PLANET OF LANA

Beautiful landscapes. Shame about the killer robots

Developer - Wishfully Studios 

Publisher - Thunderful Group 

Format - PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series 

Origin - Sweden 

Release - Spring

One enticing detail we learned about Planet Of Lana earlier this year is that it will feature the talents of The Last Guardian composer Takeshi Furukawa. Indeed, as we sit down for our hands-on session, the game’s co-director and scriptwriter, Klas Eriksson, is keen to remind us of the collaboration. It’s a little surprising, then, when much of what follows contains no music at all. But that, Eriksson explains, is part of its power. “We discussed [with Furukawa] that we wanted to use it quite sparsely to make sure it has an impact when it does appear,” he says. Tracts of our demo thus play out to sounds of ambient wind and birdsong, with the score arriving to accentuate rather than dictate moments of intrigue or tension.

Such subtle integration is reassuring in a puzzle-platform adventure that might otherwise be accused of conspicuously following in the footsteps of others. The soundtrack isn’t the only link to The Last Guardian, for instance, given the codependent relationship between Lana, a cloth-clad adolescent, and Mui, the animal she bonds with after finding herself alone. As our demo begins, Lana lies unconscious in a forest, Mui snuffling and prodding her to try to wake her up. Once Lana rises, the two exchange names in unshared languages, then set off as companions.