Unravel Two was released in June 2018 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Now you can play it on the Nintendo Switch since March 22^nd, 2019, which is the version I will be reviewing today. This puzzle platformer was developed by Coldwood Interactive and published by EA. In this sequel, you can now play cooperatively, local only, with a friend! You play as anthropomorphic beings made of yarn, called Yarnys, that are attached together. This adds so much more depth to the gameplay with unique challenges. Unravel Two is the perfect game to play with someone as each character is needed to work together.

The Story

The plot isn’t too obvious in this game but the message is; making connections and building friendships. Throughout the levels, you will find in the background faded silhouettes of two children running away together. It is not clear whether the two kids are being chased by adults or why but that the Yarnys are lending them a hand. The scenes can be interpreted as current events and we are like spirit guides that they cannot see or that we are simply putting memories back together again and are witnessing events that have long-since passed.

The beginning of the game starts with a stormy night as we see the red Yarny falling overboard from a ship. As you land on an island, you meet another blue Yarny (in a similar situation) that you immediately form a bond with. You end up in a lighthouse which becomes your hub world to access all seven chapters. After completing a level, color, light and parts of the paintings on the walls of the lighthouse start to fill. I believe this is from the pieces of light that you find scattered throughout those said levels. It seems as though the more time you spend together, the more you start to build a home for yourself.

Gameplay

Being tied together can seem like a pain if you’re thinking of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, like I was but it’s far from it. If one character makes a successful jump to another platform, the other one can either attempt to do the same thing or simply tug on the yarn linking both of you together to rejoin your partner. It can look like rock-climbing if you’re faced with a ledge below or like climbing a spider’s web if you need to be pulled straight upward. Ledges are also sometimes reachable by wall-jumping like in Super Mario which is a lot of fun.

You can use the yarn as a type of lasso to latch on to nodes to then swing and launch yourself forward. Both players can do this separately or together to create a longer string of yarn to reach further places. You can also adjust the slack or length on your own. Each player can also form knots on nodes from one end to another to create a spring to bounce off. The string can also be used as a bridge to ferry objects to another area.

Working together is the best!

There’s plenty of yarn that can be used between the two players but sometimes the restriction of your reach is built into the puzzle. One character may have too many knots tied at one time so it’s up to the other to complete other tasks in a certain order.

As a form of aid, you may need to loop your yarn around a certain object so that the other player can pull themselves back up after being left behind. This is especially true if both characters need to be in two different places at once to connect things together. For example, if someone needs to press a button while the other walks under a lifted object. In one of the levels there was a chicken chasing the Yarnys and therefore one character had to distract it while the other escaped. The camaraderie needed in this game is absolutely heartwarming. You constantly need to lend each other a hand to prevail.

It’s easy but not too easy!

If you are like me and have a hard time using the swinging mechanics in this game but excel at perfectly timed jumps, fear not, you can hitch a ride on your partner until that particular challenge is over! In this game you can become intertwined with your partner and take a back seat to playing if you’re having a hard time with a certain obstacle. This way no one is waiting too long after the other player and there’s no need to become frustrated with each other.

Speaking of frustration, if you’re having a particularly hard time with a puzzle there are always hints that are available! However, I found myself rather enjoying the puzzles that this game had to offer and never spent too much time on any of them. There are no lives, no health bar, and if you die you only have to restart to the last checkpoint. There are an abundance of checkpoints which are situated pretty much after every puzzle. A guiding light will act as a checkpoint and also always show you where to go next.

This gives the game just the right amount of a challenge without being too difficult. The only times you will die is if an animal reaches you or if you fall into a dangerous pit of fire, or drown in deep water. There are also enemies that look like wisps of dark clouds. They supposedly represent dark or negative thoughts or feelings and you cannot let them touch you.

Graphics and Controls

The background graphics can be a little jarring at first as they lean more toward the realistic while your characters look a lot more like cartoon-style. However, as you continue to play you truly get to experience an amazing environment from caverns to rapids and to lush green forests. There are a lot of objects and things in the environment to interact with. Some vines can be climbed, forklifts can be used to access new heights, buckets can be turned over to create an extra step, and bricks can lend some weight to a plank as a catapult.

The developers really did a wonderful job with the physics and the mechanics in Unravel Two. Every single action taken is so seamless and precise. It reminds me of what Little Big Planet tried to be, at least the second iteration that I played, but ultimately failed at. The movement of objects and their gravitational pull were spot on. It made them and yourself very easy to maneuver. I would recommend that the game be played with either two pro-controllers or one pro-controller and both joy-cons together as it would be easier to pull off certain moves.

This game may seem rather short but it is definitely worth the money. In fact take all of my money because I want more levels or a third game with cooperatively play which is something I hope they continue to do. The game will probably take you approximately 7-8 hours to complete but there are separate challenges that open up after every level if you want to attempt even tougher puzzles and obstacles. You can purchase Unravel Two on the Nintendo eShop here.