There are plenty of action platformer titles out there, but Alien Pixel Studios definitely created an interesting take with Unbound: Worlds Apart! Launching today, players can start their platform-based adventure and see how the powers given through the use of another world can help them complete a variety of parkour maneuvers and fight without actually attacking anything. It has been an interesting take on the genre.

Story

After an evil threat has corrupted the magical powers of your world, the mages frantically closed the portals that connected the different worlds together. Quickly learning that the demon king was behind the attack and another creature that tells the tale of how their land fell due to this attack and the closure of the portals, you know that something has to be done. Seeing as you are one of the few to narrowly escape the initial attack, the decision lands on you as the great mages ask you to help them open the portals that will lead to the demon king.

Gameplay

As with most platforming games, you start out with only the ability to move and jump. As you make your way through the land, you will learn new tricks and the important use of portals themselves. The tricks end gradually unlock as you get deeper into the story, but eventually you will be able to double-jump, double-dash, and wall climb. Make sure you get a good grasp on these movements because the last chapter is going to be a hard test of your skill!

Now, the focal point of the gameplay that makes this title interestingly different from the rest is the use of portals. The game does a good job introducing the portals one at a time, starting off with the simple one that just shows you the difference in the two worlds. For instance, you will come up to a cliff you can’t jump over but if you place a portal down you will be able to use a floating platform in order to make the jump to the top of the cliff.

This change between the two worlds becomes a large variant in the adventure and is used in a few different ways. From simple changes as mentioned before and the removal of spikes or water that would kill you on contact, all the way to creatures becoming dangerous or traps being triggered. The tricky comes when they start throwing in abilities with the portals as well.

A little ways into the game you will start gaining various abilities when using a portal. This could be gravity reversal, becoming smaller, turning into a stone block, and more. Each of these have their own uses and are triggered based on the location you are at. You will be venturing through the worlds that these portals connect to, so it can become confusing when it comes to the times that these different abilities are going to be used.

The times you will see the abilities from the portals used as an attack will mainly be during the boss fights, but there will be uses out in the main world as well. So, don’t be afraid to test out your different abilities and see what they can do and where they can take you. There are plenty of secret areas to find.

A side task to the game that is fun to do, but not mandatory, is saving the different villagers. There will be a bunch of different ones to find and they will all be stuck behind a difficult platforming puzzle section that you will have to solve to get to them. These are all skippable sections, but they are also not completely obvious before you reach the end either, so good luck with your parkour challenges!

One of the handiest aspects for a game with an open map like this one is included as well. As you make your way through the story, you will pass shrines that light up when you pass. These are your fast travel points and you will be able to travel to them from anywhere by simply opening your map. This is useful to save on the backtracking trips that these games often have due to their style.

Visual and Audio

Having a cartoon-style world was definitely the way to go because of the mixture of different styles that each world presents. It also gave room for the vast difference between a friendly creature and a dangerous one, making it a bit scary when they would switch forms in a portal without being over the top. Keeps it friendly and tense at the same time.

The subtle music throughout the game was pretty calming as well. It gave room to think through the difficult platforming sections without taking the adventurer feeling out of the experience. Then the switch to dramatic music when in the boss fights and the even more intense music during the final battle really made those sections feel as intense as the skill to beat them was.

Replayability

Other than wanting to find all of the villagers and secret areas, there isn’t much reason to play through the game after you beat it. At least the save file holds the game right in front of the start of the final boss fight after you beat it, so you can fight him again or fast travel back to earlier areas if you wanted to.

What Could Be Better

Playing on the Switch, I did face a few performance drops in certain areas. I couldn’t tell why the performance was failing either as it didn’t seem more hectic graphically in that section of the game than it has been in other sections. Due to this, I faced a few deaths and struggled more than I should have in a couple of spots. Definitely suggest the team looks into further optimization if possible.

Conclusion

Unbound: Worlds Apart is a solid platforming game that will challenge players both new and returning to the genre. It has plenty of difficult sections and the main pathway needed to be taken is passable, with a little perseverance and a “never give up” attitude. The overall game is a bit short, but no doubt fun throughout the adventure!