As 2023 comes to a close, I realised that I hadn't played many games that released this year. Actually, I realised that I hadn't played a single game nominated in the game awards. So before the year ended, I thought I'd pick something to try out. A Space for the Unbound caught my eye and after I already decided to play it, I noticed purely by coincidence that it was made by the same developers behind Coffee Talk, the game I played before this one. With what Coffee Talk was like, I expected a light-hearted, chill and relaxing puzzle game. Instead, I was given a vibrant tale packed with more emotion than my tissue box could handle. And here's why.

    What immediately stood out to me was the setting. I hadn't realised with Coffee Talk but the company behind the game is Indonesian. However, unlike Coffee Talk,  Indonesian culture is heavily celebrated and embraced with this game. It shines through the colourful clothing, the sweltering heat in the atmosphere, the food and so many other aspects. You can really tell how much the creators wanted to convey the beauty of their country. Details like street vendors and Indonesian food stalls make you feel like you're breathing the Asian air and immerses you in their world. Every aspect of the map is riddled with small things that make the game so friendly and lively. I mean, for Christ's sake, they have cats in every corner of the map. How could it get any better?

    Another aspect that stands out is the art direction. Pixel art is one of my favourite types of art and this game may have some of the best of it I've ever seen, in and out of games. The feeling of a lively and youthful summer is captured perfectly. Its overflowing with many details like bottle caps on the floor, cats everywhere and school kids running around. Although my childhood wasn't exactly the same, it evokes nostalgia nonetheless. But what really stands out to me is the background art. Some of the most beautiful and breathtaking shots of the sky I've ever seen are in this game. And not only when the game draws attention to it. There were plenty of times when I was running through the game and stopped to stare at the background that I'm sure goes unnoticed by many. They're not just still images either, but they move with the character and have small details in them too. Its layered with clouds, the sun and other features that all move at different speeds. It's beautiful throughout but only gets better the further into the game, until by the end I'm left in complete awe at the sight. The amazing art also extends to cut-scenes where the design of the characters are more detailed. Even despite it being pixel art, the emotions of the characters are so vividly expressed on their faces in these moments. The art is able to powerfully capture the wonder of an Indonesian town and subsequently convey an apocalyptic and destructive beauty - it could not be better.

    The next greatest contributor to the game being so beautiful is the music and sound design. Sound design normally flies over my head but I did pick up on some small things I liked. For example, the typing sound that plays over text appearing on the screen is really nice on the ears and the running sound effect for some reason stood out to me too. Ambient effects like cats meowing, bird chirping and people talking add to the experience also.
    The score is packed with emotional piano, upbeat, and relaxing tracks to fit every mood. Running through the town under the summer sun with chill music in the back gives me such a warm and great feeling. But when the story takes an emotional turn, the music becomes some of the most poignant and powerful music I've heard in gaming. Honestly, I get emotional listening to the music even without the gameplay behind it. On top of this, there are a few tracks that have vocals in them so when they pull out those vocals at the climax and ending, it is very moving. The lyrics are very relevant as well, especially in the final song. **I'm not musician so there's no way for me to not undersell how impactful the music is, but there are countless tracks that I'll be scouring the internet for after writing this, to listen to again. 

    On the other hand, the gameplay was pretty underwhelming. I like how well it integrated into the story and themes but on its own, it was lacking for me. A significant amount of the game is running around the map, looking for items or talking to random people who tell you to go and look for items. This isn't unenjoyable because of the great music and art, but the game design doesn't do it any favours. A lot of it is repetitive and is normally along the lines of: talk to the person you're told to, space-dive, go search for all the items needed for it, space-dive again, do the puzzle and then continue. Outside of the space-dive, there is a fun little combat feature where you have to enter a specified string of inputs under a time limit. But it's very basic, doesn't mix it up a lot and isn't challenging enough to love.
    The main gameplay feature is the puzzles. It has some good ideas and I like how it uses things outside of the puzzles alone, like getting you to explore the map and keep your eye out for things or clues that may be useful. However, the puzzles themselves are effortless, with the clues and hints being spoon-fed to you. Throughout the game, I only got stuck about 2 times and quickly figured out what to do because it's normally obvious. Some puzzles have sneaky solutions but that's about as hard as it gets. Most of the puzzles will ask for you to collect something external but the main character will say something like "Oh, if only I had X item right now..." so not a lot of thinking is involved. Or you'll walk past an NPC saying something in the same vein. It's clear that the game has the story at it's focal point and making the puzzles too hard would retract from that for some players, but I think the puzzles are just too easy and that's coming from someone who isn't even that good at puzzles in general. Albeit, even if they aren't that mentally stimulating, I think adding puzzles and small gameplay features like this is better than having a visual novel format or a walking simulator, for this game in particular, and there are some fun puzzles here and there. Overall, the gameplay is definitely the area aspect I enjoyed the least, but I didn't hate it by any means.

