Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf Preview – I’m Already in Love

I’ll admit, I was very late to the party when it came to playing Planet of Lana, but a recent playthrough has safely secured the title a place on my list of all-time favourite games. It’s to my delight then that I've since had the opportunity to go hands-on with its upcoming sequel, Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf, at Gamescom. Granted, I haven’t had to endure the two-year-long wait that many fans have but I can most definitely confirm that your patience is set to be rewarded. Wishfully Studios has seemingly crafted the perfect sequel; it’s one that extensively builds upon the first game’s formula in what’s easily an experience that I haven’t stopped thinking about.

I had the honour of sampling the title as I spoke to Klas Martin Eriksson, co-director of the game alongside Adam Stjärnljus. There’s something very special about discussing a game you love so dearly with someone who’s poured their heart and soul into bringing it into the world. There’s much about Children of the Leaf’s story that’s being kept under wraps, but it’ll reunite us with Lara and Mui as “a new, ancient mystery emerges from Novo's hidden depths”. And I want to make abundantly clear that the very first thing I did was crouch down to pet Mui.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf largely follows the same formula as before, with Lana and Mui working in tandem to solve a number of environmental puzzles, making use of their powers and the objects around them, all whilst avoiding enemies. One key difference here is that it’s both humans and machines that you’ll be wanting to avoid. A new tribe has emerged, one that’s using this world’s deadly technology to its advantage. While I only had to sneak past a few human enemies in the portion of the game that I sampled, I’m sure their involvement will add some interesting new complications for our heroic duo.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Lead, Credit / Thunderful Publishing

When it comes to puzzle-solving, there’s plenty here that’s new, largely thanks to Mui’s upgraded powers following the concluding events of the previous game. In the original Planet of Lana, the player could only direct Mui using a rather rigid vertical indicator; now you can point in any direction, giving you a much wider range of motion and therefore better control over your feline (sort of) companion.

As I said, Mui boasts some impressive new powers; this came to light during a portion of the demo set underwater, which is a first for the series. You may recall that Mui can’t swim so in the previous title, Lana would have to find a wooden raft. It was all very Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us coded. Here, Mui can envelope itself in a bubble of sorts, allowing Lana to both swim and dive with Mui in tow. Whilst swimming, Lana will have to find oxygen bubbles so that she doesn’t meet a sudden end.

Further on in the swimming segment, Mui was able to assume control of a fish-like creature which played a key part in allowing me to solve the puzzle. I’m loath to extensively detail how I solved the puzzle as it’s something you’ll eventually get the chance to figure out yourself. I mention this though to exemplify the development of Lana’s companion’s powers. It certainly looks as if Mui’s ability to mind-control this world’s various strange creatures has strongly developed, adding yet another facet to the game’s puzzling elements.

Elsewhere, the puzzles I encountered tasked me with avoiding detection, using holes in the ground so that both myself and Mui could form distractions to assist one another (a returning technique), and having Lana manipulate or take advantage of various pieces of technology. As was the case for the first game, the balance overall felt perfectly struck. I sampled four slices of the game, spread from across its story and while no answers are abundantly obvious, Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf’s puzzles are, in my opinion, completely accessible.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Lead, Credit / Thunderful Publishing

As for a more quick-fire observation, there’s a nice little slide mechanic this time that Lara can make use of after sprinting which makes ducking for cover feel much more seamless. It’s also worth me mentioning that this game is around twice the size of its predecessor. I asked Klas how the team had factored that into the game’s pacing and I was told that Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf delves much deeper into Nova’s lore than the first title which left quite a bit open to interpretation. That’s not to say that Children of the Leaf is going to spell everything out, but you should expect a strong, narratively-driven experience here.

Considering that Planet of Lana is an all-time great for me with its engaging puzzles and Ghibli-esque storytelling, my expectations for Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf were through the roof. I can safely say, however, that this sequel is shaping up to be a dream come true. Bigger doesn’t always mean better but in this case, it most certainly does. Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is far more ambitious than its predecessor, and the player experience will be all the richer for it.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is due to launch in 2026 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.