At first look it’s easy to see that Unbound: Worlds Apart borrows quite a bit from Ori and the Will of the Wisps. The vibrant, hand-drawn art style, the fairy-tale like story telling, and the challenging platforming are all hallmarks of the Ori series. However, once you dive just a little deeper into Unbound: Worlds Apart, you find a side-scroller that relies more on puzzle solving and pure platforming precision than combat, and keeps a wealth of surprises under the hood.
In fact, there really isn’t much combat at all in Unbound, which is in stark contrast to Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Soli, the game’s protagonist, must use his portal generating ability to use the environment to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. His jump isn’t very high, he can only take a single hit, and he has no weapons. This portal ability is what truly separates Unbound Worlds apart from other Metroid-style platformers.
Each region you visit gives your portal a distinct property. First off in reverse gravity. Activate your portal and Soli will flip upside down and rise to the ceiling. This allows you to avoid dangers, kill unsuspecting enemies, and also float in the air by quickly activating and deactivating the portal. It very quickly takes the lessons you learned in the fairly simple tutorial and literally flips them on their head. And this was just the first area.
Soon after solving the puzzles in that region I found myself in a completely dark underground cave. Here my portal acted as a huge bloom of light, allowing me to see obstacles and enemies previously hidden in the darkness. There was a catch though; the faster I walked and more I jumped the smaller the circle of light emanating around Soli got. It didn’t restore to full strength until I stopped and rested. This meant I had to survey the area and do a lot of the platforming my memory in almost complete darkness. It was a totally different mechanic and pace than the previous region, and was indicative of the large variety of mechanics the game offers. Who knew a single button and ability could be so dynamic?
It’s that endless possibility that really struck me about Unbound: Worlds Apart. In a landscape of games that borrow, but rarely come up with unique mechanics, Unbound: Worlds Apart had me excited to see more from the very start. Part of why I like video games, especially indie titles, is their ability to experiment and provide new experiences, and Unbound: Worlds Apart is perfect encapsulation of that.
