Forgotten Fields Review
Release Date: April 14, 2021
Developer: Frostwood Interactive
Platforms: PC (Steam, GOG)
Price: $14.99
The beauty of walking simulators is that they can come in all sorts of shapes and forms, and even disguise themselves as other games and even vice-versa depending on how the material is marketed and presented. From choose your own adventure games to the walking sims that are equal parts profound, fun, and memorable, games like Firewatch, Gone Home, State of Mind, What Remains of Edith Finch, Virginia, Event[0] and more all bring their own unique narrative while having very little in the way of any sort of death mechanic, leaving players to freely explore and play at their own leisure and typically involving some sort of captivating premise that tends to latch onto you, with proper pacing and length that, next thing you know, you've beaten the game in one sitting. Forgotten Fields enters the fray as another one of these experiences looking to be relatable and be emotionally driven through the eyes of an author trying to find his footing in life, and really pushes the agenda of wanting to be slow and cozy, and while there are neat ideas put into place of a rather somber experience, the emphasis on its slow nature tends to hinder the pacing to the point where the coziness of it becomes exhausting and puts me to sleep rather than illicit any sort of fun or interest into the events that unfold.
Forgotten Fields has a lot about what I like about art pieces in any medium that delve into the matter of life, how we live and perceive it, and the ups and downs that come along with it. Forgotten Fields also presents itself in a minimalistic and sort of "flat" tone that focuses more on a humble use of bright colors versus busy scenes and details to make your eyes and yourself more relaxed as you play through it, and it carries itself well with a nice enough aesthetic that its message and journey isn't necessarily lost, though the slow and sometimes tedious nature of its narrative and gameplay tend to get in the way more often than not. To me, this was a fairly big disappointment as I'm someone who loves walking sims and games that aim to make you think whether profoundly or simply for inner reflection, but I do have my limitations into how much I can handle from a walking sim, especially when some start to exude a sort of pretentious nature that it completely ruins the experience entirely. While this isn't the case with Forgotten Fields and the game is rather modest and relatable in its approach to tell a story and try to get you somewhat emotionally invested and relaxed, more often than not a lot of dialogue exchanges felt like filler or were simply not interesting, especially as the main character, Sid, himself has no real motivation to keep going, so his unenthused personality, while understandable, just makes it feel like more of a chore and one where I kept rolling my eyes as I played. It's possible I'm a unique case as I'm the type to go "get over it", and with a psychology background I tend to read characters a lot more easily and can tell if they're complaining for the sake of complaining or because it's an actual issue, but even when we're all feeling down, it doesn't make much sense to me to immediately dismiss the following day as "worst day ever" for events that occurred on the day(s) prior, so his dull and monotonous attitude towards everything as he goes back to the home he grew up in before it's sold irked me fairly quickly.
The game does well to take you through a multitude of environments, however, almost, in a way, metaphorical to the ups and downs Sid has had throughout his life and as of late struggling to pay bills as an author, with writer's block being fairly prominent throughout, though little by little almost parallel to the narrative, as you start to come to terms with more and get closure, you're able to write more and can influence what it is that Sid jots down throughout the game. Dialogue choices aren't necessarily plentiful, but they're not forgettable either, so decisions you make on how to respond to people as well as write within your book to meet a deadline - however forced it may seem or feel - give players a sort of tailored experience each time someone plays, though the overall foundation and structure remains unchanged for most. You can tell in a lot of instances that Forgotten Fields wanted to have more interaction than a typical game of this nature would normally provide, and while some of the things you do add a little bit of depth, odd occurrences like clipping through objects entirely or assembling something take you out fairly quickly because of the lack of optimization to make these ideas and mechanics even remotely engaging. The tedious nature of random tasks that hold no real bearing get in the way, and while Forgotten Fields won't necessarily take up more than a few hours of your time from start to finish, it tends to feel much longer and not really worth the payoff. Forgotten Fields more often than not feels like it aims high but strikes low, and even with its neat ideas it's a little too upfront with how it handles the gameplay and presentation portion of it. While not necessarily a bad game by any means, there's plenty of other choices out there that tend to work out better that make the experience more seamless and enjoyable.
In the end, Forgotten Fields is a fine game that explores the day to day of our lives and what it's like being an adult simply trying to "make it" in the sense that they're happy doing what they do - almost the sort of pursuit of happiness - but also a reminder that we should cherish the time we have with others and to not be afraid of nostalgia, but instead embrace it as the past is what makes us what we are today and shapes us for what we can be tomorrow. It's unfortunate, however, that Forgotten Fields positive and reassuring message is locked behind a slow and admittedly boring experience, and while the game does take you through tons of great environments, some more exaggerated in style than others, the slow pacing can ultimately kill the mood even though it's already a short play time of roughly 2 1/2 - 4 hours. It's a good idea and a unique way to do a walking simulator that implements neat artistic ideas in a minimalistic presentation that also plays around with perspective (like going from isometric, to first person, to side-scrolling, to top-down, etc.), but with its depressive tone (not necessarily dark, just depressive in an exhausting way) Forgotten Fields feels like you're ultimately dragging your feet through a prolonged presentation that would have heavily benefited from more concise storytelling.
PROS:
It’s always nice seeing a somewhat relatable story in a game with a sense of hope
Slice-of-life that’s relatable and well put together
The music can be atmospheric and beautiful
CONS:
Slow does not equate to relaxing, and in this case may put some to sleep
Slight performance issues despite its relatively "light" nature
The pacing and tasks may ruin the experience for some
Thank you to Frostwood Interactive for providing us a copy of ‘Forgotten Fields’ for the purposes of this review