Neversong Review (PS4)

Neversong is a misleading videogame: at first, it looks like a kid-friendly fairy-tale platformer. At a closer look though you will discover that under the cartoonish graphics hides a dark horror story born from an extremely successful Kickstarter Campaign. Was the carte blanche received by Thomas Brush, the head of Pinstripe a good call or a mistake soon to be forgotten? Read on to find out.

Neversong tries to deal with quite mature issues, even if most of the characters are kids. The main character of the game is Pete, a young man who after waking up from a coma finds his best friend missing. Although this is his most immediate worry, Pete will soon notice that the whole world is upside down.

The absence of the adults caused by some kind of insanity left the kids in charge, who are free to bring to life their wildest phantasies. They will entrust you with different missions and a great deal of childish cynicism. You will have to navigate this nightmare turned into reality, running smaller and larger errands in the hopes of finding for answers both about Wren and the reason why you fell into a coma.

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Neversong is an interesting mix of puzzle-solving and fighting dressed as an adventure that manages to convey a very particular atmosphere. The six levels you have to go through have a distinct feel, mainly thanks to the unique design, both visually and acoustically. You will start in a utopic village, but soon you will be exploring a haunted cemetery and the caves hidden in depths below the homes. Although it has a coherent visual identity, Neversong manages to present the player with varied locations and convey different emotions, as to keep up the tension that lies beneath the calm surface. The design remains the best part of the game, being the main reason to finish the game.

Gameplay-wise, unfortunately, Neversong lacks in some areas. In the beginning, Pete will prove to be an average boy, but gradually he will discover new abilities and tools which will help him face the horrors waiting for him. Each new ability will open the way towards a new area where you will have to put the good use of everything you have learned. The challenge level progresses gradually, but the puzzles never become overly complicated. Most of them rely on the discovery and correct use of adequate tools. Sometimes it can be a tune you need to play, other times a baseball bat to smash your way through your opponents.

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Traversal needs precision and good spatial orientation, but the more advanced platforming sections, require an understanding of the physics of the game. Like in the cases where you have to use bombs in order to jump higher. If you have a good spirit of observation you will have no trouble with the game. But you will have issues with the imprecise controls, which can hinder even the most dexterous players.

The other main pillar of the game is the combat, which is just clunky. The fights with the regular opponents are just imprecise as the controls, the hitboxes being all over the place. When you start swinging your baseball bat it turns into a gamble, rather than a mechanic based on your reflexes. The boss fights themselves are maybe the most boring aspect of the game.

Basically, all the fights are the same, the only difference being that each new boss is more and more resilient. If you manage to rush through the game by having luck in combat and understanding the puzzle design, Neversong can be finished even under 1 hour. If you are stubborn enough to hunt down all the collectibles, you are looking at around 4 hours of gameplay.

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As already mentioned, especially the hitboxes of the enemies seem to be quite random. This aggravates the difficulty level of the fights which is anything but balanced. As a result, the combat part of the game feels like a chore, while the puzzles after you figure out the designer’s approach represent no challenge at all. It is a shame that the gameplay of the game did not receive the same attention as the artistic approach.

The Good

The Bad

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