This was because the developer believed that being able to fall off detracted from the game experience by forcing players to pay closer attention to the character's legs than to the world.

It was the third and final collaboration between these two companies, as Sony's Santa Monica Studio stopped assisting on other independent projects to focus on the God of War series, while core members of Plastic was hired by Epic Games from 2022 to 2024.

[1] Motion capture was used on the dancer Maria Udod, who was chosen due to her experience both in ballet and contemporary dance, in order to record her movements for use by the protagonist.

[4] Chris Carter of Destructoid said that its graphics are "gorgeous" and "stunning", but calling the movement "stiff" and combat too easy, believing the game leans "too hard" on the platforming aspect.

[17] James Stephanie Sterling of The Jimquisition said that, while beautiful, playing it is a "messy, obstructive hassle" with poor controls and camera movement, as it is unable to commit to either being a walking simulator or a fully realized puzzle platformer and is instead a hybrid of both.

[10] He claimed that "[to] decry it for its overly simplistic mechanics is to ultimately miss the forest for the trees", and that "Bound is digital art installation" whose full impact is only evident in its final moments.

[10] Stuart Andrews of Digital Spy gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "This isn't quite the indie, arthouse Ratchet & Clank, then, but it's distinctive, unusual and frequently inspired.

"[15] Aaron Riccio of Slant Magazine gave it a similar score of three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "Movement here isn't just treated as a necessity of the gameplay, but as an expression of joy and healing.