Never Alone - Response

Area 1:

   The game Never Alone follows the adventure of an Iñupiaq girl Nuna and her Arctic fox. Throughout the game, you swap control between these two characters as you solve puzzles and discover the source of a blizzard that has continued to devastate the village. In a style much different from other games, Never Alone is presented in the form of an oral tale that you play out, and the player is rewarded with documentary-style videos on the Iñupiaq culture.

Area 2:

   In terms of telling a cohesive and culturally relevant story in a short amount of time, I think this game really excelled. I felt a real sense of genuine human storytelling while also being professional and concise. The game is also very accessible, with it being available on virtually every platform and giving several subtitle and language options. That being said, I personally did not stop to watch every short video until I finished the game. Not because I did not find them interesting (I actually responded more to the videos then the game itself), but because they have vastly different tones; I did not want to break the immersion of the game every couple of minutes or halt the pacing that the game seemed to be designed around. The controls and the frame rate  also gave me a few problems every now and then, but I imagine that might have to do with me playing on my phone. Overall, I hope the success of this game inspires other studios to take chances on stories and people that challenge the status quo.