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Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theatre of Wonders
The Balan Theatre will always be there when your heart needs it most.Though you might not remember, you’ve been to this theatre many times before. One day—just as it does for you and for all—it appears to an aloof boy and a warm-hearted girl in their time of greatest need. Through its doors they embark on an adventure into the magical land that dwells within all our Balan’s Wonderworld!
- GenresVideo Games
190 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2021
23 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Square Enix
599 books85 followersSquare Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series. Its headquarters are located in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 9, 2022
So this is effectively a script for content that should have been in the video game Balan Wonderworld but wasn’t. 95% of that game has no dialogue or textual story beats or decipherable spoken words, to its intense detriment. I hoped that by reading the book I would be able to get some insight into why it didn’t live up to its full potential. The premise is reminiscent of the show Infinity Train in that characters go to a fantastical world to solve mental health issues. Good idea. Been done well before.
But…
This story structurally doesn’t work in book format. There are some pieces of media that are based on video games that can function okay, but this really isn’t one of them. It is a long, plodding laundry list of the same thing over and over and over again: go to the stage, meet the stage’s owner, talk about Balan, repeat. This is later ever-so-slightly changed to go to the stage, beat the stage boss, learn the boss’ tragic backstory, repeat. And—I can’t believe I’m saying this—there is a similar structure with a slight variation AGAIN for each character’s respective ending. It’s exhausting and I had to start skimming.
The anime adaption of Angels of Death, another video game, has a formula that is reminiscent of its pixel horror RPG origins—go to a new level, solve a puzzle, beat the boss, unlock a door, repeat. I would argue that its story and characters are distinct enough that it can get away with it. Also, there are only six characters, four of which follow that formula that strictly. Balan Wonderworld has twelve bosses. TWELVE. And they all follow the formula to a tee in rapid succession.
It’s at its best when it wavers from this structure, particularly with its brief appearances from Balan and Lance, the deuteragonist and antagonist. Their appearances were infrequent enough that their quirk of rhyming in their dialogue wasn’t bothersome. The backstories that are ultimately revealed for them felt appropriate and earned after sitting through everything else. I’ll just quote the best part verbatim—
“Before you became Balan, it was my part to play. But I grew too close to the humans, and to their sorrow and sadness fell prey. Balan no longer but Lance I became, and negativity began laying upon Wonderworld its claim. To save, there was only one thing I could do, and that was to create a new Balan: you… But now you're falling in love with them too. Be careful, Balan―or Lance they'll soon call you.”
Lance is particularly cool. The idea of a once-benevolent ruler of a world that exists to help people getting too attached and trapping them is super interesting which makes it all the more of a bummer that the video game (and consequent book…) he ultimately ended up in was so bleh.
I appreciate that Leo, the protagonist, is a bit of a brat at first and has an arc, but I hesitate to call him interesting. The same applies to basically every other person. The backstories for some of the characters are intensely tragic in a way that feels totally inappropriate for the young target demographic. Lots of death of loved ones and near-death experiences.
If I had to say something I enjoyed about the bosses a lot, it’s the idea of them being monstrous forms of that particular person’s insecurities. It’s fun. There are other little bits here and there in the world building that scream potential but, much like the game, they aren’t fleshed out enough.
The artwork in this book is lovely, though, plain and simple.
All in all I would say that you’re probably better off reading the wiki/out of context quotes rather than reading the book itself. It definitely wasn’t worth the ten bucks I coughed up for it (and for a kindle version, no less; I don’t think a physical copy exists, at least not in English). But hey, I don’t own the video game and at least I didn’t shell out sixty dollars for an AAA disappointment, am I right?
But…
This story structurally doesn’t work in book format. There are some pieces of media that are based on video games that can function okay, but this really isn’t one of them. It is a long, plodding laundry list of the same thing over and over and over again: go to the stage, meet the stage’s owner, talk about Balan, repeat. This is later ever-so-slightly changed to go to the stage, beat the stage boss, learn the boss’ tragic backstory, repeat. And—I can’t believe I’m saying this—there is a similar structure with a slight variation AGAIN for each character’s respective ending. It’s exhausting and I had to start skimming.
