Perfect Pixelated Poetry

I will let you all know now that I am a fanboy of Mojiken’s previous game When the Past was Around. When I heard that they were developing a new game I was thrilled, but I was also worried about how hard it would be to follow up such a wonderful and distilled experience as the aforementioned game. I have to hand it to the entire team, though, as they have poured so much love and care into A Space for the Unbound. Everything from character design to the musical score and environmental art is crafted with such expertise and heart. I can honestly say that A Space for the Unbound has blown me away and risen to be one of my top video game experiences of all time.

The narrative begins off fairly simple and predictable as Atma, the player character, and his friend Nirmala hang around trying to figure out the ending to their co-written story. A magical book is introduced and gives us a taste of our first game mechanic, the “spacedive”. This ability allows Atma to dive into the mind and heart of various people to help fix their internal struggles and worries. Things quickly begin to shift tone as Atma and Nirmala are thrust into a dire situation, and when all seems lost Atma awakens at school believing this all to be a dream. This is where Atma’s girlfriend Raya, who has magical gifts of her own, is introduced and the story truly begins.

That is as far as I’m willing to talk about the actual story beat out of respect for this game, but overall the narrative is superbly written with many twists and turns and moments big and small that both terrify and touch the heart. It deals with many issues one would encounter while growing up, but also isn’t afraid to dive into the darker issues of abuse, loss, jealousy, and self-love. This experience is best seen for oneself, and the way the writers set the pacing will keep you on the edge of your seat and deeply thinking about your choices and bigger plot points.

Going back to gameplay, A Space for the Unbound mixes together classic point and click adventure tropes with various minigame systems that work extremely well together. Along with the ‘spacedive’ mentioned earlier you can expect to be solving plenty of environmental puzzles, fighting back against bullies using retro fighting game inspires combos, and hunting down the many collectables hidden around the streets and alleys of the town you call home. Not only that, but this game allows you to either pet or interact with every animal that you see. There is plenty to do and with the variety of gameplay styles present I never found myself bored with running back and forth town during my time with the game.

Speaking of the town, A Space for the Unbound paints a colorful and magical version of 1990’s Indonesia and graphically this game is absolute pixel art perfection. There is so much attention to detail to every character, animation, background, environment object, and even the user interface. Some of the spacedives, especially toward the end of the game, are downright stunning in their abstract depiction of a world falling apart. Oddly enough I have to point out that the “cinematography” of this game is what blew me away most of all. Mixed in with the usual scripted scenes using in game assets are close up shots, panoramas, and even rotating shots that act as traditional cut scenes. These give a whole other level of life to the pixelated characters and truly showcase how beautifully detailed the pixel art is.

All in all, if you’re a fan of adventure titles, well written narrative stories, pixel art, or video games in general you need to either play A Space for the Unbound; or at the very least share the experience with a friend or loved one and watch them play it. This is a story that will stay with me for a very long time, and is a game I hope to revisit many times in the future. The devs at Mojiken and Toge deserve all the praise and awards they can get for this game, and I am truly thankful that this game came out during my lifetime.

You can check out this amazing game from Mojiken Studios and Toge Productions here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201270/A_Space_for_the_Unbound/

Or check it out on consoles!

Lizardjam Productions 2023