    The plot is actually rather loose, but not necessarily in a bad way. The premise can't really be described well in a few sentences as it starts out unassuming but then expands greatly to surprising heights. Foreshadowing begins very early on and creates an ongoing mystery that is revealed to have many sides to it. The somewhat loose plot here is an advantage because there is so much unpredictability and flexibility to every event. As the story is not grounded in reality, the setting is constantly changing and norms are bent. It takes you to so many imaginative places and scenarios and really uses the eccentricity of fiction to it's best. There is a constant use of visual metaphors and the flexible setting lends itself to having a large range of themes for the puzzles as well. However, it's loose nature does have its weaknesses. For example, some plot points seem very random and contrived when there is no real purpose for them and they kind of come out of nowhere. There are plenty of long sections in the game where you need to solve one random problem of a person in the town before continuing the story, even if it's completely unrelated. Stuff like this would be great if it were optional, shorter or more relevant to the story but being so long and pointless takes away from the tension of the main storyline. 
    A big portion of the story is using the 'space dive' feature and this contributes to making the story very psychological, which is fascinating. The world and characters feel more alive and humanized when we delve into the psyche of the people across all ages and occupations. Expressing their mental struggles using metaphors in the form of puzzles and imagery is also very creative. This is at its best when being used on the important characters because we can see how it links into the story and the central themes. It's a brilliant way to give exposition and exploration on each character's current position and growth as you go through the game. Rather than simple and plain dialogue or a long and sappy backstory, it is shown through artistic and creative ways of representing the inner workings of their minds. 
    However, I do think there is room for improvement. With one of the largest features of the gameplay being diving into the brains of the characters, I think there could have been further exploration as a lot of it was rather surface level - especially for the minor characters. Some definitely do stand out though and I think it was very fulfilling to see people change their perspective about their memories and situation and take a new path. But with such a powerful concept like diving into the brains of people and their mental struggles, it could have tackled more powerful situations and themes for a lot of the minor characters. However, I did like how small problems were given attention, as the little things do matter as well.