The anime adaption of Angels of Death, another video game, has a formula that is reminiscent of its pixel horror RPG origins—go to a new level, solve a puzzle, beat the boss, unlock a door, repeat. I would argue that its story and characters are distinct enough that it can get away with it. Also, there are only six characters, four of which follow that formula that strictly. Balan Wonderworld has twelve bosses. TWELVE. And they all follow the formula to a tee in rapid succession.
It’s at its best when it wavers from this structure, particularly with its brief appearances from Balan and Lance, the deuteragonist and antagonist. Their appearances were infrequent enough that their quirk of rhyming in their dialogue wasn’t bothersome. The backstories that are ultimately revealed for them felt appropriate and earned after sitting through everything else. I’ll just quote the best part verbatim—
“Before you became Balan, it was my part to play. But I grew too close to the humans, and to their sorrow and sadness fell prey. Balan no longer but Lance I became, and negativity began laying upon Wonderworld its claim. To save, there was only one thing I could do, and that was to create a new Balan: you… But now you're falling in love with them too. Be careful, Balan―or Lance they'll soon call you.”
Lance is particularly cool. The idea of a once-benevolent ruler of a world that exists to help people getting too attached and trapping them is super interesting which makes it all the more of a bummer that the video game (and consequent book…) he ultimately ended up in was so bleh.
I appreciate that Leo, the protagonist, is a bit of a brat at first and has an arc, but I hesitate to call him interesting. The same applies to basically every other person. The backstories for some of the characters are intensely tragic in a way that feels totally inappropriate for the young target demographic. Lots of death of loved ones and near-death experiences.
If I had to say something I enjoyed about the bosses a lot, it’s the idea of them being monstrous forms of that particular person’s insecurities. It’s fun. There are other little bits here and there in the world building that scream potential but, much like the game, they aren’t fleshed out enough.
The artwork in this book is lovely, though, plain and simple.
All in all I would say that you’re probably better off reading the wiki/out of context quotes rather than reading the book itself. It definitely wasn’t worth the ten bucks I coughed up for it (and for a kindle version, no less; I don’t think a physical copy exists, at least not in English). But hey, I don’t own the video game and at least I didn’t shell out sixty dollars for an AAA disappointment, am I right?
Read
November 8, 2024estuvo muy bien. el final está flojito pero me gustó mucho. La cabeza me explotó en algunos puntos.
August 25, 2021
Everything in this book could have and should have been a part of the game. At its core, it's about overcoming trauma and confronting fears, but it's structured EXACTLY like a video game: The hero enters a level, defeats a boss, and continues onto the next, and this repeats twelve times. Would have made sense in-game, but awfully formulaic to read.
June 16, 2021
By now many in the gaming community are aware of Balan Wonderworld... and what a disaster that game was. It has a lot of problems, and one of them is simply that it's nearly impossible to figure out what's going on -- the story comes across as a string of random events instead of anything coherent. As it turns out, there's a reason for this -- the story isn't in the game, but in a separate tie-in novel. And reading said novel is vital to understanding the game and getting to know its characters. I have a LOT of problems with this... but controversy aside, the novel isn't the best when it comes to writing, but packs a surprisingly lovely story that I wish had been incorporated into the game proper.
Welcome to Balan Wonderworld, a world of stages accessible through entering a magic theater. In each of these stages, a wounded soul from our world has established their dream home, seemingly content... but secretly hiding part of their heart that was damaged in the world outside. When one of these souls, a dance-loving boy named Streetbeat, digs too deep looking for answers, he uncovers the truth about Wonderworld... and when Wonderworld's guardian transforms the residents into monsters, it's up to the boy, a girl named Fighter, and an enigmatic and mischievous being named Balan to restore everyone's hearts and defeat the guardian once and for all.
The writing of this book isn't the greatest, and at times reads like a script for the game. Part of this, I feel, can be blamed on translation issues -- no translation of a work in another language will ever be perfect, and sometimes this can result in a book that feels stilted and uncomfortable to read. And at times it gets rather repetitive, especially as Streetbeat visits each person's stage, learns their backstory, and uses what he knows to defeat them.
