This game broke me. I need to write some thoughts down. [SPOILERS]

[Pmk]

To me, videogames are first an art form, not just mere entertainment, so I value them more as an expression of their creators, meaning I don't care much if the game is fun and I greatly prefer when they have a story. I prefer to play a bunch of small 8/10 than one 10/10.

There has been a couple of time when, after finishing a game I had some confused feeling about it to then starting mulling over it, thinking back about the experience for a few days and strengthening my appreciation for them; other times, instead, I immediately fall in love and I finish the game after I've already consolidated my positive opinion for it.

A Space for the Unbound was both and it broke me...
Well, I'm exaggerating a bit, but the game didn't leave my mind for a couple days and I still get emotional when thinking back about it. I had to write my thoughts about it, in part because I want to write a review for it, but mostly because I want to be sure to always remember my feelings for it.

Of course, this means that this post will be full of SPOILERS: I won't use the spoiler text formatting, as it's annoying with lot of text, so if you're reading this and you didn't play the game, STOP READING.
Also, theses are my opinions: I think this game can be read in multiple ways, so I accept that not everyone will agree with me and that's ok.

I had this game on my wishlist for a while, but only recently I got it in my library and decided to start playing it on Valentine's day.
I liked it from the start, but there were a couple of things I didn't like. I greatly prefer "realistic" stories, as I feel magic almost always leads to plot holes in the story and this game quickly reveals Raya's power; while I do like games more for their stories, gameplay is still important and the game felt lacking in that.
Four days later, all my grievances were erased and the game went straight to my favorites (despite playing well over 100 games on Steam, very few of them have that honor). I still think the game has a couple problems I will go over, but it is one of the best games I've ever played.

From a purely game design point, the gameplay was a bit too simple for most of the game, but it did improve the longer the game went, getting to some interesting evolution at the ending, along with puzzles getting better. Other than that, I think the game has some pace issues, with some sections being too long: the ending of Chapter 5 was a bit too wordy, but the emotional reward from it was worth it.

The game was clearly written to be deceptive. Comas are for sure an easy plot device that can be used lazily, but I think A Space for the Unbound used it very successfully. I honestly didn't think it was used until the end of chapter 4 and that's is because the game does a lot to deceive the player.
Raya's power of changing her circumstances is written to have an apparent limit that then, unless I'm missing something, is mostly erased, which makes me think it was written that way only to deceive the player into believing that it was really magic instead of Raya's delusions.
Despite being in a coma, the player plays as someone else other than the comatose Raya and his actions are clearly autonomous and not dependent of her will; but in addition to that, there are also other characters that seems more aware of their existence...

These characters are one of my favorite part of the game, because I think that, for the most part, they were linked with Raya's story very well.

Erik, despite being the less involved one, surprised me the most: in the ending, Raya recognizes that they had a lot in common and I think that is because he represents a different path that Raya could have taken. They both are kids that, pressured by the society around them, needed to hide their true self: Raya repressed herself, basically trying to be more invisible to the people around her, while Erik went in the opposite direction by hiding his kindness behind a "cool guy" persona that made him instead more accepted, even getting a following.
Erik can be seen as more successful version of what Raya tried to do. The fact that he had a crush on her could also be seen as him recognizing Raya self repression.

Now, Lulu characterization is where there are some missed opportunities, as I think the writers missed the mark by a bit.
Lulu is shown as being part of the bullying against Nirmala while young, but also in a less participating way, like she was just going along with the other bullies: in fact, she isn't shown to actually bully Raya when older, but only to accuse her of being fake. The point is that, while she has the problem of wanting attention (with her being "the queen"), she's also someone that wants to improve society and help people around her: she helps Erik's father in the shop, she tries to mediate and altercation at the Internet Cafe and her chapter is all about her wanting to help that got afflicted by Raya's powers.
In the ending, it doesn't feel like Lulu and Raya relationship is solved in a mutual way, as it's played only as Raya recognizing that Lulu was what she tried to be. The fact is that the game does hints about Lulu actually caring about Raya: when in her Monster Swan form before disintegrating, she laments Raya having lost her creativity and, in the Ending after getting told by Raya that she doesn't care about her bullies, she looks worried, like she regrets having said something that made Raya feel bad; the webcomic also shows her feeling sad for Raya need to use a fake persona. All of this makes me think that she deeply regretted bullying Raya when little, being too harsh with her and not trying to just help her when she was having trouble with preparing the party; maybe she even blamed herself for Raya attempted suicide, which is why she looks so worried in the ending.
In conclusion, I think the game missed the opportunity to resolve their relationship in a mutual way like with the other two classmates: Raya recognizing that Lulu could appreciate the real her and Lulu recognizing that she should have tried to understand Raya more.

Marin has the most straightforward resolution with Raya in the ending: they were both creative person with the only difference being their economical situation. Marin tried to being closer to Raya, but just lacked the strength to do so against the people around her and Raya closed off from her as a punishment, without realizing that she needed her friendship.
It's also interesting that in the story she is shown to have a very active role, by even being the one to actively giving the player the red book: this might be a representation of Raya subconsciously recognizing she needed her friendship.

