Never Alone Reviews
Never Alone is bursting with promise and charm, but is savagely let down by technical flaws and maddening design decisions. Not even the cutest fox in gaming can save it.
On occasion, gameplay feels stale due to the lack of depth and frustrates with frequent death inevitable, but the authenticity of the folklore tale coupled with a great art-style and engaging video docs takes you on a journey that actually feels refreshingly unique and certainly worth a look at its modest price point.
Even with some hiccups when playing single-player, the attention to detail in this beautiful story all about friendship is bliss.
Never Alone is only the first entry in an initiative by E-Line Media to create a series of world-culture games. It's an important step for a medium that's all too often stuck in its own familiar ways. Sure, Never Alone is far from perfect, but its highs are much more significant than its lows. Rarely is an experimental take flawless, and that's the case here. But, hopefully everyone involved can take what's on display with Never Alone, improve the formula next time, and continue to teach because it's a fascinating way to learn.
As a platformer, Never Alone is solid, but not exactly revolutionary. It's the cultural aspects that go hand-in-hand with this release that make it so special, then. With incredible art and audio, as well as a compelling narrative, this is an interesting indie that deserves your attention. And while there are a few niggles that prevent it from reaching its full potential, you shouldn't let them stand in the way of your opportunity to meet up with the Iñupiaq.
While I'm in no great rush to play it again, the appreciation I gleaned for a culture I knew practically nothing about is something I really cherish. If you can patiently plod your way through the game entwined with the story of the Iñupiat people, I suspect you'll cherish them too.
Never Alone is a game that has gone from hardly being on the radar, to something that could quite possibly be a Game of the Year (2014) contender. Those who take a chance on this game will come away knowing they have been part of a unique experience that shows that games can be used as a serious vehicle for story telling. When we said as a community we wanted to show games can be mature… This is exactly what we meant.
Never Alone, or Kisima Innitchuna, is a game that is genius in almost every way. The Indie game offers you graphical splendor, insight into a different culture, a nice quiet atmosphere and very good gameplay. The unfortunate thing about the game is that there is not much challenge in the puzzles, although it is a bit tough sometimes.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Effortlessly charming and surprising insightful, Never Alone is only hampered by some frustrating control issues and unfortunate technical hiccups.
Bravo to both Upper One Games and E-Line Media for putting this gem out there, this is definitely a worthwhile and enjoyable title for all ages to enjoy as well as learn from. I truly hope that this title does well or at least meets their expectations I'd like to see more from these companies in the same vein as Never Alone.
A disappointing but noble effort.
It makes me truly happy to see game developers creating high quality products such as Never Alone that push entertainment boundaries and demonstrate that games can be culturally important. We need to see more of this game, and I hope this is a roaring success so that other native culture organisations look at it and realise the sheer power of games to tell their own stories.
Never Alone is a charming tale of companionship and exploration. It opens a window to a world rarely seen and is a unique mesmerizing experience.
Let's hear another one
Never Alone is, nevertheless, an important game offering a fascinating window into a rich and ongoing culture among native Alaskans. And if you are open to accepting that cultural exchange then the barriers dividing the people of the world get a little bit smaller, and we all grow closer to never really being alone in the world again.
Overall Never Alone is a really good mix of ideas, and could be the start of a kind of docu-game trend, with the inclusion of the Cultural Insights. While there are a few tweaks to the gameplay that should be made, Never Alone is certainly worth your time, and manages to tell so much within the four or so hours it takes to complete. Nuna & Fox's story is wonderfully told through the native tongue of the Iñupiat, accompanied by artwork inspired by the tribe's drawings and etchings, and brought to life by the beautiful designed of the environments and characters.
Never Alone carries the sensibilities of its inspirations, and it feels and looks just as it should.
Upper One Games succeeds at bringing Native Alaskan cultural heritage to the fore, but fails at making a good platformer.
Even though Never Alone is a brief journey with little incentive to play through more than once, it's still a journey worth taking.
Anyone who is transported by this timeless tale will undoubtedly forgive the various worries of youth from which the game suffers and will live an experience if not rare, in any case sufficiently striking to remember it in several months, even years, with a touch of nostalgia.
Review in French | Read full review