Developer: ThroughLine Games
Publisher: Square Enix
RRP: £15.49 (Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 15th May 2018
Available on: Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: 10 hours
Have you ever thought about where all your lost and forgotten things go? Other than down the back of the sofa that is. What if I told you that those lost and forgotten things went to another world, one in which they gained sentience and lived a life of their own? Sounds pretty whimsical, but sadly all is not well in that world.
In this game you play as Anne, a young woman who holds the rather ominous sounding title of ‘Enforcer’. It’s her job to make sure that all is well in the Forgotten Lands (the place the lost things end up) and that her master Bonku’s work is uninterrupted.
Forgotton Anne is a platformer that is very narrative and dialogue heavy. There are puzzles to work out as well but for the most part you’ll be interacting with the various characters you meet as you unravel the secrets of the Forgotten Lands. If you’re expecting action I’m afraid you’re going to be out of luck.
As I mentioned in the preamble in this world all the lost and forgotten items come to life and have lives of their own. These freshly sentient beings are given the collective term of Forgotlings. It’s up to Anne to keep these Forgotlings in line and safe she does this by using an item named ‘The Arca’ to move a substance called Anima around. Anima is a power source but it comes from the Forgotlings around Anne, its their lifeforce. Now depending on your kind of playthrough you don’t have to drain the anima from a Forgotling, usually you can find a stored source of the stuff to use, but if you truly want to live up to the title of Enforcer… well it would make sense.
The animation on show in the game is amazing and all of it is hand animated, which is just impressive. It nears Studio Ghibli levels of quality and it certainly has the imagination that would work for one of their films. The artistry doesn’t just stop there either, the backgrounds, level design and general overall aesthetic are gorgeous to behold. The character animations are especially wonderful to see, even little things. For example not far into the game you gain a set of mechanical wings, and once I gained them I spent several minutes just watching the animation for activating them over and over because I was so amazed at how detailed and smooth it was.
The voice acting is very well done, I’m not sure if this was originally in another language or not, but if it was the localisation team did a damn fine job.
Sadly nothing can be perfect and for me there are two things wrong with this game. The first is the controls, for the most part they handle well but I’m very glad this isn’t a game that requires precision platforming. I think the only way to describe them is as heavy, Anne seems to have way more… weight than she should.
The second thing is actually silly but it bugs the ever living hell out of me. It’s the name, at first I thought it was an old spelling of forgotten but having looked into it that isn’t the case. In fact I can’t find any real reason for the naming beyond an interview that basically amounts to ‘it sounded cool’. Yes, I know its petty and that I’m guilty of spelling mistakes too.
This is a game with multiple endings and your actions throughout the game will dictate which you get. Interestingly the choices aren’t always immediately apparent meaning the player has to think about the choices they make.
Overall I’d say this game is well worth a playthrough, if only for the animation and to see the story unfold. However this isn’t a game I’ll be returning to anytime soon simply because I find I need a long time between replaying any game with a linear or mostly linear narrative.
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