It is official – Planet of Lana will be playable for the first time at gamescom 2022! Me and the team at Wishfully Studios have been very busy getting this playable demo ready for the show. With that in mind, I wanted to give Xbox fans a little taste of what’s to come and highlight some of the key elements and gameplay mechanics we’ll be introducing next week. Before we get into that, we have one more announcement to make: Planet of Lana starts in spring 2023.
We initially planned for Planet of Lana to launch this year, but as development progressed throughout 2022, we realized we needed a little more time to meet our standards Planet of Lana right and make sure it lives up to the vision we’ve presented for it so far. We also feel that we owe it to you, the players, not to compromise that experience just to keep a date. We think the extra months of waiting were worth it and we thank you for your patience and understanding. Delaying a game is never easy, but with all the support we’ve received so far, we hope to make everyone happy when it releases. On a lighter note, we’re also really excited to finally be able to announce that Planet of Lana will also be available on day one with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, so anyone subscribed to those services or Game Pass Ultimate can play our off-earth odyssey once it’s complete. To help you bridge the gap, we’ve prepared a brand new trailer to celebrate our new release window and Game Pass news – check it out!
Okay, with the household out of the way, let’s talk about the game! Planet of Lana takes place on the planet Novo. The story begins with an enemy robotic army invading this lush oasis and Lana, a young girl native to the planet, becomes involved in the invasion with her sister. As they try to escape, Lana’s sister is caught by the attackers. With no other option, Lana makes her way to safety. Alone and frightened, she finds herself at the mercy of the hostile wilderness of Novo. However, she soon meets Mui, a cute cat-like creature, who comforts her and they quickly become friends. Strengthened by this sudden camaraderie, Lana, with Mui by her side, embarks on a journey across her world to find and rescue her sister and uncover the mysterious origins of the mechanical invaders.
The first biome inside Planet of Lana is filled with lush forests, vast grassy fields, rocky cliffs and some cave-like areas dug deep into the rock. During their time in this area, Lana and Mui slowly get to know each other. Our play possibilities expand with their relationship, allowing Lana to steer Mui into certain areas or complete tasks that Lana cannot. As well as traversing this landscape and solving environmental puzzles together, the pair will have to navigate some tense encounters with the robotic invaders. In these cases, Lana and Mui will be hidden from the robot’s sensors if they hide in the shadows or crouch in tall grass. Holding the LT trigger causes Lana to crouch, where she moves slowly and quietly while automatically hiding in tall grass.
So how do you guide Mui through the game? She will of course follow you, but there are also commands you can give her. She may look like a cat, but you can recall Mui’s demeanor more like that of a dog. You can ask them to stay put, follow you, and you can also direct them to specific locations. The Stay and Follow commands are both mapped to the B button on your Xbox controller. A tap will make Mui stay in one place, while holding the button will make her follow you.
Mui is a lot smaller than Lana so there are places she can crawl that Lana can’t. Mui is also very agile, so she can even jump over large chasms or high places with ease. When directing Mui to a certain point, holding down the RT trigger will bring up an on-screen UI showing where you are pointing in the game world. You can move it freely with the analog stick, and it also intelligently snaps to specific points of interest. Once you’ve chosen a spot for Mui to go, just press the A button and she’ll dash there.
There are times when Lana and Mui get separated briefly while solving a certain puzzle. You may need to keep moving to move something blocking Mui’s path, or Mui may need to hold down a button somewhere that opens a door or hatch that contains something you need. You’ll often have these mini environmental puzzles where Lana and Mui are in different locations and use their abilities to get to the next part of the game. When this happens, an animated icon will appear dynamically, showing you which direction Mui is in and what its status is. For example when she sits or moves towards you.
What else do dogs and cats do? Bite of course! There are times when Lana needs Mui to use her teeth to chew through pieces of rope or other materials. If there is a contextual action that Mui can perform, a prompt to press the Y key will dynamically appear. Mui can chew through a rope, push items down towards you, or perform similar actions. In this example from the demo, she can chew through the rope holding up a drawbridge.
These examples are just some of the scenarios you’ll find as you journey through Novo with Lana and Mui. As the adventure progresses and the relationship grows, new abilities become available to both characters. Your odyssey will also take you through the varied and beautiful landscape of this wondrous planet, from the lush green hills you saw here today, through the deep blue expanses of sea, swamps, ancient forgotten shipwrecks and finally to the golden sands of the desert lands. What surprises await our dynamic duo? We’ll share a few more secrets at next week’s gamescom, where you can play the demo for yourself. For those who can’t make it, join us live on the Xbox gamescom 2022 Stage on August 25 for an in-depth look at the demo, where we’ll share even more details about it Planet of Lana.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us since we debuted our off-world odyssey at Summer Game Fest 2020, and we can’t wait to share our first gameplay demo at gamescom next week!