Unleaving

Beautiful art, thought provoking

A highly polished game featuring amazing hand-drawn artwork and great atmosphere.

🎨 experiência visual 🧠Puzzles médios (e irritantes) ⛔ não zerei 📝Resumo: Unleaving é um jogo indie desenvolvido e publicado pelo estúdio canadense Orangutan Matter, sendo possivelmente seu único título disponível. A equipe por trás do jogo enxerga os videogames como uma ferramenta para explorar as profundezas das emoções e vulnerabilidades humanas. O título se destaca por sua arte feita à mão, com um tom melancólico que proporciona um forte apelo visual e filosófico. 👀 Opiniões: Desde que assiti seu trailer me encantei pelo jogo. Fiquei ansiosa pelo lançamento e torci para que me enviassem uma key. Fiz cerca de metade da gameplay, a experiência foi boa mas eu tenho dificuldade com juntar informações que são passadas de forma fragmentada, por esse motivo minha atenção foi mais para os puzzles do que a história em si, acabei não sendo tocada pela principal proposta do jogo. Algo que não é mencionado na sinopse é que os sons do jogo - músicas e efeitos sonoros - são absurdamente bons e colaboram muito pra uma certa imersividade.

not a good "game"

Orangutan Matter, the Toronto based Indie studio, made the conscious decision to not make their first game Unleaving with the more traditional methods of game development, forgoing the digital for a physical art style; a hand painted aesthetic. That’s right, everything you see in this new side-scrolling puzzle platformer, from the characters to the environments, has been made by hand with acrylic paints, graphite, and painting animations. It is the first time I have looked at a screenshot of a video game and not immediately known that it was in fact not an illustration. On this visual style alone Unleaving sets itself apart, but what is incredible to see is how Orangutan Matter were able to make a fascinating, if at times bewildering, video game that is fun to play as well as being a surreal experience. You play as a young, frail looking child with a plume of bright red hair, traversing bizarre and haunting landscapes wrapped in symbolism that grows more macabre as the game plays out. The child can jump and push/pull certain objects, making for an easy to grasp control system that is used for several different puzzles throughout the game. Nearly all the puzzles will be familiar to any player who has enjoyed a couple of 2D puzzle games: weight-based conundrums, mirrored movement, timing and momentum being just few. Although simple in premise, the complexity of the puzzles may catch some off guard, as it did me. I had several ‘Aha!’ moments during my near 2 hour full playthrough, and never found the choice in art style to be obstructive; everything is clear to see on the screen, it’s just about you working out what you have to do. Some of these puzzles can lead to your demise, such as escaping a rabid dog by running under a windmill arm at just the right time, missing the player and killing the pursuing hound. Though there are several ways that you can die in Unleaving, there is a well implemented checkpoint system in place that puts the player back at the beginning of the current puzzle or obstacle, so any failure is short lived. There is also a hint system in the game; after being on a puzzle for a certain amount of time a lightbulb symbol will appear to tell you there is a hint available to view. These are simple illustrations of objects in the environment that nudge the player towards the correct approach without expressly saying what they need to do. I was happy to have these, as there were a couple of occasions where I got stuck and the hint helped me overcome my current hurdle, but I can see them being a bit obtuse for some players. Of course, it is Unleaving’s art direction and style that grabs your attention, evocative in its use of imagery as well as colour and composition. Empty space filed with muted greens, purples or greys create eerie landscapes, punctuated by strange, decrepit  buildings and towering piles of trash. Everything takes on a demure, dreamlike quality that fits perfectly with the often weird visuals making up these unearthly places. The whole world seems to be in a constant state of change as the animated brushstrokes that make up the game’s visuals move across the screen, overlapping, changing colours, giving this ethereal place a life of its own. The game’s style and how it is animated heightens it’s eerie and unsettling atmosphere, with dashes of brighter colours splashing on screen with an almost violent nature. The puppet-like animations of the player character and the inhabitants of this dreamscape add to the unnerving feel the whole game exudes; the slow movement reminding me of how I would struggle to move in my own dreams. Unleaving presents a strangely beautiful and often disturbing world that kept me uncomfortable, intrigued and, for better or worse, lost. Sadly, not being sure became a bit of a theme for me in Unleaving; I never really felt I had a grasp of what was happening during my playthrough. It could well be Orangutan Matter’s intention for each player to derive their own meaning from the game, but for me it meant that I was never able to fully engage with it as I tried to make sense of it all. To me, the most impressive thing about Unleaving is how perfectly Orangutan Matter have incorporated the mediums of painting and drawing into a video game, with none of these elements detracting from one another. It is no small thing to make either a video game or a painting, but to do both is extraordinary, especially for an Indie studio’s first release. Technology will always be the driving factor for video games and their design, but Unleaving is a great example of how different art forms can work together to broaden their respective mediums. Despite feeling like I couldn’t fully appreciate every aspect of the game, I had a fantastic time playing Unleaving from start to finish, drawn in by my curiosity and love of the art, and suitably challenged by the puzzles within the painting. Though I may not have been able to find meaning during my time playing the game, I’m sure there are plenty out there who will. There is clearly a great deal to examine within this game, but there was a part of me that felt as though it wasn’t mine to unpack. Like a dream, it was an unique experience to play Unleaving, and I am glad to have had this experience. Full review available on my blog: https://gamereviewlution.blog/

A truly beautiful game, games these days a very rarely an art form. When something unique comes along like this it’s a breath of fresh air.

I can say this game has flaws but it is a game that pushes the envelope in art style and the possibilities of how games can be made. But here is the breakdown of what I think of the game overall: Pros: I think overall the game is very beautiful. I saw this game at PAX East 2023 and was in love with the style and the atmosphere it was giving. From there, I was just excited to play it (and lucky to have play tested behind the scenes as well post PAX). The puzzles are very brilliantly made. Every piece of imagery/sound looked like there was a lot of thought and care in making sure the player sees/hears any needed hints to solve the puzzles. Because of this, you will need to think and be observant on what you need to do; a huge plus in terms of level design for me personally because everyone is tired of the blatant White/Yellow tinted walls. Cons: Though the puzzles using the visuals and sounds to solve the puzzles are great. I think the amount of precision needed to solve a lot of the puzzles is infuriating. Over time, you can beat this game very easily in first try attempts (I've played this game 4 times). But as a Platformer, it is very frustrating to see the character run or jump but miss the objective by fractions of a second or misstep just barely to fail. At times you will feel very frustrated just because of the amount of precision needed to move along the stages. Now don't get me wrong this isn't as egregious as some infamous game levels (the Turtle Bridge level in Crash Bandicoot remake). But it felt like there needed to be more polish there. Conclusion: Is it a bad game? No. Not at all. Honestly, it would get a 7/10 for me. Though the controls do need work (it really did bring the score down for me a lot), the visual and sound design is enough to enjoy the game. And the puzzles are intriguing enough to make you enjoy the game. I would still recommend people to play if they love to play a short game (1-4 hours depending on your skill level), and enjoy a visually captivating environment. I would say it is a good intro to games as a medium to people who want to learn to play video games (and that is not Mario)...but give a disclaimer to them it will make you want to rage.