Date played: May 22nd
Platform: PS4
I finished Bound!
It turns out, my daughter and I only had a couple of levels left in the game, so we took some time yesterday afternoon to play it together. The last two levels were both wonderful, featuring brighter colors than the rest of the game.
The coolest section was when I had to jump on large violet balls, floating in mid-air. The game does some funny stuff with gravity on these, reminiscent of tricks used in Super Mario Galaxy. However, it wasn't as refined as what was seen in Nintendo's game. I had a bit of trouble doing the jumps I wanted to do, simply because the game is a little rough around the edges. Still, I really enjoyed the change of pace and spectacular visuals.
Like I've said before though, Bound is more about the experience than the mechanics, so a lot of it is just wandering through beautiful, abstract landscapes that fuck with your perspective. The little bit of story unfolded rather quickly too.
Through a series of "3D paintings" that materialize in front of the player during special scenes, I learned a lot. The pregnant woman on the beach is writing a story through drawings, and the characters in the game's world represent different people in her family. When she was a child, her parents had many fights, which were witnessed by her and her brother. Throughout the game, little bits of their home life is revealed in these paintings. In the later levels, it became clear that the father of the family left them at a young age and was absent from their lives.
It's also clear that the game's heroine, the princess, is really just the pregnant woman, seeing herself in a creative way. When she was young, the woman loved to dance, as evidenced by some of the items I found in the paintings. Her mother was personified by the Queen. Her brother was one of the big creatures roaming around. Finally, and obviously, her absent father is the creature that the Princess chases throughout the game. It was really fucking sad really.
At the very end of the game, it is revealed that the woman is actually on the beach near her father's house. She somehow tracked him down... I was given the choice to either knock at the door to the father's home, or get into a car and leave.
This was an important moment, and I wanted to see what my daughter would do. At first, she told me I should get in the car, but then when I explained that it was her long lost father in the house, she told me I should knock. I don't really know why, but my daughter's decision made me very emotional... The woman knocked and when the door opened, she handed the sketch book over to her father, then the credits rolled.
Bound was a very cool experience. I think the visual style and the animation is what really kept me interested, but the music was good, the platforming was decent and the story had some interesting elements to it. I loved playing it and it was a great bonding experience for me and my daughter.
Platform: PS4
I finished Bound!
It turns out, my daughter and I only had a couple of levels left in the game, so we took some time yesterday afternoon to play it together. The last two levels were both wonderful, featuring brighter colors than the rest of the game.
The coolest section was when I had to jump on large violet balls, floating in mid-air. The game does some funny stuff with gravity on these, reminiscent of tricks used in Super Mario Galaxy. However, it wasn't as refined as what was seen in Nintendo's game. I had a bit of trouble doing the jumps I wanted to do, simply because the game is a little rough around the edges. Still, I really enjoyed the change of pace and spectacular visuals.
 |
| Bound is one of a kind |
Like I've said before though, Bound is more about the experience than the mechanics, so a lot of it is just wandering through beautiful, abstract landscapes that fuck with your perspective. The little bit of story unfolded rather quickly too.
Through a series of "3D paintings" that materialize in front of the player during special scenes, I learned a lot. The pregnant woman on the beach is writing a story through drawings, and the characters in the game's world represent different people in her family. When she was a child, her parents had many fights, which were witnessed by her and her brother. Throughout the game, little bits of their home life is revealed in these paintings. In the later levels, it became clear that the father of the family left them at a young age and was absent from their lives.
It's also clear that the game's heroine, the princess, is really just the pregnant woman, seeing herself in a creative way. When she was young, the woman loved to dance, as evidenced by some of the items I found in the paintings. Her mother was personified by the Queen. Her brother was one of the big creatures roaming around. Finally, and obviously, her absent father is the creature that the Princess chases throughout the game. It was really fucking sad really.
At the very end of the game, it is revealed that the woman is actually on the beach near her father's house. She somehow tracked him down... I was given the choice to either knock at the door to the father's home, or get into a car and leave.
This was an important moment, and I wanted to see what my daughter would do. At first, she told me I should get in the car, but then when I explained that it was her long lost father in the house, she told me I should knock. I don't really know why, but my daughter's decision made me very emotional... The woman knocked and when the door opened, she handed the sketch book over to her father, then the credits rolled.
Bound was a very cool experience. I think the visual style and the animation is what really kept me interested, but the music was good, the platforming was decent and the story had some interesting elements to it. I loved playing it and it was a great bonding experience for me and my daughter.
