Peet awakens from a coma to discover his girlfriend has vanished. He must now navigate a world where the adult population has transformed into bloodthirsty individuals. The world presents numerous dangers that Peet must overcome to find his beloved. Fortunately, he has his trusty baseball bat as his primary means of defense.
A game that opens with the following narrative immediately piques interest and encourages reflection. These are substantial themes to explore within a video game, and the execution can be challenging.
Neversong establishes a nightmarish and unsettling atmosphere from the outset. The combination of music, sound effects, and vocal performances cultivates a persistent sense of unease, where appearances can be deceiving. Players control the protagonist through stylized, hand-crafted levels. While the environments are visually appealing, the protagonist’s animation could benefit from further refinement; the stiffness of Peet’s movements and jumps evokes a visual style reminiscent of South Park. However, as players progress, this becomes less noticeable as they become engrossed in the puzzles and narrative.
Neversong presents a moderate level of challenge. Overlooking a crucial detail can lead to backtracking to retrieve a specific item or activate a particular mechanism. On a few occasions, players will need to traverse the entire level. The initial stages can be demanding until acquiring the baseball bat, after which the gameplay becomes more manageable.
Neversong, originally titled Once upon a Coma, initially launched on Steam in 2019 and is now available on consoles. This review is based on gameplay on the Xbox One X, where the visuals are notably impressive. The game’s simplistic yet well-executed graphics contribute significantly to the overall gaming experience.
Despite its positive attributes, Neversong falls short of a strong recommendation primarily because it draws unavoidable comparisons to Playdead’s Limbo, a title that explored similar themes with greater finesse. Playdead, the Danish studio behind the acclaimed game Inside, released Limbo a decade prior. While Neversong shares thematic and narrative similarities, it lacks the innovation and polish to surpass its predecessor. Ultimately, Neversong is a competent game, but its limited originality prevents it from achieving greater distinction.
