Developer: Frostwood Interactive
Publisher: Dino Digital
Platform: PC
Tested On: PC
Forgotten Fields – Review
Lack of inspiration and writer’s block are very real issues which may strike at any moment, regardless of how inopportune they might be. Left struggling to come up with ideas, creators suffering these issues may have a hard time working or just going about their day, with even their social life straining as a consequence. Forgotten Fields is a narrative adventure game which explores these themes through the eyes of Sid, an amateur writer attempting to find themes for his second novel.
Story
Forgotten Fields’ story follows an aspiring author named Sid, who is suffering from writer’s block while he attempts to come up with a concept for his second novel. Out of inspiration to write anything, Sid finds himself down to the last day before the deadline for the grant he needs expires, sinking even deeper into his anxiety.
Luckily for him, his friend Anjay suddenly shows up at his apartment, bringing along a note from Sid’s mother inviting him to a goodbye party, as she is selling their old family house. Convinced by Anjay’s arguments about doing something different to find inspiration, Sid sets out in a journey to his old home, meeting childhood friends and reminiscing about the days gone. Throughout the game, Sid will grow as a person and writer, by learning to move forward while still cherishing the past. By talking to his friends and seeing their lives move forward, Sid ultimately learns he too must go on.
Graphics
The game’s graphics are nothing to write home about, generally made up of low detail flat 3D textures with exceptions here and there. The already flat textures aren’t helped by the graphical issues, including things such as texture clipping, buggy camera angles and uncanny character poses. Adding to this last part, the characters have a whole slew of issues on their own, with ridiculous ragdolls and broken animations to name a few.
Despite all of this, Forgotten Fields’ graphics could be quite good if given a chance, as most zoomed-out scenes prove. By hiding the flat and detail-lacking textures with the illusion of distance, the game manages to create some rather beautiful shots. Sadly, these are the exception rather than the rule and are few and far between.
Sound
The sound design (or rather the music) in Forgotten Fields is one of its largest redeeming qualities, with an incredible soundtrack featuring a good amount of different tracks, both with and without lyrics. Most of the game’s sound effects are also well made, but they still definitely pale in comparison with the music.
Gameplay
Forgotten Fields’ gameplay could mostly be described as a walking simulator with a few quick-time events thrown in here and there. Players will mostly just move from one character to another in order to progress through the story, generally doing menial tasks in the form of fetch quests, taking items from one place to another.
Ironically enough, the game’s gameplay is definitely not its strong point, although it is understandable taking into account it happens to most games of the genre. That said, Forgotten Fields’ gameplay is riddled with bugs, which, along with the awkward controls, bog down the experience.
A few examples would include broken collisions making it hard for the player to move, falling out of the map, animations playing in the middle of nowhere or not working, etc. All of these may be encountered at any time, with some larger bugs even soft-locking the game and forcing a restart. The most common bug or issue definitely comes from the collisions though, making players constantly witness Sid clip through items or getting stuck and unable to move.
Conclusion
Forgotten Fields is an alright game that tells a good story and features a great soundtrack, but which offers little of anything else. The constant bugs, both graphical and gameplay-related, ultimately make the game much less enjoyable than it could’ve been had it spent more time in the oven. In its current state and priced at around 10 quid in most currencies, it is hard to recommend Forgotten Fields until its issues have been solved or it receives a large sale.
Personal Opinion
“I liked Forgotten Fields’ story, it covered some interesting topics I’ve thought about before, as many others probably have. That said, I still think it’s somewhat shallow, particularly during the sections occurring in Sid’s imagination as he thinks of the book. Instead of developing an engaging secondary story, the game just skips over to the “important” parts in order to hammer its point home. Something else I’d like to mention is how the game has a few dialogue options here and there, but none change anything meaningful other than the last one during the ending of the game. Although I’m generally not one to talk about “immersion”, I must say the absurd amount of bugs I encountered definitely prevented me from enjoying the game or being actually grabbed by the story. There’s a little something about seeing someone turn their head 90º without their body following that is just distracting.”
Forgotten Fields - Review,
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