This is a case, however, where the story is unique and lovely enough to make up for flaws in the writing. It's an enchanting concept, and it's wonderful to see the backstories and personalities of each character fleshed out. Whereas the game left so many of its characters and events vague, the book goes a long way to clearing things up. It even goes as far as to slightly change a few characters' motivations -- the game implies one character came to Wonderworld because he was a sore loser at chess, while the game shows that his obsession with winning only compounded a much worse tragedy. And the book not only gives us better backstory, it reveals truths about its title character that feel ripe for further exploration... and a sequel (or could have led to a sequel had the game done better).
Ultimately, my biggest problem with the book is that reading it is vital to understanding the game. In my personal opinion is that, unless a work is part of an ongoing series, it should be able to stand well on its own instead of relying on the viewer to read/watch/play an additional work to understand what's going on. The story is good, but IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE GAME ITSELF. Failing that, the novel should have at least been bundled with the game itself instead of sold separately. Separating the story from the work and charging extra for it just comes across as scummy.
I rate the story of Balan Wonderworld itself three starts, as it's a surprisingly lovely and unique story that I really enjoyed... and dock a couple stars for the lackluster writing and for the game-maker's audacity to strip the story from the game itself and package it separately. Maybe your game might have done a little better if it had actually had some story to go with it?
Welcome to Balan Wonderworld, a world of stages accessible through entering a magic theater. In each of these stages, a wounded soul from our world has established their dream home, seemingly content... but secretly hiding part of their heart that was damaged in the world outside. When one of these souls, a dance-loving boy named Streetbeat, digs too deep looking for answers, he uncovers the truth about Wonderworld... and when Wonderworld's guardian transforms the residents into monsters, it's up to the boy, a girl named Fighter, and an enigmatic and mischievous being named Balan to restore everyone's hearts and defeat the guardian once and for all.
The writing of this book isn't the greatest, and at times reads like a script for the game. Part of this, I feel, can be blamed on translation issues -- no translation of a work in another language will ever be perfect, and sometimes this can result in a book that feels stilted and uncomfortable to read. And at times it gets rather repetitive, especially as Streetbeat visits each person's stage, learns their backstory, and uses what he knows to defeat them.
This is a case, however, where the story is unique and lovely enough to make up for flaws in the writing. It's an enchanting concept, and it's wonderful to see the backstories and personalities of each character fleshed out. Whereas the game left so many of its characters and events vague, the book goes a long way to clearing things up. It even goes as far as to slightly change a few characters' motivations -- the game implies one character came to Wonderworld because he was a sore loser at chess, while the game shows that his obsession with winning only compounded a much worse tragedy. And the book not only gives us better backstory, it reveals truths about its title character that feel ripe for further exploration... and a sequel (or could have led to a sequel had the game done better).
Ultimately, my biggest problem with the book is that reading it is vital to understanding the game. In my personal opinion is that, unless a work is part of an ongoing series, it should be able to stand well on its own instead of relying on the viewer to read/watch/play an additional work to understand what's going on. The story is good, but IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE GAME ITSELF. Failing that, the novel should have at least been bundled with the game itself instead of sold separately. Separating the story from the work and charging extra for it just comes across as scummy.
I rate the story of Balan Wonderworld itself three starts, as it's a surprisingly lovely and unique story that I really enjoyed... and dock a couple stars for the lackluster writing and for the game-maker's audacity to strip the story from the game itself and package it separately. Maybe your game might have done a little better if it had actually had some story to go with it?
November 4, 2024
Never been a big video games person, but I've always been fascinated by how utterly doomed Balan Wonderworld was from the beginning. How you can't tell what's going on, how uncannily wrong everything feels. Having never played it before or seen much more than the Dunkey stream, I would google around and kept seeing a common refrain: there's a novel that is good, and it explains everything the video game leaves ambiguous. As for its relationship to the other media, I'm saving my hot takes for an eventual video, but let's leave it here at the first mistake people make is saying that this is good.
The prose is INCREDIBLY repetitive and stilted (but I guess that's appropriate for a game that only features one single action button). I don't know how much of this is Kawasaki's fault and how much we can blame the translator, but it's nuts. Two characters speak entirely in rhyme, which would be annoying enough, but towards the end they argue with each other, which made me want to put out my own eyes. None of the characters are particularly interesting, which may have been avoidable if we didn't have to cycle through all golly-gee-drillion of them in such quick succession--AND if they didn't all say and do the exact same stuff.
