GRcade

Hi all. Recently an upcoming indie game has been on my radar. Never Alone - Kisima Ingitchuna. It’s an atmospheric puzzle platformer. You play as Alaskan Native girl Numa who is accompanied by White Fox as they travel on a quest to the top of the world to try and stop the Endless Blizzard that threatens the survival of her people. The game can be played single player or two player working together to solve puzzles. There are mysteries, dangerous natural forces and hidden spirits that may either help or hinder you on your journey.

Never Alone was conceived by the cultural committee for the Iñupiat people, who wanted a way to pass on their folklore and culture to the younger generation and share it with the world. Many local elders contributed to it to give it an authentic Alaskan Native voice.

So when I went to the Eurogamer EGX show last Thursday I made sure I headed over to the game’s stand where I had the chance to speak with the game’s lead writer Ishmael Hope who spoke so passionately about the game. I videoed him and also wanted to share my first impressions and a little of the background that inspired the game's conception - so something came over me and I made a little homemade interview preview film! The interview starts at 2m 37s.



It certainly is reminiscent of Limbo but absolutely has its own voice. My brief playthrough with another player was fun (I was White Fox). The puzzles in the demo were quite straightforward, bordering on easy to solve so I will have to wait and see if and how that difficulty level is measured for the final release game, and I really don’t want to be one of those games writers/journalists who will fall over each other in a rush to write onanistic prose about how ‘this proves that games can be art.’ Suffice to say I like the story, the feel, the background and that it has potential.

Trailer



It launches the 18th November on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam. There is a plan to bring it multiple other platforms. When I played the demo it was using a 360 pad, and Hope did say that a Wii U version would come out early next year if things went well.


Concept Art

It had me at 'dog'.

Venom, not the game.

Eurogamer 10/10

Wasn't expecting that after reading some other reviews.

[iup=3618618]GrinWithoutaKat[/iup] wrote:Eurogamer 10/10

Wasn't expecting that after reading some other reviews.

Written by a guy of native american decent, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Christ almighty.

[iup=3618633]Photek[/iup] wrote:

[iup=3618618]GrinWithoutaKat[/iup] wrote:Eurogamer 10/10

Wasn't expecting that after reading some other reviews.

Written by a guy of native american decent, so take it with a pinch of salt.

If only he were better than that.

[iup=3618633]Photek[/iup] wrote:Written by a guy of native american de(s)cent, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Your insinuation sounds... bad, Photek. I'd have thought it'd be interesting to read the view of someone with apparently close connections to the background of the game.

Photek wrote:

[iup=3618618]GrinWithoutaKat[/iup] wrote:Eurogamer 10/10

Wasn't expecting that after reading some other reviews.

Written by a guy of native american decent, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Go on

Hi photek.

Amazing scenes

Coming over here, reviewing our games.

Probably best to disregard Eurogamer France's review of AC Unity too.

[iup=3618618]GrinWithoutaKat[/iup] wrote:Eurogamer 10/10

Wasn't expecting that after reading some other reviews.

What a load of bollocks Guy's entitled to his opinion obviously but even if the game actually worked it's still extremely mediocre under the nice visuals

For you it was, yes. For him, obviously not. Ergo: not bollocks. It's a brilliant, touching piece of writing.

[iup=3618641]Mafro[/iup] wrote:

Photek wrote:

[iup=3618618]GrinWithoutaKat[/iup] wrote:Eurogamer 10/10

Wasn't expecting that after reading some other reviews.

Written by a guy of native american decent, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Go on

As in it would strike an emotional chord with him.