A Space for the Unbound Prologue
Although it's been almost three weeks, PAX East still feels as if it was yesterday, with many returning developers and publishers attending the event for the first time in years. Toge Productions was one of many examples, based in Indonesia and attending an event in North America before the world came to a screeching halt in 2020. During such times, they achieved breakout success with their indie hit Coffee Talk, but they have been a champion of the South East Asia indie scene since 2009. One such title, A Space For The Unbound, was an example of their work as a publisher.
Aside from developing games, they have also published games from various teams with their own stories to share. One such team was Mojiken, also based in Indonesia. Having developed several games already, A Space For The Unbound became one of its most ambitious titles. Set in rural Indonesia, the game tells the story of two teenagers as they interact with the residents, finding their purpose in life, and maybe saving the world they live in. The game is described as a "slice-of-life," which historically references everyday life events. Early 3D adventure games like Shenmue had flirted with this "slice-of-life" genre as the games have a plot. However, nothing is stopping the player from taking a stroll along Hong Kong, going to the arcade, or taking a drink from a vending machine.
I think A Space For The Unbound's example of a slice-of-life is more of the former's definition, especially if the demo is anything to go by. A prologue chapter was released in January 2020, serving as a way to introduce one of the main characters. As this was a proof-of-concept demo that didn't reflect the final build much less the final vision, it's interesting to see how many things were kept from the prologue to the full game. The prologue begins with the protagonist helping a girl finish her story by going back to her house and picking up an important object. In order to do so, the player has to interact with the various residents in the town, often using a magic Red Book to alter their cognition.
An example of this is later on in the demo when the player needs to get into the girl's room. In order to do so, the player will need to get a ladder that is heavily guarded by an elder man. The man reveals he has insomnia so the player needs to use the red book to reach into his cognition, encouraging the man to sleep, thus taking the ladder for themselves. A Space for the Unbound Prologue is a 2D adventure title complete with an inventory wheel as seen in other "Adventure-esque" titles. For a very early build, it was interesting to see most of the core gameplay remain, as well as the teasing of tugging at the player's heartstrings only to reveal that it was "All a dream."
The reason for focusing on the Prologue for A Space for the Unbound was because the game was released a few months ago back in February. Toge Productions was kind enough to give us a copy of A Space for the Unbound demo during our visit to their booth at PAX East. I wanted to become familiar with the source material and the Prologue demo was only a mere ten-minute demo. Now that I have an idea on what A Space for the Unbound is, I'm more than ready to provide my full thoughts as I go through the game.
These days, there's a playable demo for A Space For The Unbound on the Steam page itself and it's a far different concept than the original prologue. Interested players may look into the Prologue to see how far the game has come since its initial planning board stages, but it's shaping up to be a tour of the slice-of-life supernatural genre that players will want to embark on.
A Space for the Unbound is now available on Steam.