{"id":8272,"date":"2026-04-09T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:00:00","slug":"neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Neverway Preview: A Compelling and Strange Mystery Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">I first meet Fiona when she\u2019s taking a depression bath. She\u2019s thinking about floating away to a remote island she\u2019s seen in an ad when her doorbell rings. It\u2019s the instant noodles I ordered (Neverway asked me to pick a food), and when you\u2019re ordering instant noodles, you know you\u2019re down horrendous. A quick check of her computer tells the story: my girl has stopped coming to work, and she\u2019s been fired. She has five days to pick up her things from the office before they\u2019re recycled. Fiona hasn\u2019t replied. Another email is from foxyrogue1 letting Fiona know that foxyrogue1 has her hoodie. When she doesn\u2019t reply, foxyrogue reaches out to see if Fiona\u2019s okay. She doesn\u2019t reply to that one either. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">But her email reveals other secrets, too. One from Insurance Heaven tells me a Misplace can happen to me, and tells me not to look at it. Ominous. But I have instant noodles to eat. Afterwards, I traipse around Fiona\u2019s apartment, taking in how stunning all of it is. I\u2019m not exaggerating when I tell you that Neverway is one of the most visually striking video games I\u2019ve ever seen. It reminds me of something you might find on the Game Boy Color, only far more beautiful, and the muted, grey color palette of Fiona\u2019s department makes it easy for me to identify with her state of mind. I stand on her balcony, flush her toilet, turn on the TV, and learn that, according to the Misplace Patrol Authority, that there hasn\u2019t been a Misplace in six months. That definitely sounds legit. With nothing else to do and nowhere to go, it\u2019s time for a depression nap.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Neverway Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2021719738 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The following day, Fiona realizes she has to go get her things from the office. That means going outside. I get her dressed, and off we go. One of the things that really impressed me about my time with Neverway was how it guided me to where I need to be without overtly saying \u201cgo here.\u201d I didn\u2019t know where Fiona\u2019s office is, but I figure it out pretty quickly because of how good Neverway is at showing without telling. Inside the train station, I find another ad for Montgomery Island, which seems to be targeted directly at Fiona\u2019s depression, and a couple people in biohazard suits inspect a cordoned-off bench, half of which is just\u2026 missing. That\u2019s weird, but it\u2019s not my problem. Onto the train I go.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-title jsx-684634384 jsx-2659527929 quote-container\" data-cy=\"quoteBox\">It reminds me of something you might find on the Game Boy Color, only far more beautiful, and the muted, grey color palette of Fiona\u2019s department makes it easy for me to identify with her state of mind.<span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-326843967\"><span>\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Another short walk takes me to the office, where I choose to have Fiona tell the truth about where she\u2019s been. After grabbing her things, I buy corn on the cob (and snag a cup of coffee for the travel mug I\u2019ve recovered from the office), and talk to another woman who told me that she wanted to be left alone. I decided to give her the corn I\u2019d bought, which cheered her (and probably Fiona) up, too. Good deed for the day done, I decide it\u2019s time to head home.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Back on the train, things start getting weird. There\u2019s only one other person in the car, and she tells me she\u2019s found heaven. All we have to do is wait. As the train moves, and light filters through the windows, static appears on my screen, and some\u2026 <em>thing<\/em> sits next to me. When the light fades, it fades. The woman heads to the next car, and I follow. What happens next is confusing. I pick up a pipe and bash through a barrier blocking my way forward, then crawl through a large tunnel. In the final car, several massive, spindly legs ride up from an abyss. An enormous eye stares at me from the blackness. Then I\u2019m attacked by strange, black, gelantinous\u2026 people? I\u2019m not quite sure. They cling to me, and I fight them off, my pipe crashing against their bodies. Images follow. Fiona in a forest of shattered trees, bones scattered all around, skeletons pinned to the shattered trunks. A massive machine that opens towards me. She collapses. And the train arrives.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">When she gets home, foxyrogue1 is there to return her hoodie just before telling Fiona that they don\u2019t think this is working. Fiona retreats back into her apartment, and like many a depressed person, dissociates for a while. In her foyer. In her bathroom. At her bed. Finally, she just decides to get away. And there again, is the ad for Montgomery Island. Fiona decides to take a chance. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">After helping her move into her new house \u2013 and meeting the officer who controls entry to the island, who does not seem to like Fiona very much and ominously warns her to head home immediately as it\u2019s late \u2013 I\u2019m taken to the second part of Neverway\u2019s demo. This time, I\u2019m inside a computer simulation based on Fiona\u2019s mind. If the opening sequence was about mood and tone, this is very much about What It Feels Like to Play The Video Game\u2122. After fighting off some enemies, I acquire a hookshot I can use to yank them towards me or zip across the gaps that segment this fragmented, blue-tinged cyberspace. My goal that my companion\/handler\/instructor Fang tells me is to rebuild a bridge, which means getting my hands on some wood, which in turn means getting my hands on an axe to chop down some virtual trees. Sure, why not? After all, this is all based on what\u2019s going on in Fiona\u2019s head.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Once again, there\u2019s nothing telling me where to go or what to do. I have to figure it out for myself, and I love that. I traverse the paths available to me, fight off enemies, drop from higher ledges, hookshot across gaps. When I\u2019m tired (both energy and health are a resource), I can relax in the hot springs or sleep in my virtual bed. I learn where I can\u2019t go and where I can, following the square patterns between solid ground that inform me I can walk to new areas. I help a woman named Monica save a wilting flower by finding the materials to craft a watering can at a workbench, and am rewarded with a dash that moves through enemies and leaves behind a shadow. After a fantastic joke about what Fiona fears most, I face off against a boss that tests my ability to use the skill I just acquired. I have to use the dash to get around his shield. Once he\u2019s down, I finally get my axe, and I can finally repair the bridge.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">And then things start getting weird again. Creeping shadows infiltrate the simulation and pursue me wherever I go. I traverse through smaller and smaller versions of Fiona\u2019s apartment, then across a black void where scenes I don\u2019t understand play out before me. One shows me two children with numbers for names playing in a laboratory talking about becoming strong, and a third who tells them that they do not want weapons. Another shows weapons being transplanted into a child. Maybe one of the ones I saw earlier, only older? I do not know.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In the end, I find a man named Lancelot sitting atop a throne. He calls me Fang, and asks me what I am when my purpose is gone, then transforms into a monstrous, black blob with a doll\u2019s face and snakelike hair. After a quick battle against the shadows, Fang rushes in to save me. I fight past the storm pushing me back. I embrace Fang, and the demo ends.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-title jsx-684634384 jsx-2659527929 quote-container\" data-cy=\"quoteBox\">I came away from my time with Neverway stunned by its beauty, turning over what I\u2019d seen in my head, and wondering what would happen next.<span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-326843967\"><span>\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">I came away from my time with Neverway stunned by its beauty, turning over what I\u2019d seen in my head, and wondering what would happen next. I didn\u2019t get to see much of its life sim elements \u2013 I didn\u2019t farm or fish during my demo \u2013 but I was compelled by its strangeness and its willingness to turn me loose and let me figure things out for myself. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m sure of how Neverway will look when developer Coldblood Inc. finally puts the whole game in our hands, but I was so interested in what I saw during its demo that I\u2019m also not sure I care. I want to spend more time in this world: I want to plumb its depths, learn its secrets, and unravel its puzzles. From playing this demo, I think I understand Fiona. And I want to see where her story goes, no matter how dark or strange the road she travels becomes.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Bluesky @edgarallanbro.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure.webp\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/neverway-preview-a-compelling-and-strange-mystery-adventure.webp\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-8272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}