Art is an experience and depending on that experience it could provoke a wide range of emotions from deep sadness to sheer happiness. When an artist is creating a piece of art, often times they know the emotional intent or at least have a general idea. They want the audience to feel a certain way. Unravel is an example of provoking various emotions and achieves that through the detailed environments and a pantomiming thread of yarn.
As a thread of red yarn, the player explores many different areas via picture frames on display in a house. Right from the start, the game has the intent of guiding the player through someone else’s most cherished memories. Each area has so much emotion flowing through it, whether it’s being expressed through Yarny or through visual storytelling. The game is not just about solving puzzles but reliving memories through a different perspective.
But all this emotional intent would be for not if it weren’t for the attention to the environments. The player is at the same level as Yarny, who happens to be quite small, so details such as blades of grass, the veins of the leafs and the grain in the wood are very important. These details as well as how Yarny reacts to the environment really brings it to life. The player believes in what they are seeing. There is even a depth of field to the camera which blurs the background and foreground and gives an overall dreamy feel.
Whether it’s the pantomime storytelling or the hyper realistic details of the environments, Unravel is an emotional experience via the art form of video games. The player is expanding on someone else’s deepest memories through gorgeous areas filled with details. It is very hard not to feel some sort of emotion and that is the most important part of any art piece.
If you agree with my observations or would like to share your own or would like to make a suggestion for future videos, please leave a comment down below and once again, thank you all for watching and see you next time.