But it's... emotionally earnest? Maybe? Again, a combination of awful prose and the work being in translation and the source material being soulless AAA game developer make it really hard to engage with the work seriously, but I guess it's not mean, which is something.
Idk I guess what I'm trying to say is don't spend money on this unless you're a youtuber who wants to do a funny video
The prose is INCREDIBLY repetitive and stilted (but I guess that's appropriate for a game that only features one single action button). I don't know how much of this is Kawasaki's fault and how much we can blame the translator, but it's nuts. Two characters speak entirely in rhyme, which would be annoying enough, but towards the end they argue with each other, which made me want to put out my own eyes. None of the characters are particularly interesting, which may have been avoidable if we didn't have to cycle through all golly-gee-drillion of them in such quick succession--AND if they didn't all say and do the exact same stuff.
But it's... emotionally earnest? Maybe? Again, a combination of awful prose and the work being in translation and the source material being soulless AAA game developer make it really hard to engage with the work seriously, but I guess it's not mean, which is something.
Idk I guess what I'm trying to say is don't spend money on this unless you're a youtuber who wants to do a funny video
January 20, 2025
I haven't played Balan Wonderworld past the first part of the demo, I couldn’t understand wtf was going on or what I was supposed to do.
This book is basically divided into
part 1 (Leo arrives, meets Clocktower (not saying full names because they sound stupid as heck), visits other stages, meets all Wonderworldians for a few pages each, who each have unique mindscapes they control, have visions of Emma and Balan).
Part 2 (Lance reveals true form, corrupts all the Wonderworldians, Emma/Balan recruit Leo to stop them)
Part 3 (repetitive scenes of freeing them all)
Part 4 (they escape and reunite outside)
Part 1 & 2 were interesting, kind of Amazing Digital Circus-esque, but the dialog and prose were rough. Leo had 0 personality, and Balan was just kind of a prick. The boss fights sounded interesting but were repetitive after like ten of them (clown, bug, sky, sea, fire, castle, cat, winter, checkers, if I remember), they got rote.
Also Balan saying "humanity is weak" at people's weakest moments, and just being self-righteous and whiney made me want to punch him. The ethos of this story is "delusion/running away/lies/dark bad" but there's no nuance at all! It's just essentially that Lance bad, Balan good, when Balan/Lance are cyclical and supposedly both needed for balance. Also Lance/Balan's obnoxious rhyming was grating as hell.
The high concept was interesting, but unfortunately a failure.
This book is basically divided into
part 1 (Leo arrives, meets Clocktower (not saying full names because they sound stupid as heck), visits other stages, meets all Wonderworldians for a few pages each, who each have unique mindscapes they control, have visions of Emma and Balan).
Part 2 (Lance reveals true form, corrupts all the Wonderworldians, Emma/Balan recruit Leo to stop them)
Part 3 (repetitive scenes of freeing them all)
Part 4 (they escape and reunite outside)
Part 1 & 2 were interesting, kind of Amazing Digital Circus-esque, but the dialog and prose were rough. Leo had 0 personality, and Balan was just kind of a prick. The boss fights sounded interesting but were repetitive after like ten of them (clown, bug, sky, sea, fire, castle, cat, winter, checkers, if I remember), they got rote.
Also Balan saying "humanity is weak" at people's weakest moments, and just being self-righteous and whiney made me want to punch him. The ethos of this story is "delusion/running away/lies/dark bad" but there's no nuance at all! It's just essentially that Lance bad, Balan good, when Balan/Lance are cyclical and supposedly both needed for balance. Also Lance/Balan's obnoxious rhyming was grating as hell.
The high concept was interesting, but unfortunately a failure.
Read
June 3, 2021A new setting for a special show!
Welcome to the Wonderworld; regardless if this is your first trip or you have sought this piece of media out to see the stories in a new light!
'Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theater of Wonders' is based off Square Enix's video game, simply named 'Balan Wonderworld' with a few twists and more story-building than the game could provide that compliments the game! A story of a boy who finds a strange theater and discovers several others who share a stage with him; their own PERSONAL stage, where they have everything they want! But not everything in Wonderworld is perfect as it seems; especially when each of them tries to hide away from their fears and dark pasts, (like wearing a mask to conceal themselves!) Things only esculate when visions of a mysterious man, a girl, and various monsters haunt their memories! Who is this mysterious man.. and will Wonderworld be saved.. or will our guests need to be saved???
