Unravel Hammers Away At Every Emotional Button Going
Spinning a tale
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.
Oddly, EA are publishing this one, clearly chancing their arm on something different to their guns'n'sports'n'mobile norm for the first time in a while. That's not to say there isn't enormous mainstream appeal in Yarny, though - you don't have to look far to find ties to the likes of Little Big Planet, Grow Home and Tearaway.
Here's a bonus vid about the environments, which I think I dig more than I do Yarny himself:
It's just over a month away - on Feb 9 we'll find out whether it's found the right side of the cheesy/charismatic line, and whether its theory of string-based puzzles can support a whole game.