The music always acts as a lens into Monroe’s state of mind, and in a game that will sometimes leave you feeling a bit blind, it helps build an understanding of each location you’ll inevitably uncover.The Unfinished Swan crashes? Game not starting? Bugs in The Unfinished Swan? Solution to most technical problems. Other times, its brevity and urgency make frightening monsters all the more terrifying. Sometimes it’s cheery, mimicking the sense of awe felt from looking down at a black-splattered kingdom from atop a high tower. The only indication you’ll have of their proximity is the red hue of their demonic eyes and Monroe’s rapidly-beating heart.Įach segment is further supplemented by The Unfinished Swan’s wonderful musical score, which does a fantastic job of providing a sense of physicality to a world you can’t always see. A level that takes place at night will have you running from murderous beasts under the shadow of panic-inducing darkness. Some sequences are even downright creepy.
Some levels provide a glimpse at the astonishing scale of the magical kingdom Monroe stumbled into, while others place you in bizarre flashback scenarios. Levels are eventually built around solving simple but enjoyable puzzles, and each chapter is nearly perfect in length, always shifting before overstaying its welcome. While the world is initially an invisible one, it begins to materialize as you progress. In practice, this factor makes the use of paint somewhat strategic, as it can both expose and eclipse the entities residing within each setting.Īs paint mechanics evolve, so too does the setting, keeping The Unfinished Swan from feeling too familiar or stale. You may be tempted to toss tons of paint to unveil pathways and scenery, but coating any area too heavily ends up blotting it out with darkness. How much you see is dependent on how much you want to see-the trick is figuring out how much paint to use to unearth the world’s secrets. This mechanic beautifully captures the sense of wonder that comes with exploring the unknown, and there’s a ton of detail hidden in the emptiness.
Launching black paint against a pure white space uncovers the environment within.
It is, in a sense, your eyes in a place where you are initially blind. Paint is always the tool with which you’ll interact with the world. Armed only with his mother’s silver paint brush, Monroe soon steps into a magical world in pursuit of a half-finished painting of a swan brought to life. Instead, it presents a wonderfully sincere fairytale of sorts about a boy named Monroe who has lost his mother. The Unfinished Swan doesn’t begin with a sizzling cinematic introduction or overwrought narration.
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