Even if you have a distaste for Square Enix's game, I encourage those who love fantasy books to give this a read! Your heartstrings will be pulled as you take a journey of heart & emotions in this fantastic read!!!
So don't miss out on this, I will let you know
That if you put your belief into this story's preformance, I'm sure you'll enjoy the show~
Welcome to the Wonderworld; regardless if this is your first trip or you have sought this piece of media out to see the stories in a new light!
'Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theater of Wonders' is based off Square Enix's video game, simply named 'Balan Wonderworld' with a few twists and more story-building than the game could provide that compliments the game! A story of a boy who finds a strange theater and discovers several others who share a stage with him; their own PERSONAL stage, where they have everything they want! But not everything in Wonderworld is perfect as it seems; especially when each of them tries to hide away from their fears and dark pasts, (like wearing a mask to conceal themselves!) Things only esculate when visions of a mysterious man, a girl, and various monsters haunt their memories! Who is this mysterious man.. and will Wonderworld be saved.. or will our guests need to be saved???
Even if you have a distaste for Square Enix's game, I encourage those who love fantasy books to give this a read! Your heartstrings will be pulled as you take a journey of heart & emotions in this fantastic read!!!
So don't miss out on this, I will let you know
That if you put your belief into this story's preformance, I'm sure you'll enjoy the show~
August 11, 2021
Enjoyable book for a younger audience than myself. I think this story could be lengthened as some parts feel too repetitive and, for some reason, missing something. I wished I knew more about Leo and Emma throughout. What made Leo not want to have friends? Why did he never want to dance with others?
I do enjoy the time shenanigans and the bit about Balan and Lance near the end... I felt that Square Enix wanted this to go on for much longer but with the games ... unfortunate reviews online and negative gamer response (not unjustified mind you), I fear we may not get more insight into Balan and Lance's relationship.
I do enjoy the time shenanigans and the bit about Balan and Lance near the end... I felt that Square Enix wanted this to go on for much longer but with the games ... unfortunate reviews online and negative gamer response (not unjustified mind you), I fear we may not get more insight into Balan and Lance's relationship.
April 21, 2021
Lots of Heart
Considering I've read quite a few light novels. This one had a lot of heart compared to others. It had a lot of characters, and I cared about all of them. Also, Balan says a lot of things that had me thinking.
The mystery part is very weak, but I'm not willing to knock down a star for that. Maybe half a star, but this site doesn't do half stars.
Considering I've read quite a few light novels. This one had a lot of heart compared to others. It had a lot of characters, and I cared about all of them. Also, Balan says a lot of things that had me thinking.
The mystery part is very weak, but I'm not willing to knock down a star for that. Maybe half a star, but this site doesn't do half stars.
February 14, 2024
I haven't played the game but reading the novel I can kind of understand where their problems with translating the story to the video game came in. A lot of the novel doesn't portray to explicit gameplay events. Still a solid alternative to playing the video game, though.
June 16, 2025
I really liked it, not the best written story by any means, and the 'Battle' section that takes place during the game is really clunky. But yet, some parts hit really well. I consider it a modern fairytale (and even myth in C.S. Lewis' sense of the word.)
March 26, 2021
As its English translator, I'm obligated to give 5 stars to this whimsical novelization. ;)
April 22, 2021
I found this book very exciting. 🌹🌠
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2021
Should have came with the game
If you have any interest in Balan Wonderworld read this first. It's a good script. It explains everything the game didn't.
If you have any interest in Balan Wonderworld read this first. It's a good script. It explains everything the game didn't.
May 29, 2021
Well, that complicated things. Not in a good way, maybe.
Somehow it just doesn't even talk about the Tower of Tims. What the hell?
Somehow it just doesn't even talk about the Tower of Tims. What the hell?
July 23, 2021
Magnificent
I loved every part of this as it explained all the backstory of balan wonderworld. Shame that it didn’t come with the game
I loved every part of this as it explained all the backstory of balan wonderworld. Shame that it didn’t come with the game
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews