Another Day, Another Garten Of Banban Game
Well, here we go again. This is, as the name suggests, the 8th instalment in the Garten of Banban series, if you include the prequel Garten of Banban 0 and understand that Garten of Banban 5 doesn’t exist (it is still unclear why). On the whole, this series has been improving from bad to borderline good. But Garten of Banban 8 shows a series running out of ideas and steam in one of the most disappointing entries so far.
After the events of Garten of Banban 7, you find yourself in prison, locked up. Something I say every game, but I can’t believe that X location is found beneath a kindergarten, in this case a prison. But stick with me, we’ve only just started.
A Fever Dream Of A Plot
You are helped out of prison by Banban and Sir Dadadoo in an elaborate plan that goes wrong. But, at least for the start of this chapter, Banban is once again your friend, and decides to plough a truck into the prison to help you escape. It is best not to ask where the truck came from, because you won’t get an answer.
Banban has to make a quick pitstop to pick up Flumbo, who was left in a cupboard playing hide-and-seek in the prequel game Garten of Banban 0. The release of that game between seven and eight now makes more sense.
It turns out Syringeon has taken over the city beneath the kindergarten and Banban is hatching a plan to meet them at his tower and confront them. Your escape from prison hasn’t gone unnoticed though, and a bounty of ten lollipops is put on your head for a successful recapture.
Throughout this slightly longer Banban game you will travel to see a doctor who wants to recreate Banbaleena as she is his one true love, get swallowed by the huge monster that has overlooked your adventures since Garten of Banban 2, and discover that in their stomach is a whole tribe of other givanium creations, who need your help to discover who is the arsonist amongst them. Oh, and Banban once again stabs you in the back, because it wouldn’t be a Banban game if he didn’t.
Puzzles That Lack Any Challenge
In order to progress through Garten of Banban 8, there will be a variety of tasks for you to perform. These would have been called puzzles in previous games, and to be fair, there have been some quite clever ones. That is far from the case here. Most of them are mindless and repetitive, with the only real reason you will fail them is thanks to the clunky controls.
Also, unlike the others, there is no jeopardy to failing these. Previously, your failure would warrant a jumpscare, but that is often not the case here. Instead, you must simply try again until you get it right.
Sometimes, even completing the task is not enough, and you will need to complete it again. And when there is no thinking involved, with time being your only adversary, these don’t half drag.
There is only one puzzle of note too, and that involves mixing colours using a handheld remote. It pops up again throughout, but as a means to frustrate and add difficulty to chase sections.
Bosses That Lack Any Explanation
It feels too like Garten of Banban has run out of ideas in terms of enemies with this episode, often introducing them for an anticlimactic boss fight despite them making no mention of them previously. In fact, if it wasn’t for the achievements revealing their names, you would have absolutely no idea who they were. But in a series infamous for lacking a real narrative thread, this is hardly a surprise.
One enemy towards the end of the game is particularly bad for this. Arriving in a long dark corridor – not that that description really helps in a series bursting with them – you start to hear all the put downs the various characters from the series have thrown your way. Before long, a creature appears with huge, sad eyes. It could easily be mistaken as a friend, until it tries to eat you. Then a screen pops up explaining that this is Miss Mimicker, and the voices you heard were actually all coming from this monster. This whole encounter encompasses how poor the Garten of Banban series is at explaining anything.
A Series Struggling
And there is more to come; this is not the end of the series. It continues to meander along aimlessly, and you can’t help but feel the developers are scrambling around for a way to end the whole thing, but until they do, they will quickly borrow assets and hastily put together a game.
Sadly, Garten of Banban 8 misses the target by some way. A puzzle horror game this is not, with activities stretching the definition of puzzle, and an adventure devoid of scares entirely. It’s a big step backwards for a series; one that was improving incrementally with each release.
Important Links
After the Betrayal, Garten of Banban 8: Anti Devil Plunges Players Into Obscurity – https://www.thexboxhub.com/after-the-betrayal-garten-of-banban-8-anti-devil-plunges-players-into-obscurity/
Buy Garten of Banban 8 on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/garten-of-banban-8-anti-devil/9NGK50N9BVZP/0010
Take home the series Bundle – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/garten-of-banban-bundle-0-1-2-3-4-6-7-8/9PDB47BRP8WW/0010
