NeverAwake speaks to children in distress through the playful without demanding complicity with the underground cultures of the internet, since of course, what was once niche is now pop, but no one should ever need cultural knowledge or normative fit to find help or understanding. .

I am completely unaware of Neotro's personal life, but NeverAwake and Vritra could form the x-ray of the darkest psyche -as well as innocent- that can develop in childhood through a traumatic event.
And why a Shmup twin stick? Well, most people have come into contact with it at some point in their lives (maybe Space Invaders?) It's one of the purest video game formats; tremendously playful, immediate, satisfying. You smash your enemies and dodge their attacks, the perfect escapism for acting out a power fantasy. And fantasy of power is what Rem, the protagonist, has in her subconscious. No spoilers: NeverAwake articulates through the Shmup ecosystem a story of self-control and reconciliation far more evocative than countless RPGs and VNs aimed at teens.

The end of this game and its way of understanding the often intrusive ludic resources of video games reminds me greatly of Taro's most remembered works. Helping and being rescued is something more powerful than any conventional final boss.

Communicating effectively does not require elegance, subtlety or measure, only passion and creativity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruO6H9RLwTI