A hybrid videogame/documentary surrounding Inuit Culture.

User Rating: 7 | Never Alone PS4

Video games usually aren't the first place to if I want a learning experience. I do however enjoy documentaries and in many ways Never Alone is a hybrid video game/documentary. This original story of a young girl and a friendly fox has been cleverly designed to cover the life and legends of the Inuit people. The game lets the player go back and forth from the gameplay to mini-segments of a documentary covering various aspects experienced through the game. It is really cool to be able to discover the different parts of this rich culture and go on to experience them hands-on. If you're curious to learn about the native Alaskan people or you're looking for a light co-op experience Never Alone might be worth checking out.

In this story you play as a young girl named Nuna. With a relentless storm threatening Nuna's village she decides to head out to find what the origin of the storm is. Nuna doesn't quite realize what she is getting her self into. Thankfully she quickly finds a Fox who will help protect and guide her. Both Nuna and her Fox have different abilities that require them to work together. You can control both characters or you can play co-op with each player controlling one character. On Nuna's adventures you'll come across different elements of Inuit culture which are explained in detail via the documentary. The story is definitely the focus of this experience and its quite fun to learn about all the different legends and beliefs of these natives.

Game-play wise this is a pretty straight forward side-scroller. The two characters will need to avoid or maneuver around various hazards such as Icebergs and Polar bears. When there is no immediate danger the levels often turn into puzzles. You'll need to take advantage of Nuna's bola and the fox's ability to climb to navigate and progress to the next area. The game isn't particularly challenging which isn't too surprising since this is an educational game and was designed with children in mind. That being said there are a couple parts especially in the later half of the game that can get quite tricky and may require multiple attempts.

Never Alone is very pretty game. As one may imagine there is only so much variety of things to see in this snowy paradise but what there is to see looks nice. The cut scenes are particularly interesting as they borrow the look of traditional Inuit art. To farther enhance the immersion the narration is voiced by a native in the native language. This game is all about spreading and promoting Inuit culture and it does everything it can to be authentic.

How much you'll enjoy this game really comes down to how open minded you are. If you enjoying learning new things there is a lot to appreciate. However, more "hardcore" gamers find the gameplay a bit too lax. That isn't to say there is anything wrong with the gameplay, in fact I found the difficulty quite appropriate for the experience. This game also is a good example of proper asymmetrical multiplayer for those who enjoy couch co-op games. Find any reason to play Never Alone and I'm sure you'll walk away contented and a lot more knowledgeable about this fascinating culture.