If you’ve ever wondered where the items you lose go and wish you could find them again, then Forgotton Anne will be a game you’ll treasure finding. From toys to letters, socks to priceless items, you’ll take on The Forgotton Lands as Anne in this indie adventure platformer. If you can piece together puzzles and solve riddles, you might just find and rescue Forgotlings, creatures made of all that is lost.
This novel twist of saving forgotten items is a neat quirk, and I found Forgotton Anne to be an imaginative and well-thought-out game. The plot is good, the central character empathetic, and the action regularly entertaining, with a hand-drawn Anime-style landscape to play within.
With a full orchestral score from the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra as much a character as Anne and her friends and foes, Forgotton Anne feels like a classic side-scroller in every sense. The platform element of the game drives your progress through the game, while the many puzzles you solve push the narrative.
Anne is a strong central character, and she sits firmly on the side of good versus evil. The enemy in the game is a rebellion that Anne must vanquish with the help of forgotlings to forge a path back to the real world as soon as possible. Ironically, I wondered why Anne would want to leave when she could have so much fun charming magic rubbish along the way.
One problem I had at first was the fact that Anne is invincible. And I mean T1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day is invincible. Fall off a cliff and Anne would shrug her shoulders and carry on. She can’t lose health because you do not indicate how Anne’s health is, even though we bet she’s a 5-a-day kind of girl.
This game is not just toys that spring into action, but lampshades, clothes, furniture and even handy tools. Disney might have needed to approve certain scenes that hint at a fondness for Cinderella among the design team.
From platform homages that hint at Prince of Persia to jumps and bumps that pay tribute to Super Mario on a loose level at least, this is a charming and pleasant game that will entertain players of many ages with its quirky storyline and earnest heroism. While the puzzles aren’t irritatingly complex, they might be too simple for some intermediate gamers.
Since being released on MS Windows, PS4, Xbox One in May 2018, Forgotton Anne has obtained positive reviews, and it isn’t hard to see why. Averaging a Metacritic score of 80%, it may be an indie platformer. Still, there are numerous commendable design hallmarks of Square Enix, who published the game made by ThroughLine Games behind the loading screen. Priced at just £15.49 on Steam, you can take a deeper look at the game by visiting the official website, but if you’d just like to watch the Forgotton Anne launch trailer to whet your appetite, you can do so right here.
Forgotton Anne ignores irony and relies more on homely charm. Still, the designer Valdemar Schultz Andreasen’s cryptic clues and artwork, beautifully rendered by Anders Bierberg Hald, bring a magical fantasy world to life in a refined style. If you can take your eyes off the Anime-style stare of Forgotton Anne long enough, you’ll enjoy an enchanting tale.
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