Neverout (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): July 10, 2018
- Release Date (EU): July 10, 2018
- Publisher: Gamedust Sp. z o.o.
- Developer: Gamedust Sp. z o.o.
- Genres: Puzzle
Game Features:
An ominous looking main menu greets you when you first start this game. I jumped right into the game quite literally. The player wakes up in a small room, all alone. After a quick look at the surroundings and a few steps forward you immediately feel that this game has its own style right away: despite having a 3D first person viewpoint it's not a platformer or action game, but a puzzle game. You move in a grid pattern in the four cardinal directions, can look around freely, but not jump. After getting a feel for the movement, you eventually run into the wall of this cube room - and that wall now became the floor. This is the main mechanic of this game, rotating the room from the inside to get to the trapdoor that leads you down to the next room. It feels like you are on the inside of a Rubik's Cube!
Along the way of your escape you will run into several traps and obstacles; electricity and spike pits that you must find a way past, heavy blocks that move as you spin the room around - these blocks will both be crucial for you to escape the room, as well as crush you if you are careless. There will also be some magnets on the floors that catch the blocks, teleportation pads and a few gates that work as platforms and obstacles. Your goal is simple: get out, alive. But don't worry if you die, you just start at the beginning of the level again. There is no punishment for dying, sometimes it's even the best course of action if you get stuck and want to reset the room.
I've not mentioned the story yet, and the reason is that there is none apart from the premise: You wake up in a cube maze, and have to get out alive. There is no text, no dialogue - not even a tutorial. This is one of the major flaws, since there is nothing to fight for and keep you interested apart from the fun of solving puzzles. Who am I? Why was I put there in this maze? If there only was a clue left here and there about any of those questions, or even signs of other people before me. Just as with the aforementioned Rubik's Cube, this is a puzzle - once you drop the expectations of a story based game, you will appreciate it for what it is! Being on the Switch is also a positive experience that sure improves that whole cube puzzle analogy - sitting outdoors on a park bench playing through a few level, just like you would spin on a cube, is a great feeling. After the first intro stages that show you all the mechanics and obstacles, you are put in a different room with several trapdoors which display some number when you approach them. Once again, it would have been nice with some text saying what it was, so I walked around and ended up in the previous level I already completed. That's when I realized it was a hub room, where you can go back to the previous levels, or go into 4 branching paths each with specific mechanics. If you get stuck and go back to the hub room, you can choose a different path or go back a few levels, or come back to a path you previously exited halfway through. The objective is to finish all the four paths to unlock the final trap door.
There's a total of 68 levels in the game with a varying level of difficulty. The length of the game is of course depending on how quickly you can solve the puzzles. If you are used to solving cube puzzles or spatial puzzles, you will probably beat the game relatively quickly. You can expect to beat it in around 3-6 hours. After beating it, there is nothing left to do unless you want to take another shot at the puzzles or want to try to speedrun the game. The game could've had a few extra hours of playtime if it featured a procedurally generated levels mode. Something you will notice soon is how quiet it is. Apart from a faint hum, the static noises from the electric traps and the metallic thuds of the boxes - it's quiet. There is no music.This is a double-edged-sword, since it enhances the feeling of loneliness and claustrophobia - but at the same time makes it feel empty and a little dull. Either having distant signs of activity from other parts of the maze; muffled voices or mechanical sounds, an ambient soundtrack or even some intense industrial metal, it all would fit this game and change the feel substantially.
You can't customize the controls, but they are easy enough to use as they are. Movement with the left thumb stick, or move forward with the Up button, or with ZR or ZL. Sidestepping is only possible with the control stick though, and the camera is controlled with the right thumb stick. L and R can be to rotate 90 degrees, but since rotation is instantaneous it is more disorienting than helpful, something that would be remedied by having a quick transition instead of instant change. This control scheme allows for many different play styles and made me think of speedrunning too, especially with the 90 degree rotations.
Despite a few flaws and some wasted potential, it is a solid puzzle game that I really recommend to puzzle fans. Difficult to put away once you pick it up!
Check out the launch trailer!
Verdict
- Fun puzzles
- Looks nice
- No story
- No music
