“Neverway” is not the kind of comfortable sketch that lets you relax from farming. It starts from the hope of moving to a new place and starting over, but it quickly puts anxiety, loneliness and uncertainty back into your hands. The protagonist Fiona escapes from her original life and comes to Montgomery Island. The story does not rush to tell you why she left, but lets you first feel the emptiness and uneasiness after moving, and even the daily life is a little strange.
What you said will be remembered, and if you lie, you will be questioned.
Fiona’s day is divided into time periods, and you have to choose between working, exploring, and socializing; you will be tired, out of shape, and overwhelmed by trivial matters. Even going to bed without changing into pajamas will become a debuff for the next day. It’s like saying: You think you are in charge of the character, but in fact you are looking in the mirror.
“Neverway” has a very thick dialogue and relationship system, and the developers even built an entire engine for it. When you face the town gatekeeper, you can tell the truth that you have no job, or you can choose a very unnatural lie; the subsequent NPC will remember what you said and will catch you back for confrontation at a specific time. This makes it less like clicking on options and more like turning interpersonal stress into calculable rules of the game.
Once in the simulation world, it suddenly becomes Zelda again
After the second trial starts, the game will become like a “pseudo-Zelda”. You are thrown into a simulated world and are guided by the mysterious character Fang to learn combat and exploration; you can slash monsters with your sword, roll to dodge, and get a grappling hook to cross large gaps. The puzzle solving and dungeon rhythm are reminiscent of “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening” or the “Oracle” series, but “Neverway” will incorporate the material management of collection, production, and life simulation, making adventure and life mutually intertwined.
Pedro Medeiros, who is responsible for pixels and art, is used to starting from a restricted color palette and pouring blue, purple, green, gray and other cooler tones into Fiona’s mood. Rather than saving money, these restrictions make the world more like the filter of anxiety: beautiful, but uncomfortable.