Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf - Review

Review by Ben Willis, Retro Gaming Goods.

2D puzzle platforming in its purest form. Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a wonderful puzzle adventure with incredible hand-painted art and an amazing score. Its puzzles are challenging but not too tough, and the story can't help but make you feel your feelings.

The good and the not-so-good

The good: the music and score are beautifully tied into the gameplay, the 2D hand-painted art is beautiful, the puzzles are fun and challenging, the story is wonderful, and the side characters are fun to play with.

The not-so-good: Urmmmmm…

What is Planet of Lana II?

Lana and her loyal companion Mui are back for a new cinematic puzzle adventure. An ancient mystery is surfacing from deep beneath Novo, and as the pair explore its hidden depths, a new threat puts their bond to the ultimate test.

Planet of Lana II story

Lana and Mui continue to uncover the past of the invading robot army. Lana must also fight to save her tribe from war in Novo, while trying to find a cure for her sister after some adventuring goes wrong.

One of the opening gambits that's really enjoyable is a screen telling you the language is made up. It's a wonderful touch that lets you, the player, fill in parts of the story and narrative as you progress through the game.

As Lana and Mui, you uncover the secrets of the past across snowy mountains, lakes, forests, cities and a train!

Planet of Lana II gameplay

Each chapter takes you to different locations with new puzzle mechanics to learn and plenty of puzzles to solve. As it's a 2D platformer, the components or solutions you need are usually close by. Even when you think you're exploring, there's a chance you're uncovering part of a bigger puzzle.

The controls are reactive and smooth as you guide both Lana and Mui around obstacles, each with their own abilities to help solve the conundrums you face.

Alongside those abilities, you take control of a cast of helpful critters. They open up new abilities to help solve puzzles, but only for a short time, as you can't take them outside the puzzle room with you. It's a shame, as some are really fun to control, but completely understandable, as they'd be game-breaking if you could.

The puzzles are well thought out and often simple enough to solve, though a few will have you scratching your head. Sometimes you need a bit of patience to line things up, but what else would you expect from a puzzle platformer? Making a mistake is often fatal, but a really good autosave feature means you're never set back too far.

Art and visuals

The hand-painted scenes are amazing. I tried to show my kids, but they didn't appreciate the artwork. It's very Studio Ghibli at points, with more of a sci-fi dystopian feel.

Standout colour cues of yellow and blue show you actionable items. I know some people don't like these in games, but I'm not one of them. I'm not looking for realism, it certainly helps, and it's done without being a glaringly obvious hint at the hardest parts.

Music and sound

The score is by Takeshi Furukawa. It gives the game a cinematic feel and adds depth to the world, which helps the immersion. It's so well done and aids the storytelling the way all scores should.

Planet of Lana II on Switch 2: performance

Performance on Switch 2 was rock solid until the last few chapters, with occasional frame rate drops in handheld mode. Loading times are virtually non-existent unless you die, and even then it doesn't take long to get back to the action.

How long is Planet of Lana II?

The main game takes around 5 to 6 hours, and finding all the hidden items adds another 1 to 2 hours. Under the Run to Game Challenge, the main story costs around 36km of running, or about 48km to see everything.

Is Planet of Lana II worth it?

Absolutely. Planet of Lana II is a wonderful puzzle adventure with incredible art and an amazing score to immerse you in the action. If you enjoyed the first Planet of Lana, you need to see how Lana's journey continues.

Games like Planet of Lana II

If you enjoy games like Little Nightmares or Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, you need to consider this masterpiece. And if you haven't played the original Planet of Lana, it's well worth going back to.