THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS.
by Aaron Amendola. Mojiken Studios’ latest slice-of-life side-scrolling adventure game, A Space For The Unbound, has such a fantastic ending that you’ll be left wondering why the rest of the game feels a chore to play. Between scenes of genuinely touching human connection, where it tackles issues like depression and anxiety with finesse, lie clunky mechanics. Even with a few rough edges, ASFTU soars more than it simmers with a gripping narrative and delightful pixelgraphics.
ASFTU centers on Atma and his girlfriend, Raya. Their relationship dynamic is pretty standard fare: Atma is a clueless but well-to-do starry-eyed boy, while Raya seems to wear the world on her carefree fingers. They’re trying to graduate high school in a beautifully pixelated 1990s rural Indonesia when a mysterious crack appears in the sky. To say much more would be criminal, but the story unfurls with writing that feels a step above typical visual-novel offerings while also skirting players’ expectations for something a bit meatier.
An issue that plagues A Space For The Unbound — and previous games in the Mojiken catalog — is that so much of what the game asks of the player feels perfunctory. Often it’s simple to figure out a puzzle’s solution, but you’ll still need to go through the paces to connect the dots the exact way the game expects you to, leading to overlong backtracking and agonizing repeat conversations with NPCs. Almost menacingly, Unbound dangles the next story beat in front of players, goading them for a little more commitment. It’s a tug-of-war that creates an uneven experience with huge payoffs and middling stretches that seem designed to test your patience. I finished in about 9 hours, but it felt longer.
The most dizzying thing is that ASFTU actually sticks the landing. There’s so much fulfillment in its final hour of play, in fact, that one gets the feeling that the story is the game’s true reward because its moment-to-moment gameplay doesn’t feel very rewarding. While Mojiken’s storytelling has excelled since 2020’s When The Past Was Around — ASFTU discusses mental health in a way that feels lived-in and real — the developer has only begun to solve half of the equation.
If Mojiken can find a way to marry their typical winsome aesthetics with gameplay mechanics that engage the player rather than frustrate, then their next endeavor could achieve something on the level of Life Is Strange or Gone Home. Traversing across multiple static screens of the environment just to talk to one NPC, only to double back and speak to someone else in the same rote way makes for an annoying and sometimes painful gameplay experience.
The first hour of A Space For The Unbound is rife with discovery and charm, which makes the subsequent trudging through its mindless fetch quests and other busy work so disheartening. Smaller studios often have to pick their battles and focus on one or two things to get right; Mojiken’s latest focuses on interpersonal drama at the expense of gameplay. Still, A Space For The Unbound takes encouraging leaps and astounds on the narrative front in a way modern games often don’t — or can’t. Come for the emotional devastation, stay for the vibes.
6.5 out of 10
You can play A Space For The Unbound now on all current platforms. For more information, click this.
Developed by Mojiken Studios.
Published by Chorus Worldwide and Toge Productions.
Directed by Dimas Novan Delfiano.
Written by Brigitta Rena and Galuh Elsa A.N.
Composed by Masdito “ittou” Bachtiar, Christabel Annora, and Bambang Iswanto.
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
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