When you first load up this game, you’re greeted by the publisher’s name, Acke Hallgren, and the logo of Unreal Engines. Both fade away into a beautifully crafted title screen, revealing a room cast in shadow. The prominent gramophone, backlit by a mysterious light, adds a sense of ominous anticipation to the title screen.
As soon as you open the game, you are instantly transported into the attic of Sarah E. Wright’s late grandfather, Howard Wright. The atmosphere is rich with nostalgia, filled with old books, photographs, and mysterious artifacts. Playing as Sarah, you begin to explore this cluttered yet intriguing space; each item you interact with revealing more about your grandfather’s enigmatic past.
Your journey begins with the discovery of his journal laying on the desk, several pages torn out (seemingly in a hurry). The pages lay scattered across the attic, and can be found hiding in drawers, laying on tables, and several other out-of-sight spots. As you piece together the journal entries, you uncover a story of global travel, taking your grandfather all over the world in search of very specific things. As you find the voice recording sitting innocuously on the chair, the start credits begin to roll, and you are introduced into the real world of What Never Was.
Besides needing to find a combination for an intricately carved box, you sense that the journal pages hold the key to revealing a dark, buried secret. The globe innocently pushed up against the wall, the telescope buried in the back of a drawer, the clock looming a dark shadow over the rest of the room; all of them holding their own secrets and trials. As you explore further through the game, you uncover hidden messages that further unravel the story. Each puzzle is thoughtfully designed, requiring careful observation and logical thinking, making the gameplay both engaging and rewarding.
The controls for this game are beautifully simplistic in their design. A simple WASD movement, “C” to crouch, “V” on PC to access the necklace, and “Z” to zoom, left click to observe, right click to interact, “Q” to access inventory. In the free “Part I” of the game, these are the controls needed to progress; later editions/versions may need different buttons for new actions to be discovered in-game. In terms of menu options, again the game utilizes fulfilling access in simplicity. The control scheme is clearly laid out in the pause menu (accessible by pressing Esc) under Controls.
Now, my personal thoughts on the game: I absolutely adore it. I’m a huge fan of puzzle/escape games to start with, which is why this caught my attention in the first place. As I started playing, I quickly became invested as Sarah and trying to figure out the clues that Grandfather left for me. Although the puzzles were relatively simple, they were engaging enough (in the sense that I had to do multiple actions/find multiple pieces to solve) that it kept me interested. The soundtrack was really well done, alongside the voice acting, increasing my immersion within the game while being unobtrusive enough as to not distract me from the storyline. The options menu gave me enough customization that I could enjoy the game how I wanted, but not so much that it was a distraction to configure the perfect setting layout. Additionally, the achievements for Part I were subtle underscores, simple and yet not commonly considered.
Overall? The game focuses on simplicity, instead of complexity like many of its peers. Even though a large part of that is due to the fact that this is Part I, it was refreshing to be able to focus solely on the puzzles and game itself, instead of also having to try and understand game layout/control schemes/etc. The music was relaxing and helped me concentrate on the game, but not so obstructive or annoying as to ruin the experience. And that’s the game! What Never Was is a must-play for beginners and skilled escapists alike, managing to tread the fine line of being accessible to newbies and still interesting (especially with the tease of future parts) to those more versed in the escape experience. I, for one, will be eagerly awaiting a Part II and further, because I can’t wait to find out what Howard’s dragged us into now.
