Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf - Cinematic Serenity
Planet of Lana was a true testament to the art of showing not telling, offering a cinematic experience that left its emotional narrative largely up to interpretation. Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf takes this concept and elevates it to new heights with added mechanics, less frustrating puzzles, and a much deeper story – as long as you’re ready to do the work to understand it.
Where Planet of Lana was a game about a rescue mission, with young protagonist Lana setting out on a journey to save her older sister Ilo from the mechanical army that has invaded her lush, previously unsullied village, its sequel is a game about discovering the secrets of the past and challenging assumptions. Lana, now older and more agile, has only become more adventurous, not deterred from danger by the perilous journey of her past. With her new adorable companion Mui now by her side through her life in the village, she has taken on a role of mentor herself – now acting as friend and protector to another young girl. As with many aspects of this game, her actual relationship to this young girl is sort of unclear – but the key point is communicated. Lana feels responsible for this girl, and when harm befalls her, Lana is quick to begin another quest – even if it means taking on another (once again industrial) threat.
More than in its predecessor, many of the foes Lana will have to circumvent in this game are mechanical. Mui, whose abilities were previously focused on pressing buttons, dropping things from high ledges, or controlling the planet’s creepy creatures, is now able to to interface with and overpower many of the robots that stand in the duo’s way. In addition to looking and sounding adorable (which Mui, of course, still does), they can now use telepathic abilities to control robots, allowing them to be used to solve puzzles that involve relocating objects, turning off or redirecting surveillance cameras, or shooting powerful missiles to destroy enemies.
Lana, now that she’s older, also has a much expanded skillset. She can run faster, leap between walls, and swim deep into the depths, allowing for a wider range of biomes and interaction with environments. Compared to the first game, the puzzles feel cleaner, and based more on quick thinking or careful planning than finicky timing. A lot of Planet of Lana II’s puzzles are spatial, requiring reorganisation of an environment rather than manipulation of enemies within it, which feels like a distinct and welcome difference. In some ways this game felt easier, but it also felt more varied in its puzzle design, environments, and cooperation between the two characters, resulting in more satisfying use of brainpower.
And that’s not to say some of the puzzles aren’t tricky. The simplicity of Planet of Lana II’s design allows for some problems to really test the player’s spatial reasoning, and observation of their environment. The controls themselves are limited – Lana can run, jump, or interact with objects, and only ever on a 2D plane. Though Mui can now be directed anywhere on the screen, they are also limited in their interactions – only able to interact with objects or use telepathy to control or overload them. This allows for a greater focus on the puzzles themselves, and more confidence that there must be a way to solve them – and if the solution isn’t obvious, then you’re the one that’s missing something.
For the most part, this is to the game’s credit. There were points of frustration when Lana died only because of a jump that felt like it should have been higher, or a button prompt that didn’t show up when it should have. Some of these problems were likely due to playing a pre-release build, but given they were also present in the original, I suspect there might be a few lingering. The controls can be a little finicky – as simple as they are – but the design of Planet of Lana II accounts for it, placing Lana in very few situations that require precise timing, and more on forward planning.
This also allows for the game to be taken in as it deserves. Every moment of both Planet of Lana games is cinematic, with hand-drawn backgrounds providing a stunning vista to accompany a consistently moving soundtrack. Visually, Planet of Lana is stunning, even though the layers of background make working out what is actually on the interactable plane a little confusing. There were a number of times where I tried to make a jump for a ledge only to learn it was in the background – but this was a minor frustration.
Overall, Planet of Lana II is a beautiful experience. While its characters speak, they do so in a made-up language that means the interpretation of their words can be taken only from tone and context clues – so there is a lot of room to make the story what you want it to be. It’s a sci-fi story, one about family, discovery, and loss – but the details of that need to be what you make them. That’s what brings the game its meaning. If you enjoyed the first game, Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf builds upon it in every way, making for a more enjoyable experience that expands the universe but doesn’t overstay its welcome. If you didn’t play the first one, the ambiguity of the story means this one can be played alone – but both are very much worth your time.
Player 2 reviewed Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf on Playstation 5 using a code kindly provided by the publisher.
