Neversong (PC) Review

Neversong is a type of platformer that has some really good parts, and some not so good parts. Indies have certain advantages and disadvantages compared to the better funded and connected developers, and this really shows these completely. The story, presentation, and subject matter are unique, and something that would generally never be touched by bigger companies, and this is to its merit. Some prevalent downsides are inconsistent art direction and combat that's very tough to recommend.

Starting off with a very cool poem story sections reminiscent of an Edgar Allan Poe reading, it sets the stage of a young, weak boy who witnesses his girlfriend being captured by an evil Dr. Smile, and the boy is so overcome with terror he faints into a coma. Waking up he finds himself in a strange world where his friend is gone, and he must try to find her. Occasional story sections play out in this fashion, and are very good, and really needed to be more frequent.

Even after the story section ends, this throws the player into a weird stage of a nice house, but creepy vibes of candles and torn curtains. With disturbing backgrounds of weird faces, blood-like objects, skulls and clocks, it does a tremendous job of passing along a feeling of something not being right. Games that present a "things are not what they seem" are woefully rare, and usually enjoyable, and in this realm Neversong does a good job with this. If anything it should have run further with this.

Problems crop up because of inconsistencies. The backgrounds are very well done, and certain segments, namely the beginning and the ending sequences, are very good, and are clear high points of the experience - contrasted with the painfully simplistic characters, which look more like upgraded stick figures. Other than being woefully basic, it just detracts from the otherwise nice backgrounds. The enemies are a little creepy, but they all look the same and lose their feeling way before the end of the game.

Combat and platforming are something that is barely average. The character controls okay, and largely most of the platforming is never that demanding that the average control scheme gets in the way, but certain jumps, and a few puzzles lean towards being frustrating because of the erratic controls. Combat is especially bad because of how "bouncy" hitting is. When hits happen the screen flashes white and both bounce away from each other, with next to zero indication if you or the enemy was the one that got damaged. Given the flood of health provided to you, it is forgiving, but it still is a problem.

The platforming is nothing to write home about, the combat is weak, and the smaller story most of the game presents is lacklustre. These are unfortunate, as the "larger" story being told is actually pretty powerful, and really needed more hints and more expansion on the themes it touches. In contrast, the platforming, backtracking, and bouncing around detract from the overall story. In retrospect the amount of stuff this makes the player go through are largely not worth most of the rewards. The game would have been much better served with perhaps streamlining some of the process and combat, and adding more story, which was its strongest suite.

It is unfortunate, as the gaming world is painfully devoid of these deeper narratives, and hidden meanings under what is happening. They almost always come from indie sources, but often as is the case, these are lacking in one or more areas. It would have been much to the games merit if more time was spent expanding the story, and having less backtracking or dull bomb puzzles. The ending sequence was amazingly good (if a touch too long with some annoying puzzles), and shows that this has clear talent behind it. Far too often, however, it is just not showing its full strength.