July 2, 2015

Never Alone

Date played: July 1st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I started and finished Never Alone.

The game is a beautiful 2D platformer starring a young Inuit girl. I found it fitting that I played this game on Canada Day. The girl, Nuna, sees her small village destroyed by a powerful, constant blizzard. Her family and friends have all disappeared. Armed with only her warm parka, she heads out into the snow to find the source of the blizzard and find answers. Things start off pretty rough for her. A hungry polar bear chases her through the snow when suddenly, a white fox appears and distracts the bear, saving Nuna from being devoured.

The bulk of the game had me switching between the fox and the girl to navigate the treacherous Arctic. The girl can push objects and later, use a Bola. This is a traditional Inuit weapon that can be thrown. There is no combat in the game, but I sometimes had to break ice or wooden logs with it. The fox can wall jump and fit in small passages. In addition, he can also make spirits appear that can be used as platforms for Nuna.

Nuna and her friend, an arctic fox
I braved harsh winds, jumped on icebergs and floating ice, found some little cave people, got swallowed by a whale, escaped from evil spirits that were spawned from aurora borealis and even climbed inside an enormous ice giant. There's definitely a lot of cool stuff in this game, but sometimes the controls were a bit wonky. There were times where I fell in a pit, a spike or icy water because the controls weren't responding well. There were times where Nuna or the Fox got stuck in walls. It's a shame because the game has a really cool visual style and some lovable characters.

An evil man chases the duo a few times throughout the game. Near the end, he manages to capture the fox and cruelly, snaps his neck and kills him. It was a very sad moment... The game has a lot of spiritual elements, so I wasn't too surprised when the fox's spirit appeared. He takes the image of a little boy in a fox suit and can fly. He can also move spirits in the world to make platforms for Nuna. In the end, we found the source of the blizzard together, the giant ice man. We took away it's axe and destroyed it, rendering him harmless. When the blizzard stopped, the fox left Nuna in an emotionally charged scene.

I'm glad I played Never Alone. It wasn't amazing, but it was good and it was short enough that it kept my attention until the end.