Unravel is a game that lies somewhere between a puzzle game and a platformer and contains just a hint of LittleBigPlanet design. Endearing through its visuals, subtle in its massive amount of entertainment, a subtly led charge of fun is what makes Unravel’s gaming experience truly unique. The story isn’t that bad either.
Led by yarn-based protagonist, Yarny, the story silently follows the trails of memories left behind from an old woman and Yarny’s adventure to get them all back, or at least retain them. That is what I’ve gathered from the game so far. It’s a tough read, as the game reveals itself ever so slightly over the long haul through photorealistic visuals in the background and touching music that reinforces the urge for Yarny to keep going. It’s certainly a masterpiece in gripping one’s attention and calling out to moments long forgotten through the clutter of day-to-day life.
Probably a little deeper than what you want in your review, but hey, I’m speaking from my heart on this one.
Shifting gears to a more traditional, colder reviewer method, let’s talk about the gameplay that keeps Unravel going. It’s cerebral and asks a lot from you as you go from picture frame to picture frame completing levels of memories (that’s how the game divides out each level). Once inside one of the levels, you’re given a certain amount of yarn that makes up Yarny. As you continue forward through levels, Yarny must take said yarn and wrap it around hooks to form swings, tie to ends together to form springs and use yarn to complete actions such as pulling doors open or potentially taking certain objects from point A to point B. If Yarny uses up too much yarn, he can’t complete the task, so choose wisely. To counter that, because there always has to be an out to things like that, along the way Yarny runs into spools of yarn that replenish his body, which allows his adventure an extension, which will eventually lead him towards the end of levels.
In addition to just yarn rules and uses, Yarny also meets a series of obstacles along the way. For example, there was an ocean level that required me to push an oyster towards a crab, lure the crab underneath a crab cage, trap the crab and climb on the cage to jump to a ledge, so that I could progress. You’ll find a lot of puzzles like this lying around the game, as well as pretty much making up the backbone of the Unravel. Those particular obstacles make the creative gameplay stand out, as you’ll find a large variety of obstacles that have particular solutions about them. They range from simple to difficult, but all I have run into so far have been incredibly well thought out by design. The game really puts your brain to work, while still maintaining an even balance of wanting to be a platformer inside of a puzzle genre. So there isn’t a lot of stoppage in the game, rather it’s a good balance of fun and puzzle solving. Kudos to Martin Sahlin and his team at Coldwood Interactive for nailing the best of both worlds, as that is not an easy feat.
Having said that, if I had to knock the game for anything, it would the beginning learning curve for the controls. I consider myself a pretty savvy guy when it comes to figuring out and implementing control schemes during gameplay. Unravel demands a lot of your brain in this area, as well as a considerable amount of coordination and muscle memory trust. The first 20-30 minutes of the game was spent getting used to the many button usages. For example, throwing a yarn in a lasso manner meant hitting R2. Once roped, climbing the yarn means hitting L2. Tying the yarn down onto the hook meant pushing square, while dangling from the yarn in a swinging manner meant R2 and the analog stick. Untying the yarn was square again, while pulling objects that were tied, or untied, meant pressing the circle on the PlayStation controller. Resetting the entire adventure was done through the down directional button. I’m sure I’m leaving some commands out, but those are just from memory. That’s a lot to remember from the start and the tutorial requires you to use them before moving onto the first real level. Granted, this isn’t the worst control scheme I have ever come in contact with, but it is quite difficult when you’re trying to do it on the fly. Again, after about 20-30 minutes of using the controls, I did get myself straight with the scheme and was going through the game worrying more about puzzle solutions, rather than pressing the right buttons. Still, there was a curve and it was obvious. Less patient gamers might run the risk of hating the scheme (like pretty much the new generation of gamers), but the game is worth the curve.
This is my only knock on the game. The gameplay was balanced, sensible and fun other than that little caveat. Unravel has been one of the more pleasant surprises for 2016, which gives me hope for the year that games not titled Uncharted or Mario Whatever are going to shine.
Speaking of shining, the presentation value of this game is out of this world stunning. The game mixes some close-to-the-real-thing elements of every day life, like plants, rocks, trees, moving skies, and such, while adding in a creative flavor of a very yarn-based Yarny to fit snuggly into the game’s visuals. What really had me with this game visually was the blurred background and its continual mixture of photorealistic elements, including humans, that help push the story along silently. Add to this environment some gorgeous particle effects and environmental effects (flowing waves, bending tree branches and other cool, yet subtle things) and Unravel produces a recipe of presentation that makes it one of the more visually appeasing games of 2016. It also helps that all of the above lends to the story pretty well.
Before the review is wrapped up let me just give praise to the orchestrated piece that accompanies and embodies the title. It takes the place of dialogue and helps keep the game flowing in perfect melancholy fashion. Music drives productions and Unravel really sets the entire production in motion thanks to the music that comes with it.
Anyway, let’s get to the summary.
