Neverway is a ‘nightmarish life sim RPG’ with hand drawn cuties and horrors from Celeste’s artist

During today’s Triple-i Initiative stream, developer Coldblood Inc. shared a first look at its upcoming horror life sim, Neverway. It’s the debut game from a studio co-founded by Celeste pixel artist Pedro Medeiros, with a soundtrack from Hyper Light Drifter composer Disasterpeace.

Neverway looks to combine a few of my favorite things: late night brooding, combating the Horrors, bonding with loveable weirdos, and farming life. Infer from that last bit what you will. But simply comparing it to Stardew Valley seems unfair, as its debut trailer includes far more snippets of creepy dungeon-diving than turnip planting.

As Fiona, you’ll start life over on an eerie farm as the “immortal herald of a dead god,” which is basically my dream, though Coldblood has taken to calling it “a nightmarish life sim RPG.” Shots of fishing, farming, crafting, and decorating in a dark fantasy setting were enough to speak to me, specifically, but the few looks at Neverway’s cutscenes in its debut footage are what struck me.

The trailer is a macabre parade of ghouls and distorted horrors terrorizing poor Fiona, but it’s in Medeiros’ distinct, detailed pixel style for something equally cute and unnerving. There’s also a few quick looks at some of Neverway’s romanceable cast, of which Coldblood says there are more than 10, and progressing those relationships as friends or lovers will unlock combat abilities.

It’s a little bright spot in the showcase for fans of Celeste who were eagerly awaiting Extremely Ok Games’ next adventure, Earthblade, since its reveal in 2021. At the beginning of this year, the studio announced its painful decision to cancel Earthblade, citing creative difficulties and a frustrating development pace. The team split, with Medeiros leaving Extremely Ok Games to pursue work on Neverway. Studio director Maddy Thorson wrote in a blog post at the time, “Pedro and the Neverway team aren’t the enemy and anyone who treats them as such isn’t welcome in any EXOK community.”

As for Neverway, there’s no release date yet, but you can still wishlist Neverway on Steam today.