Neat Little Ball Game | Ballance

Channel:

andynomical

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Published on February 25, 2023 12:21:01 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEY88tfOc4A

Game:

Ballance (2004)

Duration: 2:08:39

127 views

2

Don't fall asleep too soon lmao.

REVIEW
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"Abandonware" is quite the interesting little rabbit hole to go down into. You come by all sorts of forgotten PC games lost to time and often, their existence is relegated to archival purposes. Luckily, yours truly is here to provide possible hidden gems as this time around, I roll around some peculiar environments as a ball, ASMR style.

This is practically an arcade game so there isn't any story to it apart from what comes across your mind when playing. It could be more appropriated dubbed as a challenge regarding a test of quick thinking and puzzle solving.

Gameplay isn't too demanding as you utilize different setups to the environment to progress the game. Different ball textures for weight impact, different paths undertaken in a specific sequence to unlock passage points and the occasional time sensitive route where you must be fast on your "feet". I do appreciate the game's approach to depth as you're allowed to shift the top-down perspective around to have a better grasp of what a level has, having it locked in place would've been annoying.

It may have come out in 2004 so the graphics are aged but it certainly accomplishes the peaceful and chill aesthetic quite well. Despite being in a void-like area, the visual and audible ambience helps to inspire a laidback experience. Nothing is overdone or dull; a balance to your senses. It would've been nice to have a bit more of an OST too, the "music" playing in intervals is an odd choice but doesn't detract much from the game, at least to me.

Once I was finished with the game, I have a bit of a mixed reaction to the level designs. This game enforces the "easy to hard" formula so naturally, the first handful of levels were simple yet gradually increasing difficulty while introducing new mechanics, puzzles to solve and creative map formations. But around the halfway point up to level 11, the majority of layouts just seem copied and pasted, a stop in time where nothing new or unique was added to the equation. That just seemed a tad weak to me to flesh out the game reusing a bunch of problems to solve, just slightly different from the previous ones and more harder. I know the game is simple in itself so there's only so much to use, it just wouldn't hurt to take risks earlier on like what level 11 and 12 implemented.

Considering my palate of games as well as the many games I've play in my life, it never hurts to kick back in a game that isn't story or gameplay intense. Sometimes you just want to "turn off your brain" so to speak and games like Ballance can certainly help achieve that. No competitive natures needed, no attention spans required for complex storytelling, just rolling around as ball is enough.

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