The existence of Unravel 2 was a pleasant surprise at an EA showcase depressingly short of them. Even better, you can play the game right now. Er, if you don’t mind using Origin. I adored Unravel’s physics-based platforming, even if the horned, red figure of Yarny himself is clearly demonic in nature. It’s those dead eyes. Brrr. Making the sequel twice as unsettling is the arrival of a second yarn monster, who adds a dose of co-op puzzling. I bet they team up for a dark ritual at some point, too. But not in the opening 18 minutes, which I present for you here in video form.
Crafted cutie Yarny is back, and this time he’s made a friend. EA today not only formally announced Unravel Two, they’re chuffing well launching the puzzle-platformer today too. Surprise! And now it has co-op too. We knew a sequel was coming but didn’t expect this. Here’s our video person Matthew playing a bit. Read the rest of this entry »
Unravel wrote a charming, yarn-based check its lackluster platforming couldn’t cash. By which I mean, it was alright, but not all I might have hoped based on how good it looked. Now it looks like EA are giving developers Coldwood another spin of the spinning wheel: there’s an Unravel sequel on the way.
Unravel [official site] is currently on trial over on Origin. I assume that means Yarny will finally have to answer for his woolen crime spree*, taking to the stand as a jury of his peers (balls of yarn) listen to witness testimony and shake their heads at the awfulness of… Oh. Apparently it just means that you can try playing the first level of Unravel for ten hours as a kind of trial/demo thing.
I thought there was already a demo/trial for Unravel but after investigating further I must have confused that with the early trial thing EA run as part of their monthly Origin Access subscription program.
I’d guess most people first encountered earnest puzzle platformer Unravel [official site] during EA’s E3 press conference. The creative director of Coldwood Studios, Martin Sahlin, took to the stage with slightly shaking hands and a doll he’d made of the main character, Yarny. “We put our hearts into [Unravel],” he concluded, “and we hope that when you play it you will feel that.” Let’s find out as I tell you Wot I Think.
With Unravel [official site] being close to release (Feb 9) its developers have released a preview video thingummy to explain more about using yarn monster Yarny to solve puzzles in the game. Behold! Read the rest of this entry »
I fear this hyper-earnest behind the scenes vid might somewhat unravel the charm and emotive clout of Unravel [official site] by being so very on the nose about love and bonds and big hearts. This may, of course, be because I am a sneering critic within whose eyes lurks only icy deadness. I hope the game itself resists such overt emotional signposting.
I really do want to play Unravel though – its pseudo-stop-motion aesthetic is ridiculously pretty, the yarn-based psychics puzzling has a ‘why hasn’t someone done this before?’ ingenuity to it, and its Swedish origins show just enough that it has a welcome touch of otherness to it to these Britcit eyes. Cuteness that might have become cloying in other hands has an appealing undertone of bleakness to it. Read the rest of this entry »
You may be starting to think about a New Year’s resolution, so here’s one idea for you: get buff tear ducts. I’m talking super-swole, mega-ripped tear ducts able to clamp down to a molecular level, so tight water particles can’t squeeze through. For while Unravel [official site] might look like just a cutesy puzzle-platformer, with its wee red yarn man swinging around on himself, there’ll be tears. Oh, there’ll be tears, I feel it in my salt. The kicker: you’ve only got two months to get those ducts jacked, as EA have announced Unravel will launch on February 9th, 2016.
