Game Play Log 6

8/4/2016

Game Play Log 6

Never Alone

Of the key narrative elements discussed so far in the course (interactivity, level design/linearity, moral choice/non-linearity, character), which do you think is the most prominent, important or interesting in your chosen game?

In the game Never Alone I think the level design and linearity of the game is the most interesting. It has beautifully designed winterscapes that add to the charm of the 2-dimensional puzzle platform game. It introduces subtle metaphors through the art and it’s level design aids well in giving direction to the linear story narrative. 

In one of my last game play logs I made a comment about the game having a ‘slow reveal of what’s happening’ and about how the mini puzzles kept coming up one after the other. Those I still think made the pac of the game a bit slow but when I thought about it more I realised that maybe thats what the creators wanted. They wanted the player to really admire the levels design and how much information could be gained from it. For instance, the art for the levels and the puzzles. Its chilly winterscapes and engaging puzzles blended well with the traditional Inupiaq storytelling techniques. The helpful and unhelpful spirits were drawn in a way that looked like cave drawings. It helped introduce the Inupiaq culture in such a simple and aesthetically fitting way that you need to kind of stop and study it for a moment. The puzzles in the game also are a way to give direction to the player in how to transcend the level while also taking in as much of whats around them as possible. For example when Nuna and the fox are trapped with the polar bear in the ice cave, the player has to utilise foxes agility to roam around the cave to figure out how to deal with the bear before it gets Nuna. 

The design of the level also guides the player in  Once you start playing the game you immediately know that you have to make Nuna run forwards towards the right of the screen and are travelling at a constant speed. The story also follows the level design quite well, as you reach a certain level an event changer happens such as being chased by the polar bear or the mans layer. This change in the game makes you traverse through the levels quicker but also makes the player think quicker in terms of how to get past the obstacles to get away without getting caught. On a side note I want to also mention how the game never really deals with ‘death’ of a character (except maybe for the fox) because you never really kill anyone in a sense which makes a nice change. 

The use of subtle metaphors are also well engineered into the game. They reflect hidden meanings to the environment of the game and the Inupiaq culture. 

“The folklore take on conventional cold-weather survival wisdom is also evidence of that. Winds that can blow you off platforms must be resisted by hunkering down and scary, clutching ghost versions of the Aurora Borealis are also metaphors for how suddenly the cold can snatch life away without proper precaution.”  - Evan Narcisse

In conclusion I found the level design interesting because of how it showed of the culture of the Inupiaq in a subtle way and how easily the game play flowed linearly along with it. It appeal was strong with the extra depth the visuals gave the game. 

Reference:

Narcisse, E. (Author). (2014). Never Alone: The Kotaku Review [Review]. Retrieved from: http://kotaku.com/never-alone-the-kotaku-review-1659789150

Upper One Games. (Developer). (2014). Never Alone [Video game]. United States: E-Line Media