What Never Was

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9

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  1. Cyber_Angel
    Jun 28, 2020
    7
    The quality voice acting and dialog, coupled with simple, but captivating puzzles, the sense of curiosity, everything comes together for the sweet 30 minutes of gameplay that will transport you to an attic in the English countryside.
    A promise of good things to come (since the game was awarded the Epic MegaGrant).
  2. Mandulum
    Mar 17, 2019
    6
    Date Completed: 2019-03-17
    Playtime: 30m
    Enjoyment: 6/10
    Recommendation: It had some nice voice acting and dialog. It builds intrigue nicely but I expect there won't ever be a completed story here. In summary, take it or leave it.
  3. PublicNuisance
    Feb 27, 2020
    9
    What Never Was does a great job of making you want more. It is a very short game but does a great job in setting up backstory; puzzle mechanics; and atmosphere. The soundtrack and voice acting is also top notch. The setup is simple: you play as a girl who is tasked with cleaning out her recently deceased grandfather’s attic. In doing so you find he has set out to show you some mystery heWhat Never Was does a great job of making you want more. It is a very short game but does a great job in setting up backstory; puzzle mechanics; and atmosphere. The soundtrack and voice acting is also top notch. The setup is simple: you play as a girl who is tasked with cleaning out her recently deceased grandfather’s attic. In doing so you find he has set out to show you some mystery he had been working on. You uncover this by searching the attic for clues and then solving a few puzzles. The puzzles are straightforward and well done. The developers didn’t try any cheap tricks where the solution was some far fetched thing you would have never thought to try. The detail in the objects in the attic and the characters hands are above average. The view of the outside world wasn’t as well done but your focus is on the attic anyway.

    I played What Never Was on Linux. It never crashed on me and I encountered no bugs. It uses the Unreal engine, I’m not sure which version although it seems to be Unreal 4. There are five graphics options to tinker with. The game is locked to 60 FPS. Alt-Tab works. There is no manual saving, the save system is an auto system set to save after certain events. That being said the game is short enough this isn’t an issue. During game play my GPU usage was 63-86%; my VRAM usage was 1300-1581MB; my CPU usage was 4-6%; my RAM usage was 3.3-3.5GB; and my frame rate was a constant 60 FPS aside from a brief drop to 52 which lasted only a few seconds.

    I hope some day this game gets a full release or sequel. It tries to setup such a thing in the end of the game. It had everything you could want in great gamplay; great voice acting; great soundtrack and good graphics. If you enjoy puzzle games give it a try. It is free so I can’t complain with the cost. I finished the game in 35 minutes but even with that length I still would have happily paid $5 for it.

    My Score: 9/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 19.3.4 | Samsung 850 Evo 250GB | Manjaro 19.0.0 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.5.2-1-MANJARO    … Expand
  4. 4y4
    Sep 6, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's more like a teaser than a real game. The story is so short, that it's over in 30 mins. I hope we get more from this developer in the future!… Expand
  5. Natalia123455
    Apr 23, 2020
    10
    what a great graphics !!!! the puzzles are great !!! short but very enjoyable and fun game !!!

Critic Reviews

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Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. The Overpowered Noobs
    Feb 6, 2019
    70
    Polished but short, you'll be left wanting more: more puzzles, more story, and more from this developer.
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