Ignoring everything else, from story to style, and just focusing on how the game…well…plays. Looking at games from the beginning to the now, and commenting on whether or not it was fun to play, because not everyone cares about the characters they control. Welcome to Strictly Gameplay (SPOILERS? AHEAD)
This week on Strictly Gameplay I’m taking a look at Never Alone, an adventure platformer that puts you in control of both a little girl and a fox…or, after an unfortunate incident, a human fox ghost…thing. I decided to play the game in it’s two player cooperative mode DarthDave89 which, after playing again on my own, I realized is slightly more 
difficult when you’re partner doesn’t have the best platforming skills…The game itself is rather quick, and can be finished in one sitting. At most I’d say 5hrs to complete, add an extra hour to find the 1 or 2 “hidden” owl’s which act as collectibles. You progress through multiple zones, which introduce multiple gameplay dynamics that are all implemented in the final “storm the tower”-esque level (You climb an Ice Giant)…you then turn and run, revisiting all of the different zones, as you make your way home…where there’s some touching moment and blah blah blah.
The upside to Never Alone is the ability to skip all the cutscenes and story based dialog, and get right into the gameplay, which is simple and easy to handle for all ages. Anyone with an average level of hand-eye coordination could get through this title, no problem. That being said the game is still fun…the most brutal aspect to Never Alone 
is the heartbreaking reaction’s of either the girl or the fox when one or the other is killed…DarthDave89 and I’s back and forth banter would instantly cut to us making sad faces even after dying 100 times. Probably the most annoying part of the design is the fact that the fox can run a lot faster than the girl, which isn’t the worst but in areas where you are running against the wind it made short walks feel like hours. As an added bonus you can play the game a single time and get the full 1000 gamerscore, as long as you manage to find and unlock every owl…video…thing.
That’s it for this edition of Strictly Gameplay. Let us know if you’d like to see more of this on Space Time Taco.
