Release Date: 02/11/2021
Played On: Win
Available On: Mac / NS / Win / XBO
Time Played: 3h 23m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Witch Beam
Publisher: Humble Games
There are times that wonder if anticipation ever really pays off in a satisfying way, as it often feels better to anticipate something than actually experience it. I suppose that might sound like a relatively ominous way to open a post about a game, but I can't help thinking about all the anticipation that was built up inside me, and whether or not it hindered my overall enjoyment.
Unpacking is a game from the independent developer Witch Beam, who brought us Assault Android Cactus, which ended up being one of my favourite twin-stick shooters of recent memory. However, it has never been a secret that the bullet-hell action of their previous game, was making way for a more contemplative and sentimental narrative with Unpacking. In fact everything about the game that I say leading up to its release showed a beautiful slow and thoughtful bit of storytelling, which had certainly piqued my interest.
To understand the point of the game, it helps to know that it's full title is sometimes written as Unpacking A Life. This is key to the way that the story is told, as we are presented with a series of different locations where we then undergo the task of unpacking the invisible protagonist's possessions. After all, there's no dialogue in the game, and there are no NPCs or characters to interact with. All we have is the sum of a person's possessions to determine who they are.
This is perhaps where Unpacking is at its strongest and it’s most alienating, as it has a definitive story to tell, and there are certain beats along the way that stand out. For example, at one point it's clear that we're moving into a house where someone else already lives, leaving us to move their stuff to make room for our own. However, despite some clear indicators that the original occupant is masculine, the rest is left for us to fill in and decide for ourselves.
Although, there's only so far that moving around someone's stuff can take you in a narrative sense, which is where some of the achievements come in and make you think about things differently. There are gold stars to be earned for combining certain items in the same space, or for placing a particular object in a specific location. More often than not I found these combinations and hints to give a little more insight into the story I was following, even if there was still a lot of room for interpretation.
In fact, the whole idea of telling a story through the possessions and junk that we acquire in our lives, turned out to be more interesting than it was effective for me. There's a particular sentimentality to seeing that same soft toy in every house someone lives in, but when it's not your own moment, it's hard to really care.
By the time I was unpacking the same pair of shoes for the fifth time in a row, I found myself just wanting to get it done and over with so I could move onto the next location. Most of the trinkets and knick-knacks that showed up again and again, didn't hold much meaning for me, as they were ultimately someone else's stuff that I had no connection with.
Perhaps it's because I've moved a lot over the years and have never enjoyed the process. Unpacking the same crap over and over again has led me to a life of relative minimalism where I prefer not to hang on to useless objects that have no meaning to me. Then again, perhaps I failed to get caught up in the sentimentality because this is a game that tells a specific story about someone else, in a time that I don't relate to one hundred percent.
Sure, I remember Tamagotchis, but I never had one. Just like I remember those cream coloured keyboards with the purple enter key, but I never had one of those either. I never left home to go to college (it's not really common here either way), and there are countless other tiny details that only served to alienate me further from what I was uncovering in each box I unpacked.
That is not to say that every story has to be about something personal and relevant to myself, because how boring would that be. However, I tend to find that when a game's narrative relies heavily on nostalgia and sentimentality, it's more likely to lose me when I can't relate to it directly. Simply because most of the stuff we treasure due to its place in time and the story of our life, really has no value beyond that which we conjure.
I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that I had a hard time connecting with Unpacking's story, which hurt my experience with an otherwise well put together little game. However, the other disappointment for me was in the overall length, which seemed to cut itself short before really paying off. I'm guessing that the narrative was supposed to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but when you're not vibing on one part of the game, the other part needs to be able to stand on its own, and for the most part it kind of did.
I actually had a nice relaxed time playing life-Tetris with all the items that needed to be put away or placed in their correct spot. I enjoyed making sure that all the kitchenware fit into the right drawer, and that the shampoo bottles lined up nicely on the shelf in the shower. These mundane tasks quickly became their own little puzzle to solve, and with the exquisite pixel art and systems in place to ensure that everything fit together nicely, it was easy to get lost in the repetitive process.
A round of applause has to be given out for the way each item interacts with the world and other items. I suspect there's some clever programming behind why certain plates will stack together, or how everything seems to snap into the correct foreground/background layer. What was most impressive was that I never felt like I was unable to put something wherever I wanted it, which might not sound like a lot, but when you have a hundred different objects to organise and place, it's actually quite impressive that it all just works.
I knew that I'd enjoy that kind of gameplay as soon as I saw it in action on Witch Beam's twitter feed, so my anticipation grew and grew over time. Eventually I saw some footage of the demo being played, and once again I knew that it looked like the kind of game I could get into. Not only was it from a developer that I trusted and already knew could do some pretty incredible work, but everything I saw only reinforced those ideas and expectations.
Hence why when I finally picked up the game on release day and started playing, I found myself feeling a strange feeling of malaise. While I very much enjoyed the puzzle aspects of the game, I found it hard to connect with the narrative, so an important element of the game seemed to be missing. What's more, once the story has been told, there's nothing else to do in Unpacking, so there's a fairly short amount of levels with varying degrees of complexity. By the time I had completed the final level in that first sitting, I couldn't help feeling entirely unfulfilled.
It felt like I'd been slaving over this incredible meal all day, carefully preparing the ingredients and meticulously preparing every element, to only be given a single mouthful once it was complete. Sure, I understand that limitations come from a small team working on something that has a very clear end point, but I found myself wondering what I had missed along the way. It's why I'm trying to justify why I didn't connect with every aspect, because there's not enough left over when one major element is missing. It's like a bowl of Pho without the noodles; the broth is delicious and the vegetables divine, but without noodles, it's just another soup.
I always feel kind of bad for not connecting with a game in the way that I feel like I should have. After all, there's nothing wrong with Unpacking and it's still an excellent little game. However, I can't shake the feeling that it would have been better served without the alienating narrative, and with more levels and variety. I have nothing against short games that deliver a worthwhile experience, but this was one that could have done with a little more meat on its bones.
I'll be the first to accept that my failure to connect with Unpacking is my own fault, as I had such high expectations for something that was probably never going to be anything other than what it ended up being. Plus, I find it hard to dislike a game simply because it's speaking to an audience I'm not a part of. It's clear from social media responses that many people have connected with the nostalgia of the game, so just because I'm not one of them shouldn't work against it. However, the unfortunate reality is that I'm writing this drivel and it's my experience I'm talking about. If you're looking for an attempt at an objective opinion, then you're in the wrong place.
Thus, I feel like Unpacking would be an excellent game for the right audience, while being a little middling for someone like me. It's beautifully presented with a fun aesthetic, music, and that isometric pixel art that snaps together so pleasingly, but it ends much too soon. Add to that the lack of replay-ability thanks to it following a strict narrative structure, and the whole game feels a little too short in scope.
If you're able to play Unpacking thanks to Game Pass, then I'd recommend it as a neat little indie game that's different from just about anything you've probably played before. It's enjoyable and worth checking out, but I'd wait for a sale if you're not on the subscription service wagon.
There's a lot to enjoy about Unpacking, and in its own unique way, it deserves the praise its received. I love these little unique experiences, even when they don't completely knock it out of the park.