm telling you my honest to goodness thoughts on this game. I don't love this game ironically. I love it genuinely. Which sounds weird, because the first thing I'll tell you about this game is: This game isn't "good". This game isn't a good platformer. It…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Balan Wonderworld turns 5 years old today. Without this game, idk my life would probably be the same. It was really funny when Yuji Naka got arrested. Happy birthday Balan. I hope you rest easy.
neutral · AI labelView post →🎩NEW VIDEO🎩 It’s time to set the record straight. Bad people have convinced you that Balan Wonderworld is a bad game. It's okay if you hate it, but you really don't need to keep spreading the same old lies from the same old liars. ▶ youtu.be/dUVnQsbUUnM
positive · AI labelView post →Another day of random thoughts and no art, sorry. BARKTHOLOMEW. Balan Wonderworld. I’m tired of pretending this guy doesn’t exist because his game of origin is ass. His design is peak and I need to see more art(or tf art) of him.
neutral · AI labelView post →Emma from Balan Wonderworld has her massive Tims out! 🐤 Complete with her alternate colors from the game, the game you and I now remember for the wrong reasons!
neutral · AI labelView post →Getting a game and then inserting the cart only for Balan Wonderworld to pop up instead sounds terrifying
neutral · AI labelView post →Balan Wonderworld is the video game equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo coming together to scribble a single black line onto a canvas and display it in the Louvre. The game looks like if the Bowling Alley animations that play between frames got turned into their own game. It's like a worse version of Silicon Valley on the N64. For the longest time I actually thought this game was released by a small studio in India called Balan Company, comprised of one dude that was really into…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Day 0: I hear Balan Wonderworld is one of the worst games of its generation. Day 1: Balan Wonderworld really isn't that bad. Day 2: I kind of like Balan Wonderworld. Day 3: Balan Wonderworld isn't a bad game at all. Day 4: Balan Wonderworld is a good game. Day 5: Balan Wonderworld is a great ga
positive · AI labelView post →which button is the jump button again
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is for people who have played way too many 3D platformers and want to see something new. This is the game that Pinhead makes you play for being too much of a Rare sicko. This is Banjo Kazooie in hell. This is a series of decisions made by someone who never played Banjo Kazooie in their life. This is a fever dream of a sick child with a 104 degree fever listening to circus music and watching saturday morning cartoons after drinking a quart of robitussin. The bosses are great.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →@bumblesmcfumbles.bsky.social Happy Balan Wonderworld Day to the number one Balantologist, and video game detective.
neutral · AI labelView post →The TL;DR of this: It's a NiGHTs game whether it's labelled that way or not, and I like it very much for that. A fun and charming platformer, albeit a basic one. I'm not sure what happened to push this game for six year olds into the spheres of adult gamers who somehow have never played a bad game before (I envy those for whom this is the worst game they ever played. I wish this was the worst game I ever played), but the fury over dancing mascot characters and simplistic platforming is an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BALAN WONDERWORLD FANS REJOICE THE GAME TAKES 10 SECONDS LESS TO LOAD ON SWITCH 2 #newvideo #JoysContent #BalanWonderworld www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKX7...
neutral · AI labelView post →Things that would happen if Nintendo and Sony let us gift digital games directly to our friends: - game companies would make a lot more money - Miyamoto could retire - Concord would still be alive - Balan Wonderworld sales would skyrocket - World peace would be achieved - ED would be eradicated
neutral · AI labelView post →Also, I think I should try to get the Platinum. I don't care about trophies and have never platinumed a game, and I think it would be a power statement to have the only Platinum on my 17 year old PSN account be Balan Wonderworld. I will do my best to make this happen.
positive · AI labelView post →I'd feel bad giving a negative review after 100%ing a game I enjoyed some aspects of, so I recommend this only if you both: (A) Enjoy 3D Platformers and have a higher tolerance for mid games with jank/bad decisions (B) Have nostalgia for early 2000s platformers and/or Nights & Naoto's designs And even then I'd say get it on a discount. You can find some fun here. A kid could casually enjoy this game. But a lot of it is disappointing, especially considering it was made by Sonic Team alumni. I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In all honesty, this is a compliment, from me. I wanted to like Balan Wonderworld SO MUCH, because I thought the aesthetic was really cool. The game itself is just…not equal to the character design, to put it kindly.
