Never Alone

Lizzie Elliott

8AM to 2PM

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Never Alone- Co-Op PS5

2 Hour Play Session w/ Kat

Description

Never Alone is a co-op game, where you play a young girl from a Native Alaskan Tribe, Nuna (The tribe is the Inupiat I believe) and a artic fox who might just be more than an ordinary fox. In this game you follow the girl and the fox on a journey where she is searching for the source of the ruthless blizzard that threatens her and her people, you go through a series of chapters, learning more about the world throughout them and where you also watch the young girl go through a series of hardships.

You learn that the young girl loves to hunt, and when the blizzard hits her people, she loses that ability and is instead faced with the threatening thought of starvation- so she bravely sets out to find why the blizzards are happening.
Along the way, she meets the artic fox, who is not just a regular fox, but seems to be in some way connected with the spirits you come across throughout the game, you find out that the fox can influence these spirits and aid Nuna.
As you travel, you meet with this man, called the Owlman, he seems to know Nuna, referring to her as 'granddaughter' and speaking about how he has been watching over her. He asks her to retrieve his drum from these little people, who reside underground. When you obtain the drum, he gives you a glowing blue object called a Bola; that can be used to break ice and also used to summon(?) spirits that the fox can then influence.
As you progress, you come across not only a polar bear who is very hungry and is set on making you its next meal, you also come across a man called the 'Manslayer' who you see has burnt Nuna's village and destroyed it in search of something. You find out what he is searching for is the Bola that Nuna has.
As you continue to progress, you also come across the Aurora Borealis, where green spirits swoops down and are not too friendly, if you get scooped up by them, you end up 'dying'? or something of the sort. The complete opposite of the white spirits, or Loons as the game calls them, who seem ready to help you.
A little side note, something myself and Kat referenced frequently was the parallels between this game and Avater: The Last Airbender. As the water tribe in the TV series is based of Native Tribes, and there is a spirit world in that show, similar to the game it seems, and also how the Manslayer seemed to be able to control fire, similar to Firebenders in ATLA.

(Nuna and the Fox)

(Nuna, the Bola, and the Owlman)

(The Manslayer)

Analysis

In this game, you watch a little girl go through several trials and many errors, you watch as not only she sets out on her own to find the source of the environmental problem her and her people are facing, you are also faced with some pretty heavy stuff, such as the destruction of her village, possibly the death of some of her people(?), and the temporary death of her companion. I think in this game, some anthropology concepts you see are not just the culture aspect, but also the religion and beliefs within this society that is represented, and the way relationships can affect your individual self whether it be good or bad, perhaps indirectly affecting your culture as well.

We get to see the culture of a Native Alaskan Tribe, not just through the character designs, but also the artwork during cutscenes that you get to see- giving the game a very wonderful feeling of authenticity. You get to feel as though you are not just watching someone tell a story from their perspective, but also experiencing it. We get to also see the religion and beliefs of this tribe, via through the different types of spirits and how Nuna's fox companion seems to be a spirit himself- as you get to go through the gut-wrenching scene of seeing the fox get killed, but then transform into a boy with a fox pelt, alluding to the fact that perhaps he wasn't just a fox all along. Not only do you get a glimpse of what this community/society believes in, but you also get to see how the various relationships individually affect Nuna, you see how the fox helps Nuna in her journey by showing her how the spirits can help, and indirectly influencing them to help her as well, giving a sense of almost guardianship- as if the spirits are looking out for this little girl, a feeling of the community she might need in that moment. You also get to see the negative impact the Manslayer has on her and her people, destroying her home and then chasing her because of his supposed need for the item she has, you see how his greed and ruthlessness hurts not only her but the things she cares for, i.e killing her fox companion, which is traumatizing for such a young girl and destroying her home, a place of safety and community- giving the feeling of real world suffering that has and will happen.

I think this game is a great way to open your perspective to real life struggles of people, specifically Native people whose lands get taken from them and destroyed, how not just the environment can take, but peoples greed and selfish desires also do the same thing. It truly teaches you the way of life this culture has and the way its society works and how they do things within their belief system.

Questions and Reflections

This game definitely gets you tuned in with your emotions, not just via the stress of trying to succeed in a chase scene or intense moment, but also watching this little girl struggle and fight against the odds that are put against her. I would have to say I was personally able to relate a lot to this story and to the hardships, seeing how the girl grieves for her fox companion and how she cries when she sees her village destroyed, it brought me back to the several times in my life where I experienced grief from the death of a loved one or the sadness of losing something/someone dear to me. It also made me think about how persistent I have been through the hardships I've gone through, similar to how Nuna is so determined to keep going forward, which I found very inspiring.

It also brought the questions:

What can we do to stop people from taking from Native Lands?
How can we prevent such struggles for these people?
Has this game also touched peoples heart like it did mine? Did it make them think more about how they could help?
It also brought to mind the fact of storytelling, and how it can be so useful in telling someone's story to reach out to people and touch their hearts, if we used storytelling more frequently, would it affect people more about issues we are facing?
Has this game made people realize that the world is so much bigger and has so much more to offer and show then perhaps they orginally thought?
Has it changed peopels minds about certain issues in the world?
If there was more games like this, would people pay attention more?

(Aurora Borealis Spirits)

(One of the White Spirits, "Loons".)

(The Fox, now shifted to the boy)

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