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Unravel


DisturbedSwan
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Started playing this today, put in about 3 hours.

Not really sure what to make of it at the moment, the game looks bloody gorgeous (You can see where Coldwood spent that EA money!), the soundtrack is great, but at its heart it just feels like an average platformer really.

If I had to compare it I'd say it feels most like LittleBigPlanet, that kind of floatiness to the controls (if that makes sense) happens in Unravel too, it definitely isn't a tight platformer like Ori and the Blind Forest or Donkey Kong Country, and I don't think it was ever trying to be like those games in its design, but the controls could've been tighter and snappier in my view, from what I've played anyway.

What I didn't realise going in was how incredibly infuriating and frustrating a game it is, it just gets me so fucking riled up it's unreal, I've got stuck twice already and had to look up what I need to do online, was just pottering about for 15 minutes trying to get past a certain section and of course I find what I need to do, feel like an idiot and I'm on my way. Some of the problems can be put down to the timing-based platforming sections I've encountered I guess (where the controls don't help), coupled with the harsh check-pointing employed. You can figure out what you need to do in order to progress, almost complete an entire section, accidently drop into some water and suddenly have to start all the way back at the previous checkpoint, just seems needless really.

Despite the issues the game has and its mediocrity (in platforming terms) I am still vaguely enjoying it, it's pleasant enough, the environs are amazing and Yarny is charming enough to keep me playing, but I can already tell its going to be a bit of a slog if it goes on for any longer than the 5-6 hours I'm assuming it lasts.

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Finished this earlier today, took me 8 hours 30 minutes which is a pretty decent amount of time for £15 I'd say.

Ended up liking it quite a lot more after those initial first 3 hours I must say, I hardly got stuck at all, rarely got frustrated or infuriated with it and everything just seemed to click with the gameplay, once you know all the mechanics, all the possible ways to get to the next area or complete the puzzle then you can make steady progress. I also gave up on collecting the collectibles in the levels towards the end which was a source of frustration for me in the first few hours.

The platforming is still the main problem with the game though, it's just rather average, doesn't evolve over time and doesn't introduce any new mechanics to you to master after the first few hours, it reminds me of Movie-Tie-In games from the PSX era like Toy Story etc. It's rather generic and rote, and you feel like you've played a game with the same mechanics numerous times in the past. There's definitely something that's still fun about the Platforming though, maybe that it is relatively easy to master and doesn't frustrate after a while, I don't know, it was surprisingly relaxing yesterday, there was something about it, in tandem with the fantastic environs that just managed to make it fun enough for me to enjoy, it's still the worst part of the game though.

Almost everything else about the game is spectacular though, the music is just incredible, the graphics are ridiculously good for an Indie game and the 'Journey' you go on throughout the game feels so melancholic, ethereal and beautiful. The music is even more important in the game as there's no spoken words to the story, so it relies completely on the music, environs and graphics to tell the story it does. The music permeates every sense of your being as you play, makes every level feel different and have an ebb and flow to it, similar to Journey, you feel like you've been on a real journey with Yarny throughout the game, when he stumbles the music (and you) stumble, when something exciting happens you feel it in the music, it has such a great flow to it and it just gets under your skin. Honestly it's just magnificent, one of the best musical scores I've ever encountered for a game, hauntingly beautiful.

The environs are fantastic too, lots of variety in there and the graphics have absolutely no right in being as good as they are, for an Indie game they are just ridiculous and add to the beauty, melancholy and ethereal nature the game has.

Surprisingly emotional at times as well, there's no story in the traditional sense as mentioned above, but you go on a journey with Yarny and I felt the games message and what it represents to be incredibly moving, so much so that I couldn't help but weep as I was looking over the picture book at the end with descriptions of the levels, photos and notes from the developers in it and what the whole game is about, it's just a beautiful little game.

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  • 1 year later...

3 days, 3 games played to completion. And what a charming little game this was.

 

I'm not going to go over the gameplay, as @Blakey said it all really. But for the price I paid (£4) I had a lot of fun with it. You can tell a lot of love went into making it. And while there are a couple of frustrating sections, everything from the beautiful artwork to the stunning score made up for them. Like Rime, not the greatest platformer, but definitely a title with a lot of heart.

 

I enjoyed this.

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  • 3 years later...

I've just discovered this game on Xbox game pass. And I'm really enjoying it so far. It's quite a pleasant little platformer, slow paced, and ideal for those moments when you want something easy on the eyes and reflexes. 

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