negative · AI labelView post →Legitimately one of the worst games I've ever played. Controls poorly, story is bad, the designs for the outfits are questionable, just a really poorly made game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Felt like drawing balan, I know this game isn’t good but the aesthetic is an attack on me okay? #balanwonderworld #digitalart #animeart #clipstudiopaint #fanart #videogamefanart
negative · AI labelView post →i think i love ballsack wonderworld. not because it is fun to play. but because it was likely made as a sophisticated challenge for the human psyche even if on accident. it is surreal down to the stitches of the fibers in its being. Im going to be completely honest in saying with only a few tweaks to the game, it could be fun on a fundamental level of function. Theres just some things holding it back, and the whole game spits in your face for the whole duration and screams "I AM ARBITRARY" in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A masterpiece that transcends comprehension. I'm so glad that it has a single button control scheme, as otherwise I'd be overwhelmed by how amazing this game is.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Balan Wonderworld is not a good game
negative · AI labelView post →Happy 5th birthday to Balan Wonderworld and all the fans who care so much about it! It's a game I love too and I still think everyone should give it a go. It's a puzzle platformer that keeps you replaying to figure out how to utilize certain costume powers to reach secret areas. It's super cosy. 🎩
positive · AI labelView post →It's such a shame that Balan Wonderworld was a bad game, because the Box Fox costume powerup randomly turning you from a fox to an uncontrollable, sliding box is one of the funniest things you could put in a game
negative · AI labelView post →In 10 years, they'll call this a must play retro classic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My top ten favourite games I've never played: Nanobreaker Balan Wonderworld Van Helsing the Game of Van Helsing the Movie Quest 64 Donkey Kong 64 Nina Williams Death by Degrees Combat Queen Yo Bro Dead Ball Zone Lifeline / Operator's Side
neutral · AI labelView post →It's a one of a kind experience, as in I'm never playing this game ever again after finishing it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Anybody giving this game a positive review should be sectioned under the mental health act, I'm glad Yuji Naka is in jail.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED...? Designing the Cast ✏️✨ The dazzling array of characters in BALAN WONDERWORLD were each created with purpose and intention. And most of the key art and illustrations for this game can be credited to a very special designer... #BalanWonderworld
neutral · AI labelView post →I hope they put the guy who made this in prison.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad, just unfairly treated by critics: Balan Wonderworld Actual bad game that I sort of like: Sonic 06
positive · AI labelView post →Balan Wonderworld is like if these were made into a game
neutral · AI labelView post →Last one, for the year. I played through all of Balan Wonderworld. I didn't know what else to do. That's been 2025 in a nutshell 🫡 medium.com/@daavpuke/en...
neutral · AI labelView post →I was fortunate enough to get a Switch 2 and I knew right away what game I had to test: The Balan Wonderworld demo Bask in the power of the Switch 2 as it handles this game better than ever (1/3)
positive · AI labelView post →This is the WORST GAME I have ever played in my life, and if not that it is at the very least the WORST 3D platformer I have ever played. First the controls, AWFUL . Nearly every single button is jump, A B Y X and even the TRIGGER BUTTONS! You don't have any unique moves you'd expect from a 3D platformer such as sliding, ducking, wall jumps or ground pounds, the only moves you normally have are moving and regular jumps. Next the costumes which are a massive can of rotting worms. First of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not even funny bad
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Balan Wonderworld would’ve been a better game if he wasn’t involved.
neutral · AI labelView post →HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED...? Evolving Gameplay 🎮✨ In BALAN WONDERWORLD, you are rewarded for skillful playing with a hidden Hard Mode, as the game begins generating more powerful enemies for you to take on. Do you have what it takes to fight such monstrous negativity? #BalanWonderworld
neutral · AI labelView post →I played the amount that I played intentionally, there was absolutely no conceivable lapse in my judgement in if I wanted to continue or not. I actively stopped playing and made the choice to no longer play this. 0/100
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Daily art I still think Balan Wonderworld is a neat little game and you cannot change my mind #balanwonderworld
positive · AI labelView post →It's beautiful. The schizophrenia feature is amazing, as soon as I approach any living creature they just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ disappear. The hell? Why is the farmer majestically descending down from the heavens? 10/10 game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bro what kind of drugs did the devs take WHAT IS THIS
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →absolutely bizarrely vivid dreams about Balan Wonderworld, a game I have never played
neutral · AI labelView post →This MIGHT be Mario Odyssey???!?!?!?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Balan Wonderworld 5th anniversary edit This edit contains spoilers for BWW I wasn’t joking when I said I like this game I want to highlight the trials and tribulations of the inhabitants the player saves on this adventure. @transparency.bsky.social @joycontent.gay @dp-in-the-sky.bsky.social
positive · AI labelView post →I desire Balan carnally and want to wonder his little world, but if I give this game a bad review it feels like I'm picking on the handicapped
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Each dunk I make on a game I haven't played builds my karmic debt until buying it is inevitable. It happened with Balan Wonderworld, and it will happen again. Let it never be said that I am not a fair and just Bap of sound moral fibre.
neutral · AI labelView post →My two favorite reactions to video games: 1. "Wow, this game everyone says is really good is actually really good" (Deltarune, Outer Wilds) 2. "Wow, this game everyone says is really bad is actually really bad" (Balan Wonderworld, Sticker Star)
negative · AI labelView post →dull and lifeless. Aside from the cinematics and artstyle, the levels themselves are far too easy and feel far too empty. Shame too, this game feels like Nights and Kingdom Hearts had a love child.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We are 🔴LIVE🔴 with more BALAN WONDERWORLD! Come hang out with me and this cool frog!!! And this game REALLY IS NOT THAT BAD I DO NOT GET WHAT ALL THE RAGE IS ABOUT!!! twitch.tv/CellyCharmsVT
positive · AI labelView post →I danced with the farmer :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A truly affecting and perfectly serviceable platforming game. Thematically shares a lot in common with NiGHTS, but lacks its polish and mechanical fine-tuning. The amount of mechanical ideas going on is nuts (30+ costumes and most of them do very different things) and the level design gets absolutely unhinged towards the end. Shoutouts to the team making a playable MC Escher painting for the artist character, for one! If this was a Saturn game (and it kinda is) or at the very least a modern…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I also think Balan Wonderworld was a protest game in its own right, but I'm not ready to talk about that yet 👀✨
neutral · AI labelView post →Over the past 1.5 years, I’ve played a lot of games that people told me were bad but they were actually fine lol Except Balan Wonderworld, that game is just boring
negative · AI labelView post →That’s everyone holding up their copies of Balan Wonderworld and being amazed at the wonderful quality of the game
neutral · AI labelView post →
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