    What I love about the game most though is the characters and theming. (big spoilers ahead). The game undeniably revolves around one central and exceedingly multi-faceted character: Raya/Nirmala. Heck, even her name seems pretty complicated. There are other characters that have depth to them but mostly all of them are used as devices for Raya. Truthfully, even the main character is predominantly a device for Raya, and it wouldn't be far off to say that Raya is actually the main character herself. The entire story takes place within her imagination, which is revealed to be during her coma, and is why every plot point is so entwined with her whim and character development. That's one of the reasons why the themes stand out so much and are so powerful; they are ingrained deeply into the story itself and push forward the plot.
    Now as for the main theme, there are a few I could put into that box but none that I can definitively say is the message and the number one thing the game is trying to say. The game says a lot in many different ways, so I'll go through some of the ones I found interesting.
    One of the most prevalent themes is escapism and stagnation. The entire premise revolves around Raya's imagination. And whenever she appears, she avoids facing her problems and manufactures solutions by using her magical abilities. She runs away from all of her problems and indulges in her fantasy of a world just for her and Atma, where no-one bothers them and they just do whatever they want. But the truth is that she has problems that she can't just run away from. She has a temporary escape in her self-delusion but eventually she crumbles under her loneliness and the weight of her past. Now this is actually something I can relate to a lot. In fact, it's partially why I played the game. Just like many others, games and other forms of media serve as a form of escapism. It's a space where I can be unbound (hehe) by the worries of reality and live in a temporary fantasy, like Raya. If I find any issues, that's fine, I can just pick up another game or put on a different show. But just like Raya, this can't go on forever. You can try to flood your mind with endless distractions but there will be nights when you're in the dark trying to fall asleep at 3AM and you're reminded of the problems you still have and how little you've done about them. It creeps up on you. Without confronting your issues and past, and without learning to appreciate the things you have instead of flooding your brain with imaginary value, you can't move forward. 
    Closer to the end we learn that Raya 'split into two' and discarded her child self, 'Nirmala'. 'Nirmala' embodied her passion, curiosity and love for the world around her. But because of her father's abuse and classmates' harassment and bullying, she chose to discard that part of herself because she couldn't take it all. She tried to become someone she was not, and was stripped of her authentic self, essentially splitting into two. Being forced into a box, it made her depressed and after bottling it all up, she ran away into her imagination. Raya is told all her life that she's a failure, weird and no-one has ever appreciated who she was. So she grew up thinking that being herself was wrong. Raya is terrified of sadness so she avoids it by escaping to her imagination. The role of Atma is to convince her that it's okay to be herself. Despite all the bad things about her and the horrible things she does, Atma has to remain determined to reassure her that she is loved. Raya is stubborn and continues to run away, even becoming hostile and trying to kill Atma. Eventually, she gives in and discloses her problems, allowing Atma to console her. With intimate and personal dialogue, they work through her problems. With this, during an introspective conversation on the rooftop with Atma she says 'all the fear, failure and loneliness are part of me'. Instead of rejecting and avoiding the negative emotions, she learns to accept them and accept herself in the process. With Atma convincing herself to get up and finally take a step forward, to face her past and her issues, we go on a very emotional section of the story - a journey back to Nirmala, her true self. And in order to become her true self again, she had to address her harsh memories, take responsibility for her mistakes and learn to love herself. 
    One of the first obstacles in doing this was Erik. Now he isn't such a nice guy. He bullies her and even (accidentally) killed her cat. She has plenty of reason to hate him. However, she knew that Erik is actually in love with her, he just struggles to convey it. But Raya refuses to help him out and understand him, but instead ignores his feelings. Despite recognising that Erik was similar to her in how difficult he finds it to accept and express himself, she ignored him. Raya learns to move past her hatred for him and not let it hold her back.
    The next obstacle was Lulu. As a defense to being bullied and ridiculed, Raya tried to become just like someone everyone looked up to, Lulu. But she then find out that it was impossible. She couldn't transform into someone she was not. She ended up being put down by Lulu and felt horrible about herself. Here, Raya accepts rejection and becomes strong enough to no let others define her value and force her into being someone she isn't.
    Next was Marin. Through their friendship, Raya was constantly reminded of how unfortunate her family circumstances were and compared them to Marin's generous parents. Truthfully, Raya was really jealous of Marin so when Marin did not step in to help when she was getting bullied, she used that as an excuse to deny their friendship. She knew that Marin was just too scared to help her and despite that she withheld her forgiveness to avoid the pain of jealousy. Here, Raya learns to accept those negative emotions and not let it take away from their beautiful friendship of drawing and writing together.
    And the final obstacle, her dad. Needless to say, her dad is irredeemably awful. But she didn't have the strength to confront him, scared of the consequences and negative emotions. With her newfound confidence in herself she cements him as awful in her mind, giving her the resolve to leave him behind and move on.
    Having addressed these problems, Raya had bridged what was stopping her from being herself and goes to greet Nirmala, the authentic part of her, the part she and nobody can live without. Once again, Raya rediscovers her love for the little things she enjoyed as a kid: 'the people who care about her, the things that bring her job, the feeling of sitting down to write'. I thought it sounded corny growing up but gratitude and appreciating the things you have really does change your perspective on the value of your life and life around you.

    Onto the ending. The climax of Raya reuniting with Nirmala, accepting herself and then the visual representation of her leaving her imagination is no less than beautiful. The symbolism with the yellow flowing budding, the breathtaking imagery, it all creates an unbelievable spectacle. Now, the climax and catharsis of this game may be my favourite out of any game I've ever played. Raya wakes, revealing that she was in a coma. She, quite literally in this sense, couldn't live without facing her past and struggles. After a time, we learn that she and her mother are moving away from her father. Raya gets up, and leaves the house. As she walks around town, we see how every other character ended up and how they have changed. Even the minor characters, like seeing the hiking club members in a relationship or a member of the biker gang join the karate dojo. Seeing all the characters and Raya's new self and attitude show through what she says to the other characters and how she speaks had me so giddy and smiley. The game really illustrates how despite it now being 'reality', it's just as if not more beautiful that her imagination. A life where you are comfortable in your own skin is wonderful. In combination with one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard (seriously, it's called An Ode to Life, check it out), she walks to a bridge where she reflects on herself and where to go next. Once again, this might be my favourite ending in gaming. Every single tiny loose end was tied, as if they had everything planned out perfectly from the very beginning. And with the emotional impact built up by the stellar art direction and soundtrack, it is simply superb. I actually stayed up until 3AM to finish it and the feeling I got afterwards was really special for me. I was in this rare state of feeling really appreciative of the life I have and the beauty all around me that's really hard to describe.

    Despite it's shortcomings, the game stuck the landing with a backflip and landed on 10 feet. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for amazing endings and recency bias so I'm finding it very easy to look past the things I didn't like. But nonetheless, the game is beautifully hopeful and a brilliantly crafted story with a complex and deeply explored character. It juggles unbelievably powerful emotions and tricky topics like trauma and self-acceptance that resonate with me deeply. Honestly, a game hasn't captured me like this in a very long time. For it to have me so invested in the story and characters and empathize so deeply with Raya, it really is special. It is lathered with love and passion and is truly an unforgettable experience. 9/10.