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Choosing a game to play mostly depends on the kind of mood I am in that day. Sometimes I feel like just a quick fix after a long day and a game of FIFA will quench that thirst. Other times I want to be lost in a vast world with a 100-hour campaign that I can sink my teeth into.
But most of the time, especially as I get older, I want to be surprised by my games. I want to play something and see something and feel something I haven’t played, seen or felt before. Unleaving achieves a lot of that.
Unleaving is an impressive debut from developer Orangutan Matter, based in Canada. The big influence for this side-scrolling platformer and how the character moves and interacts is that of Playdead’s, Limbo. It has much in common with that seminal game, with a story that is more impressionist than a straightforward narrative that sends us from A to B.
You play an unnamed red-haired girl who at the start of the game is found sitting on a cliff edge. She looks thoughtful as a butterfly goes past and a voice from the heavens shouts “Awake”. The story itself is then open to interpretation, with the strange locations you visit and the otherwordly characters you meet along the way. I think the atmosphere and the world you explore are the fascinating parts of this game, but those wanting a more linear narrative might be found wanting.
Gameplay is found in the platforming and solving of puzzles. If you remember Limbo from years ago you will remember a game that required some nifty platforming skills. Unleaving is exactly the same, needing thoughtfulness and nerves of steel at times. I died a lot, but there is an achievement for dying in every possible way, so chin up.
You have a jump available to you and you can also hold onto ledges and hanging items to move across the world. What I enjoyed most about Unleaving though is that it seems with every different location, or place you encounter, it requires different puzzle and thinking skills. For example, there is one area where you have to operate lots of switches that change gravity, switching requires some clever platforming. In another area, you get a duplicate of yourself, like a reflection, where you have to control both simultaneously to get through the level.
It plays as a great collection of puzzles and tasks, working along the lines of a three hour or so experience. Sometimes the levels you’ll take in are hard, and at others, frustrating, but the world is such an amazing place to hang out that you’ll want to keep pushing through.
The visuals are out of this world. The art on show here is one of the main reasons to experience Unleaving. The makers have created hundreds and thousands of hand-drawn pencils, graphite, and acrylic paintings which they have painstakingly put into the game. Each level looks stunning. There is also the use of stop animation; something that is so well done that it wouldn’t look out of place receiving top awards at an animation festival.
There are so many different set pieces and strange visuals on display in each section of the game that it is hard to pick a favourite, but my word, if you want to look at a good example of a USP, then this is it. The sound is beautiful as well, with some haunting strings coming in with perfect timing, complementing emotive sections. Again the whole sound score emits melancholy and then extraordinary hope towards the end.
Should you have previously been a fan of Limbo, then you should be playing Unleaving immediately. It can feel frustrating at times, what with its tricky puzzles and intricate platforming, but there is a true sense of achievement when you work out how to progress. The art of the game – both in terms of visuals and sound – is where it fully excels, and for that reason, Unleaving is to be loved.