Unravel Reviews
Unravel took me on a surprisingly thoughtful and reflective journey, which encouraged me to appreciate the small and the insignificant with every step. As a puzzler it has charm due to Yarny's engaging skills, but as a platforming experience it's less remarkable. But to judge it solely on these mechanical aspects would be to overlook its greater achievement: the way it provokes subtle and complex emotions through the use of nature and nostalgia. It all makes for a sincere, warm-hearted, and extremely likeable adventure.
Stunningly rendered close-ups of nature make Unravel's somber fable and irritating death traps just worth surviving.
Coldwood Interactive's Unravel is a moving puzzle platformer bolstered by strong level design, a creative mechanic, and an unbelievably endearing main character.
Coldwood Interactive's plushy puzzler may warm the heart, but it rings hollow once the novelty of the yarn mechanics has faded.
Unravel's appeal goes far beyond pretty levels. Beautiful, poignant and with an iron grip on your heart, Yarny manages to effortlessly deliver a wonderful platformer and a bittersweet message.
While the puzzles get repetitive, the ever-changing environments and heartfelt narrative see you through to the end of the journey
Unravel's wonderful sights and sounds won't escape your own memory so soon. But assessed purely on gameplay, it's everything I tend to fear about indie projects; Beautiful, heartfelt, but like Yarny himself, not robust enough.
Frustration tangles up Unravel's better ideas
For all its various shortcomings it remains memorable. A loving, personal game.
Unravel wastes little time and offers a lot of satisfaction. Buy it.
Exploring themes like love, environment, family and loss, Unravel has the potential to be an emotional undertaking for the player. It's an experience that was quite intense for this particular reviewer. It is a wondrously constructed game born of love and culminating as an incredibly, beautifully bittersweet, emotional adventure. Filled with heart from its opening to the cessation of the credits, it will wow you, make you smile and make you cry. Gamer or not, you need to play Unravel.
Coldwood did put their hearts into Unravel and I can definitely feel that when I play. But despite his woollen charm, Yarny stayed well away from my own heart strings.
ColdWood has succeeded in a handful of bold ways with Unravel. It is showing EA the value in smaller, quieter games. It also feels like another fresh take on the side-scrolling platformer. And while Unravel drove me mad a couple of times, I was mostly thrilled by its wonder and adventure.
Unravel can deliver some picturesque desktop wallpaper, but when in motion, this 2D platformer becomes a frustrating puzzler that expects you to know more than you've been taught.
You'll want to love Unravel even before you've made it beyond the level hub.
Unravel Two is still an experience worth playing. The introduction of cooperative does not hurt the solo experience and the challenge levels give an idea of how far the seemingly simple mechanics of the Yarnys can go.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you're looking for gameplay that could be called anything better than unobjectionable (or you simply aren't a fan of platforming), you may be better off somewhere else. Yet, even if you fall with the latter, Sahlin and Coldwood Interactive's persona which permeates the title is hard not to support.
An astoundingly beautiful puzzle platformer, that's a little too frustrating in practice but far from the twee family game some may mistake it for.
Unravel cherishes the best moments in life while recognizing the hard battles we sometimes face as families, all wrapped up within delightful gameplay and stunning scenery. The atmosphere is so compelling that I couldn't help but feel like a piece of my own story was wrapped up in the game with the rest of the photo album. It's rare but a special thing when a game manages to impart a story that touches strings deep in the heart, and Unravel manages to meet and exceed this feat. Get ready to have all the feels.
In many ways, Unravel comes as a surprise. For one, EA isn't exactly your go-to publisher when it comes to smaller, riskier projects such as this. Then there's the developer, ColdWood Interactive, itself. Based in Umeå, Sweden – which explains a lot about Unravel's artistic influences – the team has worked on titles such as PlayStation Move Fitness and The Fight which, although serviceable, haven't bag them many accolades.