Neversong is a singleplayer title released for Nintendo Switch, PC (also Linux and Mac OS), Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and despite its indie nature, was able to present itself as a very interesting production even before its launch. In fact, Neversong was originally known by another name: Once Upon a Coma. The title was initially financed through a Kickstarter campaign and represents a real sequel to the flash game "Coma", conceived and developed by Thomas Brush, developer who flanked by Serenity Forge and his small studio Atmos Games.
However, this man's passion for video games led him to expand his creature more and more, creating the product we see today: Neversong. For those who have never heard of it, we could summarize the production as an introspective journey, which points looking for our other half, all combined with a playful sector that brings together known elements of other indie and non-indie titles. Just think of Undertale, Hollow Knight, Inside and The Legends of Zelda, but this is not a mere carbon copy of the mechanics of these titles, but rather their own reinterpretation. Therefore, being Neversong a hybrid experience, we could define it as a puzzle game with action and elements from metroidvania. But now enough with the preambles, the time has come to look more deeply at all that the work aims to offer.
A comatose journey
Neversong starts with a small cutscene in rhymes, which sums up the incipit of the plot in a masterly way. It is perceived from the beginning the gloomy air of the game, but also small moments of lightheartedness, given by the infantility of the characters. We'll be Peet, a “small and scared” kid who is lucky enough to be engaged to Wren: the most beautiful girl in the country. Together, the two live happy moments, after a childhood stolen from an orphanage; but of course, joy cannot last forever. One day, the two decide to sneak into an abandoned asylum, ending up stumbling upon a white-faced man and deformed kidnapping Wren. Our little protagonist does not shine for his resourcefulness or his own courage and indeed, for fear he ends up entering a comatose state. When he wakes up, things are no longer the same, but one thing is certain: he is the only one who can save the girl.
The game then begins with an awakening, in a place completely unknown to us. To introduce us to Neversong's opening titles and core mechanics, the developers decided to make us repeat the same actions but changing the result, a little PT style The air you breathe has a taste ofrestlessness and oppression, almost terror. But eventually we fall asleep again, only to wake up once again… maybe. This time we recognize the place: is Wren's house, let's see his piano. You can play it, if you have the right score, so that you can get prizes. These songs are found in the course of the adventure, which has staked everything on a rather linear progression of events.
In the beginning we will be unarmed and it will be granted to us wandering around the town, talk to friends, remember who is our friend and who is not. But above all, we can ask everyone "Where is Wren?", Even if no one will give us the answer we want; yes, because for many our half died. However, this does not discourage us. Let's pick up a baseball bat and go on in our desperate search.
As we said, things are not as we remembered them, now they are there strange hostile orange spiders, easy to beat, like almost all the enemies in the game. Developers in fact, they did not focus much on the action component, but rather on the puzzle and narrative side, a decision that in the end we feel like rewarding. Going back and forth around the map is creepy, almost cumbersome, it makes you want to leave the pad and give up. but yet we continue on our way, without a precise goal. The puzzles they are not that complicated, but in case you have never completed any puzzle in your life, it could quickly get boring. Let's say that the prepared riddles serve to make the player feel like Peet: tired, in a way that does not belong to him, but determined. When talking to other NPCs there are small dialogue choices, sometimes not so important, but still capable of offering a certain personality to the succession of events.
Technically a good title
From a graphic point of view, the production does not excel, identifying itself as a “simple” two-dimensional title. What, however, offers a certain charisma to the various scenarios are the colors and style chosen, with a color palette that often moves from orange to brown, passing through the red. The various protagonists are characterized by strong connotations of white (so much that they look like corpses) and by eyes without iris, essentially only big circles full of black. This could stand to represent the life of an orphaned child, from which the joy of having a family has been stolen, and consequently her eyes are completely emptied of their childishness.
Apart from the right stylistic choices, the title is very light. Only at the start of the game the PlayStation 4 has "struggled" to load the cutscene, causing slight frame drops, but during the adventure we didn't run into any kind of problem, regardless of whether it was about bugs, glitches or frame-rates. Turning the page, the audio is really good. The music and the sound effects are very disturbing and they go well with what we see on screen. Unfortunately there are few musical tracks, but it must also be said that the short duration of the work would not have justified a particularly rich soundtrack. So, in the end, it was a wise choice, albeit questionable.
So we come to the end of this review and ask ourselves the fateful question: "Is it worth it?". As far as we are concerned, it is a yes. In the end we are faced with a simple title, which relies heavily on the plotrather than the implementation of particularly hardcore gameplay mechanics. So it is It is possible to say that it is suitable for everyone, but with an eye on it towards those who want a story-driven experience.
Neversong is a dark story. Sometimes sad and sometimes carefree. All the protagonists are well characterized, in their being children. And that makes the title one little gem not to be missed for no reason in the world. Obviously, if you are a gamer who wants to have a product with depth of gameplay in your hands and capable of keeping you busy for countless hours, you'd better look elsewhere. If not, its price he is absolutely affordable and honest for the proposed experience.
