Planet of Lana was a surprising game for me that I definitely didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. While I didn’t review it, I played it later on and really fell in love with its world and characters. The way Wishfully was able to display character emotions with simple character models was fantastic. While I didn’t think it quite lived up to some of my other favorite 2D/2.5D puzzle platformers like Ori and the Blind Forest, Little Nightmares II, or Unravel Two, it was still a great, albeit short, experience. Needless to say I was excited for Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf as it promised deeper gameplay which then opens up for more varied puzzles and ideas.

If you didn’t play Planet of Lana and want to hop into the sequel, there is an opening cutscene that takes you through the events of the first game to get you caught up. That being said, there isn’t a ton that will be pulled from the first game and this could still easily be a standalone title. Planet of Lana II mostly focuses on two tales, and this time it’s larger and explores much more of the lore. Lana is of course still at the heart of it, but what she is dealing with is substantially larger than before.

Just who are you, Mui?

We start off with our protagonist exploring a massive ship, relics of a past life, but a much more technologically developed one. As you meet back up with your adorable cat-like companion Mui, you discover that Mui was the companion to the ship captain of this space colony. This story really is just as much about Mui as it is about Lana and her current world as well. We get glimpses in what this colony was and Mui’s life on this ship before it crash landed on this planet through flashbacks. These are short chapters so it doesn’t fully kill the momentum of the story, but they offer important information on where everything originated from.

The other tale that drives Lana is a personal one and where we are introduced to our main antagonist. One of tribes that has been building up its industrial complex is hell bent on stealing the planets natural resources to continue its expansion. They are a ruthless tribe that will strike back with no remorse and as Lana tries to stop them they drop one of the radioactive rocks in their village and Lana’s little sister Elo becomes ill from it. Lana must now go find three different natural herbs to make a remedy for the sickness to heal her sister. During this quest she will run into this tribe more fueling her revenge to ultimate shut them down.

Elo is Lana’s main focus, but conservation is a core theme as well.

I really enjoyed both of these story paths, getting to see more backstory of where the settlers came from and more about Mui was really intriguing. Never did it feel forced in or having to over explain something to try and make it make sense in the context of what the first game already set up. The journey itself was fantastic going from the snowy peaks of mountains, tropical underwater areas, the lush forest, and then ultimate the heavy industrial side. There are some surprise locations towards the end I don’t want to spoil, but I was really impressed with just how much more variety there was.

My only real gripe with the story is that the main villain takes a back seat for a long portion of the game. He does come back to basically push the last hour of where the game went, but I would have liked for the game to go into him more. Clearly they wanted to dive into the allegory of fracking and how taking too much from the planet without giving back with have negative consequences. It just never quite fulfills on that other than through Lana’s actions of wanting to stop them. Perhaps that’s asking too much in a short five hour game.

I wish we got more of this antagonist. He just doesn’t do much until the very end.

n in story and locales, gameplay got quite a few additions as well which are very appreciated. While they aren’t anything we haven’t seen before or in different ways, adding them opened up many more options. Lana now has the ability to slide and wall jump as well as remote control many of the robots after Mui short-circuits them. There is now far more control over Mui with point accuracy as well as many more things for Mui to do like use mind control on other living creatures.

There are cute little fish that you can use to make ink clouds in the water which will help Lana get past electric eels and underwater security cameras. Also some little puff balls that stick to walls and make trails of their fluff that way you can start a fire trail to burn whatever is blocking you. Large bugs that scoop water and unleash it on flowers to grow plants or move waterwheels for puzzles.

The extra animals you can control like this ink fish add extra elements to the gameplay and puzzles.

It may not seem like a ton is added, but the variety of the new robots, and other creatures to control add a ton of extra diversity to the puzzles. The real magic is when you need to mix all of these together, and sometimes do it on a timer. There is definitely more complexity to the puzzles thanks to the added gameplay, but none of them felt overly complicated. They also never throw a random gameplay puzzle at your and just expect you to figure it out, it all ramps up to the harder ones slowly to where you will be ready with that new implementation.

My main issue with the gameplay, and it was the same with the first, is that Lana can be a bit floaty with her control. Trying to move on a dime isn’t happening nor is changing direction and jumping quickly. There will be some puzzles that are trial and error due to the movement. There is also an issue with delayed climbing and climbing on edges getting out of water. It lead to some frustrations when you need to move and climb quickly. That being said, it was never something you can’t figure out by timing it a bit better, but it is something I’ve noticed from my time with other platformers.

The puzzles are never extreme, but some will offer enough to have you stop and think for a couple minutes.

Visually, Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a phenomenal looking game. The first game was already gorgeous, but this one tops it in almost every way. There are far more details in the environments and the depth of the foreground and background bring every scene to life. The hand painted style with the pastel colors really pop with all the new location in the game as well. Wishfully went above and beyond to make it extremely beautiful.

What impresses me the most, however, is how well they are still able to express so much emotion through characters that don’t even have facial features. They have oval black eyes, and there is some work there, but it’s all the extra animation work that was put in that really helps sell every interaction and emotion for the characters. And there is quite a bit of emotion this time around, a few heartstrings being tugged. Throughout the entire runtime, it is a visual treat for the eyes, even in the dank dark sewers and caverns. There is always something striking that will catch your eye.

The art style is absolutely gorgeous. I could post a gallery of images here to showcase how amazing it looks.

Sound design is absolutely another standout aspect of Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf. Like the first game, Wishfully stays dedicated to their fake language for this world and I’m very happy they did. Despite not knowing what they’re saying you pick up on the queues as you go and you start understanding. I think that has a bigger impact with Mui and you in a deeper level as you start to bond. As I mentioned before so much of the emotion is displayed without needing to know the exact words because they were able to express it so well with the body language and vocal tones you can feel it yourself.

The general sound effects are all high quality as well from the robots thrusters and chimes to the rustling of the environments and animals. However, what really amplifies every single scene is the soundtrack. Holy moly is this thing good. If you played the first game you’re familiar with some for the score, but it is stepped up here. Composed by Takeshi Furukawa from The Last Guardian and Avatar: The Last Airbender, he absolutely nails the emotions in every scene. It adds weight and intensity to the action scenes, while also adding levity and whimsy to the exploration of the beautiful areas. It is beautiful and so well done.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a really fantastic sequel that not only stays true to itself, but adds in plenty to expand upon its story and gameplay without feeling unnecessary. While I would have liked it to be a bit longer so we could have fleshed out some more of the other tribe and the ideas of preservation, Lana’s new adventure doesn’t disappoint. I’m very interested to see where the series is taken next since the ending leaves us with a bit of a cliffhanger. If you’re a 2.5D puzzle platformer fan then Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a must play.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on PC with i7-12700kf, RTX 5070, and 32gb DDR5 RAM.

A copy of Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf was provided by the publisher.