At the back end of 2014, Never Alone released to a bit of a fanfare. The story of Kunuuksaayuka by Robert Cleveland told the tale of a young girl, Nuna, and her pet fox across a puzzle platformer that attempted to continue the tradition of passing on old Alaskan stories, helping keep alive the Inupiat community in a more modern world. Our original review saw Never Alone very nearly take home full honours, with only a few dodgy AI interruptions and some standard platform jumping issues seeing it knocked down a peg.
Now though, Nuna and Fox are back as Upper One Games and E-Line Media expand the original game with downloadable content that focuses on a new story; that of two brothers in an old tale entitled ‘The Two Coastal Brothers’. With the exact same visuals, audio and mechanics in place, the Foxtales content that has been brought our way starts off on an already solid footing, and with a price point to die for, there really isn’t much to keep us away from the Alaskan door.
I’m not going to sit here and ruin the tale for you as I’d much rather you played through the content and discovered the unfolding story for yourself. I’m also not going to ruin any of the five Cultural Insight videos that have been included as part of the download, although you can be sure they are yet again first class offerings which just beg to be watched numerous times.
I will however let you in on a little secret; in the couple of hours it took me to experience the new coastal brothers tale, not once did I find an issue to write home about. The jumping issues which I found frustrating in the original story do not surface, although much of this could be down to very little platforming action included. The majority of the add-on will see you traversing the open waves in a small sealskin canoe, with Fox diving into the depths frequently to gain a hand from helpful spirits. It is with these underwater spirits that we see the puzzles begin to emerge with the torrid currents of the open Northwest Alaskan water becoming your friend once you successfully understand how the spirit world plays a big part in Alaskan culture. There is very little going on above the waves throughout but personally, I find this a joy to behold as it’s delightful to send Fox on a graceful swim in order to help out an often stranded Nuna.
With one of the issues of the full game being all but wiped out, it’s great to also see Nuna and Fox working supremely well together, either throughout a single player game or when taking on the world co-op style. There is never a point when either character would struggle to do as requested and the energy between young girl and pet has never been better; both above and below the icy waves.
The story of Foxtales is delightful albeit very short, but the price point on offer and the chance to help deliver a new Inupiat tale means it just must be purchased. If you haven’t yet played the original tale, make sure you get downloading it right now – and follow that up with an instant content purchase of Never Alone Foxtales.
Nuna and Fox are waiting to tell the tale of two brothers!
