An amazing narrative in a unique setting, held back slightly by the gameplay.
A Space for the Unbound is a game about growing up, through the eyes of our main character, Atma. We see him and his interactions with the other people in this little town in Indonesia, who are dealing with their own troubles. We all have some worry deep down; this game tells the story of these worries. Characters get a lot of development, making them feel more human, as they have relatable good and bad traits, and the music helped drive emotions. Small side-quests also helped build the context of Atma's relationships with other characters.
My only gripe throughout this whole journey was the gameplay. There was a lot of fetch quests, and although I loved exploring the town, it was tiring to walk 5 minutes to one end of the town to pick up one thing only to walk back 5 minutes to progress the story. Various collectables are missable too; once you miss it in one chapter, it won't show up in the next. I missed out on a small bonus scene post-credits and a couple achievements because of this, and I'm not willing to spend another 9-ish hours to redo that.
I think this game is a must-play for anyone interested in a coming-of-age story. While the gameplay can be weak at times, the narrative makes up for that by a lot. A lot of passion can be seen into this project, with the pixel art, songs, and the nods to Indonesian culture.
A Space for the Unbound is a game about growing up, through the eyes of our main character, Atma. We see him and his interactions with the other people in this little town in Indonesia, who are dealing with their own troubles. We all have some worry deep down; this game tells the story of these worries. Characters get a lot of development, making them feel more human, as they have relatable good and bad traits, and the music helped drive emotions. Small side-quests also helped build the context of Atma's relationships with other characters.
My only gripe throughout this whole journey was the gameplay. There was a lot of fetch quests, and although I loved exploring the town, it was tiring to walk 5 minutes to one end of the town to pick up one thing only to walk back 5 minutes to progress the story. Various collectables are missable too; once you miss it in one chapter, it won't show up in the next. I missed out on a small bonus scene post-credits and a couple achievements because of this, and I'm not willing to spend another 9-ish hours to redo that.
I think this game is a must-play for anyone interested in a coming-of-age story. While the gameplay can be weak at times, the narrative makes up for that by a lot. A lot of passion can be seen into this project, with the pixel art, songs, and the nods to Indonesian culture.