A Space for the Unbound

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

A Space for the Unbound, released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is a Graphic Adventure that follows the story of Atma, a young high schooler in rural Indonesia, and his girlfriend Raya. Atma is troubled by dark dreams about a younger girl named Nirmala with whom he shared a friendship and a passion for storytelling, and he comes into possession of a red book he shared with her which lets him magically enter the subconscious of those around him. What’s more, he comes to discover that Raya is in possession of almost godlike magical powers herself. Together, the two must contend with problems in their school life, as well as an ominous and mysterious looming threat that seems poised to destroy the world.

There is of course much more to the story, but I’ll refrain from spoiling it here. I’ll simply say that I found this to be a wonderful but sad story, and I thought all the characters in this game were wonderfully layered, with Raya herself being surprisingly complex in ways that make players care for her, even when her actions aren’t always the greatest. Oh, and trigger warning: This game’s story deals with themes of abuse, depression, anxiety, bullying, guilt, and self-destructive behaviors.

The presentation here is wonderful, with some beautifully-detailed pixel art visuals with some nice animations, backed by some really nice relaxed songs that combine synthesized and acoustic instruments, with standouts being Walk the Skies, Drops of the Morning Dew, I Wish I Understand, and the vocal themes An Ode to Life and Within the Dream, along with their acoustic versions. Suffice it to say, this game has a wonderful nostalgic feel to it, without evoking anything specific. I also have to take a moment to mention the great sound design in this game, which has some really nice subtle touches, like ramping up rain sounds as a storm gets more intense.

The gameplay here is mostly pretty straightforward Graphic Adventure stuff, though it’s given a little bit of originality thanks to the magical elements that let players enter the minds of people who are acting as obstacles. You’ll definitely have repeated moments where you’ll need to collect stuff to progress, and that can feel a bit like running errands, but overall this is just a solid entry in the genre.

In the end, that was my takeaway after playing A Space for the Unbound – this is just an all-around solid Graphic Adventure that hits all the right notes: great characters, great story, excellent soundtrack, nice visuals, and solid gameplay, save for a few small quibbles. I don’t think this game does anything truly Earth-shattering for the genre, but everything it does do, it does extremely well. If you’re a fan of this genre, this is definitely a game you’ll want to get.

tl;dr – A Space for the Unbound is a Graphic Adventure that follows the story of two high schoolers with magical powers, contending with both the problems of their school life, as well as a mysterious threat that could destroy the world. This game does pretty much everything right – great characters, gripping story, wonderful pixel art, a moving soundtrack. There’s a bit more fetch-questing in the gameplay than I would like, but overall this is a wonderful entry in the genre, and one that fans of Graphic Adventure games will definitely want to get.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel, Best Sound Design, Best Story, Best New Character (Raya)

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