History VideoGame / Bound

''Bound'' is a 3D CinematicPlatformGame / EnvironmentalNarrativeGame, developed by Plastic Studios as a UsefulNotes/Playstation4 exclusive and released on August 16th, 2016.

* {{Speedrun}}: After finishing the game once, a speedrun mode is unlocked, and trophies can be earned for completing specific times in individual levels and across a run through the entire game. This is useful for players wanting a more complex and challenging gameplay experience than the basic game offers.

* OneWayVisor: Both the princess and her mother wear masks that are essentially purple, one-way visors covering their entire faces.

* SlasherSmile: The nameless monster wears the same visor as the princess and her mother, but it has a wide crack near its bottom corner that forms such a smile.

* SpeakingSimlish: The princess and the other denizens of the kingdom converse in whisper-like abstractions of sound.

* ArtShift: ''Bound'' goes from the largely realistic but slightly clay-looking graphics on the beach and in the memories, to highly abstract and polygonal art style of the princess's world.

* {{Symbolism}}: The game runs on this. [[spoiler:Respectively, the princess, queen, mouthed giant, and mouthless giant are symbolic representations of the pregnant protagonist, her mother, her father, and her brother. The entire game is about the protagonist confronting and trying to heal from her family's traumatic past in order to prepare for having a family of her own, with each stage representing a traumatic memory from her childhood and overcoming the fear of that memory at the end of the stage. After overcoming a particular fear, the obstacle associated with that fear (tendrils for the Trees stage, paper airplanes for the Planes stage, pink orbs for the Pearls stage, and flames for the Steam stage) will no longer affect the princess. There are even hidden areas you cannot traverse unless you have first overcome particular fears in other stages first, with a message popping up saying, "This path is blocked by your Fears," if you have not yet overcome the fear associated with the obstacle blocking that path.]]

* {{Symbolism}}: The game runs on this. [[spoiler:Respectively, the princess, queen, mouthed giant, and mouthless giant are symbolic representations of the pregnant protagonist, her mother, her father, and her brother. The entire game is about the protagonist confronting and trying to heal from her family's traumatic past in order to prepare for having her own family, with each stage representing a traumatic memory from her childhood and overcoming the fear of that memory at the end of the stage. After overcoming a particular fear, the obstacle associated with that fear (tendrils for the Trees stage, paper airplanes for the Planes stage, pink orbs for the Pearls stage, and flames for the Steam stage) will no longer affect the princess. There are even hidden areas you cannot traverse unless you have first overcome particular fears in other stages first, with a message popping up saying, "This path is blocked by your Fears," if you have not yet overcome the fear associated with the obstacle blocking that path.]]

* MultipleEndings: Two: the pregnant protagonist can either [[spoiler:ring her estranged father's doorbell and confront him with her notebook (symbolizing her pain, her growth, and her future) to tell him that she's having a baby...or she can leave without him ever knowing she was there and throw her notebook in the garbage.

* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:The pregnant protagonist's father abandoned the family in her childhood to escape his abusive and neglectful wife, unfortunately leaving his kids with her.]]

* ArtShift: ''Bound'' goes from the largely realistic graphics on the beach, to highly abstract and polygonal artstyle of the princess' world, to the claymation-like art of the memory cutscenes.

* FloatingPlatforms: These appear about 10 minutes into the game. They can be both motionless, or moving purple ones.
* IdleAnimation: Here, the main character will start doing gymnast's stretches if left alone, to prepare herself for the obstacles you'll put her through soon enough.
* OneWayVisor: Both the princess and her mother wear masks that are essentially purple one-way visors covering their entire faces.
* PlayerDeathIsDramatic: Downplayed: dying instantly breaks up the body of the princess into a cloud of blue polygons, which is dramatic, but happens very quickly, and the game loads the previous checkpoint immediately after that. However, she still has the remains of that blue cloud trailing her for the next few seconds after respawning.

* SpeakingSimlish: The princess and the other denizens of the kingdom converse in whisper-like sounds.

* WallJump: Present, though the princess can only do it in between red plates on the walls.