There was the movie, and now there is the game! In the world of Bayala, there are no limits to your dreams. Enchanting unicorns and other wondrous beings await! Let’s explore it together!
At the heart of Bayala, there live graceful elves and many enchanted beings. Discover a fantastical world of friendship, magic, and adventure. Visit the fairies, unicorns, and magical horses in the beautiful world around them, and find the magical elf castle. Join the elf, Sera, in her magical flower boat along with other magical creatures for a ride through the lands…!
Bayala!
This is the land of Bayala, a Fantasy country full of elves of diverse tribes (sun, forest, ice, rainbow, and shadow), which magic depends entirely on the dragons. But one-day Ophira, the shadow fairies’ queen, stolen all dragons’ eggs to destroy the charm and leave Bayala absence of it, kidnapping to Princess Surah at child along several years, raising her with her cousin Princess Nuray, to the point to mutate her sun wings in shadow wings (just shadow fairies can fly at night). Discovering the truth finally, Surah tries to escape, being saved by male shadow fairy Jaro and the own Princess Nuray, escaping from shadowland to back sun land for meeting again her older sister Princess Eyela and her younger twin sister Princess Sera, warning them about Ophira’s ambitions to rule Bayala.
Royal Coronations
However, all changes when, in Eyela’s coronation as queen of sun fairies, the young, clueless, and adventurer Marween, taking it wrongly as a talking stone, finds a dragon egg, and she gives it Eyela as present. It forces Eyela, Surah, Sera, and Eyela’s assistants Feya and Falaroy to trace a plan to reunite with his parents, the baby dragon named Nugur. Reuniting with his parents must happen before he breaks out all the egg because if the first thing that Nugur looks isn’t their parents, all his magic will vanish, and Bayala will be commended! Asking help to Ice Queen, Rainbow King, and Forest King, Eyela decides to celebrate a Dragon Feast. While Eyela’s procession moves to the place of the feast, Surah, Sera, Marween, and Nugur travels to Dragon Mountains for meeting Nugur’s parents, with the help of fairy sorcerer Bilara. But Ophira, with her daughter Nuray as a personal prisoner, is determined to use all her evil powers to stop Dragon Feast and prevent Surah’s intentions to restore the magic that brings back Bayala its former glory.
Gameplay
So, now you have a gest of the story of Bayala – a world build around Schleich characters of which I never heard. Luckily I have a very young daughter, so I had a legitimate reason to try and play this game dripping with fairy dust and unicorns. Bayala is a standard 2000s platformer, comparable with the likes of Jax & Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, and the likes. The game itself is not particular but works its magic. It brings the characters to life and engulfs you with the Bayala factor. Everything is based around cutesy things and has your standard ‘fetch this item’ quests. For example, the ‘scary’ caves are littered with butterflies and glowing mushrooms…! You collect items, trade glowing.. eggs? For stickers and delve deeper into the plot, I stated as above. Oh, and it features a nice Bewejeweld style minigame!
Graphics?
Graphical wise, the game looks decent. It’s not the most excellent game out there, especially if you compare the original graphics with the cutscene graphics. Yes, I know it’s Nintendo – so we should not worry too much about the graphics. And I don’t, but the game looks a little static (you can see it in the screenshots I accompanied with this review). I think Bayala has a lot of potential, especially since it’s a game targeting the younger girl audience. They probably won’t notice any of the graphical mishaps I mention so that I won’t complain about them too much. Control-wise, Bayala plays decent since the controls are not that hard. It feels like a throwback to the early 2000s, and it’s a good fit on the Nintendo Switch. The console is great for the younger generation, and it’s easier than the Mario and Crash games currently on the market.
Conclusion
So, to conclude! If you are into elves, unicorns, glitters, and everything that goes onto this list – then Bayala is just the game for you. If you are into old school platformers, you are probably doing fine with Bayala as well. I highly recommend this game if you have a daughter (or son, not judging) and are looking for a beautiful introduction game for the Nintendo Switch you got them for Christmas, look no further! If you are a die-hard platformer, then this is probably not the game for you. Oh, and you can always check out the movie if you want to create some more background for your kids!
