Neversong (2019)

When I think of Hollow Knight, I think of a dark, mysterious world, indirect storytelling and challenging, but highly responsive combat. I also think screw Nightmare King Grimm, but moving on. Neversong developers Atmos Games clearly took a lot of inspiration from Team Cherry, but still managed to find their own, smaller scale niche.

You are a young boy, Peet. Your best friend Wren got kidnapped in front of you when you utterly failed to protect her., the shock of which made you comatose The game begins with you waking up and setting out to find her. While you were incapacitated, a lot has gone on: the adults have disappeared and your friends are up to some weird shit. There is patently more here than meets the eye, and as the game progresses perception and reality become less and less clear.

The game is structured in 5 chapters of exploration each lasting no more than 30-40 minutes and culminating in boss fights against the missing adults. Upon defeating each boss, you learn a new song. Return to your house, play the song on Wren’s piano and you’ll gain access to a new ability, opening new avenues to explore in classic metroidvania style. The world is small enough that any backtracking is absolutely minimal.

The controls are fine, though clearly less than optimal. There do appear to be hitbox issues and I saw movement described as ‘twitchy’, which is the perfect term. This twitchy movement combined with poor design make certain platforming sections more annoying than necessary. A number of times, one little slip would force you backto square one, often one or two screens back, to begin the platform sequence anew.

When compared to Hollow Knight, the combat feels similar, you’re able to hit in all 4 directions, though it is much more forgiving. The twitchy controls mean you’ll get hit fairly often but every defeated enemy drops a recovery heart Bosses also have a similar design philosophy but are degrees of magnitude more forgiving.

The themes of bereavement, guilt and powerlessness in the face of time’s incessant march forwards are ever poignant. Anyone of a certain level of maturity has regrets. We all wish we could turn the clock back: to return to that moment, or even just to a simpler time when the biggest decision of your day might be where you would go to play. Yet, all we can ever do is learn to accept, to keep going, to live.

You cannot always save the girl, you cannot always make things right, you cannot always just move on. Neversong doesn’t hit its notes perfectly, but provoking introspection beyond the end of the credits is a rare feat, particularly for such a simple title.