Picked this game up randomly and wow this is a sweet surprise.
Over the years "puzzle platformer" became almost a derogatory moniker for a generic indie game, and yet I haven't seen a title that manages to merge both of these things in a satisfying punch. A usual game with this tag is either a side-scrolling puzzler where you occasionally have to jump over an obstacle, or a pure precision platformer that might require to consider your surroundings from time to time and map out a path through a level layout. Can't say these approaches aren't legit, but none of those got a balanced merger of genres going.
The surprising strength of Unravel 2 is that in 10 minutes it manages to introduce gameplay language with a set of mechanics that complements both puzzling and platforming, then lets you have a comfy adventure that constantly puts these mechanics to test. It's fine paced, and levels introduce new ideas to the mix without feeling gimmicky and superficial, breaking out of the base set of rules only once for the final gameplay sequence. It's not a hard game – the puzzles aren't complex and platforming doesn't require much skill, but you always do something interesting and fun. Moreso almost all reviews I saw online didn't bother to point out that there's a set of short challenge levels that nicely complement the main campaign by developing the ideas even further and giving more complex problems to solve if you do look for them. It's just a nice little package for both vibing and tryharding.
Still it missteps a little. While puzzle design nearly all is neat, platforming mostly feels good but shows the lack of controllable snap when it starts requiring more precision in those challenge levels. The game is gorgeous, but experience side is a little heavy handed and maybe it could be more of a hit if any kind of direct human involvement was replaced with smarter environmental storytelling. Still it's nothing compared to my disappointment in how much Unravel 2 came under people's radar. Maybe it's the positioning of cutesy "play with your mom or gf" game that harmed it, but I feel like if it was any other publisher there would be much more of a positive buzz around. Glad I discovered it though, it's a good time.
Oh and by the way the Switch version is excellent.
Over the years "puzzle platformer" became almost a derogatory moniker for a generic indie game, and yet I haven't seen a title that manages to merge both of these things in a satisfying punch. A usual game with this tag is either a side-scrolling puzzler where you occasionally have to jump over an obstacle, or a pure precision platformer that might require to consider your surroundings from time to time and map out a path through a level layout. Can't say these approaches aren't legit, but none of those got a balanced merger of genres going.
The surprising strength of Unravel 2 is that in 10 minutes it manages to introduce gameplay language with a set of mechanics that complements both puzzling and platforming, then lets you have a comfy adventure that constantly puts these mechanics to test. It's fine paced, and levels introduce new ideas to the mix without feeling gimmicky and superficial, breaking out of the base set of rules only once for the final gameplay sequence. It's not a hard game – the puzzles aren't complex and platforming doesn't require much skill, but you always do something interesting and fun. Moreso almost all reviews I saw online didn't bother to point out that there's a set of short challenge levels that nicely complement the main campaign by developing the ideas even further and giving more complex problems to solve if you do look for them. It's just a nice little package for both vibing and tryharding.
Still it missteps a little. While puzzle design nearly all is neat, platforming mostly feels good but shows the lack of controllable snap when it starts requiring more precision in those challenge levels. The game is gorgeous, but experience side is a little heavy handed and maybe it could be more of a hit if any kind of direct human involvement was replaced with smarter environmental storytelling. Still it's nothing compared to my disappointment in how much Unravel 2 came under people's radar. Maybe it's the positioning of cutesy "play with your mom or gf" game that harmed it, but I feel like if it was any other publisher there would be much more of a positive buzz around. Glad I discovered it though, it's a good time.
Oh and by the way the Switch version is excellent.