No loose threads here.

Story:

You play as Yarny, a crochet character that lives inside the home of an elderly woman. Exploring the house you travel to locations that are significant to the woman and relive her memories, both happy and sad as you try to track down yarn badges belonging to her memory album.

There's not a single audible piece of dialogue spoken in Unravel, yet the story it tells through visuals is quite poignant and filled with both happiness and sadness. It's not groundbreaking by any means, but the way it's done is actually fairly impressive and I genuinely loved the story.

Graphics:

Visually Unravel is a pretty impressive game. The environments of the game are going for that photorealistic look although they're not quite there yet. With Yarny's cartoonish, once you start playing it looks a bit off, but once you get into it, the world looks great. Just his design overall is great and I fell in love with the cute fellow immediately and his characteristic animations are top notch.

The amount of different environments and the different varieties ranging from a sea shore, the woods and incredibly dangerous factories. Just how distinct each area, is a major plus and I loved exploring each level and finding secrets is just a ton of fun.

Audio:

The audio design is also great across the board. I'll start off with the soundtrack, because the orchestral music you hear throughout your journey is great and there's some really cool ambient tracks that sound upbeat and fun and then when the game turns serious, the somber tracks are just as good.

The other sound effects are pretty decent, although the score takes the center stage here. The world around you does make noise, like birds chirping, snow falling off branches, the rain pouring onto the ground. It's all great stuff and mixed with the music it definitely builds a great atmosphere for each level.

Gameplay:

Unravel is a puzzle platformer where your main goal is to reach the end of the level and collecting the badge, however as a small guy made out of yarn you will have to use your wits to survive. So it's a very standard platformer, but there are a few different moves you have at your disposal and I'm talking about your yarn lasso.

Around the world you will find red bows which allow you to throw a lasso onto them and that will make you swing across gaps or dangerous areas. Also you can build bridges between two points so you can use it as a trampoline or to move items which help you later down the line, like building a platform.

The puzzles usually range from how can you clear a path to proceed and the puzzles are usually pretty simple in their design, with only a few of them actually stumping me and even then you're not going to get stuck on them. Also the checkpoints extend your yarn, cause you can actually get to a point where you can't proceed through the level because you're going to wear out the yarn.

So the gameplay is overall really fun, but there are a few issues. First of all connecting bridges is a bit finnicky and using them is also pretty janky. Sometimes you will hold down the jump button, but you'll find yourself not able to jump because you have to find a sweet spot to do it from and it gets annoying when you're dangling from an instant death pit.

There's also minor issues with Yarny not wanting to push items when they are colliding with something. There's one level where you have to pull something up a log and it got stuck in a certain way where you had to sort of fiddle with your positioning to get that thing and again you're doing this over an instant death spot.

The swinging is also a bit hit or miss. It works incredibly well for the most part and is actually quite a fun move and if you pull it off correctly, you can build off crazy momentum. However you can land on it incorrectly and you'll get yourself killed so chaining them together is not a good idea, just take it slow.

Verdict:

The EA Originals program has so far been absolutely great and I can't believe that it took me that long to get to it. It's a genuinely fun game that is challenging, fun and has an emotional story all wrapped in a neat package. If you want a fun platformer give Unravel a shot, you won't be disappointed.

Final Rating:
9/10

Pros:
+ Story is emotional without uttering a single word
+ Great orchestral soundtrack
+ Incredibly fun gameplay, that is both simple and challenging
+ Tons of different and amazing looking environments

Cons:
- Some of the gameplay mechanics, especially the bridges are incredibly finnicky and will wind up getting you killed.

If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews

No loose threads here. Story: You play as Yarny, a crochet character that lives inside the home of an elderly woman. Exploring the house you travel to locations that are significant to the woman and relive her memories, both happy and sad as you try to track down yarn badges belonging to her memory album. There's not a single audible piece of dialogue spoken in Unravel, yet the story it tells through visuals is quite poignant and filled with both happiness and sadness. It's not groundbreaking by any means, but the way it's done is actually fairly impressive and I genuinely loved the story. Graphics: Visually Unravel is a pretty impressive game. The environments of the game are going for that photorealistic look although they're not quite there yet. With Yarny's cartoonish, once you start playing it looks a bit off, but once you get into it, the world looks great. Just his design overall is great and I fell in love with the cute fellow immediately and his characteristic animations are top notch. The amount of different environments and the different varieties ranging from a sea shore, the woods and incredibly dangerous factories. Just how distinct each area, is a major plus and I loved exploring each level and finding secrets is just a ton of fun. Audio: The audio design is also great across the board. I'll start off with the soundtrack, because the orchestral music you hear throughout your journey is great and there's some really cool ambient tracks that sound upbeat and fun and then when the game turns serious, the somber tracks are just as good. The other sound effects are pretty decent, although the score takes the center stage here. The world around you does make noise, like birds chirping, snow falling off branches, the rain pouring onto the ground. It's all great stuff and mixed with the music it definitely builds a great atmosphere for each level. Gameplay: Unravel is a puzzle platformer where your main goal is to reach the end of the level and collecting the badge, however as a small guy made out of yarn you will have to use your wits to survive. So it's a very standard platformer, but there are a few different moves you have at your disposal and I'm talking about your yarn lasso. Around the world you will find red bows which allow you to throw a lasso onto them and that will make you swing across gaps or dangerous areas. Also you can build bridges between two points so you can use it as a trampoline or to move items which help you later down the line, like building a platform. The puzzles usually range from how can you clear a path to proceed and the puzzles are usually pretty simple in their design, with only a few of them actually stumping me and even then you're not going to get stuck on them. Also the checkpoints extend your yarn, cause you can actually get to a point where you can't proceed through the level because you're going to wear out the yarn. So the gameplay is overall really fun, but there are a few issues. First of all connecting bridges is a bit finnicky and using them is also pretty janky. Sometimes you will hold down the jump button, but you'll find yourself not able to jump because you have to find a sweet spot to do it from and it gets annoying when you're dangling from an instant death pit. There's also minor issues with Yarny not wanting to push items when they are colliding with something. There's one level where you have to pull something up a log and it got stuck in a certain way where you had to sort of fiddle with your positioning to get that thing and again you're doing this over an instant death spot. The swinging is also a bit hit or miss. It works incredibly well for the most part and is actually quite a fun move and if you pull it off correctly, you can build off crazy momentum. However you can land on it incorrectly and you'll get yourself killed so chaining them together is not a good idea, just take it slow. Verdict: The EA Originals program has so far been absolutely great and I can't believe that it took me that long to get to it. It's a genuinely fun game that is challenging, fun and has an emotional story all wrapped in a neat package. If you want a fun platformer give Unravel a shot, you won't be disappointed. Final Rating: 9/10 Pros: + Story is emotional without uttering a single word + Great orchestral soundtrack + Incredibly fun gameplay, that is both simple and challenging + Tons of different and amazing looking environments Cons: - Some of the gameplay mechanics, especially the bridges are incredibly finnicky and will wind up getting you killed. If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews