Unravel

Unravel is a stunning and unforgettable game, but its gameplay isn't always as polished as its visuals.

It's hard to see Unravel ending up as anything worse than a thoroughly enjoyable, lovely game. I'm hoping it strives for and achieves more by the time the yarn has run out.

Unravel is disappointing on several levels, simply because it rarely steps outside the box mechanically to deliver a fun or interesting experience.

OK, so Unravel kind of runs out of steam, and there are times when the game is so frustrating that you'll want to throw Yarny in the cat's direction. But then this isn't a game that's defined purely by its platforming and puzzles. Indeed, by the time the cracks appear, you'll be too in love with little Yarny and too emotionally invested in the journey to turn back.

The iffy puzzles and tedious backtracking in Unravel sadly cannot be fixed by switching to an easy mode as the game doesn’t offer any kind of “just play the story” mode. That’s a shame since the world and likability of the lead hero make the kind of adventure I love to get lost in.

There's an emotional core to Unravel that's difficult to understate, and it's hard to ignore how strong a character the little red spool of textiles manages to become despite not speaking at all. Unravel wants to say something, and I admire it for that. But it can be hard to shine a light on the bigger picture things Unravel does well when it gets so many basic things fundamentally tangled up.