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Square Enix has addressed comments made by Yuji Naka over Balan Wonderworld, and the company is standing by the game.
Yuji Naka, the director of Balan Wonderworld, is suing Square Enix. He recently said:
“I believe that if they don’t care about games nor their fans, Square Enix is a bad company.”
During a recent full-year earnings call (via VGC), Square Enix confirmed that the company is, indeed, involved in a lawsuit. But it didn’t offer further comment. (This is according to Bloomberg reporter Takashi Mochizuki.)
Square Enix went on to defend Balan Wonderworld, however, saying “it is a game that we recommend with confidence.”
I certainly wouldn’t recommend the game—confidently or otherwise. In my review, I said:
“All of which may leave you with a sense not only of dissatisfaction but of irritation—at the NPCs who dance obnoxiously on the spot and dissolve at your approach; at the banal music, by Ryo Yamazaki and Hironori Anazawa, which worms into your ear and refuses to wriggle free; and at the notion that we might excuse Balan Wonderworld its crustiness on the proviso that it is aimed at children.”
Naka argued: “Game creators are supposed to improve their games until the very end, and I believe that it is wrong to prevent them from carrying out this goal.” That is a perfectly defensible point, and it is regrettable that he was taken off the project six months before it launched.
But would that time have made Balan Wonderworld a drastically better game?
