anyone ever heard of unravel? it’s one of my absolute favorite games, and it’s message and experience will never leave me. you’re a lil yarn fella exploring the memories of an old lady, and uncovering a heartfelt and realistic story of growth and loss along the way. absolutely gorgeous scenery, puzzle design, and metaphor of a game.
it does all of this with absolutley zero words. the only thing you hear from the game is ambience…and the music. i need to talk about the music.
one thing that’s always stood out to me about Unravel’s music is that it’s based completely on violin. composed and preformed by frida johansson and henrik oja, it’s a work of art (and awesome for studying!). i love this choice of experimenting with an emotional instrument to describe different areas: it succeeds so naturally in capitalizing on the emotion. your character goes through areas themed with sun, snow, water, ice, forests, and metal, and the music compliments it every step of the way. the environment changes pallette after pallette as you experience the story through a vessel of expression that admires and fears the world around it.
you are a yarn cat reminiscing on the good and bad of life. you go through trials and triumphs just like anyone would. but in this journey through the eyes of a wordless red thread of destiny, you experience life to the fullest. this thesis is reflected to its full potential in the music.
frida and henrik are masters of expressing emotion through music alone and i will always admire them for that. never have i heard a question, statement, and exclamation interpreted so thoroughly through instrumentals. they handle cord progression and storytelling so extremely well. the sequel, Unravel 2, continues this emotional-musical trend while incorporating additional instruments, giving the game a collaborative and heartfelt feeling. they add guitar and digital doodads that groove endlessly in their own ambient way, further expanding the style of the unravel games. the music of this game (series?) is a friend to you on your journey—empathizing and playing with you through the ups and downs. it’s a masterpiece of design and i will never stop preaching praises for it.
please play the game (and it’s sequel with a friend!!) on steam. i am on my knees. please. it isn’t covered as much as it needs to be and deserves all the love it receives. the message is timeless, the music is wonderful, and the puzzles are worthwhile. it’s an absolute indie gem that will never leave you for as long as you live.
.-.
this was something different for me, and a bit of a ramble-tumble, and that’s ok. i’ve always admired video essays and rants on social media that feel like persuasive essays. i’m been experimenting with wordplay and sentence structure recently, and wanted to give something like this a try :]. it’s unprofessional since i’m no expert, but i’m noticing something and commenting on it to the best of my ability. thanks for reading!💛
