Forgotten Anne - Review

Forgotten Anne by Throughline Games is a game I managed to miss when it first came out. This unusual because I'm a sucker for well-animated visual games like Cuphead, Sundered, and Dust An Elysian Tail. It was on sale this week and downloaded it straight away excited to see what the game had to offer.


Not everyone into nuts and granola but I am, at least on occasion. I don't always eat cereal but when I do it is normally the nuts and granola variety, likes Tesco's Honey Nut Clusters.  There is something wholesome about it, topped with warm milk and it is perfect. Playing Forgotten Anne I found myself asking was this a warm, nutty, granola tasty surprise, or was it simply dried out and tasteless?

Story


Ever wonder why you can't find one of your socks, or can't find something at home that you knew you had? Yep, me too. These objects go to the Forgotten Lands and become Forgotlings, once they arrive there they are assigned jobs. Think of it as a job centre, only you have no choice on the job and some jobs really suck. Naturally not all Forgotlings are happy about this arrangement and a rebel movement has started led by Mr Fig.  This obviously causes chaos and this is where Master Bonku and Anne enter to keep control.  Anne is an Enforcer and can distill any Forgotlings, essentially this removes their soul, for lack of a better word, and kills them.


At the start of the game, I really felt bad for the Forgotlings and was not a fan of Anne or Master Bonku. As the game progresses my feelings changed and there are a few twists and turns along the way. Anne can choose to be good or bad, not only by who she distills but also by dialogue options presented to you throughout the game.


Overall the story is really good and apart from looking like an anime it also has the story and feel of one.

Visuals


The visuals are to die for in the game, they are hand-drawn and animated so well. There is no separation between the movement and actions of Anne and the world she is in, making for an immersive experience. It is genuinely hard for me to pick out my favorite sections, the train station, and being on the train was probably one of my favorites. It feels like you are on a train and feels real, in an animated way.


Overall the animated visuals in Forgotten Anne are probably one of the best I have seen in some time. It was a pleasure getting to explore the world and often I forgot I was playing a game and was actually watching an anime.


Music


The music feels so epic and intense in a really good way, it also feels like the composer loves and is influenced by anime as it has that feel to it. The music was composed by Peter Due, who has worked on a slew on games, movies, tv-series and short films including; Kinisa, Mafia Planet, Journal 64, Natural Disorder, and Shrouded Destiny to name but a few.  Peter Due is accompanied by the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra.


The soundtrack is just over ninety-minutes long and is a spectacular ninety minutes of music! My favorite tracks include; 'Train Ride', 'The Return', 'Ether Bridge', 'The Last Outpost', 'The Workshop'
'The Chase' and 'Lost Pieces'.


Overall a brilliant soundtrack that has as much importance and the story, visuals, and gameplay.

Gameplay


A big concern for me with well-animated games is that while they look good sometimes they lack substance. Perhaps they look good but the story is bad, the music is it so-so or the gameplay is boring or underdeveloped, this is not the case with Forgotten Anne.


The gameplay straddles the line between being a puzzle game and a platformer. Sometimes mixing two ideas or more together does not work, but this isn't true of Forgotten Anne. Anne can run, jump, and glide (once you get her wings), when she isn't doing this she is trying to overcome an obstacle. Most puzzles provide a simple to medium challenge, and rarely did I find myself getting frustrated.


There are enemies of a sort in the game but they don't interact with you - well not in the traditional manner anyway. They will ask questions and it's up to you how to answer, essentially it can be a good or bad/evil answer.  As a whole, I played the game as a good guy but after completing the game I would be curious to play it through as a bad/evil guy.


Overall the gameplay manages to expertly navigate between being a platformer and a puzzler offering a fun challenge.




Final Thoughts

So, after ten hours how did I feel? Awesome! The story I was unsure to start with but came into its own and ended up having me hooked. The visuals are gorgeous and made we want to watch anime. The music is reminiscent of old Disney movies and of course anime. The gameplay managed to stay interesting throughout my time playing and blended two ideas together well. Overall this one gets a solid 4 out of 5