There was a pretty awesome game made in 1996 by a guy named Doug TenNapel. You may or may not remember it--either way, it was amazing. If you have some time, I beseech you to read this. The NeverhoOd Chronicles is a game by a genius named Doug TenNapel, produced by the Neverhood, Inc. and distributed by Dreamworks Intereactive. Made in 1996, the game was a point-and-click style game programmed in C++ and packed into Blorb files (nerdy yet old game production packages). What happens to make this game so spectacular is so broad that we can simply say from a relative perspective that everything in this game is amazing. The Neverhood offers more freedom than your typical point-and-click games. It amalgamates point-and-click with free roam which is pretty cool. I've had a guy say by prejudice he didn't want to play the game because I told him it was a PnC game, though now he thoroughly enjoys it. Doug TenNapel's wild, oneiric imagination invokes an innovative gameplay. The storyline is based off of creationism and the fall of man--with a few twists, of course--and is overall quite godly. The storyline explains a tale of both fantasy and mystery. You play as the protagonist, Klaymen, who wakes up in the surreal, colorful world of the Neverhood, not knowing who he is or what his purpose of life is. You explore the oddities and the wonders of the world, and you must collect tapes throughout the game who introduces you to a guy named Willie Trombone. Lacking the use of pronouns and overall correct grammar, he tells you a mystical tale of the Neverhood. Your objective is to solve puzzles, explore the land and collect those tapes so you can reveal your identity and save the Neverhood! This tale is not only enjoyable for all ages, it involves almost every genre--weird fiction, comedy, mystery, adventure... much more. 'Tis unfathomable how such a fantastic story could gain such little publicity! The aural experience is great too. The soundtrack, "Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood," has won title as GMR Magazine's "Best Game Music of the Year." Its meaningless lyrical stanzas are so ill-articulated and intricate that it seems to bring meaning to life. The instrumental is particularly composed of guitar and 'found instruments.' It is so great, I swear. I could listen to it for days and listen to nothing else in life. Titles include, "Operator Plays a Little Ping-Pong," "Tomatoes, Potatoes, Gravy and Peas," "Dum Da Dum Doi Doi," and many others, but I must say my favorite will always be "Klogg's Castle." You must listen to this soundtrack for yourself to truly understand what this means to me. The gameplay is quite simple. You solve puzzles. To utilize objects upon one another, you must click one object then click the other, which makes the interface quite intuitive and easy. Though, do not take this for granted--the puzzles are much more frustrating and significant than you think. If you're an adventure-gaming god then you will know that you must record almost EVERY DETAIL in the game. Still not convinced? What if I told you the entire game, alongside its epic soundtrack, extravagant storyline, extraordinary gameplay, wacky art, interesting and innovative characters, great easter eggs, and amazing style, IT IS ENTIRELY COMPOSED OF CLAY. Yes, the whole visual experience is claymation! I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW COOL THIS IS, GUYS. To create a game with such precision of art and timing and programming into one great executable into one compact disc verifiable and distributable for PC, AND USE CLAYMATION is just the basic protocol of the game. The characters are so well-crafted. The Neverhood, Inc. used 2 __tons__ of clay to make this game. It's even cooler that the game pretty much emphasizes its claymative thinking. Alright, so I had to keep it short and sweet. Trust me, THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO THIS GAME, OH-SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE. Here are all the neat links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uahUIOINCs0 -- The Neverhood soundtrack in entirety, written by Terry S. Taylor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginarium:_Songs_from_the_Neverhood -- The Imaginarium Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverhood -- The Neverhood Wikipedia page. http://www.facebook.com/Pyroneous -- Pyroneous, Inc. http://z11.invisionfree.com/Neverhood_Community/index.php? -- None other than the Neverhood Community! http://z11.invisionfree.com/Neverhood_Community/index.php?showtopic=869 -- The complete Neverhood Restoration Project thread. http://neverhood.se/ -- A website dedicated to the Neverhood. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqzsjpQmSfw -- Part I of a pretty cool guy doing a Let's Play. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=neverhood - Anything else you could possibly think of about the Neverhood (that's on the Internet, at least). ...so what is the purpose of this post? I'm part of something called Pyroneous, Inc. We're a company who has a goal to make interesting, unique and fun content. Video games--sure, you could say we make that. We make absolutely everything that we think of as distinct and original. And guess what? We've restored the Neverhood. You can play it on Windows XP through Windows 8 now. You should check it out here: http://theneverhood.sourceforge.net/ Thanks for reading this excruciating long post.
Yea I have the game would love to have it in the box but waaaaaay to expense. I remember seeing for the first time at a local egghead software and was blown away.
I remember reading in a magazine about it. While the reviewers appreciated style, story and graphics, they were not too fond of the game/ puzzle design. Since I also did not have Windows 95 at the time, I did not seek after the game and forgot about it.
I remember it fondly. Bought it when it came out, and it still has a special place in my collection. Fabulous game, and cuts from the wacky soundtrack still pops up in my mind even today. Seeing people reminisce about this game always puts a smile to my face :)
The Neverhood is amazing. I remember that long freakin' wall with the creation story on it that lasted FOREVER. Also the burping tree and all the other amazing sound effects and oddities. Beautiful game.
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