WoodrowStreet's review of A Space for the Unbound.

A Space For the Unbound: Story: 15/20 I was on the fence about the story of this game for a while. For most of my playthrough, I felt like they were trying to achieve something that they weren’t quite reaching. However, by the end of the game, I think a clear message about forgiveness, mental health, and friendship emerged, but not presently enough to make the holes and confusion I had faced prior to the ending dissipate. The most glaring issue I had with the story was the star princess book. Every time I got a new page or saw a flashback about the writing of the book, I felt like the game was expecting me to realize some sort of hint or clue as to the overarching thing but I didn’t understand anything until they spelled it out for me. It felt like the game was proud of every “hint” they gave me, but had no idea how not revealing they actually were. The central idea of Raya and Nirmala being the “same” made somewhat sense and was something I had predicted early on, but overall that whole narrative was really convoluted. The central quests, Spacedives, and fights to save Raya that encompassed most of the game were decent enough to follow along with, it was just the story underneath that fell short. There were upsides: lots of the dialogue was really funny and all the characters were really enjoyable. I laughed out loud at a few of the storylines and honestly every character's lore was what kept me enthralled, especially Raya. Gameplay/Mechanics: 14/20 The mechanics in this game are somewhat intertwined with my review of the game’s difficulty. The mechanics were nothing extraordinary, and leaned on the side of frustrating. First off, the walking and running were both viciously slow. When you combine this with a map that’s slightly too big to not have a fast travel feature and too small to be interesting, a lot of the travelling in this game felt like staring at a clock in math class. I spent maybe 40% of this game going back and forth across the same town discovering clues and going back across town to where I had to deliver that clue. It was incredibly tedious. I would rather have had a much bigger map that included whole other sections of town or what seemed like a city at some times, with fast travel and quests dedicated to certain areas with everything you need in that area. That also brings me to my next critique: I had no idea if the game was encouraging exploration or not. Certain times, exploring was crucial and if you didn’t check extra spaces in areas you wouldn’t find the items needed to advance the story. With this in mind, I would explore the next area as much as I could and find jack squat. I would go down entire side roads and not even find something to interact with. It would’ve been better for me if the game either kept it simple and made the thing you needed to find easy to get to (with hints, which I’ll get to in difficulty) or up the difficulty and make the things harder to find, with other useful items along the way that could connect to some new side quests they could add. If it wasn’t clear, I just wanted this game to be slightly bigger. The only other complaints I have are that some of the Spacedive puzzles (the cakes) and side quests (chapter 4 crowbar quest where you had to do literal curriculum math??) were dumb and I didn’t understand why they sometimes gave me multiple dialogue options that only made sense if you chose them in order. Now, the mechanics had one saving grace: the fighting, specifically in future fighter. I had seen the arrows/combination system in other games like Ghost of Tsushima, but it fit so well with this game. I liked the simplistic yet occasionally challenging fight style in what was a mostly story focused game. I played Future Fighter a lot and wish it was more present outside of the arcade (I’ll get to that in Difficulty). Graphics/Visuals: 18/20 The graphics in this game were easily the most appealing aspect. Every frame was designed and colored beautifully, especially the cut scenes. Every character had a great design and the use of blue and white in particular really made this game stand out. The shot of Raya on the bridge at the very end staring into the sky was beautiful. It was wonderful to end the game on, and all other shots that included the sky had the same pleasing effect on me. The Spacedive realms initially had me impressed with the graphics and animations. That was, until I saw Marin’s Spacedive realm and instantly wished that every other realm was as detailed and visually complex as hers. The water, the door puzzle, the coral, all of it was beautiful! Erik’s came kind of close but where was this design for the other realms? I think the game looked great, but I honestly think it’s beauty could’ve been amplified even more if the developers wanted to. But every animation, transition and still frame had my jaw on the floor. Only other critique is that some of the towns were a little bland. Music: 15/20 The soundtrack was perfectly adequate! I could’ve done with more varied soundtracks in different areas or even multiple options for the more general areas (which is why I push my bigger map idea, I generally just think games like this work better with a slightly bigger map), but it fit the vibe of the playthrough nicely and gave a nice relaxing atmosphere. In terms of variety, the “general town” song was incredibly repetitive by the end of the game, I’d heard it at least a gajillion times and I think a rotating list of at least a few other songs would’ve been great. I loved the 8-bit/lo-fi vibe of all the songs which obviously fit in with the graphics, and I think the boss battle music was the best in the game. Not much to comment on here. Difficulty: 14/20 The difficulty was a bit of something I had a problem with. It fluctuated frequently, wasn’t hard or easy in the places I would’ve hoped, and to culminate the point I’ve been trying to make, they really just needed to choose a lane. Some of the Spacedive puzzles were the easiest thing I’ve ever done and some took way too long, which would’ve been cool had they increased in difficulty throughout the game but they were too scattered. This was the same with some of the quests. The Chapter 4 “find the crowbar” quest was awful and I was livid when I had to do actual curriculum math to figure this one out. I think that says more about me. My biggest issue, though, was the ease at which the boss battles came. I would’ve been okay with the boss battles being easy had the rest of the game not been unpredictable in terms of difficulty. If the game wanted to make itself a little bit more of a combat driven story game that would’ve been great, because the boss battles could have increased in difficulty in an arc similar to Future Fighter. I was excited when I got to fight Bosque on somewhat of the same difficulty as some of the higher levels in Future Fighter, but it still could’ve been harder or present in more battles (IF that’s what the game was). Overall, there were just some parts of the game that were stupid easy, some that were bonkers hard, and as you progressed you could never tell which one you were going to encounter. Overall, this game needed to decide if it wanted to be a chill puzzle driven story game or slightly tricky combat driven story game. The graphics were beautiful, and combined with the music made for a relaxing experience overall. The story, while confusing, sent a nice message and kept you engaged along the way. I wished it had a bigger map, more consistent or a continually increasing difficulty, and a story with less allusion and more worldbuilding. I had a good time playing this game, and I recommend for anyone who’s looking for an unwinder before they head off the bed each night. Extra +3 Vibe points Score: 79/100