Planet of Lana
Game Title: Planet of Lana
Released: November 14, 2022
Game Length: 4 Hours
Grade: A
Story
Overview: The game revolves around a little girl who finds her village being taken away by giant robots. After seeing her older sister inside a cage, the protagonist decides to chase after the robots to an unknown location. On the way, she discovers a black critter inside a trap. After freeing the little guy, this cat that jumps around like a monkey decides to follow you. What transpires is an adventure through parts of the planet, traveling through the forest and desert while learning about your history in old ruins.
Interpretation: Unless you read about the game before playing, there is a lot that is left to your imagination. There is a little bit of dialogue where characters shout out to each other. If you listen carefully, this helps identify the main characters: Lana the younger sister, Elo the older sister, and Mui the cat. The language itself isn't recognizable and there isn't really anything that personifies the characters other than the driving force of the story. There are a couple things that happen along the way that is like sharing a picture book with a child without any sort of context to read. Even the name given to the character at the end of the game is nowhere to be found while you are playing.
Shrines: While most of the backstory can be pieced together as you progress through the game, there is a fun little activity where you can find a dozen hidden runes. I personally only retrieved the initial one in plain sight and two others after attempting to travel off the main path. These aren't necessary to complete some sort of secret ending of the game. There is only one ending, a happy conclusion with our characters coming out completely alive despite a few scary moments.
Gameplay
Cat Power: The heart of the game caught me completely by surprise. After bumping up with your new little critter friend, you gain the ability to command him. This system is built with a number of mechanics that help you get past any obstacles you encounter along the way. You can designate a spot within a relatively close distance for Mui to relocate to and wait. If he is within distance of an interactable object, a prompt will appear when you want him to take action. He can gently nudge tied rope off a cliff for you to climb up, chew on loose wires, or press a button. There are underground tunnels that he can traverse to lure enemies away.
Pet Power: After awhile, Mui will be able to hypnotize beasts. While in a trance, beasts can be moved left to right. This allows you to climb up burrowed slugs, distract dangerous beasts, or convince big blobs to drain some water in the swamp. Lana will also gain a power to interact with a control panel tied to various machines. The camera will pan directly to what you gained control over until you let go of the interface.
Puzzles: During your travels, there are awesome moments where you will run great distances while you soak in the atmosphere that takes you to a new section of the game. A couple of puzzles require you to observe your surroundings to solve something from a more logical perspective. Some will require a great deal of patience as you try to avoid robots from spotting you between the brush. Others need you to plan out a route where both you and your companion can safely cross. One section near the end of the game has some oddly placed Quick Time Events. If these prove to be too troublesome, you can modify them within the settings menu. The puzzles can be more complex than difficult. A couple of times, I immediately failed to see an incoming robot off screen while the camera pans out after going through a tunnel. The timing of running past a robot can be very particular as well.
Interaction: There are a number of subtle things that Mui and Lana do while you play the game that makes you feel the bond between them. Mui might be able to jump high up to assist in getting some rope, but as a cat needs some sort of branch or log to get on when it comes to crossing water. Lana will look back and wave her hand when asking for Mui to follow. You can prompt her to bend down and pet the cat at any time. If either one dies, they will respond in a sorrowful manner. Mui will sit down when told to wait or acknowledge whenever interacting with something. Mui is smart enough to find a way to you if possible from great distances and over any dangerous pits. Lana can call out your pet's name, whistle, or use various other words for each command. Her voice will become soft when enemies are nearby and echo when in caverns.
Summary
Review: Planet of Lana is a sweet story between a girl and her cat. It is also mostly about discovering more about your history on an alien world as you chase after a great unknown that captured members of your village. The mechanics are great and the atmosphere can be breath-taking. While there are scary moments where your situation becomes bleak, the grand finale leaves you with a happy ending where everything works out with some new revelations. The puzzles can be a bit unusual and the game rather short after crossing a large portion of the planet, but the game mechanics are fun and interesting. I'd definitely recommend giving this game a try.