14 DAY TRIAL // 
Never Alone is an indie 2D puzzle platformer with a unique inspiration source, showing a folk tale set in the Alaskan permafrost.
The game was built in partnership with the Alaskan Native community, delivering an atmospheric experience set in a snowy world, delving into the lore of the Inupiat people.
Whenever a new 2D platformer comes out of the indie scene, we have to answer the question of whether its existence is relevant or if it's just another consequence of having bigger and better game making tools and 2D platformers being easy to make.
Never Alone passes the test with flying colors, as it's based on a folk tale and also packs in some neat documentary footage, delivering interesting facts about the Alaskan natives and their culture.
In the game, you play the role of a young girl going on a quest to find why the blizzard isn't stopping, before her village starves as a consequence of not being able to hunt anymore.
Gameplay
The game plays as you would expect from a platformer, with plenty of running, jumping, and the occasional bola shooting, and a slew of facile puzzles to solve. The action blends realism with supernatural elements, such as an ice giant, a huge ice whale and helpful spirits, all based on the folklore of the people living in one of the harshest environments on Earth.
You assume the role of Nuna, going out into the great unknown and braving the elements in order to save your village. However, you are not alone in your quest, as an arctic fox comes to your help and follows you during your journey, helping you by talking to the spirits.
“Nuna's special ability is throwing a bola, shattering ice formations blocking your way, and the fox can run up walls and summon the help of nearby helpful spirits, generally working as platforms to jump on.”
In addition to this, you'll also be able to move boxes, swim around, jump through trees, and do a lot of running for your life when being chased by polar bears or the game's antagonist.
The controls aren't as smooth as they could be, as you can't freely jump around as you would in an action platformer. For instance, you can't jump backward, you have to first turn, and then get some momentum before a jump, which can lead to frustrating situations where you fail to reach your target.
Furthermore, the transition from running to shooting your bola is also a bit choppy, especially when you need to shoot it fast, and aiming isn't always as accurate as it could be.
This is further aggravated by the fact that the characters don't always manage to grab onto ledges, especially around boxes, and the AI controlling the inactive character isn't always making the best decisions.
However, a recent update has solved some of the AI issues, and there are a lot of checkpoints in the game, so it's not that big a deal in the end, even if the controls could have been a little bit more responsive.
Aside from these points, the game plays very well, with enough variety to make things interesting and with a right difficulty balance, enough to be slightly challenging, but not enough to put you off.
As you progress through the story, you will unlock live-action documentary sequences, detailing the lives and beliefs of the Alaskan natives, which are a worthy view, especially if you're interested in finding out more about the various cultures of the world.
The overall atmosphere is great, and the different motives used during the adventure are very interesting, the entire thing looking like a blend of fairy tale and gritty survival story, lending mature themes a puerile spirit, and blending a sort of childish awe with the need to understand and internalize what is going on in the world around us.
In this regard, the game's story is like many other folk tales of old, seeking to add an anthropomorphic value to natural occurrences beyond our grasp, and to offer the events that influence our lives some higher meaning and, most of all, a purpose.
There are Little People, there is a Manslayer, the archetypal person putting its own needs and desires before the community's, Sky People, and a lot of other nice things to discover and wonder at.
The entire game aims to convey a picture, that everything in the world is connected, according to the Inupiat's strong sense of community and oneness with nature, and it manages to do it quite well.
Never Alone portrays a living world, through spirits, its lore and your interactions with the arctic fox, even in the places where the frosty environment it all takes place in seems to suggest nothingness and death.
It's essentially a playable fable, a way through which the old explain the world to the young, seeking to inspire them and help them cope with things beyond their control, and to respect their surroundings.
The inspirational story of a little girl saving her village is an overarching theme of human folklore, the hero typology, risking everything for the good of the many, and showing that initiative, empathy and self-sacrifice are the pillars of a healthy and durable community.
I would have liked the game to be longer though, because I wanted to find out more about the people and explore the unknown world of their lore further. I respect the fact that the levels don't have too much padding just for the sake of providing a couple more hours of content, but I still would have liked a meatier experience, in the end.
Sound and visuals
The graphics are pretty good, managing to evoke the dark and snowy days of the north pretty well, alongside gusts of wind and more eerie elements such as spirits and the personifications of the northern lights.
The artistry is generally pretty good and varied, with decent assets and interesting designs inspired by the culture of the Inupiat. The cut-scenes are especially atmospheric, largely due to the fact that they are entirely narrated in the natives' language, adding to the entire experience.
The art direction has a wonderful feel to it, in the sense that it manages to capture a childlike quality when portraying the world, while at the same time possessing some darker undertones that serve the story well.
The unlockable insight bits are also nice, they're not too long, so they're entertaining enough without overstaying their welcome, making the whole thing more enthralling than a simple documentary.
Overall, the atmosphere and strangeness of the arctic world manage to paint a pretty good picture of the way the Inupiat see their forbidding environment, as a place teeming with life, history and hope, instead of the barren outlook it would have for outsiders.
The Good
- Interesting story
- Cultural insights
- Great atmosphere
- Good art direction
The Bad
- A lot of glitches
- Wonky movement
- Very short
Conclusion
It's far from the polished experience some indie developers have delivered in Brad, Trine or Limbo, as it suffers from the occasional glitch and has some control issues.
Instead of being all about gameplay, Never Alone is more about telling the very personal story of a people living to honor tradition, being inspired by Alaskan natives folklore and even offering short documentary clips about their life and history.
The atmosphere is great and the gameplay is satisfying, albeit with no difficult puzzles, and it's short and has pretty much no replay value. The storyline is interesting and ties in with the gameplay very neatly, and it also offers the option to play cooperatively, with two players each controlling one of the characters.
It's a brilliant way to go about edutainment, especially when so many indigenous communities are growing increasingly thin due to the advent of the global digital age and the growing influence of popular culture.
The way it's all designed, with gameplay and narration interspersed with relevant background videos exploring the importance of the things you’ve just uncovered, further serves to make the entire experience meaningful and endearing.
