Planet of Lana 2 was provided by Thunderful Publishing for review. Thank you!
There may be a lot of cinematic, story-driven games out there, but Planet of Lana has always felt unique compared to them. The combination of its gorgeous pastel art style and its visual-heavy storytelling without words has always stood out to me. It felt like an experience that stood above many similar games and had a style that wasn’t matched. Now, the sequel is here. Planet of Lana 2 picks up after the first game, continuing a lot of what it started. Fans of the first game will be very pleased with this one, but even with its fantastic visuals and solid story, outsiders may not feel as fulfilled.
I highly recommend playing the first game, as it provides a lot of context for the characters and environment we’re going to see, but it starts with a decent prologue video that summarizes what happened. Even still, actually playing through the experience helps fuel that connection, and I think that’s a pretty important part as well.
Now, I really like how the story has progressed. New technology has helped the tribes that live on the planet evolve in different ways. However, not all of them want to live in peace. Because of that, we are pushed to travel to new lands and beautiful new environments, which will help us uncover the truth about this planet and the deeper secrets buried within.
It’s difficult to tell a heartfelt story without words. The carefully crafted sentences articulated with emotion can sway audiences, and taking that away ups the challenge level. Still, developer Wishfully tackles it beautifully. I have no idea what anyone is saying throughout the entire game, yet I can still feel the emotion and impact of the events throughout the story. Having that connection established from the previous game helped a lot of the events that transpire feel more weighty. I could feel Lana's pain and sadness, and it never needed to be said.
Despite that, I found the story to be very predictable. It was still very entertaining, and I was carried along by the characters' performances and the eye candy of each environment, but I was never surprised. I won’t go into more detail, as I don’t wanna spoil the story, but I wouldn’t expect a tale that will keep you on your toes trying to guess what happens next. However, don’t let that sway you too much. It’s still enjoyable to play through regardless of how much I expected. And it was worth it because I still felt very connected to the characters.
The gameplay and puzzle-solving elements of the first game also carry over to this one. As we go through each environment, we’re going to have to figure out how to progress by completing a multitude of puzzles. These are all baked into the environment, so it’ll be a lot of platforming, moving objects around to jump on top of, or controlling our partner, Mui, to help in different ways, or even help us control other robots.
I am a sucker for physics in video games, and Planet of Lana 2 utilizes physics-based puzzles. Just on the grounds, I was having a field day. Watching different objects with different physical properties behave in random ways is so enjoyable to me. A lot of the puzzles had some physics elements, and I enjoyed getting through them.
That being said, it was almost too easy at times. I never felt stumped with any of the puzzles, nor did I ever need to take a moment to think about what my next move would be. On one hand, you could say that it was easy to pick up and master. But on the other hand, I didn’t feel challenged. The puzzles were mechanically different from each other, so it felt like there was a variety of them, but I still felt like I could see right through them.
It’s very similar to the first game, which is why I think it is perfect for those who enjoyed the first game. It has all the elements that made the original great, and the puzzles do feel more involved. However, if you found flaws in that first game, this one isn’t going to magically change your mind. It’s more of the same, which can be both good and bad. As a fan of the first game, I did enjoy Planet of Lana 2. But objectively, there were still enough noticeable flaws in this experience. It will satisfy those who already like the game, but it won’t do enough to bring back those who didn’t.
Planet of Lana 2 is a fantastic experience on the Steam Deck and is my favorite way to play the game. For the most part, it can hit 90 FPS, and in most areas, it will stick to it and stay below 14W battery drain. However, there are a chunk of spots that do drop to 60 FPS and can feel a little off, so I recommend just setting the framerate lock to 60. It still feels perfectly smooth, but it brings battery drain down and keeps it as stable as possible.
We do have an accessibility tab, where we can change the UI scale, show parts of the gameplay UI, always show the cursor, and lock the cursor during gameplay. We can also change language, controller layout, vibration, brightness, and audio bars.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, cloud saves, and controller support. There are no HDR settings.
Planet of Lana 2 is a worthwhile continuation that shows how emotional a beautiful story could be, even without words. The incredible art style remains unchanged from the previous game, and I felt the story held up as a sequel. The puzzles are a little bit on the easy side, but not enough to make it feel unenjoyable. The gameplay is very safe, not straying too far from what defined the original, which is both good and bad. It feels too easy, the story can be predictable, and it’s not going to do enough to win back people who didn’t enjoy the first game. However, if you’re a fan of the first game, you will love this.
And the game is near-flawless on the Steam Deck. It’ll run perfectly at 60 FPS and will be able to stick to high-quality settings. It’s a fantastic experience on the go, and in that sense, I can highly recommend it.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Planet of Lana 2 is a great sequel that plays it a little too safe, stays a little too easy, and will appeal wonderfully to fans of the original. It's also near-flawless on the Steam Deck.
