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Square Enix has announced that Balan Wonderworld, the action-platformer from the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog that was revealed last year at one of Nintendo’s Mini Directs, will be getting a free demo available on January 28.
The demo will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Steam, and Nintendo Switch. Players will be able to check it out in either single-player or with friends and family in local co-op mode. With two players, you’ll be able to take control of both main characters, Leo and Emma, and can explore how their different costumes open up new paths that aren’t available in single-player mode.
Players will get the chance to check out three of Balan Wonderworld’s 12 worlds through this demo. The first is called The Man Who Rages Against the Storm, and has two playable acts plus a boss fight. The world is a farm sprawling across rolling hills, ornamented with giant crops. Leo and Emma will meet a farmer named Jose Gallard, whose cornfield has been decimated by a storm, and will have to take on the embodiment of his despair.
The second world we’ll see in the demo is World 4: The Boy Who Would Be One with the Wind. This world is inspired by a boy named Chang Haoyu, who is in love with the open sky. Bicycle parts and floating islands of various sizes are scattered across the sky in this world, and different costumes like the Soaring Sheep and Aero Acrobat will make navigating the skyscape more manageable. Only Act 1 of this world will be playable in the demo.
The third and final world we’ll see in the demo is World 6: The Girl and the Kitten. This world follows Cass Milligan and her memory of meeting a kitten through a magical landscape complete with candy, floating books, and mysterious buildings full of mechanical gears.
Those who check out the demo will also gain access to the Island of Tims, a hub world of sorts in between the game’s story worlds, which is inhabited by magical creatures called Tims. These funky little friends have abilities that can help Emma and Leo as they explore the other worlds, and they can be leveled up using flowers on the Island of Tims to increase those abilities.
Balan Wonderworld is releasing on March 26th across all platforms.