Niken is maybe another missed opportunity, but that might have been by design, given that the existence of the webcomic (SPOILERS for it too, it's free to read). It looks like that, in real life, Niken married Pram, but then the tragedy shown in the webcomic happened, which left her in a very bad mental state: with her being the School counselor and possibly one of the only good adult in Raya life, this might have left Raya feeling abandoned, which led her, in the her coma world, to make them not a couple.
In game, Pram is shown in only one scene and Niken, while she is shown to not acknowledge the player in chapter 4 because she's searching for him, it stops at that, so I wish they were both more involved.
The ending adds a bit, with Raya commenting that Niken did experience something traumatic, which might be her losing Pram. Maybe her searching for Pram in chapter 4 was a representation for real life.
As I said, this might have been by design, but I wish there was more about Niken in the game.

As for Raya parents, before the ending I was worried Raya was going to forgive her dad, but it instead she rightfully decided to cut him from her life; the game surely did a good job at making him hateable. On the other hand, her mom overcame her situation and was able to change her and Raya life for the better with the divorce: my own interpretation is that she went through it after Raya's attempted suicide, which also let her be to her daughter side during the coma (as an aside, it would also make more sense to me if Raya attempted suicide before her graduation, to then completing school after the coma, because the story in the coma world doesn't go beyond it).
In fact, I like to think that also other characters like Marin and Lulu visited her during the coma: maybe the free will that some characters seems to have is because their life counterparts talked to Raya, helping her heal.

Finally, there's a name I haven't mentioned until now, but that's because I think it's the best part of the game.
Atma, who the player plays as, is a bit of a mystery and I think it was intentionally done that way. He might have been a real person or just Nirmala's imaginary friend. I think both interpretations have their merits.
Atma being a real person hurts more, with him being forgotten by everyone except Nirmala, who then, from the trauma of watching him die because of her carelessness, decided to lose her true self. Him still ending up as who saves Raya from herself would show how being a kind person can help other heal in their unfair lives. The biggest clue against this interpretation is that, in a flashback, he mentions having found a part time job, which would make everyone not remembering him less believable.
However, I prefer him being Nirmala's imaginary friend. I don't scientific papers to back this up, but I remember reading that imaginary friends, more than being a symptom of something wrong with a kid, they are something childrens' brains create to cope with their situation and then heal from it. This would mean that Atma is what Nirmala creative mind created to cope with her problems while young, but also as part of her creative process. The flashback at the end of chapter 4 ends by her growing up and Atma, not only Nirmala, being left behind and forgotten by Raya. The trauma of almost drowning because of her carelessness is what killed Atma, with then the following verbal abuse from her father making her suppress her creativity completely.
Then, during the coma, Atma returned as a representation of her brain wanting to heal again, ending with her taking back her creativity while also not needing her imaginary friend anymore as a rite of passage into adulthood.

However as I said, this is only my interpretation, as I think the game is unclear about all of this by design: this, along its deceptiveness, is what I think is the best game's quality, as it allows the story to be more open to each player interpretations.


Well, I've for sure wrote a lot. I'm not sure if anyone would read all of this, but I needed to write all of this down.
But why?
The fact is that the main reason why I felt this much connection to the game is because, at least in part, I find Raya's story relatable: creativity sometimes feels more like a curse than a gift. If you aren't lucky enough to be born rich, creativity isn't rewarding in society: you have to nurture creativity to unlock its full potential, but that isn't always something that the people around you can accept.

Raya's story will continue to tear me up a little every time I think about it. In a way, like Raya left behind Atma without forgetting him, I might never replay A Space for the Unbound, but I'll never forget about it.

[nerketur]

(beware, spoilers be below)

I slightly disagree with your interpretation of Atma, though I do like it. There are many signs that point to him being the lost Atma's soul. (has spoilers, but you've played the game)

1.) At the very beginning of the game, you play as Atma, with Nirmala. After the death scene, you next show up as Atma, in class with Raya, but with no memory of any of it. We don't know who Raya is at this point. Because... we are Atma. Atma's soul.
2.) There are many many hints that the world is not what it seems, with both cats, and with the story you read (and collect) as you gather items for the bucket list. Most of these hints are subtle.
3.) It is strictly mentioned that Atma is the only one in that entire world that cannot be controlled by Raya. Near the end (Chapter 4 I think?) she even tries, but Atma is able to resist. She later on creates her own version of Atma who is more loyal to her, (but is 100% worse)
4.) It is stated that Atma is also wholly unique, as he is not from the world. He came in from outside it.

To your point of him needing to be remembered, don't forget that we never see the real world until chapter 6. Everything before that is all in her head. It's all part of the story. And, Might I add, it makes it even more beautiful that the real Atma was able to help her make a better ending. His final help. It gives closure, imo.

That said, feel free to continue with your preferred interpretation. You are correct that it is left somewhat ambiguous, and people are free to make their own interpretations. :)

(As a final aside, I'd suggest putting '[SPOLIERS]' in the title to make that fact more obvious.)

[Pmk]

Originally posted by nerketur:

CUT

That said, feel free to continue with your preferred interpretation. You are correct that it is left somewhat ambiguous, and people are free to make their own interpretations. :)

Yeah, the thing is that I can still read your points as just my interpretation that Atma is just the part of Raya's brain that wants to cure itself, but that also just reinforces my appreciation for the game's ambiguity.

I did though forget about the 4th point: Atma being from outside the world is the strongest argument for him being a real person. I can still see it meaning that it's just the part of Raya that wants to wake up, but so are Bosque and Nirmala and they are clearly different from Atma, meaning that they must have a different origin.

Going a bit meta (if I remember correctly from the Steam announcements), the developers mentioned that the story was changed quite a bit late into development, so some of the ambiguity might come from that.
Wouldn't really matter to me though: the game is perfect as it is.

Thanks for the comment: the game is now too old for many people discussing about it, so it's nice being able to still do so.