A Space for the Unbound Review (PS5)

A Space for the Unbound is an endearing story-driven adventure game set in Indonesia in the late 90s. It explores mature themes like depression, anxiety, and suicide through a relationship between two high school sweethearts, a boy called Atma and a girl called Raya. These aren’t just any normal students, however, since they’re both blessed with supernatural abilities that help them in exploring environments, solving puzzles, and getting to know each other better.

You play as Atma throughout this 14-hour experience and will spend most of your time exploring the beautiful, rural Indonesian pixel-art backdrops and using your dream-hopping abilities (think Inception) to solve fun but simple puzzles. These ultimately uncover the touching personal stories of both the locals and your fellow high school students.

Atma’s dream-hopping ability is the core mechanic used in solving puzzles, which can range from simple item fetch quests to complex maths equations that must be solved to open safes and doors. Although challenging in areas, we found the puzzles struck the right difficulty balance, allowing you to return to the engaging narrative without so much as a scratch of your head. There are also a couple of side activities that flesh out the experience; collectibles are scattered throughout and a few enjoyable minigames can be found along the way, the most notable being Future Fighter, a Street Fighter-inspired arcade game.

The deep, meaningful narrative, partnered with the lovely pixel art and outstanding music composed by Masdito Bachtiar, create a mysterious title that we couldn’t put down until we had seen it through to its satisfying conclusion. We would highly recommend A Space for the Unbound for anyone who loves a good story-driven adventure game — just expect to be run through the wringer in this powerfully emotional tale.