SCUMMVM The Neverhood, a game you need to Clay

[Bakuma1997]

Claymation, not everybody's cup of tea, but for those that love it, they will appreciate the effort that is bringing clumps of colored sand to life, an today, you get to see a express review of what a creative mind can do with lots (As in a literal Ton) of clay can do

Sinopsis
After a shitshow in only the starter credits, you start as Klaymen, a...Clay man sleeping inside a room with your very first puzzle, no knowledge of what the frick is going on and no directions, all you know is that you must explore the Neverhood

Puzzles
As a Scumm game, you get to solve puzzles, varying from simple (One is clicking a small door to stretch it and open it) from mildly challenging but still easy (The second puzzle is feeding a rope to a round thing to keep a door open) to honestly frustrating and honestly if you get stuck i don't blame you for looking the solution online (THAT FUCKING WATER PIPE DOOR PUZLLE FUCK YOU FOREVER AND EVER)

Gameplay
A even simplier one than most adventures, no over complex verb combinations, no having to scamble in your menu to chek if the things work, no joke items that waste time, good in paper, but if you don take notes on what you have and what you need, you are cooked (Not helping matters is that the game is relatively open worded)

Music
Is Terry S. Taylor, thereby a guaranteed sucess, in case you don't know him, he is a surreal jazz musician, not only he made music for this game, but also for other Doug TenNapel work, an REAAAAAAAAAAAALY obscure cartoon called Catscratch, here is a bit size sample of the man's talent

Characters
Really simplistic, there is barely any NPC and only FOUR named characters appear, Klaymen, a guy called Wily, the villian Klogg and the "God" of the world Hoborg, it's not a bad thing, since the minimalism means you will focus more on the oddiites of the world and puzzle solving

Lore
What the game lacks in inmediate story is given though a REEEEEEALY long aisle called the Hall of Records, you will need to give your right screen lots of clicks, and no, it isn't skippable, since one of the Macguffins is there, reading the text fortunately is optional and if you really want to read it, they are online pages recaping it

Conclusion
Wait a minute, minimalist world, challenging gameplay, Lore explained reading text, HOLY RAVIOLLY THE NEVERHOOD IS A DARK SOULS LIKE

Now seriously, the neverhood is a good game, not as good and memorable as, say, the Monkey Island games or Day of the Tentacle, but those that played it (Including me) has come to appreciate the talent poured in it, if you crave more Klaymen, they are two "Sequels", one Japan Exclusive called Klaymen Gun Hockey, where you play... take a guess, and other called Skullmonkeys, AKA everything that can make a game hard shoved in a single disk, decent

They also tried to revive via Armikrog, basically Neverhood IN SPACE... the game was kinda mid, also was ported to Playstation 1, also a mid port

THE GOOD:
+Memorable main character despite being the typical mute character
+Every clickable area can lead to a puzzle or a really hilarious scene
+Music that sounds like something of a comedy Blockbuster in a good way
+intuitive puzzle solving, quoting the rare commercial "Just Point and click and Klaymen does the rest"
THE BAD
-The Hall of Records, Lore relevant as it is, is too long, Klaymen's slow walking cycle barely helps
-No menu to check your stuff means that you ned to take notes on what you have
-No fast travel or shortcut system, meaning that if you miss a puzzle, item or clue and need to backtrack, F
-Klaymen moves slowly, and he has a little "loading" emote anytime you click somewhere, extending the walking time
Despite the warts, i still enjoyed the game, overall i give it a solid 8,9/10

 

[ArkenDev]

I am claying so fucking hard rn dude...

 

[J.B’s rabbit den]

GROOOOOVŸ, OUTTA SSSIIITE